The Blade Itself

by Joe Abercrombie

Paperback, 544 pages

English language

Published March 7, 2007 by Gollancz.

ISBN:: 978-0-575-07979-3

(163 reviews)

Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he’s on the verge of becoming a dead barbarian – leaving nothing behind him but bad songs, dead friends, and a lot of happy enemies.

Nobleman Captain Jezal dan Luthar, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and dreaming of glory in the fencing circle. But war is brewing, and on the battlefields of the frozen North they fight by altogether bloodier rules.

Inquisitor Glokta, cripple turned torturer, would like nothing better than to see Jezal come home in a box. But then Glokta hates everyone: cutting treason out of the Union one confession at a time leaves little room for friendship. His latest trail of corpses may lead him right to the rotten heart of government, if he can stay alive long …

Enter the wizard, Bayaz. A bald old man with a terrible temper and a pathetic assistant, he could be the First of the Magi, he could be a spectacular fraud, but whatever he is, he's about to make the lives of Logen, Jezal, and Glotka a whole lot more difficult.

Murderous conspiracies rise to the surface, old scores are ready to be settled, and the line between hero and villain is sharp enough to draw blood.

3 editions

Erin reviewed The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (The First Law, #1)

Review of 'The Blade Itself' on 'Goodreads'

No rating

Had to admit to myself once again that a fantasy book was not working for me - and such a well loved one at that. :’)

I liked Jezal and Glokta’s POVs well enough. I felt like they had a lot of potential for growth. Logen, though - he suffered the Eddard/Jon of GoT problem. Generic honorable man is just not that interesting, dark past or not. I didn’t get to the fourth POV because I DNFed at 25%.

The main reason I DNFed is because I was bored. ☺️ Nothing was happening that I cared much about, and what was there honestly felt a bit simplistic. Also - this is grimdark? GoT, Realm of the Elderlings, She Who Became the Sun, and Winds of the Forelands are all darker. There’s humor in this that really screws up the grim vibe.

I was also kind of stunned that there wasn’t a single named female character until 60+ pages into the book. When Ardee appears, I was sort of okay with her characterization, but she’s definitely not like other girls and intended mainly as a romantic interest for Jezal.

Lastly, in contrast to everything else I read, when I read fantasy I want lush description. I googled fan art for this book a good bit because I could not figure out what the vibe was, what era this was meant to imitate, what anyone’s uniforms looked like, etc. For all Logen’s talk of Flatheads in the first couple chapters, I had no idea what they were supposed to look like. Dogs? Humanoid? What?

Is this the price of reading Robin Hobb?? I can’t enjoy anything else…

V171 reviewed The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (The First Law, #1)

Review of 'The Blade Itself' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Wow, this ended up really surprising me. I walked into this book having heard some of the more common criticisms, namely the almost complete lack of plot. I'm more of a character reader myself, so I wasn't terribly worried. But even though interesting character work is important to me as a reader, I also really REALLY don't like it when the first book of a series exists solely as an introduction without its own story to lean on, so I started this off This book expecting to be really critical of that. However I knew that Abercrombie's character work was very well regarded, so I was curious to see how that tension panned out. And I have to admit, the characters won me over hard.

We follow several different POV characters as they move about their own individual adventures without any real consistent through line or story. There are hints of a larger conflict brewing, but it's kept hidden away from the reader for the most part. Each character is dynamic and interesting in unique ways: a pompous noble-blooded soldier who starts to grow a heart for "commoners", a mutilated and discarded war veteran turned cold blooded investigator, a violent one-track minded brute, a frenzied rage fueled former slave, and a cryptic and cynical wizard. Each have their own motivations and goals which rarely overlap with each other. But each story was so compelling on its own that I found it really fascinating to follow, even without a strong connection between them. While the book didn't have a compelling story alone, each of these characters had a compelling, fully fleshed out story, lending to a satisfying reading experience. The ending I also found compelling enough that I am now motivated to jump right into the sequel. Maybe I'll resist that urge to push through some of the rest of my TBR, but maybe not!

Chungledown Bim reviewed The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (The First Law, #1)

This is now a The Bloody-Nine fan account

4 stars

ahaha, yes! What an absolute treat! We're getting the party together & settling into the world. Can't wait to see how the adventure unfolds

Kevin Guertin reviewed The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (The First Law, #1)

Review of 'The Blade Itself' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Not boring, but not much happens. It's not a story that stands on its own. It doesn't have an ending. Though the last couple of chapters finally saw some kind of progression. You really have to go on to book 2, otherwise you don't really have a story.

The characters are great, though. Not a lot of world building. I sure hope it improves in the next books.

stupidlamb reviewed The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (The First Law, #1)

Review of 'The Blade Itself' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

4.3 stars. This book and author is so underrated and forgotten on the fantasy shelves. Incredible book and writing style, you are hooked from the first page and are never bored. Some say there are too many characters ala GoT, but thats not true at all. A must read book that I cant wait to see the rest of the journey of!

jiewawa reviewed The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (The First Law, #1)

Enjoyable but feels too much like setup

3 stars

The First Law series has been recommended to me for a long time, and I finally decided to dive in. Abercrombie's reputation as a great character writer is well deserved, but the first book in the series is a bit light on plot. I will continue with the rest of the series, as I've heard that the plot gets better after the first entry.

Zelse reviewed The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (The First Law, #1)

Review of 'The Blade Itself' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

It's hard to write good fantasy that manages to be deeply cynical in a way that feels realistic rather than grimdark; this book hits the mark with aplomb. Interesting characters, and the writing manages to communicate their POV and worldview not just by describing their thoughts, but through what they say and do. A very enjoyable read.

Sean Gursky reviewed The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (The First Law, #1)

Review of 'The Blade Itself' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Stop me if you heard this one before: a long forgotten but powerful mage, a fencing pretty boy from high society, and a rugged brute have their fates intertwined as a larger and more sinister plot threaten the country.

What could have been a boring and trite story was anything but. Abercrombie avoided a rehash of a familiar story by having distinct and interesting characters and a narrative that moved along quickly. From the first chapter I was hooked and my enjoyment of the story never let up. Just as I abandoned a previous fantasy series I wondered if I needed to take a break but Abercrombie proves that a simple story concept doesn't have to be boring.

Each character/POV has their own struggles and interesting backstory that you never feel tired and you find yourself rooting for some pretty unlikable people (a famed swordsman turned torturer). The story has …

matt reviewed The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (The First Law, #1)

Review of 'The Blade Itself' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Really great, but too short! It ends just as it's getting going.

I enjoyed Abercrombie's range in writing the different perspectives - each voice came through distinctly, even if the plot was just getting started. It was a bit refreshing that the novel stays exciting despite any big payoff.

G reviewed The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (The First Law, #1)

Review of 'The Blade Itself' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I enjoyed the setting and the unorthodox characters. The action sequences are very clear and exciting. the contrast between the points of view and the Union vs the North etc. is well portrayed. I found Logen and Glokta most interesting. Even thought this has a reputation for being the grimmest, darkest fantasy out there, I found the writing style and humour kept it (oddly) lighter in tone than other so-called dark fantasy that I have read.

It would be nice if more stuff happened a little quicker though and it feels like the whole book is just there to setup what comes later. As I had all books to hand this wasn't a problem for me.

Daniel Darabos reviewed The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (The First Law, #1)

Review of 'The Blade Itself' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

It's a long book and it just serves to introduce some characters and part of a fantasy world. Nothing much happens in this one, but I expect the story will unfold in the next two books, which I don't intend to read. (I'm interested in what happens though. I'll try to find some spoilers.)

It tries hard to be original in the characters and the setting, but somehow it didn't work for me. If I just look at the character traits, like a crippled inquisitor who used to be a favored, handsome young man, it all sounds interesting. But then they still manage to come out two-dimensional, nothing more than the sum of these traits. The characters don't come alive.

One part where the book surprisingly excels is humor. It's supposed to be this dark, gritty fantasy epic, but I found myself chuckling several times. The characters may not be …

booklost reviewed The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (The First Law, #1)

Review of 'The Blade Itself' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

A great series start! I'm about half way through [b:Before They Are Hanged|902715|Before They Are Hanged (The First Law, #2)|Joe Abercrombie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1179318094s/902715.jpg|2116927] now and still having a blast! There's pretty good character and world building, and the author hasn't been shoving your nose along the plot; instead leaving you to infer.