A Review: The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
I picked up The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie in the aftermath of a natural disaster in my area, that led to a power outage for nearly two weeks. I don’t need a power outage to get me to read, but I found myself with a bit of extra time on my hands, so I could fit this one into my normal reading schedule.
I wasn’t expecting to enjoy the story despite how many glowing reviews there are, but I quickly realized that this wasn’t exactly what I was expecting from one of the most popular grimdark novels on your local bookshop shelf.
Summary
The novel drops readers into a grimdark world where Logan Ninefingers, an infamous warrior, finds himself entangled in the political web of a world devoid of honor. Inquisitor Glokta and Captain Jezal are among the grey characters he encounters when the wizard Bayaz retrieves him for a mysterious task that will reshape the world as they know it.
Review
It took me a while to figure out what direction this story was taking. Really, I still didn’t know.
The novel takes a strong “character first” approach, focusing on building up the characters before establishing the throughline of the rest of the trilogy. The number of times I stopped to ask myself “why am I reading this?” was astounding, but nevertheless, I read on, continuously intrigued by the characters and their journeys. Honestly, I really don’t care what the plot is now.
But that actually might be a problem for a lot of readers. Characters are important, but some readers really need the plot as a skeleton to hang the story’s progression on. So it’s possible that this may make you put the book down halfway or even a quarter through because you just lose interest without the proper signposting.
It’s difficult to say that any one of the characters is more memorable than the others. They are all now living in my head, rent-free. Often, I find that one character or another in a cast such as this is much more interesting. But I’m equally interested in their futures. If pushed, I might make the controversial statement that Glokta is the character I’m least interested in. Crazy. I know. He’s probably the one I hear most when people talk about this series. But this isn’t at all a blow to the character at all. Glokta is well-realized and compelling. But, like I said, this is if I’m pushed to give some sort of hierarchy of interest. I do like Ardee, but I would like to see more female characters in future installments who add more dynamics to the story.
It feels like worldbuilding takes a strong backseat in this novel. While many secondary-world fantasy novels attempt to satisfy fantasy readers with their breadth of lore or scope, Abercrombie almost refuses and doggedly sticks to his core strength: strong characterization and tone.
Speaking of tone: grimdark is often how I see this novel presented. While I would tend to agree that it falls into this category, the term often makes me shy away from the subgenre of fantasy storytelling. However, I didn’t find the story to be too dark for my liking. So if you’re one of those people who worry that the label means you won’t enjoy it, you may be pleasantly surprised. However, I wouldn’t at all say that the tone is lighthearted in the least.
Is The Blade Itself Worth Reading?
So what was the point of this story?
Honestly, right now, I don’t even know. All I know is that I kept reading it purely off of the strength of the author’s ability to write compelling characters, and I’m not sure that this trick will carry me through the second installment.
But it’ll be interesting to find out if it will, now won’t it?
If strong characterization is your number one requirement when choosing what fantasy fiction you read, I have no issue recommending The Blade Itself. But if you’re the kind of person who enjoys a strong plot as the primary or even a secondary need in your fantasy, I wouldn’t recommend this one unless you’re looking to stretch what you’re compelled to read. I, for one, will continue to see if Abercrombie’s characters will continue to draw me in.
