The Blade Itself: Collectors Tenth Anniversary Limited Edition by Joe Abercrombie

The Blade Itself: Collectors Tenth Anniversary Limited Edition Reviews

• 
  Harun

  Loved this cover and came the day after order. Fantastic book.
• 
  Collin

  This book (and the series it begins), is one of my all time favourite fantasy stories.What is amazing about this story is that all of the main characters are constantly fighting the destiny that the nature of their existence draws to them: a tormented and ageing fighter is ever drawn into fighting , while waiting for the consequences of his own brand of insanity to catch up with him, a powerful wizard who has created many enemies in his path to power needs to resolve his past to have a future, and etc.. The story is a complex weave of these Fates, created simply as the people are who they are ("The blade itself, incites to violence"). The world depicted is dark and grim, but, there are moments of sunshine. To be clear, this series is renowned for being a flag carrier of the "Grim dark" writing archetype, and shows how good that can be, when done right.Joe Abercrombie has a Master's in Psychology, and it shows. The characters are well thought out and understood thoroughly by the author: they NEVER violate their inner nature in any way in support of a plot convenience. This remains the most tantalising aspect for me and the strongest sign of great writing.The story has several important characters, and a bit like in "The Black Company" the story is driven by them expressing into the world their view of life. For me personally, the most interesting interactions are those around the exploration of male psychology in the group of Northmen working their way through a dangerous world, trying to survive just a little longer, and hopefully, having a few moments along the way where they can touch happiness.In this series, nothing ever comes for free. There are no Deus Ex Machina moments. If something amazing and "unexpected" does come along to transform the story, when you look back, you see that the seeds of that moment were actually laid long before.In detail now The story primarily is written with main focus an ageing fighter (Logan Nine Fingers), but the series in broad scope tells really tells of a manipulative and meddling wizard arranging to tie off some trouble from his past, using people like chess pieces to help him get where he needs to be. The grand story has always meant very little to me, as I connect deeply with the individual "human" character stories , but it remains the case that the container story and the individual stories within it are always about how people face the fate that their own nature dictates is their due: it is an amazing accomplishment that all of these stories can be so interwoven.
• 
  Peter - The Reading Desk

  The “Blade Itself” is the first of the First Law Trilogy, which is an epic supernatural fantasy adventure. It can’t be helped being compared to the Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) series in its depth of detail, its roll call of wonderful characters, hidden plots and agendas, and fantasy dimensions. The world of Joe Abercrombie it told in superb detail, where multiple cultures are warring and untrustworthy of the other, but what is the darker menace to come, and who will come to the fore.The plot has loads of twists and turns with characters that are wonderfully capable, dangerously incompetent, and where we see unlikely heroes and unseen traitors. The characters are developed throughout, with this book focused on the history that has led the nations and characters to this place, at this time, and with these ambitions. The storyline delivers through multiple threads each with their own set of characters. The narration doesn’t shy away from the brutality of conflict and torture but I wouldn’t say gratuitously. Battles must be fought and Logan Ninefingers will be at the heart of it. Traitors must be found and Glokta the inquisitor will hunt them. Bayaz the First of the Magi knows what’s at stake and must stop it.
• 
  Spook

  Overall i AM reading the series..I was gripped from the beginning, and it is an AWESOME story..I had two issues Constant new characters were added or talked about with NO introduction of who on earth they all were pretty frustrating no glosserynumber two the very inconsistent pace of the book, mass excitement and action or speedy plot moves, then a grinding halt a quarter in (jesal) , i read on in hope, then it picked up again about the middle of the book.it suddenly kicked off and went at a rip roaring speed of violence and excitement or plot development, yay!LOVED the horrid characters, LOVED the story and the action. Never sure who is villain or hero, and am excited to read on..i am hoping the two issues i have will be sorted as the series progresses, as i understand this is a debut?so yes, great characters, storyline, book in general, it all feels like it's building to a massive explosion and i can't wait to read how !!in fact for much of it i was waiting for the inevitable boom, but i guess itwill come later!I thinkit is enough for me to want to check out later work the the progression..as this is a superb fantasy writer. Update. Book two wasn't as good. Book three was plain disgusting. It featured a sex scene with a wen ripping off pieces of his penis and him liking it and it was graphic so graphic I stopped reading. That was chapter one I believe. Also plot points went nowhere in book two.
• 
  Ralcon

  I took a punt on buying the first book of The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie based upon the favourable reviews, not least from George RR Martin who said he was "terrific" if the author of the utterly brilliant Game of Thrones saga is giving plaudits to another author of the same genre, he must be doing something right!Having just completed the book, I was not disappointed great, deep characters, some gritty violence and solid, believable and engaging plot line. There is also a good dose of black humour, not too much so as to make it comical, but enough to solicit a grim laugh I genuinely laughed out loud at a few points reading the novel. Sardonic is probably the best description, a trait that is fairly prevalent with many of the characters, in particular Glokta (my favourite) who is one of the best characters I have come across in a book for years a torturer, who has himself been tortured to the point of being rendered a cripple. His back story (along with the other main protagonists) slowly unwinds and really keeps you wanting to find out about why he, and everyone else, became the people they are. Excellent.Its very hard to not compare to GOT, it reads in a similar way, and has the same kind of "feel", but is very much independent and absolutely a novel of it's own merit they are comparable yes, but this is absolutely not a GOT rip off. An interesting style that Abercrombie has is he puts his characters thoughts (as well as their dialogue) into prose, this is a really nice touch and gives the characters real depth as you get an insight into each of their psyches.I could blab on loads about the plot but I wont if you are reading this, then you are looking to see if this is worth a read it most definitely is and I've not enjoyed a book as much as this for a long time so much so that as soon as I finished this I ordered the 2nd and 3rd books in the trilogy immediately upon putting it down.Really, really good read dark, violent, intelligent, humorous and relatable if you like adult fantasy novels, you'll absolutely love this, guaranteed
• 
  MaxoJaxo

  I initially found this book really hard to get into. I would read a chapter or two and then put it down for multiple days. I just really didn't like one of the characters and found some of the early parts seemed to go on and on. It definitely took longer than normal to 'grab me', yes, with a few stops and starts on my part, but I obviously could feel something here as I kept picking it up and ploughing through a few pages.I am SO pleased that I persevered (or maybe was forced by Covid lockdown) because I have now finished books 2 and 3 as well and thoroughly enjoyed them.With hindsight, its possible (likely even) that early 2020 affected me than I realised at the time which could have added to my stopping and starting.Again, I am SO pleased I didn't stop completely. More than happy to say hands down the best trilogy i've read in a good couple of years. A great story, even if there was just too much time spent on soldierly camaraderie and endless explanation of training and a bloody fencing competition early on.Get past the first third of this book and like me, you'll buy books 2 and 3 before you finish so you don't get interrupted !!! Enjoy!