The Blade Itself

It's hard to rate this book by itself, it should be seen as a part of the whole trilogy, but here goes for the people with similar taste...

I heard so much about this trilogy, a lot of people saying it was at the top of their fantasy books list and I couldn't wait to get my hands on a good piece of fantasy!

But the first book is not great.
Most of the time it felt like the author has no idea where he wants to go with the story and what makes a character develop. Most of the time he is trying too hard to be different and cool by focusing on “something nobody ever thinks about” like needing to pee in the middle of the fight.
The way he tries to paint the backdrop, the atmosphere around characters is very awkward and filled with a lot of unnecessary and childish slapstick that almost made me give up on the book.
I was really struggling through it and I couldn't get it why it was so praised.

But once the ball starts rolling and the book finally gets its heading, it's a whole different story!
Suddenly there's so much going on and it's all interesting. Suddenly we see the characters with their warm sides, and funny quirks and I started liking them more and more, and the ones I didn't like I respected.

So, my point is, if you're like me and if you're struggling through the first book, keep reading!
The second book is way way better, with so many fantastic scenes that will stay with you long after you are done with the book. By the time I got to book three I couldn't put it down!
The guy that produced barely readable first chapters is now giving us real breathing and sweating and loving and hating characters. Some of them are weak, some of them are full of unexpected beautiful wisdom but they just keep growing on you. And the way he tries to think about situations in a new way really starts working. It's like the author matured two decades between first and second book.

So....by my account this book is mediocre. But it is well worth the read because it leads you to great and fantastic books 2 and 3 that are not to be missed if you're at all into fantasy.