Joe Abercrombie

Man, even when I knew the broad strokes of the ending to the trilogy is still affected me deeply. I thought West would die in battle...not due to some fantasy radiation poisoning. I had to put the book down for a second at the end of his last POV chapter. Bayaz completely dominating Jezal was fucking horrible. “I bought you from a whore. You cost me six marks. She wanted twenty, but I drive a hard bargain” is one of the most chilling lines I've read in a long time, it captures Bayaz's character in a single line of dialogue. Glotka definitely got the long straw in the whole situation. That scene with him and Ardee just warmed my heart. I thought Ferro's ending was somewhat hopeful at first but then it struck me that she's doing exactly what Bayaz wants her to do. Logan's entire character arc reminded me of William Munny's arc in Unforgiven. Desperate to move on from his evil and bloody past but he just can't escape it. As much as he tries to be a better man, killing just comes too easy. And do I think he's alive? Of course, I do. He's survived a fall like that once, he'll do it again.

And about the nature of The Bloody Nine, at first I assumed that it was indeed a supernatural occurance. By breaking the First Law, Logen allowed spirits to contact him. Who's to say that some malicious spirit didn't possess him? But as the trilogy went on, I leaned more towards the whole "split personality/berserker" thing. It seems more fitting to his character.

Red Country awaits. I love me a good Western.

edited 15th Jun '13 9:34:13 AM by Kentok

West is and will remain my favourite character in the series, simply because he's not a perfect guy, not a master strategist or a brutal fighter. He's just your average, competent soldier who keeps trying to be better and, unlike Logen, Glokta, Jezal or even, Bayaz, succeeds. I had the same reaction to his death; I can genuinely say I went through the stages of grief. Now, at acceptance, I like the idea of him being the Saviour of Adua.

Red Country's a pretty damn good read, even if it fits the whole 'Western' archetypal setting a bit too closely for my liking.

Ehee, you give me nostalgic fuzzies!

Jezal's last scene with Bayaz made me so sad. He tried so hard to be heroic but he's a youngster who's simply not born with ice in his veins. And now he knows his child is going to grow up thinking Glokta is his/her father.

Glokta kicks ass. I loved the circular nature of how he once again met Rews. One thing that makes Glokta stand out to me as a character is he doesn't care about being entirely "his own man". If his boss treats him decent, he's cool with being commanded. He only struck out against Sult when it was clear Sult had it out for him. He has no love for Bayaz, but he's smart enough to know it's healthier to stay on his good side. And I laughed at his "fuck this, we're going underground" attitude when all hell broke loose.

My recurring favorite minor character is Black Dow. It was pretty awesome he was the only one who really called Logen out on his hypocrisy. His "they don't call me White Dow" line made me laugh way too hard.

Ferro's rampage carries over into later books — remember when Ishri at one point was "I gotta jet, my brother just died"? Almost certainly Ferro.

Red Country is good, but it didn't grab me -quite- as much as some of the others. It had nothing to do with the quality, but I liked the characters more in some of his other books. There are some mindblowing scenes though, like when Glama gets into a tussle. It's really fun to run into Cosca and Friendly again.

edited 2nd Jul '13 6:41:27 PM by Phoenixflame

Finished The Blade Itself. I liked it a lot, though the plot is pretty scattered. Definitely focused on characters and setting the stage. That said, I've spoiled myself a little on this thread, and I'm getting the feeling I might not enjoy the other books as much.

Besides The First Law universe, Abercrombie also wrote a YA series! Half a King is pretty great, following a Non-Action Guy who is betrayed and thrown off of a tall balcony, only to survive and seek revenge. Half the World comes out in a few weeks and looks even better.

It's nominally YA and has YA themes, but still has Abercrombie's trademark grim snarkiness and violence. Less swearing and sex, however.

edited 8th Feb '15 5:12:08 PM by Mars444