Review: The Blade Itself

Title:  The Blade Itself

Author:  Joe Abercrombie

Publisher:  Pyr, 2007

This is the first book in The First Law trilogy.  See my reviews of books two and three.

Plot Summary:
The Union has existed as the major power in the world for centuries, made safe by the First of the Magi, Bayaz.  Now the Union is threatened by barbarians from the north and a newly consolidated power in the south and Bayaz is back.  This time, he is accompanied by his apprentine, Malacus Quai and a northman, Logen Ninefingers. 

But there are all sorts of intrigues already occurring in Adua, the Union's capital, and Bayaz is not always welcome.  Glokta, the chief inquisitor and torturer, is at work trying to unearth corruption.  Major West seems to be the only one properly preparing for war with the north.  Jezal dan Luthar wants to win the Contest to impress a lady and gain fame and glory.  And then there is the mysterious Ferro from the south who can't see colors and seems not to feel any pain.  They all meet in Adua, and set course on a mission that no one seems to understand except, perhaps, Bayaz.

I borrowed this book from my friend Sudha recently because I was intrigued by one of the female characters; my friend chose to spotlight Ardee West from this trilogy in her Rosie's Riveters post.  She warned me that it was full of violence and that it was very, very dark.  She was not exaggerating.  My goodness.  It seems like there is a pitched battle sequence or knife fight in this book every five pages or so.  There is a lot of blood.  I don't know just how violent and bloody those passages were because, I admit, I skimmed most of the fights.  I must confess that I do this in all fantasy novels.  I just don't really care about fight scenes.  I can't visualize them, I don't want to visualize them, and I feel as long as I know who is alive and who is dead by the end of them, I'm not missing too much.  Battle sequences are not my motivation for reading fantasy novels at all.

This led to me skimming more of this book than I'd like, but I still think I got the gist of it.  Thank goodness this is the first book in the series because when I finished it, I felt thoroughly out of my depths.  Sudha mentioned to me that she was annoyed that this series does not come with a map; I agree with her.  I am one of those people who couldn't find her way out of a paper bag, so hearing about Northmen and southerners and people on what may have been an island... I had absolutely no sense of the distance of things, and I think a map would have helped with that.  As to my general confusion as to what was happening, I like to think I am in good company in that.  Most of the characters, from what I could tell, were just as lost as I was.  I assume there will be a gradual lifting of the fog as the series continues so that I can say "Oh, now I get it!"

Since I didn't quite know everything happening with the plot, it really was the characters that made this book for me.  I have a soft spot for a certain nine-fingered barbarian and his kind-hearted commoner-who-rose-to-fame-in-the-military-by-determination-and-hard-work counterpart.  Even the characters I didn't like, though, were drawn so well.  Jezal, for example, is an upper-class brat who thinks the world should be handed to him on a platter.  And when you see the world through his eyes, you can see that he truly does believe that.  He doesn't think he's being a snob or a complete jerk; he just truly believes that he is better than everyone else.  It is fascinating to see, and I think Abercrombie does very well with the inner voices of his characters.

The character who really won me over was Glokta, the former hero turned government torturer.  He is such a complex character and I was so absorbed by him.  He tortures people for a living, but his every movement is pure torture for him.  He growls at people and taunts them, but when someone shows him true kindness or friendship, he is so sincerely moved and grateful for that contact that it almost makes me cry.  I am both repelled by and utterly drawn towards him.

I guess I would say that The First Law trilogy is probably a "man's" fantasy, full as it is of battles and violence and a plethora of male characters (and only two major females through book one).  It also has fully-realized characters, a setting with a deep history and a plot that promises to become majestic as the series continues.  I would definitely recommend it to the epic fantasy fans out there, with the caveat that there is a lot of violence in it.

I read this book as part of Galleysmith's Seriespalooza week.