The Blade Itself

The First Law: Book One

By: Joe Abercrombie

Narrated by: Steven Pacey

Length: 22 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Inquisitor Glokta, a crippled and bitter relic of the last war, former fencing champion turned torturer, is trapped in a twisted and broken body - not that he allows it to distract him from his daily routine of torturing smugglers.

Nobleman, dashing officer and would-be fencing champion Captain Jezal dan Luthar is living a life of ease by cheating his friends at cards. Vain and shallow, the biggest blot on his horizon is having to get out of bed in the morning to train with obsessive and boring old men. And Logen Ninefingers, an infamous warrior with a bloody past, is about to wake up with plans to settle a blood feud with Bethod, the new King of the Northmen, once and for all - ideally by running away from it.

But as he's discovering, old habits die hard....especially when Bayaz gets involved. An old man with a terrible temper and a pathetic assistant, he could be the First of the Magi, he could be a spectacular fraud, but whatever he is, he's about to make the lives of Glokta, Jezal, and Logen a whole lot more difficult....

©2010 Joe Abercrombie (P)2010 Orion Publishing Group

Wonderful

I can not say enough good things about Steven Pacey. I could listen to him read the phone book.

Best Fantasy I've read in years

Loved the characters. The pacing is fantastic - never a dull moment. This is definitely in the realm of darker / adult fantasy the likes of George RR Martin and Peter V. Brett.

good narrator and characters, story is just ok

the narrator was great, and the characters were very well developed. the story was a bit lackluster and never really got me hooked.

Captivating listen

I really enjoyed this book great captivating listen that kept me going for days. Well developed story with interesting characters with an unconventional storyline. And expertly read, if u feel like loosing yourself with a good book this is a great choice. Now for the next one.

Both great and less than great

This book moves slowly. It is an introduction. Most of the characters are seriously entertaining, some are absolutely amazing and only one falls flat (she becomes more entertaining in book two though, so hang on).

In spite of a stupendously wonderful reading by Mr. Pacey, I think this book might be much easier to follow if read instead of heard. Take your time listening. Because of the strong voice performance, even hearing the same chapter twice in a row really is enjoyable enough.

Even if this book was boring, which it is definitely not, it would easily be well worth the read just to get an introduction to book two.

Strongly recommended for fans of the grimdark genre.

The Best

Without doubt, this is the finest Audiobook experience I have ever enjoyed. Utterly fantastic., y'all.

No heading really

Simply amazing. One of the best, but please note, it is dark and goes towards low fantasy, in my opinion.

Oh, how I love this series

If you like the Grim Dark genre, you’ll love this. How all the misery and slaughter can be so entertaining and frequently side splitting makes me worry a little about myself. The plot is a lot like life. Sometimes we don’t understand what’s going on. Sometimes we never figure it out either. But we meet a lot of interesting people along the way.

A great unexpected story!

A great unexpected story filled with brilliant characters.
5 star quality listen all round, highly recommended

Great Potential, but Book One Doesn't Stand Alone

Book one is well written, has interesting characters and is very well read. It serves to build the characters, twine them together and set the stage for a great epic resolution. Just as the reader is prepared for great battles and great twists of fate that will surely bring all the characters together again - book one ends leaving only questions and no resolutions.

This book is not a waste of your time or your credit, but you'll be disappointed if you don't have book two and possibly book three to step into.