The Blade Itself (The First Law Trilogy, 1)

This book fails to establish a compelling premise despite some good characters and an often-fun gritty atmosphere.

I read this whole book, and I can't tell you what it was about. Sure, I can tell you about the separate arcs of some of the POV characters, but they barely interact until the end, and none have real motivations or goals that drive the story together. One guy literally asks himself "Why do I do this?" and the book never really tries to answer that. One guy just wants to win a fencing match, but only sort of, and only because people expect him to. One guy literally goes traveling on a quest because a wizard told him to, and he expressly does not care about the reasons. So why should we?

And there's no overarching theme or bigger narrative, either, just "here's some stuff that happens." There are teases of a bigger mystery and the wizard's plan for getting them all together, but not enough to get me to buy the next book, honestly. People will read this and say "oh, but it's a trilogy, all will be revealed in time." That's not how this is supposed to work, though - the first Star Wars told a coherent story with clear stakes (Death Star = Bad), and then followed it up with sequels that expanded the world and central conflict. Mistborn also told a complete story in its first book, and then expanded. Game of Thrones may not have told a full story in the first book, but it established very clear stakes (Ned goes south to try to help save his friend's reign from political collapse, while threats grow from the North and from across the sea) and gave all of the characters logical connections to one another before expanding the setting.

I'm astonished that a book as poorly structured as The Blade Itself was given a green light by a publisher, much less released to such near-universal acclaim.

It's not all bad, though. There are some fun, pulpy plot moments, even if they don't quite add up to a plot. The writing is strong on a scene level, and there are no tedious info dumps - backstory is layered in strategically, with enough mystery to keep you reading ahead.

Review of the trilogy.
SPOILERS ALERT.
And the TURD IN A CANDY WRAP AWARD goes to... well, the entire trilogy. Well written, great characterizations, rotten-to-the-core piece of waste finale: all misery, all woe. The worst of the worst, the traitorous Bayaz, wins everything he wanted. Everybody else either dies or must serve him. Humans are insects. Get used to it, cockroaches! After reading this trilogy, I feel I need to shower. No good deed goes unpunished. No bad deed goes unpunished, either. It's that kind of a world. The bloated blurbs at the back of the third book (Last Argument of Kings) promising a great ending for a great series are just lies, or the opinions of people who chuckle at torture-porn. If you think the situation in Syria today is great; or if you believe that Sudan is just a dandy place, well, in that case this is the trilogy for you. If nothing but the suffering and miseries of others bring you joy and satisfaction and you don't get your fill with the news, then this is the trilogy for you. One hundred pages short of the ending I realized the author couldn't possibly wrap up everything satisfactorily. I was half wrong: he could wrap it all up, but very unsatisfactorily, at least for me. This fact leads me to sense that Abercrombie is the kind of person that, instead of feeling compassion for suffering and anger at injustice, smiles and enjoys the moment. Repulsive.

My headline for this review is an example of what to expect from this book, short run-on sentences for style.

My mind is racing on how to describe just how badly Joe's ability to write engaging passages stunned me. I bought the book without looking at the first few pages... huge mistake.

The choice of run on sentences and short repetition without descriptions is almost maddening. Somewhere in the book it's described as Fantasy Noir. I know noir. I love noir. Nothing like a Philip Marlowe will be found here. Usually when noir authors choose to write in disjointed prose it's because that is what is streaming out of the consciousness of the character. The character (often a detective or someone putting together pieces of a plot) will go from one thought to another, apropos to what they are starting to understand. Or it's used as a meter to pace out the action of the scene. Joe Abercrombie exemplifies the adage "fake it 'til you make it" except he's still faking it. His writing is a poor and ineffective shadow of what came before him.

The writing is short and choppy and unengaging. The opening of the book is almost nonsense. I'm sure to Joe that opening was action and adventure, but to us the reader, it's nothing. Some guy is fighting some things and something happens but then it doesn't. If you liked my last sentence then you will love this guy's writing because that's about how in depth this guy writes. There is no nuance, there is no subtext, and the lack of understanding how to tell a story is evident from the opening chapters.

Ask this guy about any writing system like the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet (from Save the Cat for example) and he is going to just stare at you dumbfounded. This is JJ Abrahams level of writing. Expedition dumps ahoy with set pieces that follow no theme or plot line. Things meander until they no longer have to, without agency for the main characters. It is atrociously bad.

Do NOT do what I did and buy this book based on ratings. These were obviously paid for by the publisher through a ratings company. Just click on “Look Inside” and read the first sentences. Notice how he repeats "the lapping of the water" Oh is it lapping? Maybe tell me again in a short run on sentence. Great! This is middle school level writing. It's embarrassing. I was embarrassed to even hand the book over at Whole Foods to return it. I was prepared to shout "It was given to me by my greatest enemy, I swear!" loudly.

The quote from George RR Martin should have been a warning. On the book it says, "Joe Abercrombie is terrific". Notice that Martin does NOT give any praise to the writing or the book, just good ole Joe. Maybe he’s a terrific guy, but he’s a horrific writer.

The publishers should be ashamed. This book is garbage.

I purchased this book because it looked like it might be interesting, and it had so may five-star reviews. I also read a bit of the sample Amazon provided; it seemed pretty good. However, after reading over 100 pages, there is literally NO STORY! Just a lot of stuff about mostly unlikable characters. The one character who seems likely to be the main protagonist, and might be a character to root for-- Logen Ninefingers-- get by far the least amount of pages, at least as far into the book as I got.

When I read a book, I need something that hooks me quickly, something that makes me want to keep reading to see what happens next. That is sorely missing in this book. I should not have to force myself to keep reading waiting for something to happen. To be fair, SOMETIMES the quality of the writing can be enough to override a minimal story, but the quality of the writing in this book is also not particularly strong, to say the least.

I read a wide range of fiction and non-fiction. I'm not a major fantasy fan. I loved Tolkien back in the day. I took a shot at The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. Really liked the first six books, but it got kind of drawn out after that, and then he died and by the time Sanderson finished the series I just didn't even care enough to finish it. I LOVE the Game of Thrones series, but GRRM has totally dropped the ball; I'd be surprised if he ever finishes it. POINT BEING, all I can guess about the large numbers of five-star reviews is that a lot of them come from people who really love fantasy fiction and read a lot of it, and are maybe less critical? I don't know... I'm kind of grasping at straws trying to understand all the love for this book.

Oh, one last thing... the plugs by GRRM for this book-- I wonder how much they paid him? And this from a guy who can't even finish his OWN damn series! LOL

I am adding to my previous review (see below):
I would also like to add that I find the book to be extremely sexist. The author repeatedly refers to women using the "C" word, which is one of the most offensive words that can be used against a specific group of citizens. There are federal laws protecting against such hate speech targeted towards women and I am surprised that amazon would allow such hate speech to be proliferated through their marketplace. I am calling on amazon to ban this book immediately due to the offensive language, specifically the use of the "C" word in referring to women.

I am baffled by all the positive reviews of this book... I read a lot of fantasy/adventure, and I would put this more into the category of horror/fantasy. The torture scenes are just way over the top too graphic, and the whole book is just very very depressing... I am almost done with the book as I am forcing myself to finish it on principle, however it really does not appeal to me at all as a fantasy/adventure book. I read so many books in this genre and really depend on others reviews of them on amazon, and so I am disappointed. When I saw so many good reviews of this book I was excited to try it, but very very disappointed upon reading it. Maybe its just me, but I don't find the positive reviews to be representative of the book. On the positive side, the writing does for the most part seem grammatically correct, and I didn't notice a lot of misspelled words, so I give it one star.

I couldn't get through the first chapter. It felt like it was written by a middle schooler who hasn't figured out how to end a sentence. There were tons of run-on sentences and random statements that weren't a true structured sentence at all. Comma after comma after comma, extending many thoughts and changing verb tenses as if he was afraid to use a period.

This is what I would like to call, a Seinfeld book.... It's about nothing. Many characters and situations unconnected and when you have finished the book you have the sensation that someone has stolen you your time. A book is a book, it has to have an story with a beginning and an ending. But it seems that the only author porpoise is to have a long story just because he wants to make it long in case is taken to the TV or movies. Making it long warranties sequels characters and many TV hours. This is the real reason of the book, to become something bigger in TV or movies, perhaps a video game. This is not a honest writing.
There is no story, the characters are poorly described... Etc
Can I rate it.... Half star?

“Hah, hah,” Kaspa laughed

“Yes”she squeaked, in a high piping voice, once she was sure she had finished speaking.

“Erm…”

Unreadable dialogue. Ugh, I was excited for this one.

150 pages in, and I just have to stop. I've tried to give the book a chance because of all of the glowing praise and interesting interpretations (Lord of the Rings directed by Kurosawa? Whoa. Sign me up). But unfortunately, only about 2-3 scenes have been memorable so far, and the rest has been the most mediocre, unimportant, when-will-the-story-start, I-guess-it's-something-to-read, plotting that I have ever seen.

The prose reads like a first-time novelist. It's choppy and hard to follow the point at times. And it often reaches, quite melodramatically, for little gems of meaning to tide you over as you wade through the almost non-existent story. In other words, it uses too much author voice, and you're very aware of it as you read. That is something that I can forgive, as long as a good story is told. Such was the case for Vicious by V.E. Schwab, who was an immature, budding writer, whose prose suffered for it, but she told an absolutely addictive story. That's sadly not happening here.

The characters are decent enough starts. Not bad, not great. They each invite some empathy and interest. They each have a motivation worth looking into. The trouble is, the author never lets us see the characters do anything. I've seen stories where half interesting characters become forces to be reckoned with. Here, we get half interesting characters, and they bum around with mundane activity, not driving at anything important. To add insult to injury, they are also overshadowed by the author's philosophical musings. I want to see the characters do extraordinary things that I then interpret philosophically myself. I don't want to hear the author talk about things. Show, don't tell.

I must also disagree with any review claiming there is any kind of unique setting or world building. This is some of the most standard fantasy fare I've come across. I can't for the life of me figure out how anyone perceives this as different for the genre. Again, familiar tropes wouldn't bother me if only a compelling story was told through the eyes of rich characters. The Dagger and the Coin series by Daniel Abraham is one such example. I'm 4 books into that, and you have standard humanoid fantasy races, standard countries and factions embroiled in war and political mischief, some dragons, a unique magic. Not reinventing the wheel anywhere. But the storytelling and the characters are DEEPLY human, oozing with depth and nuanced connection to the reader. None of that is coming through in The Blade Itself. So the dull fantasy world is just a dull fantasy world. People say he's subverting fantasy tropes with anti-heroes and the like. This seems to me to be the NORMAL fantasy trope. When people marvel at the stylization of a book like The Blade Itself, are they only comparing it to fantasy books from like 30-40 years ago or what?

To Abercrombie's credit, his author voice comes across as someone who is passionate about what they write. I can see a sincere artist past the fog of poor craftsmanship. That's what kept me reading. I kept telling myself "he's failing now. But he will pick himself up and launch into something worthy of forgiveness and earn the enthusiasm that so many others have given up generously." But it hasn't happened yet, and I have made peace with the likelihood that it never will. Being sincere about your passion for writing is an excellent start. But it's not even close to what it takes to make a compelling, or even passable novel.

Good read