Turns a great unique storyline and fits it into 1/2 played out storyline of small group of people on a quest to get the magic artifact.
The other 1/2 is cut and paste battle sceen anding nothing to the story.

Much like at the end of the first book in this series, I found myself completely caught by surprise when this book ended. Once again I was entranced by Joe Abercrombie’s characters and the life infused into them by Steven Pacey and it was jarring to abruptly be forced to return to real life. I say abruptly because there is no closure to the story arc with this book. If you decide to come this far then you will need to go further to sate your hunger for an outcome to the many story threads.

Book two follows Bayaz, Logen, Jezal, and Ferro on their quest to the edge of the world for a powerful artifact. Of course this is a volatile mix of personalities and the only time they aren’t close to killing each other is when someone else is trying to do the job for them.

The Union’s war in the North continues and Collem West finds himself entangled within a dysfunctional military leadership group facing a deadly enemy in Bethod and his assembled armies. With two Generals that spend more time opposing each other than the enemy and a useless, spoiled Prince the Union army is primed to destroy itself.

And finally, our old friend Glokta finds himself in the South tasked with preventing the Gurkish from taking the city of Dagoska. As a war starts up on a second, much less defended front, Glokta must fight his own demons from the past as a prisoner of the Gurkish in addition to the Gurkish themselves.

I was pleased with the increased amount of time spent with Logen’s former band of Northmen, which is now led by Threetrees. As with all of the other story threads I was always eager to find out what happened to them next and was always saddened anytime someone was sent back to the mud.

So if you enjoyed book one, I see no reason why you would not enjoy book two. As with book one, I am once again only handing out 4 stars overall because of how I was left hanging at the end. I was shocked when it was over and felt there should have been more to the book and more closure to the story threads before moving on to book 3. That being the case, I did not hesitate to fire up book 3 because I need to spend more time with my new friends, no matter how flawed they are. And I must know what happens...

The voice acting is some of the best. I highly enjoy Steven Pacey's version of the story.

It would be hard to compare this book to anything. It feels like what the Wheel of Time would be if directed by Guy Ritchie

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys good fantasy. The narrator does a great job and the story is quite simple but very well laid out.

Say one thing for Joe Abercrombie, say he writes a damn fine fantasy series.

This review is more for the series as a whole but if you need something specific to Before They Are Hanged, then it is better than book 1. All the things that you liked in book 1 are better in book 2. If you liked but not loved book 1, keep going.

Admittedly, it took me a while to get my footing in the first book. I think this is more due to me having this attention span of a flea then any fault of the book. Once I got going I did not stop. The First Law Trilogy is a gritty, violent world that is utterly enjoyable. It's as violent as anything I've read yet is does not carry the weight of George R.R. Martin or Steven Erikson. It felt much lighter than that. I think this is in part due to the likable characters that Abercrombie so expertly creates. This could actually be taken as a good and bad thing. I mean, I actually liked all of the characters. Even the bad guys have redeeming qualities that makes you root for them. While rooting for characters is great, I did kind of miss feeling the satisfaction of watching a reviled character get his just due.

One of the greatest things this series has going for it is the narrator, Steven Pacey. I am fairly new to audiobooks. I've only been listening for a couple of years but I can say without hesitation that I have not heard better narration than Pacey's. The subtle differences in characters voices never feels fake or forced. I could always tell who was talking by the sound of his voice. The voices always added to the writing, never took away from. I am extremely critical of narrators but could find little fault with Steven Pacey.

Great narration, decent flow and great plot line. Takes over right from where book 1 left off, enjoyable listen, well worth the credit.

Joe Abercrombie has become tied with Patrick Rothfuss for my favorite living author. I love this series--blood, grit and swearing notwithstanding but essential--it is a story so well written and so well portrayed by the narrator that I know I will loathe its ending when I complete the last entry of the trilogy. Luckily for me, Joe has kept on writing and there are more books waiting for me.

Joe Abercrombie does a fantastic job of refreshing the fantasy genre with his gritty not everything is sunshine and rainbows style of writing. Don't get me wrong there are still good guys and bad guys but most of the time there is an extremely thin line between the two, I found myself thinking all the time "that guy is terrible...but a good man", you wanted to hate some characters but you just couldn't. It's hard to explain, suffice it to say its an awesome story, a great narrator, and you'll want to keep going.

Lots of blood and fighting and details... excellent book and narration! If you liked the series, you wont be dissapoited with this one! Get it and be glad!

Yes, I would. I like this series. It is filled with intrigue. Though a little violent at times and not as sophisticated of a series as A Song of Ice and Fire, it is still decently written. Really one of the better books in the adventure fantasy genre. For people who like GRRM and ASOIAF.

The characters are not one dimensional and there is complexity to their relationships.

I like the Named Men who are the old companions of The Bloody Nine: The Dogman, Three Trees, Black Dow...

No extreme reactions, just pleasantly enjoyable. A guilty pleasure, really.