Truly outstanding trilogy
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A fantastically engrossing 1st book of what is a brilliant trilogy. I should point out no book I have ever read has made me feel like writing an online review, however given it was other reviews that tempted me to read this book I felt it was the least I could do to give it my ringing endorsement.
I would also like to stress fantasy is not usually my genre (with the exception of the dark materials trilogy) however these books drew me in effortlessly with fantastic characterisation and some delightfully twisted black homour.
In short buy this book and then look forward to enjoying the other two even more as the story crescendos.
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Nothing really new. Not much Fantasy
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I didn't really find that the story came to any conclusion, meaning that it was written with a trilogy in mind (which is given away in the titel - Book 1). I don't think any book should be written as such, because the seperate parts feel inconclusive.
There wasn't much in the way of fantasy either. Small, set pieces were thrown in here and there, but the plot was lacking and I won't be reading the rest of the trilogy.
The torture was the most enjoyable part of the book with some good bits of humor thrown in here and there. The fencing was just downright boring
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Exciting contemporary fantasy with real cutting edge
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Fantasy is a much maligned genre , yet it has given us a slew of hugely gifted writers. George RR Martin, Robin Hobb, Steven Erikson, Clive Barker, China Mieville to name some of the top of my shiny bonce. There is a new name to add to that list. Joe Abercrombie is a freelance film editor but on the evidence of The Blade Itself he has a new career as a writer . This is terrific stuff.
The best fantasy writers all create wonderful characters( You could argue any good writer has to do this what ever the genre but I feel fantasy for some reason lends itself to vivid but multi-layered characterisations) and this novel has several.
There is the Northern barbarian Logen Nine fingers -"The Bloody Nine"- a prodigious fighter separated from his band of men after yet another battle. He is also possessed of dry intelligence with the wry self awareness to realise that his monumental reputation will bring him nothing but constant strife .
There is Inquisitor Glotka, a former soldier for The Union -which encompasses the land between the inhospitable frozen North and the steamy exotic South who has been left a cripple after spending two years as a guest of the Gurkish , one of the Unions numerous enemies. He is now a torturer for the State , wracked by pain from his physical deformities and constantly undergoing a sardonic internal dialogue .
Then there is the aristocratic Jezal dan Luther , would be fencing champion and the archetypal preening arrogant toff. He treats his fiends with barely concealed disdain and his superior officer the proud grounded Colonel West much the same as he is a commoner and not deserving of his rank ...despite his exceptional war record.
Byaz is the leader of the Magi and is a pompous fulminating presence .He is also an extraordinarily powerful magician and is a witty orator when he has to be .
All of these characters are unalterably drawn together as war approaches the Union on twin fronts. The barbarian hordes are being united by Bethod, a former friend of Logen Ninefingers while in the South the Gurkish hordes are amassing ready to take back some of the territory they lost to the Union. Byaz is talking of dark portents and the end of things.
As this is the first of a trilogy The Blade Itself has to do a lot of scene setting which can be a dull interlude before the real narrative takes hold. Happily and most entertainingly Abercrombie is the type of writer who can really make dialogue fizz ,He also has a highly modernistic irreverent approach to fantasy with lots of profanity , which no doubt will alienate fans of classic fantasy , and plenty of gory action sequences.
As if all this isn't enough there is also a wonderful array of supporting characters including Ferro from the southern state of Diljiin the , a former Gurkish slave girl whose experiences mean she absolutely loathes everybody and has a pathological mistrust of even those trying to help her. There are Ninefingers former compadre,s including Dogface and Threetrees and Quai , Byaz,s geeky apprentice.
At the books conclusion it's all set up splendidly for the next instalment and I was salivating at the prospect of finding where that takes us. While The Blade Itself doesn't have the deep political intrigue of works by Robin Hobb or George RR Martin and indeed doesn't conjure up it's world quite as vividly, for which the lack of a map is a surprising oversight, it's still well written and about as compelling as fiction gets...fantasy or otherwise.
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Modern Fantasy Fiction at its Best
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Fantasy trilogies are a difficult thing to pull off. You have to set up the character, introduce a whole new world, make it compelling - all in the shadow of Tolkien's `Lord of the Rings'. With `The Blade Itself' Joe Abercrombie has started what could potentially be a modern fantasy masterpiece. Set in a similar world to Tolkien's, and many other fantasy books, Abercrombie fills it with sentimentalities more attune to our modern world than that of fiction. With a selection of excellent characters we explore the in-depth world that Abercrombie has created never seeing good and evil, but shades of darkest grey.
With only sporadic moments of action and little actual events occurring `The Blade Itself' works as a wonderful introduction. By the end you are friends (or enemies) with several characters and you feel you know their deepest desires. I can not wait to read the next book in the series as it has the potential to move the story and characters onto an even higher level. I recommend this to any fantasy fan - but also to lovers of good fiction.
Sammy recommendation
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Fantastic Read
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I'll keep it brief. I found it a little hard going (slow) to start with, but once the scene setting is done and the story gets going, its a great read - hard to put the book down. Very gory and graphic in parts, also lots of humour througout. Recommended!
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