#First Law Trilogy

[litcityblues]

'Last Argument of Kings' --A Review

I didn't understand why this trilogy got tagged with the 'grimdark' label until I got to the end of the final book in the trilogy, Last Argument of Kings. I took them more to be a hyper-violent, highly realistic, pulpy, blood-spattered fantasy until we got to the end of this book, and hot damn is it kind of bleak.

I also- freely admit- that I looked ahead at the summaries for the next trilogy in the series (The Age of Madness) and thus spoiled some of it for myself-- but figuring out how it all came together, in the end, was interesting to watch (or to listen to, rather.)

At the end of the last book, our heroes had reached their destination only to find that The Seed they were looking for is no longer there, so faced with no other choice they return home and go their separate ways. Logen returns to the north, Ferro sticks with Bayaz to see if his promise of revenge comes through and Jezal goes back to Ardee West.

In short order, things change rapidly: Jezal is on the verge of resigning his commission to marry Ardee when he's given new orders to go out and put down a peasant uprising. He does this- just in time for the old King of the Union to finally die. With both Crown Princes gone, a succession struggle immediately begins and Glokta is thrown into the middle of it by Archlector Sult, who charges him with making sure the candidate they prefer wins. Bayaz, however, has other ideas and reveals Jezal to be a bastard son of the old King, places him on the Throne, and marries him off to Terez, the daughter of Duke Orso of Styria.

Logen returns to the north and reunited with his crew, offers the Union an alliance to finish off Bethod once and for all. The Northmen bait a trap for him and his armies come and while they're fighting off and waiting for the Union, Marshall Burr, West's mentor and friend finally dies and neither Marshall Polder nor Kroy are going to a damn thing until they find out who is in charge, which leaves the Northmen hanging. Agonizingly, it takes awhile for news to reach Adua and then return but Jezal, now King, gets irritated at his advisors and puts West in charge. West gets the army moving and comes to the aid of Logen and company just in time. Bethod is left besieged in the city of Karlium.

The long hinted-at Gurkish invasion of Middleland begins and before the Union army is pulled from the North, West gives Logen a day to sort the problem of Bethod once and for all-- he defeats the Feared in single combat and kills Bethod and is proclaimed King. He gathers the Northmen willing to go and heads back to fight the Gurkish.

Glokta in the meantime, has been put to work figuring out the true motives behind Bayaz's behavior and plans and doesn't seem to be coming up with anything much at all. He is, however, developing a certain amount of companionship/friendship with Ardee West as both are cynics and completely open with their own foibles and failings and willing to if not forgive each other for them, then certainly understand them. Ardee won't leave, even as the Gurkish begin the siege, and gets caught up with Glokta as things come to a culmination.

I'm going to stop there and give a strong SPOILER ADVISORY from this point on because I have to talk about the end and I don't want to spoil the end of these books for anyone who hasn't read them yet. So, consider this your SPOILER WARNING and SCROLL AWAY.

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Okay, the end: this is where I truly brought in to the grimdark of it all. Do the Gurkish win? No, of course not-- but everyone pays a price for it in one way or another in the end. Ardee, pregnant with Jezal's baby, gets married to Glokta and they honestly seem if not the happiest, then certainly the most content at the end. Her brother, West, however, is affected by the wasting sickness unleashed by Ferro and Bayaz's use of the seed against the One Hundred Eaters of the Gurkish- it doesn't seem as widespread as it was when they revealed it was used on the ruined city of Alcus in the far west, but it's still out there.

Jezal's wife, Terez is blackmailed into sleeping with her husband. Jezal, not knowing this, cannot understand her sadness and realizes that he, like the Union is under the thrall of the man behind the curtain himself, Bayaz.

I loved this, because, in fantasy, the powerful wizard tends to be virtuous, if occasionally bad-tempered (see: Gandalf) or powerful with a fondness for drink and not dressing the part (see: Belgarath) but I haven't actually come across a wizard in fantasy that so thoroughly embraces the role of all-powerful manipulative prick as Bayaz does. He's behind everything as it turns out. He is the Bank of Valent and Bolk that lent Glokta a million marks he can't repay. He arranged for Jezal's ascension. He makes it clear to both that they govern and do things the way he wants them done otherwise he's going to come back and he won't be happy about it.

Ferro, forever altered and driven slightly insane by the use of The Seed realizes that she has powers that make her more or less immune to the Eaters and very hard to kill. She sets off south to get her vengeance. (She too, might be the happiest of all the characters.)

Logen, who basically tells Bayaz to take a hike, despite Bayaz's warnings of what will happen if he does, returns home to find that a few people have other ideas about who should be King and winds up bringing the trilogy full circle by crashing through a window and dropping down below into a raging river.

Overall: The Bayaz Heel Turn I did not see coming and honestly, it almost undid the entire trilogy for me. Everything else is fine-- Logen has bad luck and wouldn't make that good of a King anyway. Jezal seems to be heading toward being a competent King- but not all marriages have to be happy, so that felt in keeping with the overall tone of the books. Glokta getting all the power only to find that he can't really use any of it is the perfect ending for that character- and honestly, remains amongst my favorite characters of this trilogy if not in the genre as a while- and his marrying Ardee works too. Even Ferro going off to get her revenge is fine.

But the Bayaz Heel Turn... almost cheapens the entire trilogy. Because what does it all mean if Bayaz has been manipulating everything the whole time? Why should we care? We get hints of Mamoon and Kalool and we don't actually see the big fight we should have seen. Don't get me wrong: it's an interesting subversion of what you usually see in fantasy, so I appreciate it for that- but it doesn't stick the landing. Therefore, I will have to say: My Grade: *** out of ****. (Those are stars, not censored curse words.)

[lilareviewsbooks]

July Reading Wrap-Up

Hey, everyone! Last month I forgot to post a wrap-up, so, to make up for it, here’s what I read in July, on time! My fav this month was definitely the Trials of Apollo quintet, which was just so much fun! More on that after the “read more” :) 

Who Could It Be At This Hour?, by Lemony Snicket

4 stars

258 pages

Contains: incompetent adults; really smart kids; a mystery

I read this for the first time when I was a kid, after loving A Series of Unfortunate Events. I remember really loving this, although I never finished the series because I couldn’t find the books in my native Brazil. I decided to listen to the audiobook again, as I was craving middle grade this month! It follows Lemony Snicket himself (the author’s name is pseudonym) as he begins his initiation into a secret society by teaming up with a mentor (who is terrible at her job) to solve a mystery in a run-down little town.

It ended up being a pretty good experience. The narration is very expressive and so on that side I had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I wasn’t that involved by the mystery itself – and I didn’t remember anything from when I first read it, at all, so that wasn’t the problem, here. But the characters and the writing style are just too charming for you not to fall a little bit in love with the book. And, as always, with Mr. Snicket’s books, I just love how absolutely and utterly incompetent any adult is, and how qualified and smart all the children are. Honestly, in the real world, things are kind of like that, anyway!

How Far The Light Reaches: A Life In Ten Sea Creatures, by Sabrina Imbler

3 stars

272 pages

Contains: depictions of sea animals; discussions of sapphic life; discussions of gender

I read this because it was the non-fiction pick for SapphLit, a sapphic book club I’m a part of (and that you should totally join, if you’re sapphic, because it’s so cool!). I was really interested, at first. I’m really scared of the deep ocean, so I thought it would be kind of fun to read these essays and maybe get a little bit creeped out – even if it wasn’t the author's intention that I was creeped out lmao.

Unfortunately, this really didn’t do it for me. I found the structure repetitive. Mx. Imbler interlocks descriptions of sea life with their own experience, making some sort of comparison between her situation and an aspect of that creature’s life. By the tenth time they’ve done it, in the exact same way, though, you are more than tired. I was expecting some diversity, some innovation, but no… All the essays play out exactly the same. That’s not to say there aren’t interesting ideas, here, but the format they’re in is disappointing, and I wanted more from this.

Before They Are Hanged, by Joe Abercrombie

5 stars

441 pages

Contains: a quest for… wait, we don’t know what they’re questing for!; fun characters!!; the weirdest sex scene you’ve ever read in your life

If any of you read my The Blade Itself review, the first book in the First Law Trilogy, I think you’ll be surprised by my rating of this one. I did not like The Blade Itself that much, and struggled to even finish it, skipping over multiple parts, especially the fight scenes, just to get it out of the way. I didn’t think I’d continue on with this series, but the urge hit me this month to see the characters again, and I decided to try this one out. Luckily, I also had the audiobook, which gave me a totally immersive experience – the audiobook is excellent, by the way! – and helped with my overall enjoyment.

I think my favorite thing about this series has always been the characters, and they shine, here, since they actually have something to do. My problem with The Blade Itself was that it felt like endless, endless set up. Nothing really happens. Now, reading Before They Are Hanged, I can say for sure that was it. The story really starts, for most of the characters, in this second installment, and so I wonder if Mr. Abercrombie couldn’t have done it differently. But, regardless of my problems with The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged is just so fun. Truly a triumph! And I highly, highly recommend!

The Moth Keeper, by K. O’Neil

5 stars

265 pages

Contains: a very sweet village; gorgeous art; gay people!!

Oh my God, I finally got my hands on a copy of The Moth Keeper! Thank you Boston Public Library, you will always be famous!

K. O’Neil is my favorite graphic novel artist. Their work with The Tea Dragon Society just blew me away, and I was anxiously awaiting this book. It follows Anya, who lives in nocturnal village where the population depends on magical moths, guarded by the Moth Keeper, a job Anya hopes to have. But the journey to do so might not be so easy, after all.

I loved this one especially because of the beautiful art! I just adore Mx. O’Neil’s art style. The story is also just so hopeful and lovely! I love the tone that they manage to impart here, almost as if this is an ancient myth being told to you in a more approachable form. I’m excited to read it again, soon, as see what else I can glean from this wonderful graphic novel!

The Bone Orchard, by Sara A. Mueller

2.5 stars

432 pages

Contains: gothic elements; ghosts? Kinda?; necromancy

Okay, so this one… This one is hard to explain. Basically, it follows Charm, the emperor’s mistress and a necromancer, who has created various “bone-ghosts”. Together, they live in a mansion called Orchid House, where they run a brothel. When the emperor dies, however, Charm is enlisted to solve the murder…

I wanted to like this one so, so much! Unfortunately, it was just incredibly confusing in… not a good way. I couldn’t get involved with the characters or the story, because it was all shrouded in this not-so-cool mystery. It was just so, so confusing that you couldn’t even get into it because you had no idea what was going on on a deeper level. It’s also not a murder mystery at all – more like a political thriller, but the politics are too confusing to actually follow, important things happen off-screen and the importance of certain factors to the story ebb and flow (sometimes money is important, sometimes it absolutely isn’t, for example). Still, the writing was compelling and some parts were fun, so I ended up giving it three stars.

The Jewel and Her Lapidary, by Fran Wilde

3 stars

89 pages

Contains: a very unique magic system; a female… friendship? Are they gay? What’s going on with my girls?; the invasion of a kingdom

Also a hard one to summarize, since it’s so short, but this one follows Lin, a member of the royal family, and her sworn companion, the lapidary Sima, when their kingdom is attacked.

I enjoyed this. The magic system is fantastically unique, focusing on jewels as the sources of magic. However, the plot didn’t really do it for me. It was too nicely tied up, with not enough conflict. The character development also seemed all over the place. So I had trouble giving it over 3 stars. However, I like the universe very much – especially because of the magic system which is, like I said, completely unique, and totally took me by surprise. I think I’ll read the next books in the series, since they don’t follow the same characters. I’ll come right back with the results!

The Trials of Apollo Quintet, by Rick Riordan

The Hidden Oracle; The Dark Prophecy; The Burning Maze; The Tyrant’s Tomb & The Tower of Nero

All 5 stars

Av. of 350 pages (X 5 = av. of 1750 pages)

Contains: a chaotic 12-year-old; strong friendships; discussions of abusive family

Alright: this was it, the grand attraction of my month! I blew through the entire series over the course of like, a week, while I was on a family trip, and had the time of my life!

So, first off, if you’re not a Percy Jackson veteran, let me explain this series to you: The Trials of Apollo Quintet follows – can you say it with me – the god Apollo as he’s cast down to Earth for the third time to live out some trials as a human. And soon, he finds himself implicated in some business involving stolen oracles, roman emperors and a very grumpy 12-year-old. Just delightful older-middle grade! 

(Careful, though! If The Trials of Apollo sounds interesting to you, I’m terribly sorry to inform you that it’s a continuation to the Percy Jackson series, and that you do need to read that (5 books) and The Heroes of Olympus series (5 books) before continuing on with this one. And yes, it’s absolutely necessary. Sorry!)

The Trials of Apollo was a lovely experience! The adventures are divided into bite-sized, 350 page books, all with a central quest and prophecy, and, as always with Rick Riordan, are riddled with obscure creatures and gods from Roman and Greek mythology, mixed with some pop-culture flair and plenty of good humor! Reading this put me right back in my Percy Jackson phase (where I belong) as well as took me way, way back, to my first time reading Mr. Riordan’s books. 

Even though The Trials of Apollo didn’t end how I hoped, I really appreciate Mr. Riordan’s work on Apollo’s character. His relationships, especially with his constant companion Meg, are remarkable, and evolve nicely along with him. Not to mention, the gayness factor has been upped considerably in this universe, and I just think that’s neat.

Thank you all for reading and I’ll come back next month with more updates :) In the mean time, if you need a SFF book rec, drop me an ask and I’ll get back to you ASAP!

[thelittlesunlena]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The First Law - Joe Abercrombie Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Sand dan Glokta/Ardee West Characters: Sand dan Glokta, Ardee West, Nicomo Cosca Additional Tags: Chronic Pain, Pining, Argument of Kings, Hurt/Comfort Summary:

San dan Glokta plans to escape as the Gurkish invade, but he can only run for so long. And as he knows all too well, at one point his legs will give out. And he'll end up on the floor, in pain. Nobody to help him back up.

Except maybe, for once, there is.

[fantasy-hoe-25]

I am passionate about bitter old men kissing

yes, I wrote Lamb/Savian fanfiction

[joncronshawauthor]

The Anti-Hero's Journey: From Ancient Epics to Modern Fantasy

Fantasy literature has long been known for its iconic heroes and valiant champions, but it is the rise of the anti-hero that has reshaped the genre’s landscape. Anti-heroes, flawed and morally ambiguous protagonists who defy conventional notions of heroism, have emerged as captivating figures who challenge traditional storytelling tropes. Today, we’ll trace the evolution of anti-heroes in…

[aleksanderscult]

What is this comparison? Of course a centuries old dude is going to be more detached from his humanity than teenagers? I don't even mind people calling him evil or whatever but what is this argument 'he is older than them, he should be softer than them' bro it's the opposite. If Nikolai or Alina live on for centuries they would also be crueler.

According to these kind of people, you need to be pure and kind all the time otherwise you're not worthy of sympathy (+ the narrative also needs to excuse your actions so that the readers can feel better about defending you to others *side eyeing Nikolai and Kaz*).

*sigh* I wish you were right about him, antis. Really. Instead we have a traumatized man that created a home for his fellow Grisha, is unable to control his feelings after he met Alina, usurped a rapist and willingly goes through excruciating pain to create soldiers that will minimize the casualties of his army.

(and after he got resurrected he still thought about his people and about what would happen with the upcoming war against Fjerda)

[smalltownfae]

I'm counting LotR as just one book so it's not here and I only read one ASOIAF book so it can't enter this.

[frogsprince]

mmmmm that ending has me. idk. im digesting. i hate men in power

makes you wonder if sult was right all along bc these wars could've been entirely avoided if not for a feud between two egomaniacs? everyone got a bad ending and they all suffered for it, except maybe glokta in a way, and jezal if he continues to live in denial? but like imagine giving these people a chance to see something better in themselves only to snatch it away from them entirely and cursing them to a life of misery. is this what logen's friends died for? is this what jezal's people died for? there is nothing left. usually there is always some good ending, some hope in rebuilding and starting over but my god this just left everyone hollow and devoid of anything that resembles any optimism

if bayaz has no haters im dead etc fuck that bald ass motherfucker

[random-jot]

Library Room’s coming along nicely

[xserpx]

Wait, did I know that god-tier audiobook narrator Steven Pacey narrates the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud and if not why am I only just hearing about it on the First Law subreddit?!?!

[litcityblues]

'The Blade Itself' --A Review

Joe Abercrombie is another fantasy author that's been on my radar for quite some time and I'm only just now getting around to breaking into The First Law Trilogy with its first volume, The Blade Itself.

The book opens with Logen Ninefingers running from enemies known as The Shanka somewhere in the mountains of the far north. His companions are dead. He's alone. He's fighting for his life and he goes over a cliff and into a river and then we're off and running. Ninefingers has quite a reputation as the most feared man in the North and after double-checking to make sure his companions are dead. (Turns out, they're not, but they seem to be from Logen's point of view.) He decides to head south to consult with the spirits and see what to do next. They tell him to seek out Bayaz, First of the Magi.

Across the sea in the Agriont, we meet Jezal Luthar, Major West, and Sand Din Glokta, an Inquisitor, and get our introduction to the government of the Union. Luthar is gearing up for the annual Contest to prove how good of a fencer he is. West is assisting him and dealing with the arrival of his free-spirited and rebellious sister, Ardee. Glokta- who was tortured and crippled by the Emperor of the Gurkish as an Inquisitor doing the bidding of his masters, unearthing corruption and trying to navigate competing political agendas and discovering what they all mean.

Logen eventually finds Bayaz and the First of the Magi reveals his plan: they are to travel across the sea to the Agriont, the warn them not only of the impending invasion of Angland from the North, thanks to the self-proclaimed Northern King Bethod (who has had some run-ins with Logen before). Bayaz has his own plans, which are slowly revealed throughout the rest of the book.

Everyone gradually comes together in the Agriont, where the plans of Bayaz are at last revealed, where war is threatening the Union on two fronts (in the north where Bethod is invading Angland) and in the South where the Gurkish Empire is preparing to move against the Union in Dagoshka. Many people believe Bayaz to be a fraud, but he gathers a company- including Jezal Dan Luthar, Logen, Maljinn, his assistant Quai, and the Navigator Longfoot and a mission to go and confront an ancient evil behind the power of The Eaters.

Overall: So, the word on my particular street before I read this book was that Abercrombie was great with fight and action scenes, and great with dialogue, but people could take or leave his prose overall. I can understand where people are coming from with the fight and action scenes- really great, tight, taut writing that moves at the right speed and keeps the pages turning. His dialogue is also really, really great I love how the characters interact with one another and more importantly, how distinct their voices/personalities are and how they develop throughout the book. His prose...

I don't see the criticism of his prose. It didn't bother me at all-- if anything, you could argue that he's got a very visual writing style that would make translating this book to a graphic novel really easy. (Actually, I might check and see if that's been done yet because it seems like low-hanging fruit just sitting there for the taking, as it were and for sure if Netflix or Amazon or a movie studio comes calling this would be a no-brainer to adapt.)

Halfway through this book, I was worried were getting into Rothfuss territory-- it was interesting and felt like it was going somewhere, but I was starting to worry that the payoff wasn't going to be worth the trouble, despite the excellent characters/dialogue/fight scenes. Happily, it comes together very nicely- and in a nice touch, you get to see the characters react to meeting one other in a very genuine way. So Logen, from Jezal's point of view is just this big, hulking Northerner he gets stuck with at first. Similarly, when Maljinn arrives from the South- she is sneering at 'the pinks', because she doesn't yet know them. It's a small, subtle thing, I know, but I noticed it and I really liked it. It was a nice touch seeing how they meet each other from opposing POVs.

I don't know if it brings anything particularly new to the table, genre-wise, but then again, it doesn't have to! The world-building is simple and not complicated. Abercrombie drops you right into the story with a bang and keeps things rolling throughout. It wasn't a chore to read by any stretch of the imagination and I was *this* close to jumping right into the next volume just to keep on going.

My Grade: **** out of **** Fast, funny, compelling characters, wicked bloody fun this was a great read. Will absolutely check out the next two volumes.

[rulesofdisorder]

inside you are two wolves

one wants to look up spoilers for the book you are reading because you are bored and want a reason to keep reading

the other wants to be surprised if anything interesting happens

[lairn]

I feel like pointing out Sulfur’s blue and green eyes is Abercrombie’s personal running joke by now.

[thatfoxnamedfinley]

*folds hands on top of table* So...I started reading The First Law Trilogy.

I’m bout 175 pages in and I have many profound thoughts

I want to post cause I read D E A T H L Y slow and it takes me a long time to push through a book, so 175 pages in is quite an accomplishment for me (it’s taken me a week to read this far if that says anything)

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT, IF YOU KNOW THEN YOU KNOW LETS GOOO

1.) To absolutely no one’s surprise my favorite character is Logen “Bloody Nine” Ninefingers. That’s easily the best POV for me so far. My mans is just *waves hand around* COMPLEX. After being introduced to him I just automatically placed him into a box of the archetype I thought he fit into. However, he’s full of surprises, as Bayaz says. You expect him to be one way (especially after you are introduced to his former crew and you see how some of them act/think), and he’s just not. You have to be realistic about these things. But I DO feel like his character is building towards him doing something HORRIBLE at the end of this book. Everyone he encounters is like O ShIt LoGEN is A BaD MAN HEs a RABiDd DOG hE hAs KILLEd MoERE PeopPLE THAN THE PLAGuE and he’s literally a sweet puppy so I’m waiting for shit to hit the fan when we REALLY see what he is capable of.

2.) Other favs are Bethod (I WANT THAT BACKSTORY HE HAS WITH LOGEN SO BAD. WTF HAPPENED BETWEEN THEM THAT BETHOD SHOWED LOGEN MERCY?????), Bayaz (he is an old sassy mage and he cracks me tf up), Quai (soft boi who can’t remember his studies at all), and, oddly, Practical Severard. Sand dan Glokta is a cool character and I do enjoy that POV as well (because I know all these storylines are building to something and Glokta is doing a lot of behind the scenes shit right now politically), but I like Severard. If he dies off screen I’ll be surprised. I like the little bits we’ve gotten about him. I like Dogman too even though we haven’t gotten a lot of him either (I quite enjoyed the little chapter with Logen’s old crew, Dogman seems to be the most loyal).

3.) Least fav right now is Jezal. BUT TO BE FAIR TO HIM I think he’s being written that way on purpose so we root for him later once he undergoes character development. I just got to the part where Ardee tells him off for being a spoiled brat with a silverspoon and she makes him feel so embarrassed (LOL) that he finally decides to dedicate himself to win the Contest.  So we’ll see how his story goes. 

4.) What I find the most fascinating is I’m still not even sure WTF is going on. Like...if you asked me what the plot was so far and where the story is going...I don’t think I could tell you. We’re just following characters around while things are set in motion. The North aka Bethod wants Angland. Logen can communicate with spirits and that’s rare. His crew thinks he’s dead. Glokta is limping around killing people in a dungeon for Arch Lector Sult and torturing assassins. Jezal literally sucks at fencing despite getting roasted every day. 

But the characters are so engaging and despite not knowing where tf the story is headed, I find myself really enjoying it and wanting to continue reading. Joe Abercrombie’s prose is excellent.

[fippydarkpaw]

Taravangian vs. Bayaz chess game. The geriatric battle of the ages.

[fantasy-hoe-25]

Inside me there are two wolves. Savian/Lamb and Majud/Curnsbick. And they both demand fanfics to be written about them.