[deegee]

WARNING: MAY CONTAIN LITTLE SPOILERS!!

Tried to see if there was a thread for the first book but only the second and third are here...

Anyway, just finished the book. Picked it up cuz everyone on this site and reviews on amazon said it was different, for grown-ups, dark, great action, great writing etc...

Okay....Um....well I enjoyed the end of it? Yeah, I really really really wanted to like this book but I am afraid it just fell short of what I expected. But first let me begin by saying that I thought it was the exact opposite of Tad Williams style of writing which is a good thing. Hehe, sorry Tad, read Memory, Sorrow, Thorn series and was sorely disappointed I had to wait what 2000 pages for THAT?!?...So yeah Abercrombie's story gets right to the point,...not as much worldbuilding so it leaves it up to your imagination which I like for a change. More about the actual characters than the scenery. All in all a very fun book. Very good for a start. I really liked Glokta. The others I did find cliche I am sorry to say. Mage, Warrior, etc...I also thought the bloody-nine part was funny but a bit too convenient that it came out of him at that exact moment when they were outnumbered like 8-1or whatever it was. Was there anything original it it?? Now I hate to say this, but I don't think so. The most original book I have read recently was Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn. I WILL pick up the second book in a week or so because I heard the second book is a lot better, but am working on The Born Queen, by Greg Keyes which is great btw....Also picked up The Name of the Wind and will see how that goes before I start Before they are Hanged. It wasn't deep like I thought it would be, just straight up filthy and dark which is not a bad thing. I was just kinda hoping it would make you think a little more. Erikson really does that for me which I love....I will put the book down and think and ponder on what happened for a couple of days....THAT means a good story for me! He leaves a lot of imagery that just sizzles in your mental landscape for days on end. I didn't find that with this book. Aw man, I SO wanted to like this book so I am sorry to those of you who did like it. I am not putting it down, just telling how I felt at the end. But maybe I should have faith and stick with it. AFter all, I didn't like Gardens of the Moon that much either when I read it, but I stuck with it and look at how much I like SE's series now....so I guess I will say lets see about the next two before I make a final decision on how I feel.

This post has been edited by Cougar: 19 December 2008 - 10:21 PM

[QuickTidal]

I want to read this series, but it's bloody out of stock everywhere I go.....even at amazon.ca. Been that way for months. Every store I go into has copies of the second, but no copies of the first.

Sigh. I'll get around to it though, cause I hear the 3rd book is great!

[deegee]

QuickTidal;282174 said:

I want to read this series, but it's bloody out of stock everywhere I go.....even at amazon.ca. Been that way for months. Every store I go into has copies of the second, but no copies of the first.

Sigh. I'll get around to it though, cause I hear the 3rd book is great!

You can order it through Chapters/Indigo...that's what I did

[Slum]

Yeah, I wasn't too impressed with The Blade Itself. It was definitely fun, but it wasn't anything special. By all accounts though, the series improves exponentially with the next two books. I've just ordered Book 2 from amazon.

@QT - You can get it from Amazon US for $10.20

[Zanth13]

I really enjoyed it...Glokta is a great character to read.

2nd one is even better so far...

[Optimus Prime]

I've enjoyed the first two books. Abercrombie isn't a world builder, so if that's a must for you as a fantasy fan, you may be upset. His strength is his characters, like the one Zanth mentioned, Glokta. Brilliant.

[QuickTidal]

deegee;282175 said:

You can order it through Chapters/Indigo...that's what I did

Thanks. Never thought. I kept going into the Eaton Centre and Bay/Bloor Indigo and looking, and nada.

I'll order it. Good idea.

[Morgoth]

To begin with, the best character is Glotka, but as the series progress - and especially in the third and final volume - Logan developes into a great character. The Bloody Nine is a great creation I think, and as far from being a cliche as you can get. Bayaz too, turns out to be something different entirely.

That is the strongest point of abercrombie I think. His ability to take a typical fantasy stereotype, and turn it into something completly different.

[Dagger]

Because I live in George W Bush's Amerika, I can't get my hands on the Last Argument of Kings until August (my rule, when in doubt, blame Bush). But I have read the first two and I can testify that the first book gets totally turned around by the second. By all means, continue the series!

[Optimus Prime]

Keep reading, while I didn't think the 1st book was weak, it is definitely the weakest volume by miles and miles.

[QuickTidal]

Found a copy of The Blade Itself tonight at Worlds Biggest Book store. I'm excited to finally be reading this series.

[Optimus Prime]

Another great part of Abercrombie is his humor. He's a funny guy.

The action scenes are also superb.

[Lost Marine]

Yep, by the end of the series I had decided that I would read anything that he writes.

[Slum]

I've just received Before They are Hanged. I'm looking forward to more Ninefingers and Glotka, and hoping that the other characters grow on me a little. I'll say one thing about 'Blade' though, I'll say it wasn't a chore to read. Fast-paced and fun, if a little underwhelming.

[Optimus Prime]

Abercrombie is like Lynch in that way. It's fast and fun, but sometimes there isn't much "meat".

I'm about to order the third and last volume. Eager to see how this all turns out.

[Imperial Historian]

I have to agree that the blade itself was generally underwhelming, I bought it on the basis of recomendations here, but after reading it had no great desire to buy the next one in the series. Luckily I picked up book 2 from the library, and i loved it, making book 3 an immediate must buy, and book 3 was simply amazing, he's definitely up there with the few authors I'll make an effort to buy there books straight after release.

[QuickTidal]

Okay, I am finding The Blade Itself hella hard to put down! I do hope this measn that I am going to love this series. So far I am quite enthralled.

[Mezla PigDog]

I finished The Blade Itself last night (one of a cracking pile of books I got as a birthday pressie from my best mate). I enjoyed it, but it didn't knock my socks off. Reading here makes me really want to get the next two though.

I was 2/3 of the way through and my boyfriend asked me what the book was about. I said "It's quite confusing really, all the cheesey classic elements are here, but nobody has set off on a quest yet and the book is nearly over". I found it to be a bit of a contradiction. It was formulaic fantasy - the barbarians, the magi, the noble classes, fencing, suggestion of "orc" type creatures in the north, blah blah blah. Despite that, it didn't crack on at a Gemmell-esque pace. I found myself caught between two minds: Either get on with a fast-paced shallow plot or slow down, get complicated and beef it out. I hope that the rest of the series will set it neatly in the middle of the two types of fantasy. This book was clearly all about setting up the next two as not a lot really happened.

I really liked (or liked to dislike) all the main characters barring Ferro (one dimensional so far). I can't decide between Glokta, Logen and Jezal as my favourite. I think Jezal just clinches it due to being a complete prat. He reminded me of a cross between an Alexander Dumas-style swashbuckling musketeer and a Jane Austen-style gentleman but with a hilariously honest self awareness. Such an ass, but endearingly so. He and Glokta are two of the most refreshing characters in the genre in a long while.

[The Dark Wanderer]

Ok just finished the third book and did a re-read of the first two as it's been a while and I couldn't remember all the little details. Weirdly I found the re-reads to be far worse than when I originally read them. I don't mean they were bad, they just weren't as good as I remembered them being, the third book for the first time was very good so I suspect this series is not a big re-read.

[Slum]

I keep getting bored with Before They are Hanged. Every time I pick it up to read for a while, I fail to get immersed in the story and end up putting it down in favor of something else. It's not a pile or anything, but it's not grabbing me and pulling me in the way Erikson does. I'm sure I'll finish it sooner or later, and I will eventually finish the series.