Mircea's Blog

The Blade Itself, the first part in "The First Law" trilogy by Joe Abercrombie, while a good book,  is not an easy read. It has all of what you would expect from a high-fantasy book - magic and magical creatures attacking the settlements of men. The main characters are an interesting bunch - an arrogant officer looking for promotion in an hierarchical society, a grumpy and quite violent old wizard and a Beserker. The second part of the book also introduces a former female slave whose whole purpose in life seems to be to kill as many people as possible. My favorite character was a cripple, Sand dan Glockta, a cynical cripple who works as an investigator/torturer for the Secret Police (called interestingly The Inquisition).

While the characters have quite interesting traits - at least after you understand the different plot lines - the book is missing a moral dilemma for the reader. All the characters are more or less on the same side. The enemy is only seen through the eyes of the "good" characters. Another weakness is that none of the principal characters is in any way hurt and the death of secondary characters doesn't really have the same emotional impact.

The story starts slow and it takes almost two-thirds of the book before you have the feeling that you understand what is actually happening and why. The world of the book is a mix of 19th century Britain (the Union) and the Viking age (the North) with a little middle-eastern flair (The Gurkish Empire) added. The power-struggles seems a bit superficial and the stakes seem a bit weak.

All in all it is an interesting read with very good writing.