The First Law: SPOILER TALK - Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie 

I love Jezal's POV scenes. Always find them very funny, in particular when he observes Bayaz losing his cool. Brilliantly done.

One thing I love about glokta is the fact that he seems loyal to the few people that actually treat him like a human being (Ardee and Collem) which I think gives a lot of insight to his self loathing nature and how he almost has more confidence in himself as a person as he forms these more human relationships throughout the book

Burst out laughing when you said "Congratulations Ferro" in response to her being a demon. Well said. Great review!

"Fellowship of the Seed" I liked the sound of that haha. Many thanks for this excellent review. I finished this book last May and somehow got distracted and finished the whole Witcher saga instead of jumping straight to the third one. Now I'm about to continue on and this video helped refresh my memory big time.

Longfoot being a Claptrap type of character is a perfect 😂

My guy, you have GOT to listen to the audio books. Stephen Pacey does a phenomenal job with the narration. Actually gives me goosebumps and tears my eye from time to time.

I'm working my way through the trilogy now and after finishing Before They Are Hanged Joe Abercrombie has solidified his place in my mind as one of my favorite authors. The build up of the Feared has me very excited to see how that turns out in Last Argument of Kings, Bayaz has me suspicious as ever, and the characterization of Malacus in this one makes me suspicious of him too. The gradual development of Logen bringing the group together was a joy to read, especially the parts between him and Jezal. Overall I thought the book was fantastic

Just finished book 2. Has everyone forgot about the whole superior Goyle and Vitari forcing the story of a “dog bite” over a human with missing body parts

You got me back into reading. Thank you for reminding me to get lost in new worlds. Seriously appreciate you and your videos.

Just finished this one, great review as always! Claptrap is perfect for longfoot lol. Im continually suspicious of Bayaz but I feel as if he generally has good intentions, I cant get a grip on him. Glotka's stuff continues to be fascinating!

The beauty of Mike's Reviews is he can brake it down and bring it to you from the inside. I cannot tell how much I love this highly recommended series from Mike's reviews. It is a truly an astonishing series. Currently I am 75% done with the second book Before They Are Hanged so I have to book mark this video at the half way mark. Nice going Mike.

I started this series due to your recommendation and I am loving these books. I can't remember the last time I was so enthralled. I'm getting through a book a week and I can't wait to start the 3rd. I find Brother Longfoot really funny. He's just bragging all the time and no one pays any attention. I almost feel sorry for him if I weren't laughing so hard. West's character arch is definitely taking a dark turn. He started out as my favorite, but now I have mixed feelings. Furious is not a man I could root for, although I must admit Lattislaw's death had me smiling uncontrollablely. I think I had similar anger issues and that's why Furious scares me.

Loved this one. Hyped for 3

Just finished reading it last night. Loved it. Quickly becoming one of my all time favourite series. Gonna start Last Argument soon.

Been loving your reviews for a few years now man!! Keep it up.

I enjoyed this book even more than the first one, we finally know a bit about the story and more about the world

Your reviews are great! Looking forward to the third one. Just keep going!

Argh these books are so good, they totally made me forget all about ASOIAF. Great review! Looking forward to watching the 3rd one

Just read the book, and my word I love this trilogy. Love what Joe does with character arcs, especially with Jezal and Glotka.

I should finish this book tmw but my god am I loving it! Incredible read!

This is an outstanding sequel to a promising trilogy. Joe Abercrombie is golden!!!

Hey Mike! Just finished it. Perfection!!

I totally enjoyed before they are hanged about to request the 3 book in the series 😊🤗😀

Lol, that brother longfoot/claptrap comparison was on point 💯

JUST finished book 2....wow. This series is interfering with my Rage of Dragons progress 🤷🏿‍♂️

Tony Hawk's reviewing my favorite book series, sweet

I wasn’ t expecting the ending haha. But it was good. I liked the book

Just my opinion but I think you should listen to some of the msgs here about the audio book. It's worth it just to hear Glokta's voice narrated. It's amazing, it's perfect. I'm currently reading and listening to the audio book while I drive. I can't stress enough how damn good the narrator is. He was born to narrate these books.

very awesome second book

In the audiobook Brother Longfoot has an Indian Accent…haha!

The Longfellow/Claptrap comparison is so spot on.

I sat up all night long; reading Red Country, and laughing out loud. Shy and Temple's trip down the mountain, with the gold filled wagon...Regarding Last Argument Of Kings, I ended up really liking the Dogman. He's a straight edge.

I literally thought of longfoot as claptrap too hahaha

Ok glad I can finally come here and listen to this review. Just finished the 2nd book. Am I the only one who was disappointed no one was ever hanged, literally the whole time I expected one of the main characters to get hanged or soon to be hanged and then maybe saved. Good book, interesting to see how it finishes up, probably finish book 3 by next week's end. I will say part of me is disappointed not that it is a bad book but every booktuber has hyped this book series up as the greatest series since sliced bread. As someone who doesn't read a ton of epic fantasy I think the main praise is that it is just "counter culture". They spend the whole second book seeking a mythical relic only for it to not be there, which compared to other epic fantasy just never happens, they always find the relic so I guess aspects like this is what has everyone clamoring over it. I still don't think that makes it a great book per say but it's good, i will have to see how it finished before I cast my final judgement. There are some good character arcs though seeing Jezal become humble, ferro learning to trust, Logan finding people worth fighting for and a purpose, West learning to respect the northman. So far though there is no overall happiness, the moral is "try your hardest and everything ends up meh..not the worst...not the best...but meh". Which I think is what everyone who reads alot of epic fantasy loves about it because epic fantasy usually ends in everyone being rich/prosperous, get's the girl, get's the castle, get's stronger. Here it seems like as time goes on people lose more of their self physical/wealth/spiritual in an abundance of ways. We will see how book 3 wraps everything up, looking forward to it. My expectations for book 3 (before reading it, just guessing): Glotka : responsible for the Prince's death since he wants vegence still on the Gurkish for leaving him a ruined man, Quai: is going to betray Bethaz (it was foreshadowed in start of book 2 when he put his hands around Bethaz kneck) the same way Bethaz betrayed his masters in search of power Bethaz: is going to be shown to be the bad guy that sparked the downfall of the magi and khalul the good guy who turned to being an eater after Bethaz was too strong initially for him or something like that Logan: going to die in battle fighting Bethod (had to edit this one), he is also probably going to go into a rage and kill one of our beloved characters at some point, maybe Ferro? Ferro: no idea tbh, really can't pinpoint her character arch in the final book other then she is going back to fight the Gurkish and will probably die there, maybe she kills Khalul Jezal: not sure on him either, he will probably try the family life with Ardee then go off to join Logan in some battle with Bethod where Logan dies but he gets to live and have kids with Ardee West: he will continue fighting and die in the final battle with Bethod Dogman and crew: Dogman dies while killing Feared, Shiver will replace him as leader of the crew

Bayz frustration made me laugh lol

For a middle book it made you instantly want to go read the third book

I always read longfoot with a claptrap voice too! Funny

I'm not very far into Last Argument of Kings, so I may not have much of a valid opinion on the journey to the edge of the world. But, so far, it almost seems like the cliche "it's not about the destination, it's about the journey" situation. While I do believe the party intended on finding the Seed at the end of the journey, I also think the struggles on the journey and the ways the characters developed throughout the journey may ultimately have shaped the characters into who they need to be for the conclusion of this first trilogy. Does that make sense? I don't know, and personally I may not totally get my answer until i finish LAOK.

Furious!

That Longfoot / Claptrap comparison will stick with me for a while

Okay I'm reading Longfoot in Claptrap's voice in my re-read lol.

Will you also be reading Sharp Ends? The First Law short story collection?

Kinda weird you say that as The North boys traveled hundreds of miles and the goof troop traveled to the end of the world... I couldn't care less about Master Byaz btw. But I think His 2nd book, "The Trouble with Peace" from the other trilogy is in my top 3 books of ALL TIME.. My favorite part of this world is The North Man everytime. They are so dman funny. Especially w/Stephen Pacey doing it. The dude gives descendants similar dialects, unbelievable attention t detail.

Holy shit Longfoot totally is claptrap 😂😂

This book was incredible. I am so attached to these characters. SPOILERS: Dogman putting a blanket over Cathil, trying to keep her warm even though she is already dead, urgh ripped my heart out.

Did you do the Shatteted Seas yet?

Does Ardee play a role in this book?

Spoiler here It relle upset me me with the way Cathil acted towards west. Ik she’s her own women and doesn’t owe anyone her love but banging the Dogman was so random for me and upsetting. Sure west had anger issues and whatnot but to me they were expected with what he had to deal with and control. He seemed to do everything for the good of his people and what was right or wrong. He got an unfair wrap to me. Idk but I could feel his anger when she said he was to angry for him. Like relle I’m doing all these good deeds and stressed the tf out and u can’t overlook my one character flaw god damn

As uncomfortable as if dad slapped mom at the dinner table lol 😂😂

I just finished this book and malacus has me really suspicious

I'm currently reading the second book. In all honesty, every time Bayaz speaks I get bored. The voice in the audio version doesn't do him any favours. And I always feel disconnected when I encounter a Glokta chapter. I understand his character, but after listening to him ponder why the hell he's even doing shit, I can't really find a lot of sympathy for him. Not that he's a less sympathetic or moral man, I'd say his actions seem improved on that front, but rather every chapter has turned into a chore and feels the same. Not sure why, but I hardly enjoy the scenes unless there's a fight which tends to be the opposite for all the other characters. I enjoy moments of character building or the clash of different dynamics. For Glokta chapters, there isn't a lot of that, or not enough when compared to the Bayaz group or the Northman group. It doesn't help that he seems to have the least motive behind his actions. I probably might get a grand revelation by the end that might change my mind, or the boredom made listen on auto and I missed something here or there. But after hearing him say "why, why do I do this?" For the upteenth time, you start to question it yourself and feel ashamed of him rather than for him. I have plenty of idea why literally every one else does the shit, the horrible shit they do - even the damn prince (the absolute trash bag of human filth he is). I can't say I hate him, I just don't find him as compelling as he used to be. Logan is best Boi though. And Ferro is the vicious raccoon one can only aspire to be.

For some reason I found the fellowship to be the least interesting out of all the plotlines. You’d think it would be the most interesting but Glotka and West’s stories were way more entertaining

I'm enjoying the series after finishing the first two books. The characters and story are good, but the prose and writing is so weak. I don't understand why Joe constantly reuses the same words over and over, get this man a thesaurus. If I see him use 'grimaced' one more time I'm gonna quit reading them.

Spoiler Alert

Nicomo Casca is a wonderfully horrible character.