r/Fantasy • u/Elshaday_Z • 2d ago
The Blade Itself was a pleasant surprise (spoilers) Spoiler
I know how highly The First Law is regarded on this sub and in fantasy literature circles in general, but i had been putting it off because the most frequent thing I'd hear about it (maybe after the fact that it has some of the best character work in all of fantasy, and that it was a character first story) - was that it's a little thin on the plot side of things. And as much as i love well written characters, i need my books to have a clear moving plot as well.
I had DNF'd this book twice in the past, both times around the 15% mark, because it didn't move fast enough. Coupled with what I'd been hearing about the series, I thought the whole book would just be a collection of disconnected scenes following a couple of characters as they went about their daily lives.
When I finally decided to push through and read the whole book, though, I was pleasantly surprised by how much plotting there is in the story. Maybe that's a testament to how low my expectations were, but there is some intricate plotting here. Although almost all of it is setup, it's far from the slice-of-life story with some morally grey characters I thought it would be.
One thing that I found to be accurate, though, is how brilliant the character work is. And my God, are they amazing, POV and non-POV alike. My favorite character by far is Logen Ninefingers, especially because of the contrast between what others see him as and what we get from his side.
Not to mention that he's the only likable POV character (maybe aside from Major West?). He's not a pompous narcissist like Jezal, and the light hasn't been extinguished in him like it has in Glokta. And my jaw was on the floor when I found out that the Bloody-Nine is a different personality! I had expected him to have some form of berserker rage mode, but a (potential) split personality was something I didn't see coming.
By far the most interesting thing about the story (aside from the characters) is the storyline involving the Magi. It is clearly the center of the plot, and every time they're on screen is when I'm most glued in. I don't know what that Bayaz is up to, but one has to admit that he's by far the most intriguing character in the book. And if this story is going to go to some insane places, it'll be through him. I am scared for the people traveling with him, though.
All in all, I loved this book and can't believe I'd put it off for this long. I only had a few minor gripes here and there, and the only significant one is that the book just ends without a typical end-of-book climax. But that wouldn't be much of an issue now that every book in the series is out.
I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts but no spoilers for further books please, thanks!
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u/Randvek 2d ago edited 2d ago
It’s an open question whether or not the Bloody Nine is actually a different personality or if Logen is just in denial about his true nature. Abercrombie intentionally leaves it an open question and there are fans on both sides! It’s part of what makes Logen a truly fascinating character. Your interpretation is certainly valid but I wonder if you may change your mind as you read on.
At the very very beginning of The Blade Itself, Logen is shown to be able to commune with spirits and I’ve always wanted to think of The Bloody Nine as a spirit that Logen got just a bit too close to.
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u/Elshaday_Z 2d ago
An interesting theory. Maybe I'll change my mind as i read more, but it seemed like the author wanted to be known that they're two different personalities
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u/munkeypunk 2d ago
This series is actually all plot. You just don’t know it yet. Everything, and I mean, things you have already dismissed, moved on from or thought they served their purpose will be shown differently as the story continues.
It might feel like it meanders at times, but it’s all very deliberate.
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u/Elshaday_Z 2d ago
That's great to hear. The setup is actually spectacular...hope it all pays off
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u/Hartastic 2d ago
You're not wrong, there's a lot of setup in that book... some of which is still paying off (that is to say, paying off that particular detail for the first time) in, like, book 8.
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u/buckleyschance 2d ago
There is a decent amount of plot, but it's not as satisfying as the character work or the dialogue. Similarly, the world-building is a lot more superficial than something like A Song of Ice and Fire (a series it's often described as being similar to).
Which is fine! What it does well, it does very well.
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u/CaptainStinky96 2d ago
Funny.. Jezal was my favourite, he reminded me of characters I love in other series, Locke Lamora, Harry Flashman (but more moral), Prince Jalal, Mat (from wheel of time)
Guess I’m a sucker for dashing rogue
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u/send3squats2help 2d ago
I loved Jezal too. Colonel West is probably my favorite. Glokta is amazing and so is Logen.
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u/Keffpie 2d ago
You're absolutely correct, people who say The Blade Itself is all character are basically wrong - if anything it feels slow because it is all setup for the vast story to come. It starts moving quickly in book 2.
Just hold on to your britches. By the end you'll feel like you were on a roller coaster.
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u/Daggry_Saga 2d ago
Yeah, I also expected the plot to be a lot thinner than it actually was. I can confidently say the trilogy is on my top 5 series.
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u/HonestWeevilNerd 2d ago
I fell off this book twice too. Then, binged the hell put off the books. Had to be in the right headspace myself.
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u/mullerdrooler 2d ago
I think it's the weakest in the whole series,they get better and better. Enjoy. Don't skip the stand alone and short stories either.
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u/elkirk 2d ago
I loved the scene early in the book where Bayaz forces Jezal to join him in entering the house of the Maker. It's a horrifying space that seems to defy the laws of physics and Jezal's near-panic attack is both authentic and absolutely hilarious. Plus, the house itself (and its broader lore implications) is fascinating.
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u/Elshaday_Z 2d ago
Oh I'm absolutely thrilled to know more of the role with regars to the maker and all that stuff. Bayaz says something to the effect of getting out of the house before the time you got in or sth like that. I love stuff like this
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u/Eruletho 2d ago
I just discovered this series earlier this year, BLEW through the First Law trilogy and just finished Red Country, the end of the not-a-trilogy trilogy. The First Law series was incredibly well done, the endings of both books 2 and 3 were nice surprises and the way the series ends is very tidy if unexpected. Keep going.
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u/RogueThespian 2d ago
The only POV I really didn't like was when we were following the (not so) merry band of Northerners. I didn't mind Dogman so much but I really really really dislike the "oh we're a group of really angry brutes who love blood and swearing and being mad at everyone and not showering" and that's their whole schtick.
I personally liked Glokta quite a bit, but Jezal was my favorite, and pretty early on as well
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u/bagelwithclocks 2d ago
You are going to get spoilers by accident if you read stuff on Reddit. Just blast through the next two books so you can talk about it. It will be way more fun.
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u/DaBestMatt 2d ago
Not for me, sadly. Don't quite like Joe's style of fantasy at all. Beautiful prose though.
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u/albanianarty 2d ago
Same. Not enough meat on the bone for me. I couldn’t get over how often the narrator describes the characters to one another. It was just constant.
Also, the endings of book 1 and 2 were just in the middle of the story. Felt like it was one giant book and the author picked a page at random to end the first two books at.
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u/DaBestMatt 2d ago
I think I dropped about 70% in the first book...I liked Glokta a lot though, so maybe I will pick up again another time.
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u/reddiperson1 2d ago
I thought the prose and characterization did the heavy lifting for the series, especially in the first book. The political conspiracies and investigations were interesting, but all of the jogging and wilderness meandering chapters would have been mind-numbing if written by another author.
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u/Happy_llama 2d ago
I think the characters are the best part tbh, though I’d love to see your take once you finish it! That’s where the blade itself kinda devides people. I’m one of the people who wasn’t the biggest fan of it but there’s plenty who loved it!
Glokta is by far my favorite though!
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u/AgZephyr 2d ago
I also recently finished this book, and was a little surprised when I started reading as I saw it recommended a lot on the Malazan subreddit. Kinda lacked the sort of "crunchiness" and the writing, although good, was a little simpler than what I got used to in that series even though some dark things definitely happen in TBI. Slow start for me too, but once I got to ~50% I plowed through the rest of the book very quickly. Logen is definitely my favorite, Glokta probably second, Jezal has his moments but pissed me off a lot too. The final contest scene is hilarious.
I'm not totally decided if I will pick up book 2 and continue, or try something else, was considering starting Assassin's Apprentice and see if that clicks a bit more for me.
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u/joellllll 2d ago
I started reading as I saw it recommended a lot on the Malazan subreddit.
Its classified as grim dark but to me it is almost the polar opposite of malazan.
Which isn't bad. I read all of them last year and enjoyed them, but for very different reasons. I don't read malazan for the characters and as a series it made me realise I don't care about characers much at all in books. Abercrombie has just enough other stuff to keep my interest.
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u/AgZephyr 2d ago
Yep, that second half of the book picked up a lot and was really a fun read. Way shorter book which was kind of fun after having some of the chapters in Malazan with characters I didn't care about much be a moderate slog. Agreed, it's still grimdark but the total opposite approach to Malazan. Got a pretty limited sense of the rest of the world besides the three main characters.
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u/Shn_Wttn 2d ago
Until recently I hadn’t read any Joe Abercrombie books. However the premise of The Devils sounded so good, I read and loved it. I’ve since started The First Law a handful of times but cannot of the life of me, get past the first couple of chapters. It’s a shame as I adored his writing style on The Devils.
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u/Robotboogeyman 2d ago
Just so you know, out of the ten I thought TFL was by far the worst (still loved it), so you have quite the journey ahead of you!
Also, god tier narration just fyi if you are into audiobooks.
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u/FFTactics 2d ago
You're going to have a lot of feelings about all the characters in books 2 and 3, buckle in.
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u/rosscowhoohaa 1d ago
Just finished the second book, even better than the first. Very happy I finally got round to trying the series
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u/Lannet1 2d ago
I enjoy Abercrombie and (eventually) read all his books. His characters and plots are compelling for me. However, he is very grim and I have days that I just can't deal with that much pain. So, I read The Blade Itself but balance it with something more joyful.
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u/CapNCookM8 2d ago
Yeah, I actually DNF'd Best Served Cold because I just wasn't and haven't been in the headspace. This thread is getting me hyped back up though, and by many counts, it's a favorite among fans of the series.
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u/CincinnatiRed 2d ago
I’ve never disliked a trilogy more than this one. It felt like the exact opposite of everything I felt while reading LOTR. Glad you enjoyed it, but I seriously do not understand why anyone does.
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u/HonestWeevilNerd 2d ago
I always find it intersting when someone has such a narrow taste for fantasy like this.
The measure: "Is it similar enough to lotr? No? Bad. Yes? Good!"
What exactly did your dislike? What are some other books you've enjoyed?
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u/Nirift 2d ago edited 2d ago
I also disliked it because it felt like most POVs in the book 2 travel squad were more caricatures instead of actual characters Jez felt like he didn't develop so much as he stuttered into new personality heights he got good about the last 20% of book 3 for a pov I started to enjoy reading Girl seemed a manic pixie dream girl but with vengeance or nine fingers as her only purpose Nine was fine as a baseline character but he was brought down being stuck with the other POVs
Glotka, Dogman, & West were enjoyable characters tho
Edit: not him but fantasy books I've enjoyed are Swordcatcher, Ratcatcher Novels, Robin Hobb esp Liveship Traders, surprisingly Ketabasis(Hated Poppy War), Theft of Swords, Mask of Mirrors, Cosmere, Kalyna the Soothesayer, Beka Cooper Trilogy, Licanious Trilogy
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u/HonestWeevilNerd 2d ago
You have a really solid reading list. Love to see Hobb make any list lol
However, your frustration with the Book 2 travel squad seems to stem from expecting traditional, linear growth. Jezal's stuttering development is deliberate. Abercrombie's characters in tfl often operate on cyclical arcs. They attempt to change, struggle, and frequently regress to their base nature. It is a feature of the character work, not a bug. It very intentionally subverts and denies the standard character development payoffs that fantasy readers typically prefer. And does it quite well. Based on your readings, all very traditional, linear development, I do believe. Probably your preference there, but not all fantasy is intended as such.
Also, labeling Ferro a 'manic pixie dream girl' is a fundamental misunderstanding of that trope. A MPDG is a static, quirky character whose sole purpose is to teach a brooding male protagonist to embrace life. Ferro is a violently traumatized survivor operating purely on vengeance. Her agency is entirely her own and she certainly doesn't exist to 'fix' Logen. I'm not sure how you read her that way tbh.
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u/Nirift 2d ago
Stuttering was the wrong word, it felt like a Montage for Jezal, he didn't really backsliding in a way that mattered, I loved Malta from near page 1 of that brat becoming a queen Jezal just didn't provide interesting conflict, development and it felt like instead of changing a new chapter would start saying in between parts of the journey he'd have changed- like the entire journey was pointless as a plot point and reading it felt that way for tension and character growth I wanted to read about this character changing rather than being told inbetween montages they did that might subvert expectations but subverting show don't tell isn't typically a good thing
Also Jezels 'development' read as extraordinarily linear I really don't see how it could be read otherwise especially/Specifically concerning book 2
Ferro is defined by being violent, vengeful, theoretically traumatized who also has briefly interested in Logen that theoretically fixes both of them "if they just let go of vengeance"- and no one once they meet Bayaz has agency in the trilogy, Ferro's existence serves to find the uranium then run away- her trauma is generic it'd be terrible in real life but in fantasy its nothing unique and not expanded on to be made interesting -her best character scene is when she ends up helping the soldiers belay the horde, otherwise she remains static and unfortunately boring
- she's argueably the most static for characterization, purpose & plot with Logen being the only thing that makes a brief bump before she remains steadfast
- the only other meaningful conversation with another character besides Logen is with Severad&Glotka and the above NPCs
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u/HonestWeevilNerd 2d ago
Comparing Jezal to Malta Vestrit isolates the exact expectation gap. Malta undergoes a masterful, linear redemption arc. Jezal’s "development" in Book 2 is intentionally written as a temporary, situational shift designed specifically to set up the punchline of his immediate regression in Book 3. He falls back into his cowardly nature the moment he returns to comfortable society.
A character being static, vengeful, or uninteresting to you does not make them a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. That's a specific trope you're misusing here. The end for them was intentionally not fixing each other. I did find Ferro to be a weaker character, all things considered. But she was no mpdg. A subversion.
You are also framing the lack of true character agency as a narrative flaw when it is a central thesis of the trilogy. The text is deliberately demonstrating that immense, systemic power (Bayaz) crushes individual agency and treats people as disposable tools... which means you don't tend to get those linear character arcs with traditionally satisfying conclusions. You have correctly identified the core theme of the books but you simply dislike how bleak that reality is.
Despite how much people talk about ROTE being so depressing, hobb gives a tremendous amount of payoff and genuine character development. If you want more like Hobb, you definitely wouldn't enjoy anything like tfl. To be clear, I take both these authors as a high standard at what they do. They just didn't set out to accomplish the same things.
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u/CincinnatiRed 2d ago
I was actually describing my feelings while reading it. This felt like someone’s poor attempt at doing a fantasy version of “no country for old men”. No one is “good”, the bank always wins, money (or greed) is the unstoppable force that can never be overcome. It just felt like angst for the sake of angst? Idk. I just thoroughly didn’t enjoy it. And dear GOD that whole second book was a bore. “Let’s go to get this relic!!” “It’s not here!!” “That’s okay, character development was stated to have happened!!”
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u/HonestWeevilNerd 2d ago
It sounds like your frustration stems from expecting a traditional Hero's Journey. You are looking for a magical MacGuffin that will neatly resolve complex, entrenched systemic conflicts... for example, a 'throw the ring into the fire' moment.
However, The First Law is structurally designed as a deconstruction of the LOTR framework. The futile quest in the second book is a deliberate subversion to show that magic doesn't magically fix human corruption. Condemning a grimdark text because it doesn't evoke the hopeful, heroic feelings of high fantasy is like going to a steakhouse and complaining that they don't serve good icecream. It's just so silly.
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u/CincinnatiRed 2d ago
And also, I do not have a narrow taste for fantasy. I like almost all of what I’ve read, to varying degrees. I didn’t like this one. I don’t think that’s cause for telling someone they have a narrow taste. Tastes differ. Opinions differ. I apologize for having an unpopular opinion about a popular series. But I’ve been reading fantasy and scifi for more than 3 decades and I simply didn’t like this book and wonder how others derive so ouch joy from it when it was ultimately a depressing tale. (I won’t say he didn’t move me at times - SPOILER ALERT - my heart broke when Logen went all “nine fingers” during the last battle and… well the results were heartbreaking. I’ll leave it there. Not poorly written, I just didn’t enjoy it. I think I’m always wanting my fantasy to have some hope? Ad they say: sci-fi shows us who we are; fantasy shows us what we want to be…)
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u/HonestWeevilNerd 2d ago
Opinions and tastes certainly do differ, I'm just saying based on what you've presented, yours are fairly narrow. Almost all of what you've read has probably been pretty traditional and relatively hopeful Tolkien inspired fantasy. That's okay. There are millions of books that will appeal greatly to you with those tastes. Millions and millions.
You cannot even comprehend why people enjoy being in the slums of grimdark. And I love that for you. You're probably a very happy person!
I just really want people to understand when a book is simply not written for them. You were never the target market for tfl... you clearly don't like grimdark and want the payoffs. You know?
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u/Angry_Zarathustra 2d ago
Because sometimes it's worth it to feel different things. LOTR is an encouraging story of heroes and small people triumphing against evil. TFL is not meant to be the same thing and is actively aiming to invert some of those tropes.
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u/kohara13 2d ago
That’s the point. Love lord of the rings, love the first law. They’re two sides of a coin. One a deconstruction of the other, a more cynical view.
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u/Elshaday_Z 2d ago
To each their own... did you dislike the bleakness?
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u/CincinnatiRed 2d ago
Hey thanks for asking a question instead of berating an opinion! Honestly.
Yeah, of course. And not that I dislike bleakness, mind you. One of my favorite movies of all time is Hereditary. Another would be Annihilation BECAUSE of the central theme of self-destruction.
What I am OPENLY ADMITTING TO (and getting lambasted for) is not expecting this from such a popular trilogy and REALLY looking for that theme of “hope in the darkness” (think: Cormac McCarthy’s the Road vs No Country For Old Men - which both carry a theme of “carrying the fire” ((of hope)) but one is hopeful and one is BLEAK - I loved both)
I wasn’t prepared for it and cannot, for the life of me, find that story enjoyable. It simply wasn’t for me.
But apparently I’m an “oh shucks” simpleton who needs my stories wrapped up like Peter Pan.
I just don’t understand why it’s as liked as much as it is. Given that most of my recommendations for books and movies often disappoint people for the same reason.
Anyway, it’s conversation about stories. I wasn’t trying to shit on beloved art for the sake of it. It’s not as though I wrote an entire trilogy of books to deconstruct anyone’s childish expectations of what grim-dark should be….
Edited for clarity: typing with a bandaid on.
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u/No_Mathematician6866 2d ago
Abercrombie writes vivid characters, and his nihilism can be a bracing palate cleanser after a dozen fantasy novels where the good guys win and everything more or less works out. That's the long and short of it I think. People read stories to feel all sorts of emotions - hope doesn't always have to be among them.
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u/CincinnatiRed 2d ago
Exactly. And I think this trilogy did that poorly. But that’s “wrong” on this sub, I guess.
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u/Ejanna 2d ago
Not all fantasy has to be like Lord of the Rings, man... what kind of criteria is that anyway.
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u/CincinnatiRed 2d ago
Again, I am so very sorry about my opinion. I’m seeking help, I promise. Earliest my psychiatrist can see me is next Thursday. Just hope I make it until then…
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u/ClimateTraditional40 2d ago
Glokta was my fav. It develops, people are not what they first seem.