So...Just finished reading The First Law trilogy (The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged and Last Argument Of Kings) by the brilliant Joe Abercrombie and I must say it was absolutely magnificent.
I would imagine my experience of it however was quite different to most other readers. This is all my fault of course. I am no stranger to Abercrombie's sterling work, having previously read two of his other novels Best Served Cold and The Heroes. Although these are stand alone novels completely separate from the First Law trilogy, they do both occur after it in the same 'world' and contain many of the same characters. For me this meant I experienced the trilogy more as a prequel, which of course it was never intended to be. Ah well. I must say however this did little to dampen my enjoyment of this fabulous work. For those who enjoy their epic fantasy in the traditional style, full of gloriously noble knights on pristine white chargers, conducting heroic quests set against romantic backgrounds and with well defined, malevolent antagonists, perhaps Abercrombie's work is not for you. The keyword you will always hear about his work is 'Gritty'. This is true, but for me this leads to a greater level of realism as well. The battle scenes are visceral and savage, blood soaked and terrifyingly real. The scenes involving 'The Bloody Nine' take on an almost grisly poetry in places. The realism too stretches to Abercrombie's characters, including the main point of view characters who despite being skilled in their own way, are by no means in control of their own destiny and for the most part morally ambiguous. They are all beholden to a higher power, pulling their strings no matter how high they may rise, and some rise very high indeed. Throughout the three novels there is a feeling of the main protagonists being dragged along by a tide which they have no control over, and just trying to make the best of it, which for me has a greater parallel with real life than you usually find in the genre. They just try and roll with the punches as best they can. One other aspect of Abercrombie's work that I enjoy is the dark humour present in all his novels. It is almost black in places, with a thread of gallows humour running throughout. It is something the British do very well I think. The Northmen in particular are a sarcastic and surly joy. Ultimately the trilogy as a whole keeps you guessing and on the wrong foot throughout, constantly driving forward to the next cliffhanger or twist. Some characters do some very bad things for the greater good, whilst some others carry out thoroughly heroic acts, perhaps only to further their own ends. You are always left guessing at everyone's true motivation all the way along (one character especially!). Even by the end it is hard to be sure who has won the ultimate victory and if the world Abercrombie has created is any better off for the sacrifices that have been made. I imagine that this was exactly the authors intention. Overall I heartily enjoyed the whole thing, and would imagine that anyone left a little underwhelmed by George RR Martin's most recent efforts (when judged against the unbelievably high standards of the earlier books in the Song of Ice and Fire Series) or are getting tired of waiting for the next instalments to be written would enjoy this series also. I could also see a quite fantastic film franchise with a very dark edge in the near future, with any luck. But then, 'You have to be realistic about these things' D.T.
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May 2022
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