SEPTEMBER FEATURE #3: The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

[paulgoatallen]

 Geez, we've been mentioning this book, The Blade Itself  – and The First Law series – for years now. The Blade Itself came out in 2007, and Before They are Hanged and Last Argument of Kings  in 2008. Countless visitors here have raved about these novels and yet we've just never seemed to get around to them. well, now is the time. this book is next up on my reading list but I'd love for all of you who have already read this novel to share your opinions. What made this novel – or this series – so great? I'm really curious because the Publishers weekly review was lukewarm at best (below):

"British newcomer Abercrombie fills his muddled sword-and-sorcery series opener with black humor and reluctant heroes. Logen Ninefingers, a barbarian on the run from an ex-employer who's now king of the North, finds his loyalties complicated when he switches sides and becomes a valuable source of intel to the beleaguered Union. Glokta, a torture victim turned torturer, gets roped into securing the Union's position against both the invading Northmen and the incompetent Union king and council, and ruthlessly wields his skills in attempts to weed out traitors. Foppish Jezal, a preternaturally excellent swordsman, manages to win the contest to become the Union champion, thanks to a little help from Bayaz, a mage with his own agenda. The workmanlike plot, marred by repetitive writing and an excess of torture and pain, is given over to introducing the mostly unlikable characters, only to send them off on separate paths in preparation for the next volume's adventures."

And, also, what was this read compable to? It seems to me like it's somewhat similar to Fritz Leiber's classic Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories...

Paul

[Melhay]

Well Paul, as you know Krista and I like to have our stopping points as we read to stop and discuss what is going on and what could happen.  I didn't know if anyone had any good suggestions as to stopping points.  If not I thought maybe we could break the book into 4 parts to read.

I was thinking (if no other ideas):

     Stop 1 pg 125 - Before chapter - An Offer and a Gift

     Stop 2 pg 265 - Before chapter - Barbarians at the Gate

     Stop 3 pg 388 - Before chapter - Never Bet Against a Magus

     Stop 4 pg 527 - the end of the book

What do others think?  And I agree with Paul, please all who have read this book - jump in at any time!

[Brody]

I think Abercrombie set out to write a sword and sorcery novel but to infuse it with a litte George RR Martin, or Richard K. Morgan, in the sense that it is very dark, the characters in a sense are not bad people, but certainly carry a large amount of skeletons in their closets, the humor is black, but extremely funny.

I couldn't get enough of Abercrombies world, and I'm very surprised that in the PW reveiw they call the characters unlikable, as besides Jezel (and it seems to be the point that you don't like him) I was pretty enamored of the cast, especially of Glokta and Logan, whom rival Bayaz with their dark sides. 

So I think using Leiber as  good jumping off point of comparison is probably pretty close, but add in a bunch of dark, gritty (I really don't like this word, but nothing else seems to fit) moments, black humor and adult situations and language. Oh, and did I mention they are an absolute blast to read, I think a smile was plastered on my face the whole way through.

[carmen22]

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Melhay wrote:

Well Paul, as you know Krista and I like to have our stopping points as we read to stop and discuss what is going on and what could happen.  I didn't know if anyone had any good suggestions as to stopping points.  If not I thought maybe we could break the book into 4 parts to read.

I was thinking (if no other ideas):

     Stop 1 pg 125 - Before chapter - An Offer and a Gift

     Stop 2 pg 265 - Before chapter - Barbarians at the Gate

     Stop 3 pg 388 - Before chapter - Never Bet Against a Magus

     Stop 4 pg 527 - the end of the book

What do others think?  And I agree with Paul, please all who have read this book - jump in at any time!

---

Sounds good to me, Mel!

[Bradinator1]

This is an excellent series! Logen Ninefingers has become one of my favorite characters. The characters all have some nasty flaws, and some of the heros are difficult to root for. Just adds to the flavor. While it does have some of the Game of Thrones feel to it (from GRRM) there is more humor and the plot lines are not quite so diffused. Let's you concentrate on a couple of main folks and get to know them in a more focused setting. I am not sorry I took a gamble on this first book awhile ago. You will enjoy picking it apart. Lots of twists and surprises.

Brad

[Melhay]

Thanks Brad!  I am only up to page 38 and I really feel drawn to Logen.  I like his character and I am really looking forward to this book.

Sounds like a good book for us to "play" with.

[Nelsmom]

I'm still waiting for the person who has this book to get it returned to the library so that I can get it.  They said that it should be there by Monday so that I can start reading.

Toni

[Melhay]

I have just got to the first stopping point,page 125.  When ever you are ready to talk about it I am ready.

[Melhay]

These first pages were easy and hard for me.  This is where the background is set for the characters.  I really enjoyed the parts of Logen Ninefingers, and was slightly bored with Glotka and Jezal and West.  As I am finding I really like Logen and wish there were more parts on him so far.  Then I lean toward West next, then Jezal and lastly Glotka.  Now that I have hit the 125th page Glotka is starting to grow on me.  But I still want to read more of Logen.

Also, now the mystery is beginning to unfold.  There is a whole conspiracy thing going on here.  I am curious to see where this all goes.  We have Logen, Beyez the Magi, and Bethod the Northmen King.  I wonder how they are all going to be involved in the whole thing going on in Agriont with Glotka & Arch Lector on setting up the government to favor what they want.  Actually, at one point I thought Arch Lector was going to team up with Bethod the Northmen King to get what he wants.  Which still may be an underlining thing to happen in the future since Bethod has sent messengers to speak of peace with the city of Agroint.

I am starting to accrue some questions to be answered in the future of the book.

[Melhay]

I do have a strange question.

   Are the Shanka & Flatheads the same thing just 2 names for them?  Logen mentions both of these names at the beginning and I think they are the same but I just wanted to make sure I was thinking on the right track.

[Melhay]

In the beginning Logen thinks his 2 friends are dead, which they very well could be, but we don't know this for sure.

 I am still curious as to why the Shanka were after Logen to begin with?  The Shanka has attacked and killed all his friends and family in his village and now attacked again his camp.  They really seem to be tracking him for some reason…

  I may be misunderstanding a little bit here but I am going to ask… When people are found guilty by the Inquisitors are they sent North?  It seems that is where Logen went for safety, but I think I got all turned around when he started to head South again and was talking of his family being in the North.

[Melhay]

There seems to be a lot of scheming and bribing going on.  I just can’t pinpoint who is taking bribes from whom and it seems everyone is scheming someone to get what they want.

Now we are getting into more depth of the mystery.  Who is killing the people on the Inquisitors list?  Who, Why, and why the Inquisitors list of people to capture.  What information is trying to be with held?  Glokta has his ideas as to how the leak is but is it really that person?

I also think there is something brewing with Bethod the Northmen King.  He has sent messagers to both Agriont and to the Magi’s Library.  Remember everyone except the Lord Chamberlain got the feeling of uneasy from the one messenger.  What is up with this?  I know West mentions of the childhood stories of giants.  Is this man a giant?  And why would they send one that would make others feel uneasy to talk of peace?

The Sulfur that does all the talking at the meeting seems to hold powers of his own.  Is he able to read minds?  He knew exactly what West was thinking of his soldiers in full armor and all the names of everyone there.  Makes you wonder…

[Melhay]

I am also interested in Quai’s mumblings of the First Law on page 94.  I am very curious as to what he means by “To speak with devils”.  Is he seeing the future or is there something that was talked about among the Magi before he came looking for Logen that has to do with Logen in the future?  I think this mumbling may be a clue to something and just might come in handy in the future.  So, I have the page noted along with many others.  Lol.

[carmen22]

Mel,

Hey! It's so cool you got it to look like this! I just copied and pasted a piece of your sentence and now I can type all big and bold like you! Woot! Woot! So much easier to read!

Anyway, I'm at our breaking point as well, but can't stay on tonight to reply. I really just got on for like a second to say I was at 125, too. I'll be back on tomorrow morning or afternoon to reply to all your posts, cool?

Oh and so far my favorite character is Logen, too. Great stuff here, I'll make sure to be on tomorrow.

I'll talk to you later!

Krista

[Melhay]

Krista wrote:

Hey! It's so cool you got it to look like this! I just copied and pasted a piece of your sentence and now I can type all big and bold like you! Woot! Woot!

____________________

All I did was typed in word with Arial size 12.  Then copied it to here and this is what I got.  When I posted it tried to tell me to fix what was highlighted - nothing was highlighted - so I just hit post again.  I know it wanted me to change the font that I had in word.  I didn't know if it would change it automaticly to what it wanted or not.  I guess not.  So I was excited and kept typing in word, copying, then pasting.  It is just sooooo much easier to read.

[carmen22]

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Melhay wrote:

I do have a strange question.

   Are the Shanka & Flatheads the same thing just 2 names for them?  Logen mentions both of these names at the beginning and I think they are the same but I just wanted to make sure I was thinking on the right track.

---

Hey, Mel! 

Logen is also the character I find myself leaning towards. He is obviously a very good fighter, I believe, it said he was in the army, right? He's also a little on the mysterious side in all of this. How did he end up with Nine fingers? Why is he well known? Major question for me is why exactly are the Shanka after him?  

I think the Shanka & Flatheads are one in the same but I could very well be wrong. I have a lot of questions about what exactly these Shanka are and who is sending them?

At this point in the book we don't seem to know too much about what it is that's going on in this world.  No perfect outline of who the good and bad guys are, or exactly why Glokta is killing and setting people up. (unless I missed something....)

Glokta is my second Favorite character, mostly because I pity him and then because of his personality. He has a gritty kind of personality but then again he seems to have a  softer side. I'm wondering where he ends up in all of this in the end.

[Melhay]

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carmen22 wrote:

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Melhay wrote:

I do have a strange question.

   Are the Shanka & Flatheads the same thing just 2 names for them?  Logen mentions both of these names at the beginning and I think they are the same but I just wanted to make sure I was thinking on the right track.

---

Hey, Mel! 

Logen is also the character I find myself leaning towards. He is obviously a very good fighter, I believe, it said he was in the army, right? He's also a little on the mysterious side in all of this. How did he end up with Nine fingers? Why is he well known? Major question for me is why exactly are the Shanka after him?  

I think the Shanka & Flatheads are one in the same but I could very well be wrong. I have a lot of questions about what exactly these Shanka are and who is sending them?

At this point in the book we don't seem to know too much about what it is that's going on in this world.  No perfect outline of who the good and bad guys are, or exactly why Glokta is killing and setting people up. (unless I missed something....)

Glokta is my second Favorite character, mostly because I pity him and then because of his personality. He has a gritty kind of personality but then again he seems to have a  softer side. I'm wondering where he ends up in all of this in the end.

---

Good catch Krista.  I didn’t even think of WHO was sending the Shanka after Logen or who exactly they work for.  Who would have the power to have these things that could kill anyone at any time.  Would they belong to the King of the Union or Bethod the King of the Northmen?  I had thought of the Inquisitors but the are “part of the king of the Union’s rule” so that would fall under the King of the Union, right?

Yes, I have to say this section is more background and getting to meet the characters per say.  Along with how they all know each other.  This is all the setup for what is to happen.

Okay, I hate to admit it but since I am such a slow reader I have started into the next section.  It soooo will not let you down.  With out knowing, I think this was a most excellent stopping point.

[carmen22]

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Melhay wrote:

There seems to be a lot of scheming and bribing going on.  I just can’t pinpoint who is taking bribes from whom and it seems everyone is scheming someone to get what they want.

Now we are getting into more depth of the mystery.  Who is killing the people on the Inquisitors list?  Who, Why, and why the Inquisitors list of people to capture.  What information is trying to be with held?  Glokta has his ideas as to how the leak is but is it really that person?

I also think there is something brewing with Bethod the Northmen King.  He has sent messagers to both Agriont and to the Magi’s Library.  Remember everyone except the Lord Chamberlain got the feeling of uneasy from the one messenger.  What is up with this?  I know West mentions of the childhood stories of giants.  Is this man a giant?  And why would they send one that would make others feel uneasy to talk of peace?

The Sulfur that does all the talking at the meeting seems to hold powers of his own.  Is he able to read minds?  He knew exactly what West was thinking of his soldiers in full armor and all the names of everyone there.  Makes you wonder…

---

There really is a lot going on that we have the smallest amount of information about.

One of my main curiosities is West and his part in all of this. I wonder what will become of West, his sister and Jezal. A lot of pondering thus far......

[carmen22]

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Melhay wrote:

I am also interested in Quai’s mumblings of the First Law on page 94.  I am very curious as to what he means by “To speak with devils”.  Is he seeing the future or is there something that was talked about among the Magi before he came looking for Logen that has to do with Logen in the future?  I think this mumbling may be a clue to something and just might come in handy in the future.  So, I have the page noted along with many others.  Lol.

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This part is very important, I think. This is where we have the mention of the title of the book and how it plays into this story, so I am equally curious about this statment made by Quai.  Very big clue, keep it noted LOL!