The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

The Blade Itself

The First Law: Book One

Publisher: Prometheus Books, through Pyr Books (2007)

Author: Joe Abercrombie

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 527

Price: $17.00

Joe Abercrombie's debut novel follows several disparate point-of-view characters through the setup for an epic fantasy adventure. We start off with some 'late-in' action, meaning that something is already going down when the reader joins the story. This is a literary device that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. At its best it hooks the reader into the story and provides a great starting off point for a story, and at its worst it feels cheap and leaves the reader wondering what entertaining scenario they've missed out on. It works for the most part here, we witness an important, life changing situation for one of our characters. My only gripe is that the first part of the story seems to fill our action quota for a significant portion of the book.

Following the first action packed chapter or two the book slows down dramatically. It's well-written and crafted in such a way that the reader comes to understand the personalities and motivations of our point-of-view characters well. Unfortunately I found myself waiting for something big to happen, I felt rudderless for a while, as the characters went about their everyday lives.

When the story kicks into gear though, it does it with style. The reader is informed of political intrigue, ancient magi, and impending war that the Union will be hard-pressed to win. The high pace of the second half of the book more than makes up for the leisurely stroll of the first half. All of the characters have their moments to shine, even though only one is what I would call a sympathetic character. The rest are so consumed with neurosis and unlikable traits that they are sometimes hard to root for. As the book closed the reader is presented with a revelation or two that changed the way I looked at a certain character, finally bringing out in me the bond that the reader must form with a character in order to be invested in their story.

Conclusion: After the slower pace of the first half of the book, the sheer number of things that are revealed/happen in the second half creates a narrative that's hard to put down. Mr. Abercrombie makes an entry into the world of fantasy that left me ready to jump into the next book.

Rating: 7.5/10