Review: The Blade Itself

Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught up in one feud too many, he's on the verge of becoming a dead barbarian, leaving nothing behind but some bad songs, a few dead friends, and a lot of happy enemies.

Nobleman, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, Captain Jezal dan Luthar has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends as cards and dreaming of glory in the fencing circle. But war is brewing, and on the battlefields of the frozen North they fight by altogether bloodier rules.

Inquisitor Glokta, cripple turned torturer, would like nothing better than to see Jezal come home in a box. But then Glokta hates everyone: cutting treason out of the Union one confession at a time leaves little room for friendships. His latest trail of corpses may lead him right to the rotten heart of government... if he can stay alive long enough to follow it.

Murderous conspiracies rise to the surface, old scores are ready to be settled, and the line between hero and villain is sharp enough to draw blood.

Finally… I read The Blade Itself, the much-hailed and critically acclaimed debut of Joe Abercrombie. I bought this one and it’s follow up “Before They Are Hanged” over a year ago. It took some time however before I could get my hands on the last book in the trilogy. The George RR Martin experience taught me not to start a series anymore before the series is actually finished. In the Netherlands the paperback edition of “Last Argument With Kings” was released just last month, so after I picked it up and had it actually sitting on my book shelve, I felt save to start the First Law Trilogy.

It certainly was worth the wait and actually I am happy I waited, because after finishing “The Blade Itself “ I know I would have been frustrated if I had to wait a year (or five) to be able to continue reading. Now I have no problem – I ‘m already well on my way in “Before They Are Hanged” and the 3rd one will follow immediately after that one. Be warned: “The Blade Itself” is not a standalone novel and if you buy it you might as well by book 2 and 3 right away.

About “The Blade Itself”: I really liked this book, almost everything about it. You have to like it just by looking at the books: beautiful cover art (the whole series) and also the booktitles: not standard and therefore intriguing – at least to me. I maybe strange that way, but if a book ‘looks ugly’ I will not buy it; even it got raving reviews.

The characters make this book shine. Not really your typical fantasy stereotypes to be found here. Also all of the characters have their own distinctive voice, which is an achievement because it's where a lot of writers fail.

We have a barbarian, but this one, Logen Ninefingers, is tired of fighting. He is a legendary warrior turned tired and somewhat philosophical. But that doesn’t mean there will not be fighting… I liked his philosophy when he accepted a sword, even though he would rather not use a sword anymore: “better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it”. You have to be realistic after all.

There is a young officer in the King’s Army, Jezal dan Luthar; who is reluctantly training for the yearly sword fighting Contest. He wants the honor and the glory, but doesn’t want to be bothered too much. He is superiorly arrogant, selfish, snobbish, lazy and should be utterly unlikable. But maybe the reader sometimes recognizes some things in his way of thinking…?

The star of this book is Sand dan Glotka, a former legendary sword fighting champion and war hero. Now he is a cripple (after having spent two years in an enemies torture chamber), who is employed by the Inquisition – so he is now a torturer himself. His constant inner dialogue is what makes this the most interesting character. “Why do I do this…?”

Then there is the old wizard Bayaz, the First of The Magi. Not your typical kind of wizard, who’s character is used to provide most of the history of the world and through who’s storyline we see most of the direction in which the books will go. This book is setting the ground for some kind of quest it seems.

Other characters that will play a role are Ferro; a savage ex slave woman from the south hell bent on revenge on her former masters and Collem West; an officer in the King’s Army and friend of Jezal, despite him being not of the same (good) blood as Jezal himself; and we have a pack of Northmen, barbarians who used to be with Logen Ninefingers.

All these characters start off with storylines of their own, but it soon becomes clear that somehow somewhere their paths will cross.

I also liked the world itself. Not really the standard medieval setting, something similar but ‘fresh’. I liked the humorous references to standard fantasy: the barbarian and the wizard with his apprentice going to a prop shop to buy costumes before an audience with the King to really look like… a barbarian, a wizard and an apprentice. Or Ardee who is reading a history book (in three volumes..) about wizards and knights and swords; about magic, romance and violence – and calls it ‘utter shit’. Funny stuff, just read it to appreciate it.

The political intrigue is there and it’s well done. There’s a puppet king with a useless heir; the Kingdom is really ruled by the Closed Council, consisting of different figures vying for power.

One thing I didn’t like: there’s no map. Abercrombie seems to have his reasons for not including a map but whatever these reasons are: I just like a map in a book like this. I want to know where the characters are in relation to each other; especially when they are on the move (like they will be in the 2nd book.) An argument seems to be that it is better if the reader uses his own fantasy and creates a map of the world in his own head or else the readers imagination is restricted or something. Hmmm. I just disagree. This is my only complaint however and it doesn’t stop me warmly recommending this book to anyone who likes their epic fantasy with an edge.

Conclusion: this is epic fantasy with a twist. Hard edged, not for the faint of heart because of the explicit violence and swearing, with some clever humor; this is a character and dialogue driven book that is clearly laying the ground works for something bigger. A good, fast and enjoyable read that will make you want to jump in its sequel “Before They Are Hanged” right away!

8,5 / 10