The Blade Itself (First Law #1) by Joe Abercrombie - Book Review

In a world where there are countless fantasy novels and so little time to read them all, it is difficult to find a book that is as interesting as The Blade Itself.

Actually, The Blade Itself encompasses all the delicious grimdark aspects we love about A Song of Ice and Fire and creates its own thing.

Fantasy novels have two fatal mistakes; they either drag on without a purpose or they end up too fast without a proper conclusion. Fortunately, The Blade Itself commits none of these mistakes.

Right off the bat, you can tell that Abercrombie is taking this world seriously, as the opening scene is intriguing, bloody, and heart-stopping all at once. However, after the first few chapters, the action dwindles down a bit to give some space for character introduction.

After we meet the vicious barbarian Logen Ninefingers, we meet Glokta, a mutilated war hero, who works as a torturer. From the first scene where we meet Glokta, you can tell how interesting his character is going to be.

He has the best cynical, bitter humor in modern fantasy, and his lines remind us of a bit of Tyrion Lannister. On the other hand, we also have Jezal, who is the very model of privilege, with his riches and high rank in the army.

Most importantly, we meet Bayaz, the first of the Magi, who we do not know whether he is really a wizard or just an old fraud, and Ferro, who is hell-bent on bringing damnation on the Gurkish for invading her country and enslaving her.

Due to the various characters we follow, the pace can be a bit wacky. Some sections are more fast-paced than others. For example, Logan’s chapters are full of action and set the quest for the next book, while Jezal and Glokta’s chapters focus more on character development. Overall, the pacing is very good, and Abercrombie's language and descriptions are simply spectacular.

The Blade Itself is a must-read for fans of modern fantasy. It artistically balances between action and character development. So, whether you like action-packed sequences or are simply looking for a character-driven novel, The Blade Itself has all that and more.