The First Law Trilogy – Joe Abercrombie
It’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these, but this latest trilogy warranted some kind of expression. It’s no secret I’m a huge fan of the epic fantasy genre, but this one was a little different. The First Law Trilogy was always popping up in my recommendations, but being a (no offense) generally unknown author, I wasn’t willing to gamble my time. I mean, come on, I only have so many minutes available before I pass out at night. I have to be somewhat selective here. But in the end it was well worth it.
There’s always that strange learning curve when you pick up a new book and enter in an unknown universe. The setting is different, the characters are different, the jargon is different. It’s a lot to absorb. And like I mentioned, doing so right before bed doesn’t help. The First Law Trilogy, specifically the first book, The Blade Itself, was little clumsy out of the gate for me. I’m sure others would disagree with this, but it dropped you in a little too “in the middle.” Everything was so big and unique that I felt like I was stumbling along for the first couple of chapters. Was the writing good enough to keep me around? Definitely. I wanted to learn this world. I wanted to know who these characters were and why they were in their current situations.
The characters very quickly come into focus and things start to really develop and make sense. Glokta is the deformed, gross torturer who seems to be integral to the political game. Logan Ninefingers is the big, burly warrior on the run from… something. Jezal is the naive pretty boy who benefits from wealth. They each bring something different to the table and begin to weave in and out of each other’s chapters.
The first book is definitely a setup. There is a lot going on politically and socially that requires some explanation. Abercrombie does a good job getting you that knowledge without it reading like a textbook. I was fully engaged. He was always hinting at something just beyond my grasp. Some little bit of magic or history. Some building that loomed over the city that you immediately felt would be revisited later. I burned through the pages, hoping that my questions would be answered in the next chapter, but every time I came to a conclusion, two more questions would replace it.
One unique piece of Abercrombie’s writing, which is mentioned in almost every review, is his sense of humor. It was satisfyingly realistic. Often time the dialogue might take the reader out of the moment, but I felt each character was true to itself, and the humor involved was apart of them. Each joke was a representation of the character’s feelings in that moment. I loved it. I wish more authors, especially in this genre, would loosen up and allow their characters to breath. Let them live a little more naturally.
Once you get the setup, you’re in the action. You start to see the strengths and weaknesses of each character, and more overtly, the enemies start to make themselves known. I want to try and avoid spoilers where I can, but I will say the grand sword fight felt a little “pod racer” for me. Sure there were call backs to it later, and there was some dialogue around people that had won the contest before, but in the grand scheme of things it really served no purpose other than to give the character a win. That may seem a little unfair given where you land in book three, but it was my thought at that time.
The second book, Before They Are Hanged, was better. You know that awkward setup of some sequels where the author has to reframe the entire scenario from book one in some forced dialogue in the first chapter? It wasn’t there. Thank god. I hate that. I understand why it’s necessary when you wait 10+ years between novels (cough cough), but when you read back to back like I do, it feels like a waste of time.
Anyway, book two is the epic journey. The characters literally travel to the end of the world in search of an artifact. All stuff you’ve heard before. There really wasn’t anything in this book that was wildly different from other novels, but the character development was out of this world. The relationships between all of the characters and how all of their different personalities interact is superbly written. I personally loved reading Glokta’s chapters in this one. He is faced with the ultimate task of defending an un-defendable position. Each chapter fills you with anticipation, waiting for the other shoe to fall. It’s a really fun read.
The last book in the series, Last Argument of Kings, is… different. I was super excited to finish out this series. Like I mentioned before, there were so many mysteries woven into the first two novels, I couldn’t wait to get them answered. However, because of the ending of the second book, and the political nature of the series as a whole, this one had a different tone. Of course there are the Helm’s Deep chapters, which are great, and the development of the characters continues to impress. But the politics.. well, they kinda suck. I hate saying that. It does a big disservice to the series, but they were like reading Sansa’s chapters in A Clash of Kings. Just a little too painful.
The ending was acceptable. I’ll admit it wasn’t my favorite. All of my questions were answere, and all of the mysteries were solved. In that way I was satisfied, but some of the answers were a let down, and some of the mysteries turned out not to be mysteries at all. Realistic, yes. I suppose Abercrombie was leading me down that path all along, but as a reader, sometimes you want the thrill.
I also felt like it was about 4 or 5 chapters too long. There was some stuff at the end that felt a little unnecessary and brought the excitement back down. By the final page, I was wondering how much longer it was going to go. What else could he have to talk about? (I’m on a Kindle, so if there are appendices, I just see a percentage.) And then once it did end, I was surprised again. Very interesting editing choices to close it out.
The biggest thing that I want to say though:
Abercrombie was masterful in his crafting of the characters. None of them were the good guy. They were all bad. They all had glaring flaws and character faults that stopped you from rooting for any of them. It was purely a good story. There was no cliché hero that wins the girl and slays the dragon. They each paid for their crimes. They all suffered from their stupid decisions. And at no point did I want to stop reading. It was incredible.
Overall, I would definitely recommend a read. If you’re not a fan of the genre, I don’t think this is the one to get you started. If you’re looking for a new world of countries, clans, magic and mysteries, don’t wait to get started. This review may make it seem like I didn’t enjoy these books as much as I did. In reality, I just wanted to like it even more
★★★★★
