Black,Bitter and Brilliant - Rated 
In the week I write these words the "Long list" for the Booker prize has been released.The Booker is the UK's most prestigious prize for fiction, awarded to the best novel of the year, in the opinion of a collection of the "good and the great" of the literary establishment; plus a few "celebrity" names to help with the publicity. This years chairman is an ex Tory minister (God help us). Though I guess Arch Lector Glotka would approve. The list provoked huge rages of scorn from the publishing world because it dared to include a thriller, set in Stalin's Russia.(Can't remember the name: "Boy 44" or some such if you are interested look it up). The point being: thrillers have no place on a list of literary fiction such as the Booker is designed to reward and promote.
Well ladies and gentlemen.............Hold on to your hats...The news is that a mere "Fantasy" writer(a genre even more despised than thrillers) has produced over the last three years a sequence of 3 novels that does all the things that literature is supposed to do, except better! You want to read a novel (A trilogy in fact) that holds up a mirror to society, then read these books. It has profound things to say about love,friendship, responsibility and about duty, politics and the consequent loss of innocence.At times it moved me to tears and never failed to make me think. The joy and achievement of the trilogy is to follow the development of the carefully wrought characters.Just as in real life they make choices, some good,some bad. They make mistakes and learn (or not) from them. As "Nine Fingers" says bitterly :"I learnt a lot from my mistakes. The only thing I didn't learn is how not to repeat them".There are no good guys , no bad guys here. Only real people trying to do the best they can in bad circumstances.For me if there is a hero, it is "The Dogman". It is typical of the authors view point, I think, to make the one wholly "good" character in the book one who is always buffeted by "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune".I refuse to apologise for the Shakespearean allusion here. Joe Abercrombie's "The First Law" has a lot more truth about life than almost every book the Booker prize has been awarded to over the past decade.In its portrayal of men and women under extraordinary circumstances some of its scenes rival
the epic quality of Henry V before Agincourt. The description of how "Threetrees" rallies his wavering Northmen and persuades them to charge into almost certain death (told through the scared and reluctant eyes of the Dogman) is a piece of writing that deserves a place in any anthology about men and war and the feeligs it arouses.
Before I finish I would please urge any future reader to look out for the references to the evil of banks and big companies.
Who else in the last three years has written as well about the evils of unregulated capitalism?
Still, as Ninefingers would say: "You have got to be realistic"....There is no chance that the Booker crew will look at this .....It is their loss but very much our gain.........Thank you Mr. Abercrombie for holding up a mirror for us all. To paraphrase Logen Ninefingers : No reason we can't try to be better.
Fantasy for adults with a dark sense of humour - Rated
A story of kings, mages, warriors and torturers, enough to satisfy the most epic of escapist longings. But with their strengths and flaws so keenly written, these are characters that are developed, believable, unpredictable and hilarious.
I was a fan of fantasy as a youngster, particularly Michael Moorcock, but I thought the whole genre now a bit cliched. However I came across Joe Abercrombie by accident, when in a bookshop I saw book 2 and read the first quote, "We should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged," and I thought... COOL! Joe Abercrombie has given the genre a trilogy that is fun, wicked, and a hell of a good story. I can't remember reading anything better. I'm just sorry it had to end.
Almost, but not quite... - Rated 
In Last Argument of Kings, the story of Logen, Luthar and all the others continues apace and many of the sidebars are pulled together to form an even more connected story, than in the first books. The full trilogy is thus completed nicely. The story is well-paced and there are twists and turns that I did NOT see comming. I don't want to reveal too much, and spoil it for those of you who haven't read it, but I just have to point out that the twist at the end of Logen's story is master-full. Nice work Mr. A!
However all isn't well in the land of Joe A. While I really enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy, this concluding chapter doesn't quite have the same hint of greatness to it.
In the first two books I thoroughly enjoyed the interaction among the (very much not) merry band of adventurers, but in this book Abercrombie allows them to drift apart and continue their stories pretty much on their own. This allows for some of the tension to bleed out of the story and pushes the more unsavoury character-flaws of our heroes to the fore. In short, they become less charmingly nasty and more just plain unpleasant.
So while the story is still very good and very recomendable, I was left feeling just a tiny bit disapointed that the book didn't quite match up to the first two installments.
Quality, grim, fantasy - Rated
Totally failed to answer most of the questions in the first two books!
Where do the Shanka come from?
Why is Bethold getting help form the witch?
Where did the fierce come from?
Etc etc.
Still, somehow manages to be a wonderful, laugh outload at the audacity of it, blast of a novel
What's with everyone thinking this is the end? - Rated
And the couple two star ratings? I just don't understand. Great books; the only bad thing is that I have to wait for more...gah.
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