Abercrombie plays hardball. The moment you think you are getting ahead of the plot; as soon as it becomes obvious who is going to survive and wh..Show More »o is not; an instant after you sigh with understanding and a knowing nod of the head, a new window opens, perspective changes, and everything in the room makes a new and different kind of sense. Finally you just quit trying to suss it all out, accept the fact that you are in the hands of a master, and listen--rapt. I have finished the first two books now and have no idea where this is going. I just know that I will be fascinated and satisfied when we arrive.
Steven Pacey is flawless. Exactly the narrator Abercrombie deserves. And all for less than ten dollars a book. This is heaven!!
Two caveats: under no circumstances should you read these books out of order, and if you have problems reading descriptions of brutality or tolerating common, sexually descriptive language, just don't bother starting.



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First, let me say I'm an avid reader of negative reviews. I want to find out what people don't like about a book when I bother to find out anything a..Show More »t all beforehand. That having been said, most of the bad reviews of this brilliantly written and performed series are aimed directly at the ending Mr. Abercrombie gave us. And I must point out to anyone who might read my glowing review that we are warned a couple of times in this book that it's not going to be pretty. But that's the point of the whole thing, at least to my mind. Ardee says "No one gets what they deserve," or something close thereto, and that sums up the whole thing.

I guess my point is that anybody that's looking for a fairy-tale ending should probably read a fairy-tale and leave off the grown-up fantasy. They'll just be disappointed.

I also particularly enjoyed the very end. (BEGIN SPOILERS) I think dropping the Bloody Nine off a cliff into a river and leaving it there is an awesome way to come full circle and let the reader's mind fill in what happens next. I can just see him washing up somewhere--"Still alive..."--and charging into another several months of butchery to pay back Black Dow. Or maybe he'll head south and find Ferro. It's up to me and which aspect of Logen I want to root for how it all turns out. I'm thankful for that.

In all, a superb work of fantasy by one of my new favorite authors. Thanks Joe.

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