The Blade Itself
Tähtifantasia Award nominee 2010.
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, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, Captain
Jezal dan Luthar 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 Glotka 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. Unpredictable, compelling, wickedly funny, and packed with
unforgettable characters, The Blade Itself is noir fantasy with a real cutting edge.
“If you're fond of bloodless, turgid fantasy with characters as thin as newspaper and as boring as plaster saints, Joe Abercrombie is really going to ruin your day. A long career for this guy would be a gift to our genre.” – Scott Lynch
“An exciting new entry to the heroic fantasy ranks – rough-and-tumble, bold and authentically original.” – Jeff VanderMeer
“The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie is the best new fantasy book I’ve read in the last 10 years. Yes. You heard that right.” – Andy Remic
People Also Read
Joe Abercrombie
In the grimy taverns and blood-soaked battlefields of modern fantasy, Joe Abercrombie’s name is spoken with equal parts awe and amusement. Known for dragging epic fantasy out of its shining armor and into the mud, Abercrombie has built a reputation for turning genre conventions on their heads—then lopping those heads clean off.
Born in Lancaster, England in 1974, Abercrombie didn’t set out to be the crown prince of grimdark fiction. He studied psychology at Manchester University, worked as a freelance film editor, and quietly began drafting a story filled with flawed warriors, crooked politics, and sharp tongues. That story became The Blade Itself, the first book in The First Law trilogy—a debut that landed with a thud, a cheer, and the metallic ring of steel meeting steel. From there, the world of Logen Ninefingers, Glokta, and Jezal dan Luthar took on a life of its own, where even the heroes are liars, cowards, or worse—and the villains are often more honest.
The First Law Trilogy
The First Law Trilogy consists of three books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
Main series World of the First Law
Book Reviews
The book started with an action scene, grabbed me along and didn't let go till I had finished the last page, wanting to get my hands on the next part immediately. The Blade Itself is one of the best fantasy novels I've read in a long time. Although it probably would lose the contests of fine style and epic scope to some other great books, I think it's undeniable that Abercrombie is a great storyteller. Although the characters are almost cartoonish caricatures and humor blossoms even in the most grim scenes, under all the lightness runs a darker undercurrent, a hint of what the future might bring to the heroes and heroines of the story.