It is impossible to give a full review without spoilers, so let me make it simple:

This book is amazing, and you should read it.

Abercrombie employs a no-nonsense style, with no obtrusive sentence structure, yet manages to be both eloquent and lyrical. His word choices are spot-on. His dialogue is 100% believable and appropriate for the characters he sets up. His settings are not bogged down. It's just pleasant to read. He told a great story, and he told it well.

I really enjoyed it. If someone else were going to give it a go, I'd warn them the first chapter is not the way the entire book is written, and the way that particular chapter is written makes sense as the story progresses. Do not let the first chapter put you off.

You will realize how awesome it is later on.

There’s an interesting mix of characters, and I don't think there's only two I didn't connect with. They arrived late in the book, and I don't quite understand them yet, so that's probably part of it. My favorite characters are all bad guys. There are some really likeable bad guys in this book.

This review sounds kind of lackluster, I know, but it's really hard to get into too much detail without spoiling it. It's technically fantasy, high on the adventuring, lots of characters to keep track of - but they're grouped, so it's much easier - good worldbuilding, excellent fight scenes (some of the best I've come across), and not at all bogged down in irrelevant details. It’s character-driven, and the dialogue is some of the best I’ve ever read.

Highly recommended.

Interested in buying this? Support Writing.Com by making your purchase of The Blade Itself (The First Law Trilogy Book 1)   from Amazon.Com!

Created Feb 29, 2024 at 7:53pm • Submit your own review...