The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie – Review

Published: September 8, 2015 (Reprint)

Publisher: Orbit Books

Series: The First Law Trilogy #1

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 560 (Paperback)

My Rating: 4.5/5.0

 

Synopsis:

The first novel in the First Law Trilogy and debut novel from New York Times bestseller, Joe Abercrombie.

Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he’s on the verge of becoming a dead barbarian — leaving nothing behind him but bad songs, 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 at 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 friendship. 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.

Enter the wizard, Bayaz. A bald old man with a terrible temper and a pathetic assistant, he could be the First of the Magi, he could be a spectacular fraud, but whatever he is, he’s about to make the lives of Logen, Jezal, and Glokta a whole lot more difficult.

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.

Unpredictable, compelling, wickedly funny, and packed with unforgettable characters, The Blade Itself is noir fantasy with a real cutting edge.

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Though technically a re-read, I remembered so little of the events of The Blade Itself that it may as well have been a brand new to me book. I remember major character names but that was literally it. I also enjoyed it much more than I did the first time around according to my previous Goodreads rating (from my early college days!), so much so that I’ve already decided to continue on and finish the series which I didn’t do the first time around. In a way, I’m glad I waited this long to read the whole series because I think I’m able to appreciate Abercrombie’s writing skills much more due to the vast quantity of other fantasy books I’ve read since then.

The Blade Itself goes from 0-60 in about 3 pages. Logen Ninefingers and his companions are leaving the North after being exiled by the new king Bethod and they’re set upon by Flatheads, which are piggish, primitive creatures that really like to kill stuff. Logen falls off a cliff, leaves the North, and meets up with Bayaz, First of the Magi. Logen is not our only POV in this book, but we must look to Adua for most of the others. Jezal dan Luthar is a spoiled noble’s son who’s training for a dueling contest so he can become a “somebody”. Lucky for him he gets better with age like a fine cheese because he’s a right little prick starting out. Sand dan Glokta is an Inquisitor (torturer) who himself suffered at the hands of Gurkish torturers years before. He used to be a handsome, talented young man filled with confidence and now he’s crippled, ugly, and full of loathing for himself and everything around him. Surprisingly enough he’s a consistently interesting POV and I didn’t hate him! Major West is our other POV in Adua and he’s a former friend of Glokta’s and currently training partner of Luthar. He’s a commoner who, through good merit, has risen far higher than anyone expected through the ranks and he remains well respected by his men. Our last main POV is Ferro, a half-demon girl escaping Gurkish captivity so that she might try to murder their king. She’s a hateful creature, though her hatred is directed somewhat by the magi that helped her escape.

The story is quite interesting and ultimately culminates in our characters converging in Adua. There are many subplots, like Glokta’s investigations into the Mercer’s guild, Logen’s travels with Bayaz and his assistant, Farro’s journey from Gurkhul to Adua, and so forth. I particularly like the parts where Jezal and Ardi West begin to interact. Jezal’s inner monologues are particularly hilarious because he can’t decide if he’s in love with her or what. Glokta’s inner monologues are a bit darker, though at times no less hilarious. He’s sarcastic and judgmental, so combined with his misery it’s rather amusing.

Overall, I thought this was a pretty great story and a great way to wrap up 2018’s reading list. Who am I kidding – I didn’t really have a list, I just read whatever looked good from my stack o’ books. As I write this, I’ve already begun the next book and can’t wait to share my thoughts on it! I would recommend reading this trilogy before A Little Hatred comes out because it sounds like there will be returning characters and I definitely read a bit of a spoiler in the synopsis for it.