The Blade Itself
Ratings888
Average rating4.1
TITLE The Blade Itself
AUTHOR Joe Abercrombie
Genre Fantasy
Subgenre Grimdark
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Emotional Impact 6.25
Characters 7.75
Plot 5.75
Worldbuilding / Magic System 6.5
Dialogue / Prose 8
Official Rating 6.61
Goodreads Rating 3
Date Started 2/25/2024
Date Finished 5/16/2024
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NOTES Huge reading slump of 3 months but it wasn't this books fault. Nothing really happens but the characters and how he writes them is stellar...will revisit the series soon. Jezal and Glokta are real cool!
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.
"History is littered with dead good men."
I…. don’t know what to make of this book. It’s a good book! Lots of people agree! Fabulous worldbuilding! Interesting characters! Great prose! I just came away from parts of the book wondering if there was maybe too much worldbuilding in the first, oh, 60% of the book, and not enough crumbs of action dropped to keep me invested.
There’s not one or two viewpoints to summarize here. Instead, we get a whole fully developed cast of characters we bounce between, with their own involvements and plot lines going on within the world the author fleshes out for us. It isn’t until near the end of the book that some of these characters start meeting up with one another and the plot starts moving though, so if slow burn epic fantasy isn’t your thing, you might have a hard time getting through it.
I will say that as soon as the plot started moving, I was all in on what the author was bringing. I also hear that book two is when things really hit their stride, so I’m looking forward to that experience as well. Getting to that point took me a while, though, and I kept putting the book down for other reads and only reading it in small chunks up until the last 20% or so.
There’s definitely something here though, and I’m going to try and make time for book two sometime soon before I forget everything from book one.
Initially, the book's writing style nearly led me to abandon it—it felt raw and lazily crafted. However, as I delved deeper, the captivating story held me spellbound, keeping me awake until 2 am for several consecutive nights. Surprisingly, the not-so-elegant writing style melds with the narrative and characters.
The gradual yet intriguing development of characters and world-building unfolds seamlessly. The intricacies of politics, schemes, and the daily machinations within a sprawling city, coupled with the ambitions, struggles, and excesses of its inhabitants, create a captivating tapestry. This book encompasses everything from parliamentary drama to stadium excitement, and each element is skillfully executed. It stands as a stellar example of the grim-dark fantasy genre.
While this wasn't my favorite read, it really did come together at the end and made me want to keep going. Fantasy books without maps are fun. Cool and neat!
So good. I'm glad I finally got to read this. It's like an Avengers Assemble story. I need to read the next one.
It's more of a 3,5 rounded to four, because there were things I liked. Lots of them. Characters are full of life and emotions and conflicts, huge world full of different cultures and a ton of bad guys.
BUT. Maybe I missed something, but what was the point of half of the events? A ton of hints and still barely a half of understanding of what is the big challenge. All this felt so underwhelming. What was the climax of this particular book, this story? The fight with Practicals?
Honestly I didn't really get into this until the halfway point. I also kind of just don't like Glokta, a lot of his earlier chapters feel like YA with bad words
Even though it's grimdark, it still has heart. I absolutely loved this book for its interesting characters and wit. It's been awhile since I've given a book 5 stars without hesitation.
Todos los personajes son desagradables. Esta primera parte de ‘La Primera Ley' nos muestra las facetas de ‘los héroes' y ‘heroínas' que tendrán relevancia en los siguientes dos libros. Es cautivante. Es ‘dark & gritty' con pizcas de humor. Muy bien escrito. Vamos por más.
This is my second pass at The Blade Itself, I first read this in the midst of a finals crunch. I never gave this series a fair shot at lodging itself in my brain, I somehow read the whole book and retained next to nothing. Imagine my shock, the shock of finding something undeniably great on a second reading!
This series is often compared to Game of Thrones and is the poster child for the Grimdark Fantasy sub-genre; Grimdark is the clarion call of ambiguous morality, grit, and violence. The First Law is about a darker age, where magic and horror abound- where the environment is often the deadliest enemy- but certainly not the only one to be wary of.
The Blade Itself is very much a setup book. If you've read or watched GoT then you'll be forgiven for finding the plot a little tired; a war between kingdoms all the while an alien threat brews in the frozen north. The real draw of this first book is the characters on offer, I felt like there was someone for everyone to latch onto, fierce barbarian warriors, spoiled nobles, and ancient magi. Personally, I loved the character of Sand Dam Glokta the tortured POW turned sadistic inquisitor. There is no shortage of backstory or mysticism either, this is a fully fleshed-out world and I'm excited to see how all these characters will choose to play in this exquisite sandbox.
The real charm is in the dialogue and its presentation. The Blade Itself reads like multiple hours of carefully crafted television, particularly in ensemble passages where the conversation is so natural that it could be confused for a transcript. In my imagination, I was watching an entire season of TV produced by HBO, and that feeling only gets stronger as the story progresses and more and more of our characters gather in the same physical locations. Switching between print and audiobook only made this quirk of the narrative even more obvious, I absolutely ruined a pot of rice while listening to a confrontation between the magus Bayaz and Glokta because the mental scene was so captivating.
I usually hate setup stories but this book is something a little more. The text demands quite a bit of your attention but there is definitely a payoff. I don't think I've gotten to the Entrée of the series but this appetizer holds its own.
Absolutely fantastic book. Some of my favorite character development I've read since Robin Hobb! I can see why someone would have a hard time with this book. This one is definitely a slow burn but it's not boring to me in the slightest. Jezal has become my favorite character. I'm not sure how to feel about Glokta or Logen as of yet but they're still a blast to read about. On to the next!
I absolutely loved all of the characters. I didn't agree with their decisions but I loved reading about them. The only reason why this wasn't full 5 stars is because I found the plot and the magic system to be a bit under-explained. Some things just seemed to happen at the end of the book without much questioning from the characters.
10/10
Absolute perfection, only amplified by the narrator of the audio book!
Gloktas point of view is one of my favorite POVs of any that I have ever read. The characters are so different and provide different views on the same events in a refreshing way. You can easily identify if what you, as a reader, are told is a characters opinion or fact. This is probably because multiple characters give their thoughts on the same events within short amounts of time.
Looking forward to the next one and adding this to the list of audio books I will re-listen when I don't want something new.
This was just not for me. When people tell you it's character driven, believe them. NOTHING happens in this book.
More a 4.75 than a 4 but I also don't want to give it 5 stars.
Loved it, and I'm not stopping to read anything else until I've finished the trilogy (other than book club picks of course).
Without spoiling too much, I enjoy how much more important magic and the supernatural are in this trilogy in comparison to The Age of Madness. The lore is really cool and I appreciate it having a more front and center importance to the plot. The characters are not as diverse, and the writing is not quite as good, but this is a worthy first entry in the First Law world.
I love these books! Moooooore! I want mooooore!
This book has been advertised by the community really poorly. Fans of the series will swear up and down that it's what Grim Dark is meant to be, and that it's this extremely gritty series, that pulls no punches. While yes, I agree that it has some heavy hitting moments, this is by no means the darkest book I've read, nor does it really feel particularly Grim Dark.
And this is to the books benefit in my opinion. I can't imagine a change that would have made the book better for me, however, for some readers, the lack of momentum on the plot will be massive turnoff that will be difficult to get over. This book is all about the character work, and it shines. The Blade Itself has some of the most well realized characters that I've ever read in fantasy, with Abercrombie deftly turning them on their heads regularly, completely shifting your perspective on them, without it ever feeling like a betrayal of the character that we'd seen up until this point.
I'd give a basic synopsis of the plot, but there isn't really much to talk about that isn't in the blurb on the back of the book. Most books will move past the blurb, but TBI doesn't until the last two or three chapters. And again, for a lot of people, this will be crippling for their enjoyment of the story.
I've been told this improves by the end of the series, which is good, since a full trilogy with that slow of a story would have been an issue for me. But this book feels like an extended prologue, that wants to spend it's time establishing the characters so that when the shit hits the fan, you already know who's who.
The writing is stellar, the prose rarely does anything too special, but the dry wit that's regularly on display is excellent. There were multiple jokes that had me needing to put the book down while I waited for a laughing fit to subside. On top of that, every single PoV character has a distinct voice that separates them from the other members of the sizable cast. By the end of the book, you'll have been in the head of 6 different characters.
On top of that, Abercrombie's choice of character for certain events is pristine. He'll show you an event from the PoV of a character that you weren't expecting to see it from, and in doing so, will elevate the event above what it otherwise would have been. A prime example of this is when a character is trying to gain access to a city, and you would have expected to see it from that character's PoV, but instead, it's delivered from another characters view, allowing you to see the reasonable doubt they display about these newcomers, while also enhancing a side character in the eyes of the reader.
Overall, I'm gonna rate the book a solid 4.5/5. I'd like to see more progress made in the story in future installments, and if Abercrombie keeps the same quality of character writing while delivering on that, they'll likely land a full 5 stars, because this book was fantastic.
Se me habia olvidado actualizar esto.
La narrativa de abercrombie, la pluma del autor, un 10 de 10.
La historia un 8 de 10, se nota que es introductoria, aunque la disfruté más en esta relectura que la primera vez. Sand dan glokta, increíble lo bien armado que está ese personaje.
Ik heb het grootste deel van dit boek gelezen, terwijl ik tegelijkertijd ook naar het audioboek luisterde. Dat laatste droeg absoluut bij aan de ervaring, want de verteller was absoluut geniaal met de stemmen die hij gebruikte.
Grimmige en donkere Fantasy is meestal niet het type Fantasy-boek waar ik me toe aangetrokken voel. Ja, ik hou van een epische strijd, maar ik schrik meestal terug voor scènes die te beschrijvend zijn in hun wreedheden en bloederigheid, en aan het eind van de dag geef ik de voorkeur aan hoopvolle verhalen.
Dus ik was toch wel een beetje ongerust om aan dit boek te beginnen, aangezien dit zogezegd HET affichekind is voor epische, grimmige donkere fantasie. Tegelijkertijd was ik echt nieuwsgierig, omdat zoveel mensen lijken te dwepen met deze serie en auteur. Dit was ook de reden waarom ik in 2021 de boxset voor de eerste trilogie op de kop tikte, maar tot nu toe had ik nog niet de juiste mindset gevonden om erin te duiken. Deelnemen aan Catch-up Bookclub's #firstlawalong is daarom de perfecte gelegenheid om te zien hoe ik zo'n gruizig, duister boek als dit zou ervaren.
“Once you've got a task to do, it's better to do it than live with the fear of it.”
En zie, ik heb dit boek echt verslonden! Vooral ook dankzij het audioboek, dat ik niet sterk genoeg kan aanbevelen!
Ook al is dit boek inderdaad duisterder en gruwelijker dan waar ik normaal de voorkeur aan geef en waren er een paar scènes die me deden walgen, het was ook verrassend grappig en soms zelfs luchtig.
Dit eerste boek leest vooral als een introductie en een kennismaking met de personages.
Het tempo is traag en de wereld is niet zo gemakkelijk te ontwaren, aangezien we er alleen over leren vanuit het perspectief van personages die de wereld al kennen en het dus niet nodig achten om in details te treden. Het is ook een van de weinige Fantasy die ik heb gelezen die niet met een kaart komt, dus daar kon ik ook niet op terugvallen. Maar over het algemeen stoorde het me niet echt, vooral omdat ik het leuk vond om deze nieuwe personages te leren kennen.
En oh boy, wat een karakters waren dat!
Ik ben zowel verbijsterd als ontsteld over hoe deze auteur me laat sympathiseren met zo'n cast van onaangename en ernstig gebrekkige personages. De meesten zijn zelfs ronduit smeerlappen, en toch vond ik het leuk om vanuit hun perspectief te lezen.
Opmerkelijk is ook hoe de auteur elk personage zo'n eigen stem weet te geven, dat ik er vaak niet aan hoefde te worden herinnerd in wiens hoofd ik zat, maar dat vooral kon opmaken uit de manier waarop het geschreven was.
“It's hard to stay calm when you're terrified, helpless, alone, at the mercy of men with no mercy at all. Who could know that better than me?”
Zoals blijkbaar iedereen die dit boek las, was ik helemaal weg van Glokta, die een folteraar is en erg goed in zijn werk, dus het verbaasde me dat ik zo'n personage leuk vind. Maar ik kon het niet helpen medeleven met hem te voelen. Ook zijn zijn innerlijke monologen zo zo grappig en ik zal trappen nooit op dezelfde manier bekijken.
Daarnaast is de keuze voor Glokta als hoofdperspectief erg interessant en iets wat ik nog niet eerder had gelezen. We lezen vooral over de helden die gedijen en overleven of die op tragische wijze sterven in de strijd. We lezen niet vaak van gedesillusioneerde soldaten, die voorheen als succesvol en knap werden beschouwd, maar die nu volledig zijn veranderd ten opzichte van hun oude zelf.
Dus, was mijn eerste officiële kennismaking met het Grim Dark-genre een succes? Ik zou zeggen van wel, ja.
Hoewel ik nog niet veel over het verhaal kan zeggen, sta ik wel te popelen om door te gaan met de serie om te zien waar het heen gaat en vooral om te zien wat er gebeurt met deze nieuwe personages waarvan ik haat te houden en van houd om te haten!
Amazing. Nothing really happens; but, the character development is second to none. It's obviously a book building up to a an intricately described cast and world and does a fantastic job at it.