Before They Are Hanged (The First Law: Book Two)

I don't often talk about my feminism because it's usually pretty sus when dudes talk about being a feminist, but this is the book that made me think about how implicit biases impacted me. Not because this book is a good example, but rather the opposite.

While I read the book, I started to notice that the defining characteristic of all the major female characters was that they had been used for sex to fill out their backstory. Sex slaves and that sort of thing. This was at the height of grimdark fantasy. It was no great revelation, but I wasn't being coached about that trope. Just that something finally broke through my wall of cluelessness.

I wrote about my realization about the book on my book blog at the time. Author Joe Abercrombie noticed it. And wrote his own blog post that acknowledged what I noticed. More than one of his fans ended up commenting at my blog that I was just wrong, and how dare you, though most of the commenters at Abercrombie's blog were less confrontational. Anyway, the comments at my blog were also eye-opening.

I did like the book though!

That was 16 years ago this week. I make no claim to any kind of great feminism, just that I try to be intentional these days. This book was the start.