The Blade Itself

Sillier than expected, for better or worse. Is this really the grimdark guy? I wanted it to be more “Delightfully twisted and evil - The Guardian” than it is – the contagion of exclamation marks is the grimmest thing about it. The prose is sometimes good and sometimes amateurish. I found the catchphrasiness and spelling out of every “Argh” and “Ugh” to be cheesy contrivances, for an author I'd heard praised so much for his gritty economy of language. Along with a dozen instances of the phrase “empty gums”, the vocabulary just felt lacking at times. Repetitious wording is a pet peeve for me, whether by design or otherwise, and something I don't like noticing so plainly.

All that said, I enjoyed the characters (especially Logen and Glokta, empty gums and all) and the slow-building intrigue between them. From the series and author's reputation, I expected more than some bang-average fluff, though I gather this is his worst book even among fans. It felt very much like an extended prologue to something better. I didn't love it like I hoped, but it ended well and was good enough to have me looking forward to more. I would really like to see a fuller world and sharper writing for these characters.