So, a book review...or sorta...
Just finished reading The Blade Itself, by Joe Abercrombie, the initial installment of his trilogy The First Law. Have you ever read a book that you're just honestly not sure WHAT you thought of it? That's how I felt about this one. Before I wrote this post, I read some Amazon reviews and a good bit of the criticism I found baseless. It's mainly exposition. Well, duh - it's the setup volume of a trilogy. If everyone got killed and/or lived happily ever after, there'd be no need for volumes 2 and 3. Lacks a solid, central plot line - er, well, it's a bit early for such a determination. That remains to be seen, doesn't it? The threads may connect, intertwine and intersect in a very interesting manner. Sometimes the destination is worth the journey, sometimes the journey is worth the destination and, frankly, sometimes it's neither.
The review that griped me the most was the one that compared this fantasy series with the 'Song of Ice and Fire' books by George R.R. Martin. Granted, I've only read one Abercrombie thus far, but this book has NOTHING in common with those woeful, meandering, verbose, vacillating (and in my opinion quite vulgar) pieces of paperbound manure. I rarely, if ever, do not bother to finish a book, and so I finished Mr. Martin's, which I've regretted ever since. I lament that I wasted not just $15 - $20 of my money, but HOURS of my life, none of which I will ever get back, on those pathetic pieces of utter shit. Er, so, back to The Blade Itself, and whoa, he gets cool points straightaway for titling with a quote from Homer...
But though he deserved not the heinous comparisons to George R.R. Martin, I can't really say that I loved the book. I felt it uneven - maybe not so much the writing, but my reaction to it. There were many moments when I could not wait to finish reading a page so I could turn it and read on - truly, I was that eager to read what happened next - but there were also also those times when I felt like, 'oh my god, won't you PLEASE get to the point, if indeed you have one?!? Maybe at some point during my lifetime?!?"
So far, it's an intriguing tale, with compelling characters and an interesting storyline. The fact that the book was strong on background/exposition and ultra-light on denouement/conclusion is irrelevant until we read further installments - after all, it's a bit to be expected from a Part One of a three-part work. I like his characterizations, I like his dark humour; I like his universe and what, thus far, that he's drawn of his conflict.
But sometimes the prose drags, no doubt. Some criticism I eschew in light of this being part one of three, which will not hold if the problems continue. At least two of the characters that I suspect are supposed to be heroic, I find so damn annoying that I hope they die soon, and painfully - but anyway, it's a totally ambivalent book review. It might be good, but then again it mightn't - I'm not yet sure. Still, you could waste your time and money in far worse ways, that's for sure. I'm going to read Part Two soon - I'll let y'all know.
Just finished reading The Blade Itself, by Joe Abercrombie, the initial installment of his trilogy The First Law. Have you ever read a book that you're just honestly not sure WHAT you thought of it? That's how I felt about this one. Before I wrote this post, I read some Amazon reviews and a good bit of the criticism I found baseless. It's mainly exposition. Well, duh - it's the setup volume of a trilogy. If everyone got killed and/or lived happily ever after, there'd be no need for volumes 2 and 3. Lacks a solid, central plot line - er, well, it's a bit early for such a determination. That remains to be seen, doesn't it? The threads may connect, intertwine and intersect in a very interesting manner. Sometimes the destination is worth the journey, sometimes the journey is worth the destination and, frankly, sometimes it's neither.
The review that griped me the most was the one that compared this fantasy series with the 'Song of Ice and Fire' books by George R.R. Martin. Granted, I've only read one Abercrombie thus far, but this book has NOTHING in common with those woeful, meandering, verbose, vacillating (and in my opinion quite vulgar) pieces of paperbound manure. I rarely, if ever, do not bother to finish a book, and so I finished Mr. Martin's, which I've regretted ever since. I lament that I wasted not just $15 - $20 of my money, but HOURS of my life, none of which I will ever get back, on those pathetic pieces of utter shit. Er, so, back to The Blade Itself, and whoa, he gets cool points straightaway for titling with a quote from Homer...
But though he deserved not the heinous comparisons to George R.R. Martin, I can't really say that I loved the book. I felt it uneven - maybe not so much the writing, but my reaction to it. There were many moments when I could not wait to finish reading a page so I could turn it and read on - truly, I was that eager to read what happened next - but there were also also those times when I felt like, 'oh my god, won't you PLEASE get to the point, if indeed you have one?!? Maybe at some point during my lifetime?!?"
So far, it's an intriguing tale, with compelling characters and an interesting storyline. The fact that the book was strong on background/exposition and ultra-light on denouement/conclusion is irrelevant until we read further installments - after all, it's a bit to be expected from a Part One of a three-part work. I like his characterizations, I like his dark humour; I like his universe and what, thus far, that he's drawn of his conflict.
But sometimes the prose drags, no doubt. Some criticism I eschew in light of this being part one of three, which will not hold if the problems continue. At least two of the characters that I suspect are supposed to be heroic, I find so damn annoying that I hope they die soon, and painfully - but anyway, it's a totally ambivalent book review. It might be good, but then again it mightn't - I'm not yet sure. Still, you could waste your time and money in far worse ways, that's for sure. I'm going to read Part Two soon - I'll let y'all know.
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