The Sword and Laser discussion
The Blade Itself - thoughts on this book?
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I have heard from nearly everyone I know that Joe Abercrombie is basically God's gift to Fantasy and that The First Law series is completely amazing. Personally, I couldn't get into it. Maybe I didn't give it enough time (I only read about 100 pages) but I tried reading The Blade Itself and it just didn't grab me. The characters all seemed incredibly haughty or condescending, or just all around terrible people and the world wasn't nearly interesting enough to keep me reading.
I do seem to be in the vast minority on this though and am going to give the book another shot at some point.
I just barely started it last night and was impressed so far, but that is only 20 pages in or so. There have been a lot of books like that for me, where the general consensus was WOW, but it just didn't click for me. I hope this is not one of those!
Glokta has to be my favorite character in any work of fiction, with the possible exception of Kvothe.
@Shawn: Agree completely. Glokta was a compelling character.
I really liked the depth of the characters and the writing was top notch! But I admit I never went past the first book. Just not my cup of tea?
Richelle, it can definitely be a little dark and intense!
Glokta was my hero of the book i mean you have no choice but to like Logen but i found i was really anticipating more and more as the series went on Glokta's story.Overall the whole triology i found to be really darn good the second book is i think where it really sinks its claws into you so stick with it
All three books in the series are wonderful and the quality of the writing gets better with each volume. Agreed that Glotka is one of my favorite fantasy characters, period.
That is very good to hear, since I am almost done with the first and am really liking it! Knowing that it gets even better makes me want to rush through to the end and start on the second! Glotka is fascinating as a character, I agree.
I have to agree with you there Sean Erikson can be so dark its heart breaking you got to keep your testosterone levels up or you'll be crying like a baby but i have to say that Ambercrombie is more gritty than dark and its a gritty to make you have to wash your hands after.Have any of you also read his other book set in the same word using a few of the same characters BEST SERVED COLD?Gritty!
I'm excited to read Best Served Cold, but haven't picked it up yet. I did get the Audible version, but the narrator is not to my liking and I gave it up.
I've been enthusiastically recommending Abercrombie to all my friends since I finished the First Law trilogy, and I was really excited to get my hands on Best Served Cold. I finished it, but I was disappointed; the world is as interesting as before, but I didn't find the characters nearly as compelling and the fact that it was set in the same world became a distraction because I knew there were so many more interesting people in it.
I have not heard anyone yet say that they did not like The Blade Itself. Maybe it would be a good Sword and Laser book at some point?Edit: other than Carrie above who (I had forgotten) couldn't get into it.
OK, just finished the book and I really liked it. I see now that so much of it was setting up the characters for the rest of the series, but it definitely didn't feel like a long, drawn out introduction. I can feel the stories getting into their grooves now . . .
I really enjoyed the book. It took me a while to get into it, but that's true of the first book in any fantasy series that I've read.
I really enjoyed this book, and couldn't stop reading until I finished the trilogy. I thought some of the more explicit adult scenes were unnecessary, and I am not a prude by any means. But the great way Abercrombie writes action more than made up for any part I did not care for. I just finished the audiobook of Best Served Cold, and felt the same about it. I certainly look forward to his next book.
Mod
What is great is that it keeps getting better as it goes. Just about to finish the second book and really looking forward to diving into the third and last.
I really enjoyed the first two books in "The First Law" trilogy. I'm on the third book now, Last Argument of Kings, and it's boring me to death. I put it down and have no desire to pick it back up. I can't even pinpoint what is keeping me from finishing it. I really thought the first two books were great.
I have to agree with Matt. The First Law series is one of the best I've read in a long time. But the depth of the characters that made First Law so great is really missing in Served Cold. It's an OK if bloody tour of a new part of his world, but not an amazing book
I love how all the normal fantasy tropes are turned on their head in this series.
I loved the first two books and then had to wait forever to get the Last Argument of Kings (had to order it from the UK as it seemed like no one in Canada had it - complete aside, that was the reason I bought a Kobo, not being able to find the book was driving me nuts).As someone else mentioned, I don't think it was as good as the first two, but still worth the read. There are some set pieces that are fantastic, and my favourite character was left well placed for her/his own sequel (trying not to spoil) so overall I was satisfied.
All in, a very good fantasy series. Up there with the Black Company books for me in terms of fantasy mixed with satisfying gritty "realism".
ahhh the Black Company that was the series that forever changed the fantasy genre for me
comparing something to the Black company in a favorable way really makes me interested. Cooks series is one of the all time greats for me. I will have to check these out.
I downloaded the Kindle sample of The Blade Itself, but did not buy the book. For some reason Orion Publishing separated each paragraph with two blank lines. Since this indicates a discontinuity of time/character/scene, the unusual formatting created a choppy reading experience that I couldn't get over it before the sample ended. The automatic habit of questioning what has changed after each false discontinuity was too strong.
I agree that Joe Abercrombie is a great writer and I found the series compelling because the characters were so fascinating. I could sympathize a little with people who were painted as villains in the beginning, and the people you first see as protagonists display flaws and behaviors that make you dislike them. The only problem I had with the series was that at the end of the trilogy it seemed that NOTHING had been resolved. It was as if the plot had just made a big circle and things were as they were at the beginning.
As a follow-up to my comparison with the Black Company - as is often the case there are a number of groups of characters that the author follows in this series, and it is the northerners' story that reminds me of the Black Company, plus some of Glotka's story. Just fair warning that only 1/3 or so of the series is blackcompanyesque (to coin a word).
I started this book over the long weekend while camping, and wished that I had had more time to read as I have enjoyed what I've read so far.Glotka and Logen are certainly fun characters but I'm not sold yet on Jezal. My initial impressions are that of Glotka being similar to Tyrion Lannistar in that dark, twisted, likable bad guy and Logen is very much a cross between Roland and Logan from Dark Tower and comic book fame respectively.
Glotka is one of the most interesting characters I've ever met. By the end of the trilogy, he's still interesting, but he kind of fizzles. I really liked what happened with Jezal at the end, but there wasn't enough of his storyline. That last book focused way too much on battles and it made those battles boring. How can a battle be boring?
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/94...