One day all audio books will be like this!!

This book was made for the audio format, the narration is quite simply brilliant - the characters, which the narrator just brings to life, are great and very easy to engage with. How does he keep the voices consistent? Brilliant!!

One day all audio book will be this good - they should all at least aspire to be!!!

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A dark, gritty start to a promising series

I heard a lot of positive reviews of this book and thought I would spend my monthly credit in getting the audiobook. Steven Pacey brought the characters to life for me and enabled me to immersed into the story. The voices he uses are instantly associated with the character they are referencing.

The book itself must be taken as the first book of a trilogy. It is not self contained and doesn't really have a finish to it (I am sure this will be in the final book). The story is bleak, the violence is graphic, the situations are both realistic and fantastical.

Each chapter concentrates on a specific characters POV. Most of the main characters are introduced early on and you read/listen to see how they will all meet-up.



I enjoyed this so much that I changed my subscription so I could get the other 2 books in the trilogy. If you enjoy low level fantasy (with a taste of historical fiction) then this is for you.

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Abercrombie + Pacey = Excellence

If you could sum up The Blade Itself in three words, what would they be?

Brutal Brilliant Enjoyable

What about Steven Pacey’s performance did you like?

Steven Pacey's characterisation and performance of each member of the illustrious cast is just amazing. Having the good works of Joe to start with then having Steven bring them to life was a joy to listen too.
Whenever a character started to speak you knew instantly who it was. There was no blandness in his portrayal, simply brilliance.

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A Great Story Made.... Awesome! - By.....

A great story made awesome by Steven Pacey his narration is truly exceptional.

Steven Pacey brings the well written story and characters to life and sweeps you away into the heart of the story. I've listened to books one and two in about 10 days and I'm just about to get book 3 so - I'm hooked if there were 10 stars available I'd give this series 12 :D

It's a very long time since I've enjoyed a fantasy series so much it has everything darkness, grit, humour, magic, battles and brilliant characters each with their own twists and turns inside the main plot line. (As a sidenote I wish the author would give Glokta his own series!)

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Great story, fantastic reader

loved the book. characters were not your standard type. every story line was interesting and the readers gift for accents and voice modulation ruined the experience off.

only drawback was that audio quality was not good. every second sentence the start was hacked off. for example every "she" sound like "he".

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Delightfully twisted and evil

What made the experience of listening to The Blade Itself the most enjoyable?

An admirably hard, fast and unpretentious read and packs a mean punch. It is crammed full of torture, vengeance and bad behaviour whilst keeping a good sense of humour.

What other book might you compare The Blade Itself to, and why?

The blood song

What about Steven Pacey’s performance did you like?

Steven Pacey has brought this gritty book to life. He fully submerses us into the characters of the book.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

“Once you've got a task to do, it's better to do it than live with the fear of it.”
― Joe Abercrombie, The Blade Itself

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A real page turner

This is a really good read and a real page turner.
To put it in very simple terms: you could say it's a cross between serious, hard fantasy with political plots and backstabbing like George RR Martin, and more whimsical, humorous fantasy like Terry Pratchett.
It's written in a very modern, easy to read style.
The plot itself is fairly standard. But the quality of the writing and the way the characters leap off the page and stick in your memory really makes it stand out.

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Much more to come

First time I have listened to a book by this author has the same feel about it as the classic wheel of fortune,witch I loved

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Great

Amazing except for the narrator pronounces grimace as grim mace instead of grimice which is a bit jarring

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complex and entertain

full of interesting characters and hero's but more anti hero's than expected, setting of on a journey to what?

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