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.

Too short

A great opportunity to see a lot of familiar characters in their prime or just youth. Although some stories are pretty simple in plot, they all have that beloved First Law style and atmosphere.

It could be just a bunch of stories in the same places, for the fans, for nostalgia, but this is Joe Abercrombie. He gives us an adventure with the same character over many years, multiple points of view and even a story with chained points of view about stealing a package! And the story that is written by Sworbreck feels fascinating and fresh!

Hope there will be more some day.

This was such a hard book to finish. I think short stories are not for me at all.

Sharp Ends is een verzameling van 13 kortverhalen binnen het First Law-universum.
Mijn verwachting was dat het vooral bijkomende verhalen zouden zijn met personages die we al kenden uit vorige boeken. Hoewel hieraan zeker geen gebrek was, was ik ook aangenaam verrast om nieuwe, verrassend goed uitgewerkte personages te leren kennen, wier verhalen uiteindelijk de rode draad doorheen de verzameling vormden.

“But Glokta was an utter bastard. A beautiful, spiteful, masterful, horrible bastard, simultaneously the best and worst man in the Union. ”

Het openingsverhaal, A Beautiful Bastard, was echter wel precies het soort verhaal dat ik verwachtte in dit boek: een glimps van iedereens favoriete folteraar Glokta, voor hij de bittere sarcast werd die we kennen uit de eerste trilogie. Een sterke start dus.
Ik vond deze echt heel leuk om te lezen, vooral omdat het me glimlachend deed terug denken aan een paar geweldige Glokta-scenes uit de eerdere boeken. Voelde nostalgisch.
Het enige jammere vond ik dat het niet uit Glokta's perspectief werd verteld, want ik had graag gehoord hoe hij klonk toen hij jonger was.

“Kindness brings kindness in the long run.”

Vervolgens krijgen we een verhaal waarbij onze twee nieuwe personages worden geïntroduceerd en hiermee is het patroon voor de rest van de verzameling gevormd: Een verhaal met één of meerdere oude bekenden, gevolgd door een verhaal met Shevedieh en Javre, van het moment dat ze elkaar ontmoeten, tot 19 jaar later hun wegen zich scheiden.

“I needed a man to fight for me. I needed a man who'd stop at nothing. I needed a monster.”

Over het algemeen heb ik wel genoten van deze verzameling.
Natuurlijk zijn er altijd verhalen die meer resoneren dan andere en hier was dit niet anders. Er waren er een paar die maar zozo waren of heel gemakkelijk te vergeten, maar altijd was er iets die de aandacht vasthield, ofwel een interessante verwijzing naar eerdere boeken of iets dat misschien wel terug zou kunnen komen in volgende boeken. Dit hield het geheel interessant en onderscheidt het van andere verhalenbundels, omdat het eigenlijk meer aanvoelde als een voortzetting van een verhaal, maar dan in kleinere, hapklare porties en tegelijkertijd een brug vormde om de tweede trilogie op te starten.

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).

Shev and Javra are among my new faves

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.

 I will preface this with I'm not a huge short stories guy. I find that it often doesn't allow the type of plot or character development unfold that I tend to enjoy. I also tend to like anthologies even less, but as Joe Abercrombie is one of my favourite character writer's in darker fantasy, I figured I'd give it a try.

Overall you get the same action, dialogue, and character writing that I've praised the series so heavily for. In particular Javre and Shev were a great addition to the cast of characters. They have some genuinely amusing moments between them and luckily enough they are the center of attention for a good amount of the short stories. Those stories tend to be the more interesting.

Then you have the stories featuring existing characters and/or characters that are telling an event from a different point of view. Some of these are good, but for the most part they range from the uninteresting to the tolerable. Some highs in there for sure, but not quite enough to overcome the lows this time. Short enough though that still worth a read if a fan of The First Law series. 

4.5/5 - A Beautiful Bastard

Sand dan Glokta is one of the greatest of the great.

4/5 - Small Kindnesses

A wonderful showcase of Abercrombie character conversation. Shevedieh and Javre already hit a nerve for me.

3.5/5 - The Fool Jobs

3.5/5 - Skipping Town

The second act in Shevedieh and Javre's storyline. I love how these two are getting more screentime.

4/5 - Hell

Temple feels like an underrated character, and for that I'm glad we've got to see him more in this anthology.

5/5 - Two's Company

The third act in Shevedieh and Javre's storyline and this one is a doozy. Abercrombie dialog at its best, which makes this one of the best stories in the collection and one of my new favorite short stories. The two ladies meet Cracknut Whirrun, one of the most ridiculous characters in this universe.

4.5/5 - Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Best Served Cold is one of my favorite First Law books, so I won't complain about seeing a different perspective in that story.

4.5/5 - Some Desperado

This is my second time going through this story and surprisingly I thought it much better this time around now after finishing Red Country.

3.5/5 - Yesterday, Near a Village Called Barden ...

5/5 - Three's A Crowd

The final act in Shevedieh and Javre's storyline and an excellent conclusion for these two badass women.

2.5/5 - Freedom!

5/5 - Tough Times All Over

This is the first book I've read by Abercrombie and I absolutely loved it. It's by far one of my favorite short stories and my favorite in this anthology. Now having listened to Steven Pacey read it and with a better knowledge of characters of the world, I love it even more so. It even has some change of events I couldn't appreciate before, as well as some of the best characters in the series.

5/5 - Made a Monster

Wow

____

Audio read by: Steven Pacey

Expect the unexpected. Not all of the many short stories are good but there are a couple that make great insight considering the main trilogy.

After nine novels, this is Joe Abercrombie's first short story collection, all based in his First Law universe. Although the short story is more associated with SF than fantasy fiction, people who have enjoyed the novels will find a lot to enjoy here. There's plenty of Abercrombie's trademark violence, none of which he flinches from describing, as well as the humour that relieves the relentless grimness of the setting. A lot of these stories are very funny, in a “throw your hands up and laugh at the unfairness of the world because there's nothing else you can do” kind of way.
Characters from the other First law books float around the edges of these stories, but they are mostly standalone works. A bit of background knowledge is useful, but not essential. Several of the stories in the book follow the adventures of Shevedieh the thief and the warrior Javre, two women who have been thrown together by circumstance and end up in a series of scrapes across the continent like a latter day Fafhrd and Grey Mouser. These stories are the most enjoyable works here. They could easily have been fixed up into a short novel of their own, and I'd love to see Abercrombie return to this pair, especially as my only grumble about this collection would be that quite a few of the stories are more like vignettes that place you in a scene and then then whip you away with the outcome unresolved. But being left wanting more isn't exactly a bad problem when it comes to reading, is it? If you've never read any Abercrombie then you should probably start with the novels, but one you've torn through them and you're wanting more this collection will do nicely.

[I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review]