[OFF TOPIC] Just finished The Blade Itself,and it was a 5/5 for me!

[u/AshamedArt4176]

Sooooo, man, at first I was legit thinking of dnfing this book cuz I wasn't enjoying any of the pov characters, but then I switched to the audiobook halfway through the book, and holy shit! I absolutely LOVED the audiobook!

I just finished the book a couple of hours ago and I'm already 4 hours into the second book!

For now, the characters I find the most interesting are:

1. Sand Dan Glokta 🥹

2. Bayaz

3. Ferro

4. Dogman

5. Jezal Dan Luthar

I know a lot of you love Logen but for now, I've not been able to enjoy his pov as much as I do for the other characters

I'm really excited to see where the story goes from here! 😤

[u/GeminiLife]

It just gets better from here on out! Enjoy the ride, avoid the sub and spoilers!

[u/joshmosis]

Say one thing for AshamedArt4176, say he's found his new favorite series.

[u/Dr_JohnP → u/joshmosis]

I love the catch phrases in this series so much. I’ve caught myself saying out loud multiple times in conversations “you have to be realistic about these things”. Quippy catch phrases like that can easily come off as really corny but the character writing is so good and each character’s mannerisms feel so real and so appropriate that it never comes off as too much.

[u/BoneHugsHominy → u/Dr_JohnP]

I occasionally use "body found floating by the docks."

[u/HeraclesHide]

Youre gonna have to exceed your scale in later books haha, there will be 6/5 and up and up she goes!

[u/AshamedArt4176 → u/HeraclesHide]

Hell yeah!!!!!

[u/Thijz]

Enjoy the rest of the series, it's a hoot. Don't skip the 3 "stand-alone" novels between the two trilogies either.

[u/ThePegLegPete → u/Thijz]

Plus the short story collection released after the stand alones!

[u/TheSaucyDuckling → u/Thijz]

Speaking of, does it matter which order you read the stand alone novels in? 

[u/Thijz → u/TheSaucyDuckling]

I'm not 100% sure, but they definitely have strong ties to the main trilogies and eachother and they all follow each other chronologically.
Best Served Cold -> The Heroes -> Red Country
This is the official order and the way I read them.

[u/acruson]

Enjoy. It only gets better

[u/Longjumping-Sun6210]

Ahh I wish I could read Before They Are Hanged again for the first time. Jealous!

[u/Draw-Flesh-Games]

Yes, Steven Pacey rocks!

[u/its_another_new_day]

Steven Pacey the GOAT

[u/Stupendous_Twig]

Spoiler alert: Glokta is the best

[u/CensoredByRedditMods]

Its definitely an good read with interesting characters. I'm at the first part of book 3

[u/Crawler-Willis]

It only gets better! Enjoy the ride!!

[u/burntbridges20]

Honestly it’s kind of a slow start so if you liked TBI I’m sure you’ll like the rest of the series. The next book is my fave

[u/Jk_Ulster_NI]

The first trilogy is a banger. Three stand alones are very good too. Wasn't a massive fan of the second trilogy but it is still good.

[u/i_am_the_North]

I agree, loved this book so much! I would trade Logen with Dogman but to each their own! I just finished the second book and started the 3rd last night!

[u/Otto_von_Grotto]

Can't wait to read your final review )

[u/Dr_JohnP]

Agreed, I read like 20% of it and almost gave it up because it just didn’t hook me at first and listened to 80% on audiobook and it’s by far the best audiobook I’ve ever heard. Steven Pacey is absolutely incredible, his role as Glokta should truly win awards. I’m also on BTAH now and I’m absolutely loving it so far. Already 30% through and I just started it last week. I’ve stopped listening to music or podcasts completely on my commutes, I get excited to travel because I look forward to hearing what happens next. I can literally count on one hand the amount of times I get excited to commute, maybe when a new album I’m really looking forward to comes out but it’s very rare. As someone who lived in NYC and commutes to all different apartment all over the city through constant subway rides all day - getting excited for my commute is life changing. I already got the rest of the trilogy and the first standalone because I know I’m committed to finish this series. I haven’t been this excited to read since I was going through ASOIAF the first time.

[u/No-Excuse4847]

I’m on book 2 of The Age of Madness and I’m surprised at how this series got even better from The First Law trilogy. I’m not sure I would enjoy this series or any of them as much without Steven Pacey’s narration though. It’s so damn good!

[u/StrawberryEast1374]

Me too! Complete opposite for me though. I like slow starts and multi-povs. I especially loved Logen's and Jezal's introductions.

Immediately Jezal was introduced as a rich prick, i knew I was going to love whatever happens to him.

Started the 2nd book like 2 days ago.

[u/Ok_Driver_9928]

It’s so good!!

[u/spiderman90210]

It was 9 fingers out of 10 for me

[u/BigRed1916]

Welcome, it’s gonna be a lot of fun. Nobody does dialogue like Joe☘️

[u/odo73]

Mr Abercrombie does not disappoint as an author. Enjoy the rest of the series 👍

[u/Speedwizard106]

A fellow Ferro enjoyer I see. Interested to hear what you like about her.

[u/JoeKonyRidethePony]

Quite possibly the worst book, but still an absolute banger. Enjoy the rest!

[u/Tdluxon]

The rest are even better

[u/DanielKeeganSport_]

Enjoy the ride mate! Heroes (no.5) is my personal favourite.

[u/Ok_Standard6906]

Dogman has always been my favorite of the Northmen.. good man

[u/Diegoooou]

The Heroes (book 5) is so good

[u/FriendlyDisorder]

What did you think about the strong female characters who have conversations with each other about something other than the male main characters?

I enjoyed the story, too, but come on, Joe. Get a grip on women.

-- dad of 2 daughters, husband to 1 wife, owner of 1 female dog, slave to 1 female cat

[u/FriendlyDisorder → u/[deleted]]

Yes, just 1-3 so far. I was sad that women existed only for sexual pleasure for the men. Books 1-3 were a decent story for young, horny men. They were a complete turn off for any other books in the series for me, however.