false 944073 12 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. <P>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. <P>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. <P>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 Glotka a whole lot more difficult. <P>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. 929009 book 2006 The Blade Itself (The First Law: Book One) total:1262|5:468|4:566|3:178|2:36|1:14| 1262 5224 2144 265 4 9 false false Sun Mar 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Feb 16 15:41:28 -0800 2009 Mon Jun 08 15:52:34 -0700 2009 1 ...more...]]> 5 12 false false Mon May 12 16:43:18 -0700 2008 Mon May 12 17:56:52 -0700 2008 Raymond Chandler famously said that if an author mentions a gun, it had better go off at some point. The same goes for fantasy writers. Fantasy doesn't need to be all blood and whirling blades, but if a fantasy writer straps a broadsword to a character's side, it had better be drawn in anger, at som...more...]]> 5 3 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu May 24 06:31:05 -0700 2007 Sun Dec 02 22:32:11 -0800 2007 Kriegsklingen

This is the story of Logen Ninefinger a warrior of the north, Inquisitor Sand dan Glokta a former brilliant young swordsman now a torturer, Captain Jezal dan Luthar a vain and self-obsessed nobleman, Bayaz the first of the Magi, Bethod King of the North...more...]]> 4 2 false false Sat Aug 09 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 09 11:51:08 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 09 07:41:44 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue Mar 25 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 08 19:27:22 -0800 2008 Tue Mar 25 21:09:00 -0700 2008
But...

I found the book very engaging and even though I don't like any of the people I found myself draw...more...]]> 3 2 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jan 30 13:21:02 -0800 2008 Mon Apr 21 20:17:49 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun May 11 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon May 05 10:46:25 -0700 2008 Mon May 12 09:13:17 -0700 2008
Of course, the danger in such a book is that you wind up with utterly unlikable characters and no one to root for. Afterall, you may not...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Mon Nov 05 05:57:59 -0800 2007 Mon Nov 05 06:01:01 -0800 2007
At first glance, the book has a similarity to many other fantasies currently doing the rounds. The book has been sold as ‘gritty heroic fantasy’, though there are subtle differences enough here to make it better than a run of ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Jan 21 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 07 12:09:47 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 28 10:20:42 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Mar 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 04 21:22:50 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 04 21:33:23 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Jun 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 21 20:12:27 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 21 21:41:04 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jun 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 14:23:17 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 14:23:20 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false true Fri Jul 10 16:40:34 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 11 19:53:59 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 1 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 23 14:04:03 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 04 10:24:09 -0700 2007 The Lies of Locke Lamora, Scar Night, and His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire, Book 1)...more...]]> 4 2 false false Thu Sep 10 10:21:26 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 13 13:57:02 -0700 2009
That said, this book is a different type of fantasy. There's magic, there's lots of violence, no...more...]]> 4 2 false false Sun Aug 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 03 11:14:50 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 10 10:04:13 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Feb 12 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 19 20:12:11 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 19 20:14:55 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Wed Jan 28 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 22:58:59 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 28 09:09:59 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jun 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 09 11:50:17 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 23 18:45:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Mar 31 06:56:52 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 31 06:57:02 -0700 2009 more...]]>