The Blade Itself (The First Law Trilogy, 1) Paperback – September 8, 2015

There are only a handful of stark miscues in the entire series. Every character is pretty human, well explored, and thinks or speaks naturally (with maybe one exception that I don’t think works). There’s layers of intrigue and none of it is useless. Descriptions are tastefully chosen and the world building is fully fleshed out. It’s a great read.The only thing I don’t like in this first one is the number of POVs. It still works but it’s right on the cusp of getting excessive. And maybe also the most plausible so-called “motivation” for some antagonists throughout the series; there’s a unique ending to all of it which may ruffle some feathers.

In a poll on a very popular fantasy forum (sffworld.com), this 3 book series was voted the top fantasy series by a considerable margin, above A Song Of Fire and Ice and many others. Its action packed, with gritty, highly developed, incredibly real characters, and written with wit and style.The series is, clearly, one to read for fantasy fans. At the same time, its not one of my all time favorites, precisely because of the ways the books differ from traditional fantasy. Although the characters have this incredible realism to them, you may not actually like them, nor care about which side wins the wars. Though there is a faction of canibalistic wizards, its not entirely clear that they are wholly evil, and its not like you are ever vested in their defeat. On the other side, mostly just stands Bayaz, First of the Magi, and he is hard to root for. I did root - strongly - for many/most of the key characters, but, without giving any spoilers, let me say that this is ultimately an unrewarding exercise, and many characters are ultimately not what you thought, do not change or grow as you expected, or do not necessarily get what they deserve.In many respects, the plot seems secondary to the characters. For example, events that took place 1000 years ago are important. We eventually learn that they did not happen exactly as we were initially told, but never get the details nor the "why". The faction of evil wizards claim some sort of moral right, and your left wondering whether there is something to it. The "how" as to magic is not explained, and one of the two main characters has a serious double-personality, uncontrollable rage affliction that is never explained either.It feels like there is a deliberate "head fake" as to all the characters -- i.e., you are supposed to think one thing, only to eventually learn you were wrong. Characters that we thought were good guys maybe arent, characters that we thought were changing or growing maybe werent, characters that we thought were strong turn out to be weak (in some ways) and if you assumed there would be happy endings for your favorite characters, well, apparently that is something that experienced Abercrombie readers know to never expected. I'm all for complex characters, but being deliberately led astray as to so many of the characters was an annoyance to me. I did root for the main characters for most of the 3 books, but your left realizing that doing so was a mistake. It seems that fans of the "dark fantasy" genre cite flawed protagonists as an indication of realism and a plus, but here it seems that Abercrombie is deliberately leading you astray -- leading you to believe that characters are strong/good/changing just so we can achieve a dramatic feel when it turns out they were not.Maybe dark fantasy isnt entirely my thing, this was my first true "dark fantasy" series. While I *loved* the writing and the characters, I did not love the plot, and felt that something important (something/someone to root for) was sacrificed to achieve "realism". At the same time, the books and the characters will stay with me a long time, and I could scarcely put the books down.Verdict: *Highly* conflicted, but read the books anyway.

I don't even like fantasy, but I liked this trilogy much, and believe me, that's something. I've tried many best selling authors labeled as 'the best' in the genre, and I swear I enjoyed none. This one is the first typical modern fantasy book I encountered that truly feels as written for adults. No Mary Sues and Gary Stus, no black and white characters, no banal moralizing, no cheesy pompousness, no soap opera-like storylines, no easy answers, no 'from zero to hero and he is so awesome' trope. Finally!It's low fantasy. Magic exists in this world, but hardly anyone believes in it. The plot is mostly about the military conflict, the intrigue that underlies it and, last but not least, the relationships between characters. And these are SO good! At first they all seem pretty cliched: you get a scary, sadistic Inquisitior, a handsome, dashing young knight, a husky barbarian, a tough female warrior wanting her revenge, a wise mage and his clumsy apprentice, a sassy, fearless lass... And in the end it turns out that NOTHING is as simple as it initially seemed. The characters are so well fleshed out, their struggles feel real, they evoke real emotions, and the relationships between them are just delightful.And the content is, yeah, adult. There is lots of violence, pain, gore, sarcasm, lost hopes, failures, fake victories and disappointments. It's captivating and entertaining to the last sentence of the third book.Definitely worth trying. Please expect nothing special like I did and let yourself be positively surprised, if not in love.

Game of Thrones, Wheel of Time, if you're looking for something in that realm, I would pick this up. Excellent world building, palace intrigue, a variety of characters, it's clearly building to something bigger. There's enough going on to keep you engaged, but not so much that you have to continually reference appendices. I enjoyed it very much.