From the Bookshelf of The Sword and Laser…

The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1)

Joe Abercrombie

Start date: June 14, 2010

Finish date: July 8, 2010

Discussion: 2010 Reads

Why we're reading this: Our extra pick for the month! Read it if you hate zombies.
[close] Our extra pick for the month! Read it if you hate zombies.

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2010 Reads

WWZ: Favourite characters in zombie Movies and T.V. shows
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last updated Sep 21, 2015 12:11PM

SFU: Architectural concepts in Science Fiction
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last updated Sep 02, 2015 08:18PM

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What Members Thought

Mar 15, 2011 Eric rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

I am subtracting a star from my review solely because the book ends on a cliffhanger -- no, it would be closer to say it ends at a beginning.

The fellowship of characters that Bayaz and his apprentice bring together -- Logen, Jezal, Ferro, and Brother Longfoot -- isn't successfully accomplished until the final chapters, and they don't leave for their epic quest "to the edge of the world" until the book closes. So this book functions as a 500-page character study, or prequel, for the reader to fa ...more

12 likes · Like · see review

Jul 03, 2010 Tom Merritt rated it really liked it

I definitely see hints of George r r Martin in this book. The world is vast and sprawling and we know we're only seeing a hint of the whole story. I was compelled to get the next book he second I finished this. I'm also quite entertained by the paralell universe aspect. Angland in the north being the most obvious. It's certainly not Earth but the place names and situations have a nice distant familiarity without being straight parody. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Sep 01, 2020 Karl Smithe rated it really liked it

I am not a fantasy fan. I like Lois Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga and read the entire series. I have tried her fantasy but only finished 2 books without enthusiasm. Got half way through a third.

This book has faster and more interesting action in the process of weaving three threads together. Still prefer SF but this is a good fantasy. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 05, 2010 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy, read2010, sword-and-laser

A fast-paced adventure fantasy book. Not really my style, but the characters were interesting and likable. The first in a series.

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Mar 23, 2011 Brittany rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

I started this book because it had sterling reviews. Two chapters in, I wondered why I was even bothering. It was grimly violent. Not gratuitously so--it's a tale of very violent times, and there were certainly enough of those in straight Earth history to justify some in historical fantasy as well. And it was more steeped in the threat of gruesome violence than overly gory. But it was very hard to read, and I didn't like any of the characters, nor was I interested in them.

I stuck with it for two ...more

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Aug 23, 2011 Chris rated it really liked it

Shelves: banking

This is a review of the audio version [22h 18m].

The Blade Itself introduces Logen Ninefingers, barbarian; Sand dan Glokta, torturer; and Jezal dan Luthar, fop, as they meet up and get down to business in a violent and brutal world. These books had been recommended to me by several people, but I had a hard time starting the trilogy since I did not want to go anywhere near a torturer character. Once I got into the first book, I loved it. Glokta is well fleshed-out with specific reasons for his act ...more

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