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A Goodreads user asked this question about The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1):
I read the first 30 pages and I can't get myself to go further. I feel like the writing and grammar is too clunky and not very fluid. It almost feels like you are trotting on a horse that never gets to a gallop. Does the grammar and writing style in the book improve or should I just read something else?
Barry I'm having difficulty reading this book...

50% of the way through and I've never seen so much anger and condescension from characters. There never see…moreI'm having difficulty reading this book...

50% of the way through and I've never seen so much anger and condescension from characters. There never seems to be any sincere happiness peppered in for the reader (I want to feel good every once in awhile.. sue me). The humor is almost always pure sarcasm or just plain bland. The grammar is absolutely clunky (sometimes sentences just seem to end) and I can only hope that the eye rolling repetition in his writing is some sort of plot contrivance that will eventually link the characters together because I get the sense that they aren't Logen, Jezal, Ferro, or Glotka... Instead it reads like Northman Joe Abercrombie, Spoiled Royalty Joe Abercrombie, Angry Chick Joe Abercrombie, and Crippled Torturer Joe Abercrobmie... One voice attached to different circumstances. The story itself has potential, but so far one of the worst books I've ever read :-/(less)
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The Blade Itself
by Joe Abercrombie
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