The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie

[earnest sapphire]

||Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he’s on the verge of becoming a dead barbarian – leaving nothing behind him but bad songs, dead friends, and a lot of happy enemies.

Nobleman Captain Jezal dan Luthar, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and dreaming of glory in the fencing circle. But war is brewing, and on the battlefields of the frozen North they fight by altogether bloodier rules.

Inquisitor Glokta, cripple turned torturer, would like nothing better than to see Jezal come home in a box. But then Glokta hates everyone: cutting treason out of the Union one confession at a time leaves little room for friendship. His latest trail of corpses may lead him right to the rotten heart of government, if he can stay alive long enough to follow it.

Enter the wizard, Bayaz. 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 Logen, Jezal, and Glokta a whole lot more difficult.

Murderous conspiracies rise to the surface, old scores are ready to be settled, and the line between hero and villain is sharp enough to draw blood.||

[pulsar pine]

i read it last year

[woven patio]

Alright. I just finished my reread and I enjoyed it more than I remembered. I think the newer book The Devils poisoned my memories of this series.

[proven crag]

perfect timing, my hold for this book is ready for pickup tmrw 🎉

[pulsar pine]

my impression the first time i read it, was nothing happened. it was all set up

glockta was the most interesting character to me

[cobalt frost]

Read this two or three years ago. Don’t remember the plot at all but the characters are all there.

[dense tree]

Posting a map here since there isn’t one in the book

[forest gate]

Finished The Blade Itself I guess. Quick read if I'm being honest, not a lot of substance, missing plot and character development.

[woven patio]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nOghCnywQVquKycMGW8OSi9IsSoJ_AsJt5xFtW8NZz4/edit?usp=drivesdk

[woven patio]

Wow. This is not at all what I was picturing.

[pulsar pine]

i felt like nothing really happens!!
glockta's character was the most interesting part though

[limber basin]

How I picture Glokta

[pulsar pine]

think alot more fucked up

[limber basin]

Really enjoying the book so far. Such interesting and entertaining characters.

[half spoke]

I finished our first half yesterday. It's fine. Nothing that really draws me in wanting more though.

[forest gate]

@woven patio is that you? Lol

[woven patio]

Nope. I have made a resolution to be more positive about club books this year. I’m going to focus on what I like in the books instead of my overall impressions of the books.

[forest gate]

Can't wait to see what happens when we read a book you don't like 😂

[dry kestrel]

I'm running hopelessly behind, at about 100 pages right now. So far enjoying learning about the characters, the politics and the world and curious where it'll go. Hoping to catch up in the coming days but we'll see if I make it by Thursday 😄

[proven crag]

Not that behind, I'm around 50 and very confused

Partially, the writing style is different from recent reads

[forest gate]

Same

[woven patio]

Well, you won’t have to wait at all. See you Thursday.

[pulsar pine]

i like the writing style, and the characters, but the plot itself feels like it only stepped 2 inches forward

[proven crag]

The start has felt like neuromancer where it feels like you should have been told something or who someone is and keeps going

Or maybe my comprehension is real bad lately lol

[pulsar pine]

no it just drops you in, no hand holding - much like Sanderson or GRRM

[forest gate]

Yes it's all a lot of here are a bunch of characters and here's what they're doing but there is next to no context on why any of it is important

[proven crag]

ive read both and this one is way more difficult than either of those

[pulsar pine]

nothing is as difficult as the Sanderson mythology/mechanics

[proven crag]

ehhhhh

[pulsar pine]

😆

[proven crag]

debatable lol

i can hang on for his writing

[pulsar pine]

i much prefer the prose here

[pulsar pine]

like i still don't know what surges are, or the difference between an honourblade and a shardblade; nor do i know what investiture is

[proven crag]

that's what the wikis are for!

i thought they explained some but i stopped at book 2 for archive and prob wont go on

[pulsar pine]

even that leaves me confuffled

the Wiki of Ice and Fire is so much more my vibe

[dry kestrel]

I actually really enjoy this type of storytelling. The long introductions are why I struggle with first books or the first half of a book.

I caught up a bit - 150 pages in. And that being said I'm slowly starting to understand a little about what and who I'm reading about.

[dense tree]

Just finished the first part for Thursday. I really like the characters and the writing is good, but I’m having a hard time staying interested, not enough world building or plot so far. But things do seem to be progressing at this point in the story

[woven patio]

Argh. I’m being positive. The character building is good.

[forest gate]

forced positivity?

[proven crag]

Aggressive positivity

Not for him lol

Oh jeez what is time, I wont be caught up then

[dry kestrel]

My only issue is I realized the stream will be on a Thursday night at 2-4am for me 💀

[half spoke]

Yeah, being in Europe certainly would make it hard to participate in this book club.

[proven crag]

Pausing/dnf-ing this one for now. Its when picking it up feels like a chore (and not cuz its 500 pages thick)

[forest gate]

i feel this

[woven patio]

All I can say is the first book of this series is basically all character development . It sets up the next two books. So if you’re not a big fan character driven books and the grimdark subgenre, then this book will not be a good fit for you.

[proven crag]

Yea i did some googling last night and similar sentiments.. I'm not into the singular character stories for now and def not taking a large book to "wait till it gets good". That's how I felt/heard about acotar 1 too lol

I got too many other reads to stick with this

[lapis juniper]

https://booktriggerwarnings.com/The_Blade_Itself_by_Joe_Abercrombie

Just mentioning this since Darian warned us about triggers.

[tidal echo]

|| “Despair. He was utterly crushed. He couldn’t breathe for disappointment. His face screwed up, his head drooped and he stared down at the ground. There were tears in his eyes. Actual tears. Pitiful. “But I’ll wait.” Joy. It swelled in his chest and burst out in a little girlish sob. He was helpless. It was ridiculous the power she had over him. The difference between misery and happiness was the right word from her. She laughed again. “Look at you, you fool.” She reached up and touched his face, rubbed a tear from his cheek with her thumb. “I’ll wait,” she said, and she smiled at him. That crooked smile.”||

This, my friends, is no Gaston ❤️

[woven patio]

That sounds like something Gaston would do and say.

[tidal echo]

Are we talking about the same Gaston? Brawny dumb oaf of a man who hasn’t loved anything but himself? Being raw and honest and real in front of a woman, showing emotion, crying from fear of rejection as he confesses a feeling he’s never felt before in his life. Love. Bah! Gaston is a 2 dimensional character next to Jezal

[tidal echo]

Just finished it. Strange point to end in all honesty. I still feel like I’m completely in the middle of the story without resolution on a single thing haha. But thankfully he’s hooked me enough with every character that I bought the second one already and starting it

[woven patio]

I can’t wait to hear your thoughts when you finish the trilogy.

[pulsar pine]

I can't wait to finish this trilogy

[tidal echo]

I will definteily let you know 🙂

[blazing plaza]

I am 80% through and really enjoying this book. I love seeing how the characters come together. I also had to switch to the audio book for work commute and am deeply enjoying Glotka’s lisp 😂 your eminencthhh . Makes his character even more memorable

[pulsar pine]

my mental image of Glockta

[tidal echo]

there is a character in the second book that immediately reminds me of Mel

[blazing plaza]

I could see that, without the hipster haircut

[pulsar pine]

yeah i get that, he mostly fits my mental image - like99%

[pulsar pine]

Jezal is such an idiot 🤣 🤣

[blazing plaza]

Found this fan art of Glokta on instagram. I think giving too much Steve Buscemi ?

[half spoke]

Too old also. Isn't Glokta like early 30's?

[pulsar pine]

35 yeas old

i mean, the intense torture and stress would age him badly

[rough night]

I am definitely not finishing in time for tonight. I still have like 200 + pages, or more accurately, about 5 hrs left of my audiobook. And I don't feel like pushing through it all day. I'm just not hooked into the book

[forest gate]

Yeah... I think I've read maybe 20 pages since last week. Im fully not into this book. But also I don't have any time to read anyways. Y'all are gonna be lucky today, gonna get Catch @ work live stream which is only slightly worse than the Catch commute streams that @woven patio loves so much

[woven patio]

I think I’m going to skip tonight. Have a good clurb stream all.

[half spoke]

I have to say, the book does get a bit more interesting towards the end.

Still only a 3.5/5 for me though.

[rough night]

I'll finish it, just not for tonight. Probably this weekend

[tidal echo]

Just a little snippet, a nugget of hope, to show you our beloved Jezal growing into who he is meant to be: “Jezal stared vacantly after him. A few weeks ago he would have been left fuming silently by such a lecture. Now he sat limp, and absorbed it meekly. He hardly knew who he was anymore.”

[pulsar pine]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poQbgbuv3JI

[haughty finch]

That’s how I pictured Glokta

[pulsar pine]

he did get fucked up

[tidal echo]

Just finished the second book. For those interested, it does indeed take a step up from book 1, so if you enjoyed it I’d say keep reading. Much more character growth and plot. It even ends with somewhat of a resolution, better than the first at least haha

[tidal echo]

@woven patio I am genuinely confused sometimes with your comments and reviews of this series. Are you being sarcastic about things like there is no character growth? To maybe help readers be more surprised or something like that?

[woven patio]

No sarcasm at all. I’m genuinely confused by people’s comments about there being character growth. In the first book there are no character arcs at all. Growth requires change, development, learning. The characters are the exact same people they were at the end as they were at the beginning. I get the point that people don’t change, but I think books that illustrate that just aren’t for me.

And as I said before, I agree things happen in the second and third books. But character growth….? And I think the fact that people don’t change is part of the point of the books.

[forest gate]

@tidal echo arguing with @woven patio is like wrestling a pig in the mud. After awhile you'll realize, the pig likes it.

[tidal echo]

Huh. I find it strange. Because for some (West, Jezal, and Glotkta for sure, among others) without a doubt changed, learned, and grew. Very specifically, in detail, in measurable provable ways. When did you last read these? Now I could say the first whole book there wasn’t any, yes. The first whole book is very very setup. But absolutely in the second.

[woven patio]

I read them for the second time at the beginning of this month.

I think we’re never going to see eye to eye on this series. For example, I really really don’t understand how anyone likes Jezal. He’s a pompous, easily manipulated, idiotic, incompetent man at the start of the series. And at the end of the first trilogy, he’s still a pompous, easily manipulated, idiotic, incompetent man. Does he have some moments when he appears not to be? Sure. But in those moments, if you don’t read your own ideas into the story, you see that he was manipulated into doing something out of character. And then he goes back to his normal ways.

[woven patio]

In this case, no, I really don’t like the argument. I don’t like the books. I think the actual prose is really good. But the story is just not for me.

I think it’s similar to the reason I react so negatively to Red Rising. Characters don’t learn any of the lessons that are just screaming out to be learned. Darrow keeps making the same choices expecting different outcomes. It gets annoying. Logen is Darrow.

[forest gate]

I meant that with all due respect @woven patio

[woven patio]

I know. No offense was taken. I do like discussing books, and I often have strong opinions.

The issue with this one is I think I really wanted to like this series, as the description of the grimdark genre sounds like my perfect jam. And some of the opinions expressed on the stream and here seem so crazy to me. Like I know we say we read the same words but different stories. Honestly in this case I wonder if I read different words.

The promise of the genre was just not there for me. Subversion of over used happy happy tropes is great, except when it becomes a one trick too predictable thing. Then it’s just creating new tropes that don’t work as well as the original ones.

[forest gate]

I'm with you, I wanted to like this book as well and it was overwhelmingly meh

[woven patio]

I’ve been trying to find a way to make the books fit more enjoyably in my mind. So here’s a theory, maybe there are character loops. Like they try to learn and grow only to end up back at their start. And then they do it again.

So the underlying theme could be that people want to be better, but it’s hard and most (all) of the time they fail.

[forest gate]

Question for Joe on Friday. Put it in the list

[pulsar pine]

The Blade Itself definitely was prologue. Definitely willing to come back to the series though.

[barren ore]

MBC177 - Q&A with Joe Abercrombie About The Blade Itself
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9GS9A80h3I

[tidal echo]

@woven patio I’m about a third of the way through the last book. I am seeing more of what you’re saying (I think) which helps put a better framework to why you feel the way you do haha. I’m still enjoying it, and can’t wait to see how it ends—but I get it.

[woven patio]

Just for “fun” I read A Little Hatred, the first book in the next trilogy set in the first law world. It had a different feel to it. More story less character. Also it put the world into a clearer context for me. This is a world with very clear parallels to Great Britain at the start of the Industrial Revolution. I’m more interested in the world now than I was at the end of Last Argument of Kings.

[tidal echo]

Wasn’t aware he wrote more following it 🙂 very good to hear about more story as well. Likely his writing improved since writing the first ones so I’m very excited to try and fit them in this year

[woven patio]

There are other stand alone books set in the world also. I haven’t read them yet.

[dense tree]

There’s three stand alone an after the first law trilogy and then another trilogy. And there’s I think two short story collections set in the same world