The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie Book Review & Reaction | The Grimdark Fantasy Gold Standard

[@odiums_taint]

Glokta’s enmity with stairs endeared me to him right away... he really is one of my favorite characters in fantasy

[@jamesporrell5687]

Wow what a username

[@FKDotFitzgerald]

About 4 years ago, a B&N employee suggested this book and described The First Law as “Game of Thrones meets Reservoir Dogs.” That pitch had me pretty excited and I ended up loving the book early on. Every book in the franchise has blown me away for one reason or several others. While there is something special about The Blade Itself, seeing Joe’s writing and characters evolve over the course of 9.5 books has absolutely raised my standards for fantasy and grim-dark.

[@ataridc]

I read this series after finishing song of ice and fire and googling "similar books" and it's funny i kind of saw that Quentin Tarantino comparison way more than asoiaf as I read. I think it's the cursing, explosions of violence and heavy focus on dialogue. To me asoiaf is closer to traditional classic fantasy with elements of horror.

[@noahhansford5942]

That’s how I recommend it to people. Imagine a song of ice and fire, directed by Quentin Tarantino

[@Daniel-fu9zt]

H guys ive just started getting into adult fantasy books. I read a preview of the blade itself on my Kindle and was really hooked. just wondering does it get complicated or can I dive in?

[@destro6971]

My first time going through this series was via audiobook through the library, and now Steven Pacey lives in my brain during rereads.

[@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy]

You can never have too many First Law videos! To me, First Law would be one of the most depressing and alienating series in existence if it weren’t for one thing: the genius of Abercrombie’s humor. Thanks for the excellent video, Mike!

[@tom-u8k6y]

haha yeah there is loads of great dry humour parts with Glokta. I always liked when he was talking to that deaf old guy at the university.

[@andyj6574]

I'm discovering that characters are king when it comes to my reading enjoyment, and the characters in The Blade Itself are top notch. Logen, Jezal, Bayaz, and of course Glokta are phenomenal. Even though I'm only one book in, I can already tell this is going to be one of my favorite trilogies of all time. Also, the read along for First Law on Discord has been great...the hardest part has been keeping myself from reading ahead!

[@turtleanton6539]

yeah stories are recycled so it is all about charchters

[@akent12]

I'm sorry, the characters didn't work for me, and this is why. They don't do anything. Jezal the only one with an arc (in the first book) and this arc is objectively bad. Logen almost had a redeeming moment on the roofs, where I thought, wow, his borrowed time end, what a perfect mirror of the first chapter, but nope, it was nothing after all. Glokta is doing nothing interesting to be honest before being sent to the next "quest" Bayaz, oh dear, worst character in this book. He's a mixture of being too strong and doing nothing at the same time. None of the characters had real influence on the plot of the first book as far as I can tell. All in all, the characters are plain as the book. Maybe the rest of the trilogy is the best thing ever, but the first book is pointless.

[@cirodaraujo]

@@akent12 That was precisely how I felt when I read the book the first time. It was basically 'what was the point'? However, as Mike points out, it really is a long book in 3 parts. I think Joe could have distributed plot better between the books (and he does this very well on his YA shattered sea series and on the second trilogy) so that we could be more engaged by the world and the plot right from the get go, but I think this is a flaw of it being his debut work. When I just reread the series now the first book I saw a lot more plot in the first book then the first read, but the real plot is really hidden. My advice is to stick with it.

[@DerelictProjects]

The First Law is my absolute favorite book series. Since reading it nothing has quite scratched that same itch that Joe’s brilliant morally grey POV’s & clever and scathing author voice did. I was in a similar state of feeling burnt-out with the fantasy series out there, and your original videos recommending the series gave me the push to check it out. I cannot thank you enough!

[@niklaskoivunen1138]

I feel like people don't talk about Abercrombie's prose enough, and just focus on his character work. No, it's not overly flowery and somewhat straightforward, but that's the beauty of it. He has a really distinct voice as an author, and I love how snarky he can be at times and make me laugh at some dark stuff with his excellent writing.

[@kevinwalsh9704]

1000 percent agree! I really don’t want to sound like a giant fan boy but every sentence feels crafted. There is a whit and charm and soul to the prose that I just don’t get with any other book. Its like Abercrombie knows exactly how to get my brain to light up with his writing. I also think that getting Steven Pacey (the greatest audiobook narrator I’ve ever heard) read these books, it’s truly been a joy going through this series.

[@Tinoshke07]

I'm one of those new readers of Abercrombie. I'm reading the first book right now and although I'm not far yet (around page 60) Glokta had me already chuckle a few times. I might have found one of the characters I'm going to love the most from books. I watched your review and you were so enthusiastic (your eyes were glowing !) that I can continue reading , knowing that I will be reading some great books the next few weeks and months cause I'm planning on reading all his books one after another.

[@flyingsquirrel1486]

one of the last chapters in this book where you actually see the bloody nine is when u realized Joe was built different

[@t20sgrunt36]

The series a masterpiece. I think I've read the originally trilogy 4-5 times. Characters & Dialogues are some of the best regardless of genre. Highly recommend the audiobooks with Steven Pacey doing the narration. It is top tier.

[@joeharris5860]

I can always reread these and get so much enjoyment just based on the character dialouge. Body found floating by the docks. Far far beyond recognition

[@truthjustice61]

Thank you for the comprehensive review. Something I rarely hear mentioned is Abercrombie's background as a video editor. I think that skillset is quite evident in his writing. From that, he has a good grasp of pacing ("entering the scene as late as possible and leaving as soon as possible" ) as well as how to construct satisfying characters with compelling arcs. Couple that with his innately sharp wit and ironic world view, and you have an author with all the tools to write novels that live on in the reader's memory long after the last page has been read.

[@karljansson8230]

The First Law got me back into reading fantasy again after a long break. I have only read the first three so far, but they are fantastic.

[@devdav96]

Just finished the trouble with peace! I've really freaking loved this journey so far

[@angelaholmes8888]

I love the trouble with peace it's such a great read

[@207guitar]

Reading that now! Halfway through and loving it so far

[@mikelevels1]

I literally just bought the trilogy about two nights ago and will get started on them very soon. Mostly due to the videos you put out and how almost inevitable it is that you may draw a comparison to this book when discussing others. Thanks Mike!

[@brentasmith]

I'm so glad I read this series after finding the channel. I tried it a long time ago when I wasn't really a fantasy reader and was trying to find an ASOIAF replacement. I didn't make it far because I wasn't used to a real character driven story. I went back later after a bit more experience and it's an all time favorite.

[@Twistedstar0320]

I binge read every first law book last year thanks to your channel

[@angelaholmes8888]

That's what I did last year and I also read Abercrombie the shattered sea trilogy

[@raul418]

what a chad

[@teksnotdead902]

I am very thankful that this series was mentioned so much here and on a few other booktube channels. I am currently on the final book in the Age of Madness trilogy and have loved this journey so much. The character work and humor are, in my opinon, untouchable.

[@abnushagnasty805]

Such a great series! Even the stand alones are so amazing! Anything written by Abercrombie is just like gold to me.

[@connor_moriarty]

I read the Blade Itself for the first time in 2019. Like you, I was look for an ASOIAF adjacent series. I enjoyed the characters, but was left wanting more. That changed when I got to Book 2, so I completely agree with your final thoughts. And, after finishing Wisdom of Crowds right when it came out, I can confidently say that First Law is my favorite modern fantasy series. No contest. Joe's character development, humor, action, political intrigue, dialogue, and thematic work are all top tier.

[@RespectTheSourceMaterial]

Amazing series.

[@pezcore939]

I agree, it's a clinic on how to do politics. It's a quick meeting in an office, or a short chapter of a hearing. Enough to move the plot along

[@eddiepolo6047]

My favourite fantasy series!

[@iWizard]

As a huge GRRM fan, I, like you, have been looking for the next SOIAF.

[@jamesbrown553]

Love the "say one thing about..." reference, how logen of you 😂

[@Oliverwhitehouse-td7cs]

I've just finished the blade itself 😀😀😀 what a book it truly is. Your review is spot on . The character Glokta tickled my humour so many times ............ Top 5 fantasy book of all time ....... Easy

[@simonedwards9450]

This is one of my favourite fantasy series and the Blade Itself is one of the greatest debuts in literature. From the get go I loved it. Great characterisation and dialogue. Not much gets better than this

[@LPChipi]

8:55 THANK YOU!! You've put into words my issue with a lot of the Grimdark sub-genre. Being more gritty and realistic is not the same as misery porn. You can have lighthearted moments in your grimdark story, even wholesome moments. That will make the dark stuff even more impactful. Something that bugs me a bit of ASOIF is the misery porn aspect. Nothing good will ever happen to those characters and you just know it.

[@lucasbertsche3710]

I’ll never get tired of watching reviews on this series lol

[@moonbot7613]

Nice, I’m on page 153 and liking it a lot so far. Edit: it’s already a really “Quotable “ book early in. Glad you mentioned that because it’s something I definitely noticed.

[@kwirby]

Say one thing about the first law trilogy, say it has plenty good quotes.

[@dinocollins720]

First law fancast video!!!!

[@afk2514]

Just finished the trilogy for the first time yesterday. It was amazing, Great pace, intriguing and quite bloody. Started Best Served Cold today.

[@reaper2r]

The stand alones are incredible. Enjoy

[@afk2514]

@@reaper2r how very delightful, as the new illustrious and infamous Arch Lector would have said.

[@tylergibson2724]

Mike, I started following you back in December. And since then, I’ve read SWAN SONG, EMPIRE OF THE VAMPIRE, and THE BLADE ITSELF (just started book 2). All of them are beyond excellent. Thank you so much for your channel.

[@reaper2r]

This is my favorite series of all time!

[@cipriansirbu3699]

Imo,you can never have too much Abercrombie content.Especially now because I actually know what you're talking about 😂,being caught up with everything in the FL universe.

[@SuperOskarcito]

Wow, this review is 100x better than the rest of booktube. This is the review it deserved.

[@mikesbookreviews]

Thank so much!

[@Slayereyez]

I never tire of hearing about this series. I mean it's top tier! You have to be realistic about these things.

[@kylerieman221]

This trilogy was amazing. So glad I decided to pick it up earlier this year

[@beanie0026]

This was the first series I finished. I had hardly read any fantasy. This was great.

[@lucasbertsche3710]

I’d love to see a Top 10 First Law characters list as hard as that would be

[@raullara4683]

Mike i read this series because of you. First time I heard of first law was like 10 years ago, but read it because you convinced me to do it.

[@deelak2329]

9 Fingers might be my all-time favourite fantasy character.

[@briangallagher3106]

Same, when asked what’s your fav I always say LOTR BUT!!! First law is my favourite modern series. It’s incredible.

[@ctrlaultdel6608]

I’m on my second listen to the Blade Itself. It’s amazing even on the second listen.

[@Musicteachersheff]

Finally read this trilogy and loved it. Recommended it to my Dad who got me into Song of Ice and Fire. He read it too and loved it too! The characters are just fantastic. I saw the lack of plot issue with the first book and didn’t even care.

[@mmurphy3608]

I’m on book two of this trilogy and love it. I do have some gripes concerning Abercrombie’s writing at times (some of the poor sentence structure or confusingly written passages, his constant and sometimes incorrect use of the word “round”-trust me, once you notice it you’ll wonder if he used it so much on purpose, and all the “grr’s”, “hmm’s”, etc that don’t feel natural) and at times the out-of character-comments by some of the characters. But these are mostly minor gripes and overall I’m really enjoying it. Can’t wait to see how it comes together in book three.

[@mburgalurg]

totally get that! He also improves with each book I don’t think it’s as bad as they go on

[@sunshine_tidings6983]

Never get sick of hearing you talk about first law or wheel of time 👍

[@alynam82]

I just LOVE looking at my unread copy of Blade Itself, sitting right above my desk. It creates excitement and anticipation

[@kirsireima5758]

Wow, I had a very similar background going into the First Law trilogy. I think I had just read A Song of Ice and Fire, after which "regular" fantasy just didn't feel like anything really. I don't remember how I came to pick up Blade Itself but I did and my god it was a satisfying read. I remember being almost giddy while reading, which is always fun. Now it's been years since I read the trilogy and I've forgotten most of it. Except for the sound of Glotka's steps and how you can never have too many knives. Luckily I just recently decided to pick up Abercrombie again and I have a feeling I will revisit First Law after I've ploughed through the standalones and "the new series". And after I've read the N. K. Jemisin books I ordered last week because I know I can't let those wait. :D

[@formulaeternal]

Nailed it. Great description of the characters and the story. Great job Mike

[@binglamb2176]

I am more of a mystery and historical fiction reader but I have just recently started more fantasy thanks to you Mike. Just picked up The First Law Trilogy and will start it in July. Alas, I don't do Discord or Instagram so I will have to forego those discussions.

[@tuskenmong8814]

Man , I'd read Joe Abercrombies grocery list . He's the best .

[@RedFuryBooks]

I love to hear you gush about your favorite series! Thank you for the video, but more importantly convincing a lot of us to read Abercrombie (myself included). It’s just as fantastic for me as you had said!

[@Kris-dh9oj]

Thanks for another great spoiler free video!

[@bottle1211]

never get tired of this series either

[@briangallagher3106]

I’m nearly finished my second reading of this book. I love those series so much

[@nsabins]

Love the review. Picked up book one but was too busy to commit. Will try to read it soon!

[@timothywinters2357]

This book started my journey into a constant reader. Changed my life

[@simtye88]

I’ll check this out. I’ve been reading fantasy since 98 and slowed down last couple years just recently picked up Scott lynch and now that’s almost complete I’ll check Joe out! Thanks for the great reviews !

[@darrow74]

I can't wait to read this.

[@kopsikiller]

I had never read fantasy and during the pandemic in 2020 I came across a used edition of The Blade Itself and thought I'd give it a try (even though I thought I would be too old for this..was 40 at the time). Long story short I've read nearly 60 fantasy books since then and all because First Law made me fall in love with the fantasy genre. Thank you mr. Abercrombie..

[@bookmeridian]

This is the only one I've read of Abercrombie works. I really need to get back to First Law

[@bdashby]

I’ve just received the hardback version of the blade itself for Father’s Day I’m looking forward to dipping into it this week.

[@flyingsquirrel1486]

facts Joe abercrombie is still my favourite author to date, his booms just hit

[@danielvanrooyen9602]

I remember reading a torture scene and started laughing, just because of the dialogue/internal thoughts. I am thinking to myself, how messed up is it your laughing at this scene, the magic of Joe.

[@sirhandsome5107]

This book had me at “stairs”….I laughed so damned hard about Glotka’s rivalry and hatred of just “stairs” I was hooked but not a lot happens in book 1. Extremely character driven. Diving into “Before they are Hanged” right now fellas. Feeling giddy 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@IqraShah]

I can't wait to read this

[@DegzToyDen]

Reading this right now!! Loving it so far

[@CRohrscheib]

I've said it before and I'll stand by it, Glokta is one of the best written characters in fantasy of all time. My controversial opinion is that I think Ferro is fantastic too.

[@mikesbookreviews]

Who doesn’t love someone that calls everyone else “pink?”

[@ctrlaultdel6608]

And the hissssss

[@bottle1211]

Glokta is an amazing character

[@Daemonarch10]

one of my favorite Autors, and one of my favorite Series. i strongly recommend the audio books.

[@jcdenton616]

Half way through last argument of kings, the first book is 100% my favorite.

[@praetorxyn]

I need to re-read this at some point before reading the standalones so I can read Age of Madness, but the backlog ever grows. In my memory, the series was "good," and then I was really surprised by the effusive praise of it on BookTube.

[@samkampersal3598]

I have been hoping to see this

[@Juanpa_SC]

In couple of days I'll be starting Last Argument of Kings (gotta finish DT7 and Mistborn 6 first). I didn't realize how much I miss this universe and characters until this video.

[@iWizard]

Nikki will be reviewing this over the summer!! I need to get to it as well.

[@Avzigoyhbasilsikos]

Sold!!!

[@jellevanbreugel325]

I'm kinda scared for the TV adaptation which i'm sure will be made some day...... Excellent series!!!!

[@heretic124]

I'm waiting until the reprints of hardbacks finally arrive and then I dive in for the first time. Have a month off between jobs and I made a schedule for my book backlog 😅 Finishing The Crippled God, Finishing last two books of the New Sun, The Blade Itself and Death's End. Will hopefully fit Jurassic Park and some short story collection in-between.

[@gripriparmwrestling]

Such an amazing series

[@angelaholmes8888]

I did enjoy the blade itself glad I decided to give the book a shot 👍

[@teresaharris-travelbybooks5564]

I love this book, and the Bloody Nine. Niki Hawkes, the Obsessive Bookseller, recommended this series to me and I'm so happy that she did. It made me wish that I had a cool nickname that makes people go white faced with fear, when they hear it, like Logan and Black Dow. I haven't enjoyed anything this much since Nicholas Eames' Kings Of The Wyld. I did think of Clay Cooper as I was reading about Logan.

[@cirodaraujo]

The series is fantastic, but for me the outstanding character is Glokta. The way Joe writes his thoughts and subtext is so refreshing specially after malazan (my main criticism of malazan is that the dialogue is extremely unrealistic) makes him probably the best developed character in fantasy. My one big criticism is that on the first trilogy he really doesn't develop any female characters - Ferro should be the one but even though she is one of the POV's characters you'll never see her even mentioned in any non-spoiler reviews, and that is because of lack of development and depth compared to the other main PoVs, which is ironic since he does create fantastic female characters in his later work, specially on the second trilogy and on best served cold.

[@adamborst]

I just listened to the audiobook of "The First Law" and thought it was very good. My favorite thing was the humorous quips, whether internally thought or externally spoken, they almost always got a legitimate laugh out loud to the point my wife would ask me what I was listening to. Perhaps I don't completely understand the definition of grimdark, but this was not nearly as brutal as I expected. Series like Malazan and Prince of Nothing are both far more brutal in my opinion. Is a bigger part of grimdark just the "grey" characters? Is it an apparent lack of chosen one like Rand/Corban/Frodo? I will disagree on those that say nothing happened. It was not necessarily a plot driven book, but certainly plot was moved forward and I imagine the setup of both personal and national conflicts will move that plot forward. To end, all I can say is, "I'm still alive, I'm still alive." Thank you for this. I'm looking forward to reading/listening to Before They Are Hanged.

[@joeleonard1314]

I couldn't agree more with your assessment. Sanderson does try a little hard with the whole mental illness concept. I love everything about these books. Abercrombie has discussed his pacing in his first book, but it didn't bother me at all. Masterpiece.

[@pherranine]

funny im doing my 1st reread of abercrombie and just finished this book today lol

[@supernorry3847]

I have definitely read it and i forgot a lot of stuff. The standalones really stuck with me. That doesnt mean i dont like the original trilogy because i do quite a lot actually. But they did not stick with me like those standalones. I also think Sharp Ends, The Short Story Collection, is severly underrated. Every single one of those short stories is great. I would definitely recommend them even if you are not a fan of short stories

[@KEYO_87]

Love your stuff, Mike, nice re-review. I Ironically just finished this book a couple days ago and am hooked. Wrapping up the second book now! There is one uncommon "Gripe" I have, though, if you could call it that, as I love this shit to death. Glokta's chapters are just the weakest part of the narrative for me...He's undoubtedly a great character, but he's the only character that I find myself checking to see how long his chapters are. Blasphemy I know. My standout is hands down Jezal, ever since his opening card game.I knew that guy had some growing to do and I wanted to be there to see it, plus I'm a big Brett Easton Ellis reader, so I like shitty characters. But seriously, never been so on the edge of my seat with a series--can't wait to see how all my questions are wrapped up in book three!

[@Slayereyez]

I've read these books in the universe a ton of times. Audiobook too. Stephen Pacey is a God among men as the narrator.

[@Ulmo90]

Reading Best Served Cold at the moment, I've actually missed this world

[@emosongsandreadalongs]

Abercrombie's writing is so good it made me unable to read Sanderson for a while

[@mikesbookreviews]

Yeah that’ll happen.

[@tatuira93]

I remember first hearing The Blade Itself in the audiobook format at work, it certainly seemed a bit above the rest when it comes to grimdark, so on a whim I had decided to buy the entire boxed trilogy. One of my best book purchases. I was one of the guys who thought the first book didn't have much going on, but I did enjoy the characters quite a bit, but by the time I got to The Last Argument of Kings I couldn't stop turning the pages and was grinning ear to ear at every paragraph; Glokta certainly is my favorite character, to no surprise, but Jezal's character arc is just phenomenal stuff. No one writes grimdark like Abercrombie and I can't stop recommending it to people.

[@samuelbarber6585]

Waterstones looks like they are selling trade hardcover editions this or next month with the original covers... an affordable alternative to the Broken Binding editions.

[@LightningRaven42]

The Blade Itself is a freaking masterpiece and none of the criticisms leveled against it have anything to do with quality, only taste. The book doesn't have much plot, so what? It's called a character-driven story for a reason.

[@akellerhouse83]

I still have never read anything by Joe Abercrombie. Grim dark fantasy is not something I'm usually into. But I just finished reading Crippled God last week and now I feel like I can read anything! I have always intended to read First Law. I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

[@ctrlaultdel6608]

Give it a shot. You won’t be disappointed.

[@akellerhouse83]

@CtrlAultDel haha. I've actually read the first 2 at this point. You're right, though. I really liked them!

[@Stratos.2]

It's my favorite modern fantasy series too. I was searching for a new fantasy series to read and sampled a few that have been recommended on the internet. All I know is that the moment I started The Blade Itself, I knew that I couldn't read any of the other series I was considering and went full bore Joe Abercrombie from then on, reading the initial trilogy and then the next. I still have more to go but I highly recommend his books if you want REALISTIC FANTASY. After all, you need to be realistic about these things.

[@NeganSmash420]

I was fooled when Glokta dreamed about killing jezal to everyone's delight. I thought he really did on first read

[@jakehensley1210]

I definitely had the same experience with Glokta. I loathed him at first, and as the series progresses, I found that I couldn’t wait to get back to his storyline. In saying that, there wasn’t one storyline out of the 4 in this series that felt boring in any way.

[@dinocollins720]

Mike you may have a care package coming in the mail in a few months already purchased. That's all I will say lol

[@onihr1]

It took me a solid 3 attempts to get through the first 1/4 of the book…. After that I was hooked and burned Through the trilogy and the stand alones in record time.

[@tylerherdt5697]

It’s such a great series! My only complaint was the overuse of the term grimaced and how the audio book narrator pronounced it lol