Before They Are Hanged: The First Law: Book Two

An excellent audiobook brilliantly narrated.

This is the second book in Joe Abercrombie's 'First Law' trilogy and it is important to read/listen to the books in order to get the most out of them.

The book picks up more or less when part 1 ended. There are now three distinct story lines involving Glokta, Major West and the Byas expedition and they are pretty much separate throughout. There is also a lot more action. But the main strengths of the first book continue: well written, excellent characters and plots and a tour de force of narration by Stephen Pacey, who brings the book brilliantly to life. Stunning is the only word to describe his performance.

A five star listen - I'm already onto to part 3!

This second part of the trilogy is not the "mark time till the finale" filler usually found in fantasy trilogies. The characters are solid and the story makes turning off your mp3 player very hard.

After listening to the first book I bought this one (being the second book) it too was not a mistake. I thouroughly enjoyed it adn found it if not as good as the first book then better! once again it was well read by Stephen Pacey with all the emotion and grit of the first book. This is definatly worth it!

This book continues the brilliant form of the first. There are some new characters introduced but mainly it continues the stories of the diverse and varied cast from the first book. It is bloodier than the first, with more battles and action, but retains the intelligence and humour of the first. A remarkable series of books so far, made all the more enjoyable by the narrator. An excellent effort all round!

I think that these books are brilliant and I would recommend them to anyone who likes intrigue and painful death in their novels. The characters have been enlivened by the reading of the audio book. The voices are perfect. All of Joe Abercrombie's books are imaginative and brilliant examples of the fantasy genre. Logan Nine Fingers is a ground breaking character who should be a role model for everyone.

I discovered Joe Abercrombie from reading reviews on Audible and was glad I did. I wanted something fresh to read and not derivative of other authors. I found this here.



I did everything I could to find time to continue listening to this book. I offered to do the shopping, gardening and even pretended to go to bed early so could slip in the ear phones and lose myself in the characters and the world.



The book is not without faults - the expedition to edge of the world seems a pointless, if engaging, ramble - but they are few and greatly offset by the story and narration.



I would recommend this series to anyone interested in fantasy.

I downloaded this entire book for a long car journey across Europe. Absolutely superb. Being new to audio books it was the quality of the narration that really impressed me... such a range of different voices and all from one person. I have read Joe Abercromie books before so I knew I could bet on a good story and I haven't been disappointed. Highly recommeded.

This book starts out as strong as the rest of the series and keeps the action flowing throughout. There is an over-arching feeling of frustration in this book and it really adds to the atmospheres created in the first two instalments. I think I enjoyed the book, though I can't shake the feeling of unease while reading it. Masterfully done yet again.

Gripping to the end - fantastic stuff! Brilliant story and brilliant narrator. I usually only listen to Audible stories while driving (on my sat nav) but this one was so good I took the sat nav out of the car and listened to it straight through.

This trilogy is probably the best piece of fantasy writing I've listened to in years. Joe Abercrombie's writing stiyle is such that you can't wait to find out what the next twist is going to be. The descriptions of the more gruesome elements of the story are so good I winced more than once. This coupled with the underlying humour moved this from a standard quest story into a whole genre. Steven Pacey's narration is perfectly paced with each of the main characters voices being distinctly different.