The Not a Book Club Club discussion
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The Blade Itself
Joe Abercrombie
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TBI - Section 1: The End - First of the Magi
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Mod
I find it interesting that Logan can talk to spirits. I wonder if that's an ability he has, or if it's to do with whatever he was smoking.
I'm also curious to find out more about the Contest.
I think he calls them by offering them a drink - ie blowing his alcohol into the flames.
Mod
Hmm. I must have missed that. I found it interesting how he breaths in the fire spirit and ends up using it on one of the bandits.
Mod
Logan is an interesting character. Based on what little we know, I suspect he was a lot less likable in his youth.
Impressive that a tired, injured, and hungry Logan pretty easily dispatches 4 armed bandits. He seemed to have no remorse for killing the young boy.
Bayaz is interesting too. He does seem to have that temper that his apprentice mentioned to Logan. He has a humble look to him, but looks to not suffer fools.
I'm eager to learn more about the Magi.
Mod
Major West used to be his friend, and he seems to be a good man.
Glokta was certainly well known for his swordsmanship too. He was apparently better than West, who won his commission largely due to his skill with a blade.
I'm curious to find out who imprisoned him and why. It sounds like Major West had cautioned him against whatever lead to it though.
Oh and I really like Major West's sister so far! Sadly she's been the only female of note through 100 pages.
Since I've already read book 1 & 2, I won't add any spoilers but.. I came to the conclusion that Glotka was my second favorite character after Logan.This is a great series, and I kind of envy you guys getting into it for the first time.
Mod
This is a great series, and I kind of envy you..."
I am enjoying his internal dialogue.
I'm really liking Logen's storyline, especially now that he has met up with The First Magi. He's not what I expected at all - should be some fun. Can't say I think much of the magi's apprentice! I didn't enjoy the Glokta storyline as much, but as we get to know him better I'm guessing he is a decent person turned bitter and cruel by his experience and pain, so there might be some hope for him. Especially liked his meeting with West's sister.
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Did I miss something or is there virtually no description of what characters physically look like? Besides Glokta and his crew.
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Hmm. You know, I'm not very sure. I'm AWFUL at remembering descriptions of people. I know a lot of people visualize the story in their heads, but that's never been me. I'm not really sure how it works.
Now you've got me curious to go back and look. I would think there would be at least some description.
I do know in some of my reading last night in the 3rd section as people have been meeting/seeing Logen, there has been description of him.
From Jezal's first pov when he describes the other officers he plays cards with I only got that Kapsa has a sandy beard and Jelanhorm is big. No physical description is given of West, Blint or Jezal himself. During the chapter The End Logan's enemy the Shanka gets no description either besides being referred to as a flathead whatever that means.
I'm not that big on visualizing the story in my head either but I like to have a general idea of what people look like.
Mod
From what I can tell it seems to be a racial slur towards the Shanka people.
I don't think the Shanka are people as Logen keeps referring to the one that attacks him as "it." So I think Flathead means they have flat heads compared to humans. And they bite.
Mod
Ah OK. Shows what I know :)
Rob wrote: "David Sven wrote: "I don't think the Shanka are people as Logen keeps referring to the one that attacks him as "it." So I think Flathead means they have flat heads compared to humans. And they bite..."Ok that makes more sense. Also could use a map i'm not very good at placing locations in my head.
Thanks David, looked this up earlier along with some character art.
Mod
I've always found it interesting that Glotka is so popular. You would expect him to be the least likable, considering his occupation.That said, he's my second favorite after Logan.
Alex wrote: "I do have a question about the writing style though. Is it meant to be funny?"Yes, but I wouldn't call it a comedy so much. Abercrombie keeps everything real by taking the piss out of his characters and with his perspective on what it means to be a hero or badass. If you are an uber badass, it probably also means you are a murdering bastard. Just because you extract teeth and break bones for a living doesn't automatically mean you are sadist. You may just be a dentist, or a doctor, or a hard working torturer.
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rofl
I just don't see Glotka as evil. Just a man who has been through a lot and is good at his job. There's even some indication that he doesn't really like what he has become.And yes.. I've become a fan of grimdark.
Mod
So far, I really love Logen. He seems like a badass guy who wants to just settle down and chill out somewhere. He doesn't seem to be motivated by revenge for what happened to his family, more like avoiding trouble and move on. I love him. Perhaps it's my want-to-help-the-wounded-nature.Glokta... he's interesting and occasionally funny, but he complains and mutters too much. I don't like negative people. I think some of this dislike comes from the visual finger chopping scene. I always visualize what I read in my head, and that kind of stuff always makes me hurt. I imagine what it feels like and so on, and no one likes getting limbs chopped off.
I like Jezal, although he does seem like an ass. I'm thinking he will mature as we read on.
I was surprised that I liked all three main characters. Normally I have protagonists I like more or less, but all three are interesting.Jezal is my favourite at the moment. It's very entertaining to read about his thoughts about women, his comrades and how the world is against him. I guess some of those thoughts happened to me aswell, when I was younger, so I have still hope for him to improve.
Glokta's thoughts are really entertaining aswell. But what I like most about him is that we get to see his struggles with him being crippled. I had a slipped disc, when I was 20 and my back issues occassionally revisit me from time to time so I know the feeling of having to face stairs.
And I like that this is an issue in every chapter. Abercrombie doesn't show it only once for shock effect and gets on with his story. He constantly shows us Glokta's struggles. I like that.
With Logen I like that he seems to be finished with all of his struggles, but seems to keep going on and on, without really knowing why.
And I agree, the ability to talk to spirits seems very intriguing.
All in all, a good start on the character front. The plot is a bit on the back burner in the beginning, but that is okay for now.
Mod
There certainly is a lot of room for growth there. If he can just get over himself.
I really like Jezal the way he is, but he could improve by maturing and getting over himself. I really hope he does mature, but that he will keep his fiery spark.
Mod
That makes one of us. :)
Rob you need to have a heart for Jezal! He is old blood. It's not his fault that he is better than us.^^
Mod
I grit my teeth every time Jezal starts to talk. Such an ass. Glotka is a better man than Jezal.
What I find rather enjoyable is that 50% of his dialogue just seems to be "Er...".He has a lot of weird thoughts, but isn't really able to express them.
I'm liking this so far. My favorite character thus far is Glokta because he's so interesting. He says interesting things and thinks even more interesting things. There is also lots of depth there...what happened to him when he was tortured? Is he as cruel as he seems? Is he the bad guy he seems?Logan is cool. I like the fighting he's done so far. Abercrombie definitely has some gritty stuff going in this book. I have to admit I'm a bit worried that Logan's character is going to constantly be subjected to hardship just to show how hardcore/awesome he is against adversity (in much the same way that Rothfuss keeps Kvothe poor to show off his cleverness and the same for Butcher's Dresden). Being able to hold fire under his tongue and talk to spirits is really cool.
I find Jezal interesting because he can be kind of a douche. I liked him better when he was cracking wise more than when he was magically overshadowed by West's sister...if he is always so confident I don't know why even a pretty girl could overpower his character. She definitely comes off as the more likable character in those exchanges.
Too early to know what I think of the Magi or his assistant.
Mod
I envy your lack of understanding in this matter. This still happens to me all the time. Not that I'm nearly as confident otherwise as that guy, but certainly more confident.
To me he's just never met anyone whose challenged and intrigued him like that before, and he loses his bearings.
Rob wrote: To me he's just never met anyone whose challenged and intrigued him like that before, and he loses his bearings. "I totally agree. At the poker game we see, that he is very capable, when he knows what to expect from his fellow officers. He knows them well and can read them.
When he meets Ardee he tries to fall back on what worked for him in the past with women, hence the whole comparing her to the typical standards of women he's used to know.
But Ardee is going on the offensive and puts him on the spot. Poor Jezal is not used to this.
Please keep all discussion to the events and speculation from the beginning chapter (The End) to the chapter First of the Magi.
No spoiler tags required.
Please do not discuss events from later chapters/books.