Review: The Blade Itself

The Blade Itself The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

EDIT: Just a warning that this book series has graphic descriptions of torture contained if that is a deal breaker for you.

This book has been on my "To read" list for years. It took a quarantine to get me to finally read it and I absolutely loved it. It is hard to compare it to something, but if I had to do so, I would probably go with it being a deeper look at something like The Lies of Locke Lamora.

Characters: 5*
Universe: 5*
Plot: 5*

Let me start with the characters. Rarely have I seen such an in-depth, humanizing look at characters. You grow to love some characters. You grow to hate other characters. And then your perceptions can be shifted and changed or reinforced in an unexpected way in just a single scene. Many authors can cause you to feel this way about a primary character, but this author makes me feel this way about nearly all of the characters. By the time I finished this book, I felt like the characters were family.

Next, the plot. Every time a scene changed, I felt conflicted. First, sorrow because "I WASN'T DONE WANTING TO HEAR ABOUT THAT SCENE YET!!!!" Second, joy because "YAY! I GET TO HEAR MORE ABOUT THIS OTHER THING GOING ON!!!" Unlike many other authors, I never got a sense of disorientation during scene shifts. I never got a sense of "It's time to change scenes because I have no idea how to end this other scene." It feels like a well-executed "Always leave your audience wanting more."

Now the universe. People who read my reviews know that I love a universe that impacts the story. And this universe does that in spades. It isn't simply a case of "plop characters in a fantasy world and let them do their thing." Between the characters and the plot and the universe, I quickly felt as though I had moved into this world. I would stop reading and have to take a minute to realize that I was living in the modern world and not this other fantastically designed universe.

If you like Lies or Theft of Swords, you will love this book.

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