This is the best book in the series and definitely the book where I noticed Abercrombie's genius. He sticks a big middle finger up to conventional fantasy troupes and I loved it. Awesome review man.
Abercrombie is a film buff and former film editor and I really think that shines through in his writing. The dialogue reads so naturally - one of his brightest traits stems from the ability to make each POV seem so, so unique, as if it were a book written by a range of authors.
My favorite parts are definitely dogman and the crews chapters (gotta love black dow) and also collem west aka furious chapters. Be sure to read the standalone novels after you're done with the 3rd book. They're titled standalones but really they're the 2nd trilogy as they bridge the gap to the 3rd trilogy in masterful ways. I'm not even exaggerating when I say the quality gets even better with the best served cold, the heroes and red country books, they're leaps and bounds above the blade itself. You can see another jump in abercrombies writing and plot and characters like we see from the blade itself to before they are hanged.
Yes!! This one really starts to show you Abercrombie’s genius and makes all the setup from TBI worth it, and that setup keeps paying back in the next 4 (possibly more, but I’ve only finished the first 6 😂). Love Glokta! Can’t believe Ferro didn’t get a mention though - love her so much. Jezel’s character arc is epic.
