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

The first book in an Abecrombie love affair

Joe's First Law series starts out strong. If you're new to the author, this is a great place to start.

Stairs, an Fencing

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. this story was full of action.

Any additional comments?

This was a good story about the struggles of life. lots of action. some betrayal. i liked it. check it out.

AWSOME!

Maybe, my favorite book of all time. Definitely my favorite trilogy of all time. Do yourself a favor and get to know Logan Nine Fingers.

very good

loved every minit of listening.
It was like beeing in a theatre with my eyes closed.

Narration + Writing = Brilliance

Every once in awhile there comes along a perfect marriage between an author and a narrator. I did not think I ever would find one better than the pairing in the Harry Potter series, but believe me, Steven Pacey's interpretation of Joe Abercrombie's writing surpasses anything I have ever heard.

Don't let the reviews about the negative characterizations discourage you. Yes, these characters are flawed, but you find yourselves rooting for them to become better people as you understand how their pasts and the interference of evil has effected their lives. Abercrombie's technique of juxtaposing the characters' actions with their inner thoughts allows you to get to know them on a deeper level than is often possible in fantasy novels. I found myelf both horrified and laughing out loud.

I can't rave enough about Steven Pacey's narration. It was perfect. The timing, the subtle distinctions between the characters' inner voices and their outer conversations, the accents that fit the locales...the humor...perfect. I especially appreciate his interpretation of the female voices. He doesn't try to "sound" like a woman, but gives them the same depth that he gives the men. I will search for more books read by him, and Joe Abercrombie should be sending him chocolate and flowers.

Interesting take on fantasy

This review is more for the entire series than this one book. I did read to the entire series, and, for the most part, I enjoyed it. The narrator is good, and I liked the dark tone of the books. In some ways, this review would be more appropriate for book three, but I assume people picking up the first book are considering reading all three.

The style and tone of the entire series is much more realistic than most fantasy works. That, I appreciated. "You have to be realistic about these things." Mr. Abercrombie continually upsets fantasy tropes, taking a left when a right is expected. He sets up fairly believable characters with faults and weaknesses. All of the characters change throughout the series, if only in our perception of them. I especially appreciated Inquisitor Glokta, a profession torturer and POV character. It's not often you see such a unique persona.

What I didn't like as much is the direction the author went for the third book. As I said before, Mr. Abercrombie takes a left when a right is expected. Unfortunately, he takes that to the extreme of predictability. Hardly anything surprised me toward the end, because all I had to do is ask myself "Would this character have a redeeming moment here or hook up with so-and-so or grow and become something greater?" The answer is "no."

By the time you get there, it's not a surprise when things end up poorly. It's the kind of story the author is writing. That's fine, but it's not the kind of story I'm interested in reading. If I want to hear about the bad guys becoming richer and more powerful at the expense of good people, I'd watch the news. If you're interested in that sort of thing, though, you'll enjoy this series.

awesome book and narrator.

ask of the heroes are so flawed. a really great story. some great one liners and catch phrases. definitely worth a listen.

I loved this book! I enjoyed it as much as GOT.

This is a rich world full of unique and interesting characters. It has an "I can't stop listening" storyline and keeps good pace throughout. I had just finished the Game of Thrones series and was looking to fill the gap in my life that had created - I'm almost close to saying this was better!

The narration of this book was excellent - perhaps one of the best I've heard (and I've heard a few now!) The voices of the different characters were all very unique and consistent which is impressive.

Great story, incredible performance

This is the first audiobook with which I've truely been in awe of the narrator's performance - which when combined with a wonderfully written fantasy novel makes for a top notch experience

Steven Pacey is magnificient.

I've listened to many audio books and in my opinion Steven Pacey is in a league of his own. The characters come to life in his voice. But even a good narrator must have something with which to work. The Blade Itself lends a wonderful story to a magnificient voice. If one loves fantasy one must own this title.