The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

[Sarah]

Lots of us have The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie on our lists for the Chunkster challenge - some of us have it earmarked for Slick's Slugs and others for Mickey's Marchers so I thought I create a post so that we can all discuss the book as and when we are reading it. I'm hoping to read this in February.

Because we'll all be reading it at different times, please remember to use the spoiler tags.

[Esther]

I have this on my Mickey pile. I am not sure when i will get to it, but i am in.

[Travis]

I have already finished this and I hope everyone else enjoys it more than myself. For me later written books Best Served Cold and The Heroes are advertised as stand alone novels. Technically they are. The problem is Abercrombie is keeping the same world and some characters. I have been reading the future first. To go back and start this book puts me at the beginning and I had struggles. People who I know to be killed and how they died are alive. Power has shifted in the future so I know the fate of the Kings. I just had a hard time adjusting to the earlier time frame. The book I felt takes a while to take off and even then really doesn't go anywhere. The first 2/3 of the book had a hard time keeping my attention and then it picked up a bit. I find myself again preferring the characters of the north over those of the south. It is interesting learning a bit about Logan 9 fingers or the Bloody 9. As with many book 1 in trilogies this one is very much just an introduction to characters with a little background. I'm sure book 2 will have a faster pace to it. This is my 3rd Abercrombie and I have not read one with as little blood shed as this. The grittiness I'm used to I'm sure will be coming more in the next couple books. I won't try to knock this book as in the end I gave it 4 stars. I wish I had started with this book to begin with as I think I would have had an easier go with it. I'll be interested to see everyone elses thoughts on things as people get to it.

[Sarah]

That's interesting Travis! I suppose going "back in time" could be confusing to find characters alive etc. It almost means you know what the eventual outcome is of the book (and/or trilogy) which may take some of the fun out of it. It's a shame the other books aren't listed as part of the series so people know in advance. Will let you know what it's like from the perspective of "starting at the beginning".

[Janice, Moderator]

This will be my first Abercrombie book, so won't run into that sequence problem.

I think I understand how you feel, though. I started the Harry Hole (pronounced Hol-ay) at book 7 & 8, then went back to book 1, which was his first book. There was a big difference in his writing ability.