Before They Are Hanged

The First Law: Book Two

By: Joe Abercrombie

Narrated by: Steven Pacey

Length: 22 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Bitter and merciless war is coming to the frozen north. It's bloody and dangerous, and the Union army, split by politics and hamstrung by incompetence, is unprepared for the slaughter that's coming. Lacking experience, training, and in some cases even weapons, the army is scarcely equipped to repel Bethod's scouts, let alone his elite forces.

In the heat-ravaged south, the Gurkish are massing to assault the city of Dagoska, defended by Inquisitor Glokta. The city is braced for the inevitable defeat and massacre to come... but a plot is festering to hand the city to its besiegers without a fight, and the previous Inquisitor of Dagoska vanished without trace. Threatened from within and without the city, Glokta needs answers, and he needs them soon.

And to the east, a small band of malefactors travel to the edge of the world to reclaim a device from history - a Seed, hidden for generations - with tremendous destructive potential. A device which could put a end to war, to the army of Eaters in the South, to the invasion of Shanka from the North - but only if it can be found, and only if its power can be controlled.

©2007 Joe Abercrombie (P)2010 Orion Publishing Group Limited

Truly the Best

The best author and best reader I've ever experienced, at their best. An enjoyable experience, to say the least.

Great audible/book

This continued the amazing narration of the first novel in this series. Definitely one of the best series in dark fantasy.

Why did I Wait to Read This?

Any additional comments?

I don't know why I waited 9 months between reading this and the first book. But this is the first truly good fantasy book I've read in a while. The last two books by RR Martin where pretty disappointing and everything else I've read in the genre either seemed juvenile or just not that well written. I was beginning to think that I was outgrowing fantasy. However, it's just that the vast majority of fantasy is not that good.

I'm not going to wait 9 months to read the 3rd book in this series. I plan on finishing it before the end of the month.

There is one thing I have to say to all fantasy authors and is a pet peeve of mine. Writing about people that have not bathed in months having sexual intercourse is not sexy, in fact it's been known to cause impotence, so please stop.

More of Book 1

Would you listen to Before They Are Hanged again? Why?

I usually don't listen twice to my audio books and I'll probably won't in this case either.

What does Steven Pacey bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Steven Pacey is excellent at portraying the main characters and give them more of a personality with humour. I especially like his version of Glotke and Logan. He definitely brings them alive!

Any additional comments?

It's really more of the same as Book one in the series. If you liked the first book you'll probably like this one more as the story progresses.

Great read.

Great book, and I'm very picky when it comes to fantasy books. Great battle scenes. Graphic, loved it. Much better than the first book of the series.

Neutral colors in tones, accents and characters

The first book was great.
The second book is outstanding.

This is a grim, funny, dark and twisted series that (I'm glad to say) spins out from fantasy traditions and standards that need to be broken. I think we often read to live in characters we'll never be, share attributes we'll never have. If you do that with these books you'll probably wind up in a drunken rage, scanning the web for Jerry Springer reruns just to feel better. The "heros" are killers, liars, cowards and destroyed individuals simply doing what they can to survive. They glimmer dimly in dark places, facets offering hopes of redemption, but there's no one around to pick the gems clean. They stay stuck in their prisons, rattling through routine, fearing what's outside their scope and vision while the strings tug at puppet limbs.

Awesome and beautiful.

Highlights:

"Body found floating at the docks" - placed appropriately.
Spot on narration.
"Say one thing about Logan Ninefingers..." That one thing is many and delivered with perfect irony.

Narration is incredible

A great story is made superb by the incredible narration. By far the best narrator I have ever come across in any audiobook(and I have a huge library). Every character is uniquely voiced. Every scene is told with great attention to mood and detail.

Amazong

Such such great characters. I love the performance.
Now on to book 3 with huge excitement

Superior Fantasy for a new Century

I don't know where we're headed, but I'm LOVING how we're getting there! Joe Abercrombie does it again with the sequel to The Blade Itself. Another darker, grittier epic fantasy where the usual tropes and memes are turned on their heads, giving the same old chills and thrills we love of our usual epic fantasy, but with a more ominous and surprising edge. There are no pristine archetypes here, but rather a collection of flawed and fallible men and women struggling to do their . . . best . . . ? . . . worst? . . . well, definitely struggling, anyway. And as the story progresses you learn, organically and without chapters' worth of clumsy exposition, that some, if not all, of these characters aren't quite what they appear to be . . .

Can't wait to finish The Last Argument of Kings, which I downloaded directly the MINUTE I finished this book.

Totally leaves you hanging

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The most interesting aspects are two in my opinion. The characterizations are wonderful with believable characters that the listener can identify with; few characters are totally evil stereotypes and none are saints. The political plots and machinations are equally interesting and often applicable to real life. The least interesting aspect to me are the battles. There are many more battle scenes in the second book than in the first and had I been reading this book, I might have put it down or skimmed large sections. However, it is hard to fast forward through Steven Pacey - he is an amazing reader even for parts of the book I didn't like.

What does Steven Pacey bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I don't know if I would have read past the first book in this series - it isn't really my genre of choice. But I LOVE listening to Steven Pacey. He really brings the book and the characters to life.

Any additional comments?

I don't know why the First Law series was written as a series - should have just been a big book. Neither the first nor second book stands alone. If you are going to be forced to buy all three to get a complete story, calling it a series is sort of cheating.