The Blade Itself
by Joe Abercrombie
432 pp. Gollancz. ₤18.99
Reviewed by Paul Stotts
After having recently reviewed one of the most hyped novels in the last six months, Scott Lynch's debut "The Lies of Locke Lamora", I decided to tackle Joe Abercrombie's "The Blade Itself", another much-hyped debut. It should be said that I am a sucker for hype and, clearly, the testing of the fates. Could there really be two excellent debut fantasy novels in the last six months? The probability didn't seem good. (The Magic 8-ball had no answer!)
However, "The Blade Itself", while not quite on par with the stunning "The Lies of Locke Lamora", is a worthwhile debut full of hard-edged, brutal dialogue and worldbuilding, nasty and anti-heroic characters and an overall gritty and stark tone. I admit I have a taste for this type of dark fantasy and gallows humor, so the book really works for me in a refreshing new way. These are not your normal epic fantasy type of characters. That said, I imagine some more traditional epic fantasy readers may be turned off by the hard-edged nature of the storytelling.
Logen Ninefingers is a Northman who has worn out his welcome in his homeland due to his bloody, corpse-littered past. He now finds himself escaping from the new King of the North, an old acquaintance who no longer wishes to keep the Bloody Nine around. Logen's only recourse is to travel to the south to the empire called the Union. Inquisitor Glokta is a Union torturer of extraordinary abilities working in the House of Questions. Glokta, who once was a dashing, skilled warrior before he was captured by the Gurkish and tortured, is now a shell of a man, in constant excruciating pain and crippled. Captain Jezal dan Luthar is a young, arrogant swordsman and debutante who basks in his nobility, and strives to make an even greater name for himself in a highly publicized fencing contest. Logen, Glokta and Jezal are probably the most important of the major characters int the novel, and the majority of the story is told through their perspectives.
Abercrombie successfully writes a style for each of his characters. Glotka, for instance, is much more cerebral in his chapters, his thinking process alway in overdrive as he works out the political angles and consequences of his situation. Refreshingly, he thinks the smartass things people would love to say, but don't have the courage to. However, much of this subject matter is dark and brutal considering it revolves around his occupation as Union torturer. On the other hand, Jezal doesn't exhibit much in the way of cerebral gymnastics, and this adds greatly to the perception of his character as mindless twit.
Into the lives of these disparate characters, the wizard Bayaz is injected, a man who embodies mystery and appears to have his own agenda. If anything, "The Blade Itself" is a setup novel. We get an introduction to the characters, get a familiarity with the situation, tone and worldbuilding, and by the end the pieces finally seem to have been placed on the chessboard for the real story to begin. Therefore, not many questions are answered in this novel, and the story is far from self-contained, so if you dislike books without some sense of completeness to them, you may wish to wait until Abercrombie finishes the trilogy.
Abercrombie's writing is simple and not heavy on detail or description. It is straightforward and a hard-boiled type of prose, almost a fantasy noir, that is used effectively to move the story along. As far as technical writing chops, "The Blade Itself" appears very much to be a debut novel which seems more focus on story than prose. There is a good amount of profanity and explicit, brutal violence and torture in the book, so if those things bother you, you've been warned.
Last Word:
If you enjoy a gritty and brutal type of dark fantasy loaded with a plethora of nasty characters, then look no further than Joe Abercrombie's "The Blade Itself", a crackling debut novel that holds a vast amount of promise for the ongoing series. It must be said, the future of fantasy fiction now appears in good hands with the recent successful debuts of Lynch, and now Abercrombie.
Final Grade: 85 out of 100
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