The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5/5

Joe Abercrombie, the Lord of Grimdark, is a fantastic author.

I've been trying to get started in this series for quite a while now, as a fan of fantasy and grimdark alike, but it's dry beginning really took a while to stick with me. I picked it up and put it down several times over the past year, in favor of more exciting and fantastical reads that I just had to get to.

I won't lie. Reading this before/after some pretty amazing reads made it all the more challenging.

But I'm glad I finished. I'm glad I finally put everything else on hold to read The Blade Itself. It was an awesome book.

“Once you've got a task to do, it's better to do it than live with the fear of it.”

When I put this book down this morning, after devouring the last 30%, I sat and pondered on what I had just read.
The plot wasn't particularly amazing.
The setting was average, and I'd read places like it before.
The pace was slow in parts and it took a long time for things to start getting interesting.

SO why did I love the book so damn much?

Joe Abercrombie is an incredible writer of characters and dialogue.

Each character stayed true to who they were, without once faltering or finding Abercrombie's majestic hands changing them to better fit a situation. Each character was wholely unique and interesting, with flaws, strengths, personality, history, and a future you care about following.

Logen Ninefingers, my personal favorite, and I'm sure the favorite of a lot of people, had the most interesting chapters. A barbarian who knows blood, death, dirt and cruelty in a "civilized" city and completely out of his element. Every description of him by others was hilarious and had me smiling non-stop.

Sand dan Glokta, the creeping, crawling, cripple who's worst enemy is a staircase was always in pain, always complaining externally and internally about everything anyone says. It was such fantastic writing. I almost don't know how to explain it. I really hope to read more about his legendary past in the books to come.

Bayaz, the cheat, the balding, plump powerful magi who loves to bathe, walking out into the heat of probably the most intense battle in the entire book, ass naked, with bathe water dripping down his front and over his jewels... I don't think I need to explain how freaking outrageous and awesome this scene was.

Jezal dan Luther, the rich, arrogant, and popular swordsman who is incapable of living his luxurious life due to his love for a common girl, a forbidden love and one he's not sure is reciprocated. I have to say, the final duel of the tournament with Bayaz cheating for him was also hilarious.

Ferro Maljinn, the escaped slave who is as vicious as she is cunning. I don't know too much about her yet, only that her and Logen make an incredibly exciting duo.

Seriously though, These characters are just so vivid and fantastic. As a reader who is drawn to characters far more powerfully than any other device, I realized that this is why I love Joe Abercrombie. Because he creates some of the most memorable and true to themselves, flaws and all, characters that I've ever read.

I also love that he's not afraid to explode someone into a cloud of gore on the page.

"Shit" - Logen Ninefingers

The books flaws were not necessarily flaws per se. I have not a single bad thing to say about Joe Abercrombie's writing, only my own modern brain struggling to read the boring everyday stuff. It felt almost like a prologue to the series than having its own beginning, middle and end. The plot was MUCH more interesting during the second half, however. If you're impatient like me, stick to it. It's so worth it. If you're more patient then me, you probably have already finished this and rated it highly =)

Overall I give The Blade Itself a 4.5/5. It's gritty. It's funny. It's a fantastic book.
Onto the next one =)

View all my reviews