Say one thing for Logen Ninefingers, say that he’s a fantastically well written fully fleshed out character. One you can sympathize with, commiserate and even chuckle at.
It would be an understatement to say that only one character in this series by Joe Abercrombie was so well written, so finely crafted that you really fell in love with him. Usually in a series there is a small circle of characters you are supposed to care about but in the First Law series the reader is never really quite sure who that is. The circle shifts, expands, and then narrowly contracts. Are you supposed to open your heart to the humerus, bad luck ridden, blood spattered barbarian Logen? Or is it the arrogant, pompous, dimwitted young noble Jezal? Maybe it is shining, hard working, common man Captain West? Then again it could be that you will love Inquisitor Glokta, former glory hungry army captain turned torturer? Maybe even Bayaz the Magus who has obvious intentions of his own regardless of others?
The Blade Itself
Your alliances shift on an almost continual basis depending upon the circumstance. Joe Abercrombie doesn’t give any one of his characters an easy out, every path is riddled with heartache, destruction, and bloody sacrifice. But as Logen would say “You’ve got to be realistic about these things.” Realistic is exactly how I would describe The First Law series. Realistic in that each character is faced with life changing decisions and none of them are as pretty as living happily ever after.
The reader is forced down in the muck and blood in the fantastically written fight scenes and battles. We drag ourselves along clinging to any hope we can find that will help us on to the next page, onto the next paragraph where we may find sanctuary. Where we may find rest. Joe Abercrombie doesn’t just write battles, he places you in the middle of the action and forces you to duck less you loose your head. After reading them you are short of breath as if someone kicked you right in the gut. Hardly ever has a book had that sort of physical effect on me where I had to actually get up and walk away for a moment so that I could recoup.
Before They Are Hanged
In the second book in this series, Before They Are Hanged, an unlikely band is formed intent of making it to the end of the world and back. Even where most authors would give their characters some comradeship Mr. Abercrombie lets his characters personalities shine. These are not necessarily people who would ever talk to each other, much less find friendship together. It shines for the fact that just because you put people together for a common purpose they will not necessarily come out together Lord Of The Rings style. Love, romance, and brotherly friendship have their places but it is not with in this band.
The Last Argument Of Kings
In the third and final book all the loose ends are tied up in neat little dirty knots. Alliances are made, graves are dug, and lives go on – just not the way you would expect them to. The last twenty pages of this book was a balzy kick in the chest. I’ve never had an ending such as this, surprising but then in retrospect not entirely so. In the end you are left thinking of this more as an ongoing epic than the full story and fully expect for at least one character to come back in the future to kick some more butt. Sometimes people don’t live happily ever after and by the end of the series as a reader, I was ok with that. It made much more sense than trying to fit each of these personalities and fit them into preconceived happy boxes. Happy is relative and maybe a man can’t change as much as he’d like to.
It’s been a long time since I have breezed through roughly 1800 pages in less than two weeks. It’s a testament to how powerful and how well written The First Law series is. I highly recommend it to as a great addition to anyone’s library. The story is realistic, bloody, brutal, and humorous. The characters are finely crafted, each one a sparkling gem of literary insight. I can’t wait for the next book Joe Abercrombie comes out with. He’s created a fan for life.
