Marek reviewed The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
Solid Act 1, but it's just an Act 1
3 stars
It's a bugbear of mine to have half a story sold as a full book (and don't start me on television series). That's what we have here.
The fundamentals are really good. The characters are solid (if broadly unpleasant). The writing is atmospheric and immersive. The world building is good. I particularly like how magic is described from the perspectives of the non-magical characters.
But it took me a sprint to get through this without getting too frustrated. There are interesting things happening throughout, but no coherence to it, and it is only in the last 50 pages or so we really start to see what the contours of the plot will be. I'd prefer to see better construction than that - some kind of arc within each book not just across the whole series.
Still, I will be going back for seconds...