The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1) in Beyond Reality

Mar 15, 2011 mark monday rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy-modern

I’m going to do something that's a little disrespectful and start this review by talking about another fantasy series that I’ve enjoyed: A Song of Ice and Fire. That series rules. It has everything I’ve wanted in a series since Tolkien but there’s one thing to be said about it, neither good or bad, that is a big part of its impact: it is dark, very very dark. The darkness comes, as it should in all quality fiction, not necessarily from the actual bad things that happen to good people, but from t I’m going to do something that's a little disrespectful and start this review by talking about another fantasy series that I’ve enjoyed: A Song of Ice and Fire. That series rules. It has everything I’ve wanted in a series since Tolkien but there’s one thing to be said about it, neither good or bad, that is a big part of its impact: it is dark, very very dark. The darkness comes, as it should in all quality fiction, not necessarily from the actual bad things that happen to good people, but from the depth of the characterizations themselves. Bad things happen to very real, very well-characterized, and truly understandable people, and so those bad things are made all the more upsetting, all the more hard to read.

So that’s where The Blade Itself comes in. It is a funny thing for me, reading the reviews. Everyone goes on about how bloody it is, how graphic and hardcore, etc etc. How it is a part of the “George R.R. Martin tradition”. Of course there is truth to that: much blood is spilled, incredibly tragic things happen, and hell, one of its central characters (in fact, its best character) is a torturer with an awfully painful past. But what I rarely see mentioned is the wonderful lightness of tone that makes the novel such a pleasure to read. For all its tragedies and darkness, the tone is amusing, light-hearted, comic, and never in awe of the various mysteries depicted. I laughed out loud many times. It is also a surprisingly tender novel. That comment may be hard for lovers of this book to read. But The Blade does not demonize any of its characters, it allows all of them (even Black Dow!) their moments of decency and kindness, it views all of them in such a cheerful, upbeat way, that never did I feel a sense of bleak heaviness at the tragedies displayed. Those tragedies are shown to be a part of life, for some, and although they are impactful, the characters are not beaten completely down by their pasts. It is not a sentimental novel, but it is a very sweet-tempered one. The down side to this is that, at times, the characters and situations have a vibe to them that is almost close to being a sitcom. The upside is that it is wall-to-wall pleasure and at the end of the novel, I felt uplifted, rather than weighted down. It is a wonderful antidote to the compelling but grueling Song of Ice and Fire. A kind of tonic. The novel is a breezy delight and I am really looking forward to the rest of the series.

Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention: the author knows how to write action sequences. They were truly exciting, even cinematic in the clarity of what was happening. Often fights are confusing affairs in fantasy, but that is not the case here. The whole novel had a brisk yet cinematic feel to it. I choose Matthew MacFayden to play Inquisitor Glotka!
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Jan 29, 2019 Wealhtheow rated it it was ok

Shelves: disabled-character, fantasy, didn-t_finish

A barbarian warrior, a debauched nobleman training to be a fencer, and a respected officer turned disabled torturer all do stuff. I don't know how their various plots come together because 300 pages in I hit my limit on characters I didn't care about doing horrible things/having horrible things done to them. I actually hit that limit 200 pages before but read on for Logen Ninefingers alone. If there was a book that was just him, I'd have stuck with it. (Not only is his pov a welcome change from ...more

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Jan 06, 2011 Adrienne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library, fantasy, gritty

I'm really debating between three and four stars for this. I ultimately decided three, because the majority of the book felt like an introduction to our characters, but the story really picked up in the last 50 pages or so.

At the beginning of the book, we are thrown straight into the middle of a battle scene and left to figure out what's going on. Yay! Additionally, almost all the information we get about our characters is through dialogue or the running internal monologue from the close third-p I'm really debating between three and four stars for this. I ultimately decided three, because the majority of the book felt like an introduction to our characters, but the story really picked up in the last 50 pages or so.

At the beginning of the book, we are thrown straight into the middle of a battle scene and left to figure out what's going on. Yay! Additionally, almost all the information we get about our characters is through dialogue or the running internal monologue from the close third-person perspective of the narrative. I love this technique because the characters aren't spoon-fed to us. Instead, we learn about them and the world they inhabit just by the scenes. Yay.

Throughout the book we mainly follow a set of three characters, with a few other points of view thrown in for a good measure from time to time. Surprisingly, based on my typical preferences, I actually enjoyed this. (I imagine I would have preferred it from a single point of view, as long as it was Logen's.) Along those lines, however, I could only really sympathize with one of them - Logen, the barbarian, also known as the Bloody Nine due to, well, events that he doesn't really want to remember. The others are Sand dan Glokta, a fencer/soldier-turned-crippled-inquisitor after some time spent in enemy prisons, and Jezal dan Luthar, an arrogant nobleman who falls in lust with his friend's sister. However, Logen was really the only one who gave me something to sympathize with! While he may be a barbarian, he also does some things that are admirable. (In the same vein, he also does some things that are not, but I'm okay with that moral ambiguity in my main characters - as long as they're sympathetic!) However, Glokta and Jezal didn't get that sympathy from me. I wanted to know more of Glokta's backstory (and indeed, when we got some of it, I was more sympathetic, but it came just near the end of the book - too late), and Jezal simply annoyed me the entire time. Grow up, kid.

The storylines from our three main characters came together in the last parts of the book, which is when the bigger story started to unfold and important things - finally - started happening. I was intrigued by Bayaz and enjoyed scenes that included him.

Overall, however, this really felt like a set up book. I'm vaguely excited to read the next one now that the story has started moving along. I imagine I'll get to it soonish, but I'm not on the edge of my seat.

Also, I was really sad when Logen chose to leave his cooking pot behind! They'd been through so much together.. alas. Poor pot. ...more

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Nov 20, 2008 Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides marked it as decided-not-to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-fiction

Every time I go into a bookstore I see this and its sequels in my favorite genre-category-section of the bookstore. The titles and the presentation/design of the books pique my interest. Sadly ... it was not as interesting as it seemed.

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Jan 24, 2013 Oni rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

This is one of the finest exhibit of a fantasy novel. The plot is intriguing, the character is well designed, the dialogue is witty, and the most important one, the struggle is believable. Too many books in the market already are insulting our common sense and better judgement.

This novel also has gritty and dark element, a genre popularized by the over-famous A Song of Ice and Fire series. Even though it is not as complicated and heart breaking (yet) as ASOIF, I still find the plot very interest This is one of the finest exhibit of a fantasy novel. The plot is intriguing, the character is well designed, the dialogue is witty, and the most important one, the struggle is believable. Too many books in the market already are insulting our common sense and better judgement.

This novel also has gritty and dark element, a genre popularized by the over-famous A Song of Ice and Fire series. Even though it is not as complicated and heart breaking (yet) as ASOIF, I still find the plot very interesting and well paced.

The beginning is quite modest, actually, introducing three main characters in their daily lives, as barbarian, soldier and inquisitor (in our world's term: interrogator). From those three, I like the inquisitor best. A crippled, caused by torture when he was captured during war, with wit and attitude. I remind me of our beloved Tyrion Lannister of ASOIF. Well, I always have soft spot for broken things, to quote Tyrion himself.

The author is using three different style of writing to differentiate three different character. The inquisitor, Glokta, has a lot of inner thought, written is italic, mocking others in his mind. The Barbarian, Logen Ninefingers, is a tortured soul. Quite philosophical, lots of thinking, but more reflective instead of mocking, which is a contrast to Glokta. And the last one, Jezal dan Luthar, a carefree character. Not to much a thinker, but a man of action. Green compared to the first two. The changing of style between three of them is refreshing, like you seeing the same picture, but from three different point of view, which makes this book really rich.

The last 100 pages, after the Contest, are a bit dragging. I feel that the writer is loosing steam, going from 4th and 5th gear, to 3rd gear. But I think it is inevitable. You cannot go on 5th gear all the way. The other weak spot is the last main character, Ferro, a runaway slave girl. The background story on her side is not enough to interest me. But most of the time, I have nothing to complain. A solid 4 STARS.

Note: the usage of "dan" for name of nobility confused me the first time. In my mother tongue, "dan" means "and". So when I read Sand dan Glokta, hey, are we talking about ONE person or TWO persons here? Only later I realized that the word is "dan" not "and". ...more

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Mar 22, 2020 Tom Britz rated it it was amazing

The cover on this book is a dead giveaway to this bloody story. Magic has been forgotten in this land, yet is still pretty active for a select few. As the world is preparing for a major war that has been brewing. This is book one of a trilogy that looks like it really is one long book. The action unfolds on many different fronts as Joe Abercrombie skillfully moves his characters and the action into a cohesive whole. This is not only a must read, if you like fantasy that is on the dark side (I've ...more

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Aug 19, 2009 Megan rated it really liked it

Shelves: epic-fantasy

Solid world building and nice dark humor, but it was a little frustrating to realize that this whole first volume (of a trilogy) was all really about assembling our team for some upcoming quest. Still, it had a great dark edge not usually found in epic fantasy (real violence, real blood), and characters that are complex and not altogether likeable.

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Aug 14, 2013 Tani rated it really liked it

Shelves: male-author, fantasy, 2013

This one thought about being five stars for a while, but didn't quite make the cut. I think where it lost me was when it started putting multiple viewpoints into the same chapter. It felt too abrupt, after spending 75% of the book with each character for a more prolonged period. The change interrupted the flow of the story pretty severely for me. I love the way that Abercrombie writes his characters, though. They're kind of asses, but they're realistic, and they all feel like they have opportuni ...more

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Jun 17, 2023 jess rated it really liked it · review of another edition

For much of the book, I felt lost. I even googled one time of this was really the first book of the series! You get dropped in and its a mystery with the plot not really unfolding, even at its conclusion: but Im interested in Logen and Ferro. And of course, Bayaz! The second book is on my TBR!

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