Sharp Ends

Most people say one thing about Joe Abercrombie: they say he is dark. But they forget that he's also damn funny. Though it has moments of brutality and violence, this collection of short stories displays the sharp, cynical edge of Abercrombie's wit.

A cool coloring-in of the happenings around events from the main books, and well-written as always, but it was tough to stay engaged. It seemed like each time I was really getting invested in each story and it's new characters, it ended and was time for the next one. Maybe collections of short stories just aren't for me.

One writing device employed a couple of times here that I thought was really neat - a viewpoint that moves with an object or logical chain of events instead of just one character. Abercrombie does a great job of quickly getting the reader into the new character's viewpoint, and the overall effect is quite interesting.

3.5/5

A short story collection that was a nice sprinkle of lore and character development. It's a good read, and some of Abercrombie's writing is in here, but I wasn't really into the main set of stories that follows a couple of characters throughout the years. It was interesting, but I think their story would have been better as a stand alone book.

Worth reading? Absolutely, especially if you like Nine Fingers (read the last story for that one).