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The Blade Itself

The First Law: Book One

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About this listen

 'Delightfully twisted and evil' GUARDIAN

'Highly recommended ... seek it out' Joe Hill

Inquisitor Glokta, a crippled and increasingly bitter relic of the last war, former fencing champion turned torturer extraordinaire, is trapped in a twisted and broken body - not that he allows it to distract him from his daily routine of torturing smugglers.

Nobleman, dashing officer and would-be fencing champion Captain Jezal dan Luthar is living a life of ease by cheating his friends at cards. Vain, shallow, selfish and self-obsessed, the biggest blot on his horizon is having to get out of bed in the morning to train with obsessive and boring old men.

And Logen Ninefingers, an infamous warrior with a bloody past, is about to wake up in a hole in the snow with plans to settle a blood feud with Bethod, the new King of the Northmen, once and for all - ideally by running away from it. But as he's discovering, old habits die really, really hard indeed...

...especially when Bayaz gets involved. A bald old man with a terrible temper and a pathetic assistant, he could be the First of the Magi, he could be a spectacular fraud, but whatever he is, he's about to make the lives of Glotka, Jezal and Logen a whole lot more difficult...©2006 Joe Abercrombie Epic Fantasy Fiction Scary Thought-Provoking Emotionally Gripping Combat Sports

Critic reviews

Highly recommended - a funny, finely-wrought, terrifically energetic work of high fantasy. Seek it out (Joe Hill)
Twisty plotting and gallows humour.
I might not end up marrying this book, but I'm certainly infatuated with it right at the moment. It's delicious, the characters sharply drawn and their motivations believable, the clash of cultures (always particularly difficult for an author to pull off) believable as well. (Lilith Saintcrow)
There is a gritty edge to his world and an awareness of the human cost of violence that is very contemporary
Delightfully twisted and evil
The Blade Itself is a page-turner powered by a combination of fast-paced action and juicy doses of cynicism. Perhaps more remarkable, however, is the way Abercrombie sets the scene
There's a fat vein of cynicism and dark humour throughout. The action scenes are fast-paced and the violence takes its toll both mentally and physically. A great start to a long journey
You'd never guess that The Blade Itself is Joe Abercrombie's debut novel. He writes like a natural. There are great characters, sparky dialogue, an action-packed plot, and from the very first words and an opening scene that is literally a cliff-hanger, you know you are in for a cheeky, vivid, exhilarating ride
An admirably hard, fast and unpretentious read from debut author Joe Abercrombie. Packs a mean punch in the bloodthirsty mayhem and mystery departments. Crammed full of torture, vengeance and bad behaviour, it's a lively tale of savagery vs. civilisation. The Blade Itself may not reinvent the wheel, but it does serve up a whole banquet of violent action and intrigue
The star of the show is doubtlessly Inquisitor Glotka for simply being one of the most wonderfully bitter and cynical characters I've come across. With a very funny and clever internal monologue going on during every conversation he has, Glotka's as miserable and nasty at the end as he was to start with and, especially in a heroic fantasy novel, it works perfectly
The books are good, really good. They pulled me in. Well-developed world. Unique, compelling characters. I like them so much that when I got to the end of the second book and found out the third book wasn't
going to be out in the US for another three months, I experienced a fit of rage, then a fit of depression, then I ate some lunch and had a bit of a lay down
Abercrombie writes dark, adult fantasy, by which I mean there's a lot of stabbing in it, and after people stab each other they sometimes have sex with each other. His tone is morbid and funny and hard-boiled, not wholly dissimilar to that of Iain Banks . . . And like George R.R. Martin Abercrombie has the will and the cruelty to actually kill and maim his characters . . . Volumetrically speaking, it's hard to think of another fantasy novel in which this much blood gets spilled
"Put together a terrific cast of characters ... add in magic, war, plots within plots and you have a positive feast for the ears." 20 August 2010 (Kati Nicholl)
All stars
Most relevant

Wow, hadn’t heard of Joe Abercrombie much before purchasing this book, but he has quickly become my new favorite author

Story – 5/5

Some may say this story is a little slow going, as it takes it’s time developing the characters rather than moving through the over-arcing story. Personally I preferred this approach as JA’s writing is far superior to most fantasy authors, and he can pull it off. I actually prefer this to Game of Thrones.

JA’s writing is very clever; he somehow develops a likeable torturer and a barbarian champion killer who doesn’t like killing people, and makes them believable. His whit is also as sharp as a knife. Very dark comedy that had me laughing out loud at times (which rarely happens with books)

For those who like the action though, there is still plenty of it, along with some quite gruesome scenes – much like other gritty fantasy books. JA has taken the standard epic fantasy structure and put his own spin on it. A very solid debut

Performance – 5/5

When I listened to the sample, I wasn’t too sure about Steven Pacey, I didn’t like how he described an action scenes. I realised after purchasing the audio book though that he is in fact one of the very best narrators out there – I just wasn’t used to him.

His character acting was flawless, each having a distinctive and believable voice. His narration enhanced the dark comedy and whit that Joe Abercrombie was clearly trying to portray

Music/sound effects between scenes/chapters was a nice touch as well

Overall – 5/5

If you like Game of Thrones...

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I have nearly 24 audio books under my belt and thought nothing would surpass Rob Inglis' version of Lord of The Rings until I listened to a sample of this book by Steven Pacey.



Wow, Steven really has put his all into character customisation excellently narrated with characters that seem to come alive. This combined with what is a clever character driven plot makes for one of my top listens so far on Audible. I'm nearly at the end of Part 1 and already have Part 2 and 3 waiting to be heard. I can't wait! I've noticed that Pacey has also done Joe's other works and will be downloading them as well as soon as I get the credits. Top story top narrator and a worthy listen.

Great Part 1 to a trilogy expertly narrated

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I've actually listened to the whole series now. Book One had a slow start and it took me a while to settle into it but once I was into Book Two I couldn't get enough. Joe Abercrombie combines just enough bleakness and darkness with a touch of humour for it to work really well. I love the little unexpected twists in the storyline. I did think Book 3 dragged on a bit but he rounded it all out nicely in the end. I cannot praise Steven Pacey's narrative enough. His characterisation was excellent, and I knew each character's voice without hearing their name. Good stuff.

A great read

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Great first book now to the second. The performance is masterfully delivered. One of my favorites.

Truly a great start

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Steven Pacey makes an awesome fantasy story even better.
Dark, well written and good world building.

Dark and awesome

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