Savine's treatment of Glokta pissed me off as well. Like bitch that man is the only reason you weren't killed at birth. You owe him every breath you've ever taken not to mention him raising into the smart, badass boss that you are now. Speaking of Glokta, I refuse to believe that he didn't know anything about Pike being the Weaver.
@loganbradford2343 jappo and shivers do sound the same though where it seems intentional. Having the same narrator doesn't mean everyone sounds the same. Gorst doesn't sound like orso and stour nightfall doesn't sound the same as savine. They all have very different voices
I could be wrong but I thought Shivers already had that talk with Clover, and the talk was why Clover betrayed Stour (or whatever the King of the North's name was, I totally forgot). I could be wrong though I read the book as soon as it came out
The Dogman’s death hit me hard too, but if there’s a Northman who wouldn’t mind going peacefully, perhaps it would be the Dogman. I totally agree with you about Orso - definitely a nod to Shakespeare’s Henry V, with Leo being Hotspur. Fantastic talk!
I still have a niggling suspision that Glokta might actually turn out to be the real weaver. It just doesn't make sense to me that Glokta would've had that much of a blind spot for Salem Rews and Risinau.
I still think all this Braker stuff is Gloktas long game against Bayaz, to overthrow monarchy and Bayazs control over people. It will be some kind of French revolution we will have in book three. Wisdom of the crowd sounds very sarcastic, like the crowd always knows better then the actual expert.
Orso might be one of my favourite characters ever. Dude feels so real to me. He’s a genuinely good dude in this world. Which as we all know is very rare. The only actual hood person I remember from this series was forley.
The ”we still need to talk” line between Shivers and Clover I assume was about Clover betraying Stour. Or did they say that after the betrayal? Can’t remember
No originals left ? Bayaz thinks otherwise ;) ps. Here's my hot-take : Leo is going to become the new Arch Lector Glokta - he's just as badly crippled, and now owes the Union fealty for his crimes against the state.
@@mikesbookreviews I thought they did have the talk? Clover says at one point he just finished talking with an old friend, I assumed that's what he meant?
- Yeah, the Dogman's death gutted me. Reminded me of Uhtred's surrogate father from THE LAST KINGDOM. - To me, I loved Clover but he and broad came across as too similar in terms of their personalities. - Yeah, the betrayal of Stour came out of nowhere. I wish it would've been built up more though, I guess? - I honestly forgot so much about Vick from the last book to this one. She's a great character but I always forget about her unfortunately. - I NEED MORE SHENKT IN MY LIFE!!! - I love the themes of the oppressed rising up and fighting against their oppressors. That, combined with the technological advances are supremely interesting. I hope Joe explores this more in the next book. - Also, I'm glad to see that Abercrombie has improved in his writing of plot. He's always been great at writing characters but his plot in the previous books isn't as strong as it becomes here.
Yes! Finally! XD I really loved Orso in this book. Rikke had her best moment for me in here so far. I hope to get more Jappo in the next book. Don't remind me of the death of my fav Jezal... I am really hyped for the next book. I feel like the Breakers and Burners are gonna make some damage and win something and I am curious about what Orso is going to do about Savine and Leo.
PS Mike, The blade itself and before they are hanged audiobooks are free to listen to on RU-vid. Steven Pacey is by faaaar the best narrator Ive ever heard...amazing the way he does so many different voices and different accents makes you swear it cant be on person...his acting is phenominal another level type stuff...check it out if you can.
I just finished it. Yeah, I was starting to hate Leo in the last book but this book now I just feel total contempt for him. He did redeem himself a bit at the end. And now I really don't like Savine either. But at least Orso and Rikke continued to be great. And that Orso and Jappo scene was perfect. And I like how Leo was distracted by Jappo's looks and outfit. I can't believe Savine was crazy enough to let Leo meet with Jappo alone. All in all though, great book.
I don’t think that whole thing in Last Argument of Kings of Jezal and Glokta who hate eachother agreeing on eventually taking Bayaz down won’t have any pay off. At the VERY LEAST it would be the reason Jezal died (killed by Bayaz because he caught wind of what they were doing) and why Glokta resigned (perhaps). I think Glokta left to work on what he’s going to do to take Bayaz down maybe after meeting him on the Kingsway.
The ending was pretty dark. Why keep him alive it would’ve been really powerful to kill Leo. Hmmmm maybe Rikke’s prophecy of a crown on a pile of bones wasn’t completely bs.
First time i cried in an abercrombie book. Always feared disability, being crippled and turning into a shell of yourself cause i suffered many injuries before and between long recovery periods i had too much time to think abt what wud happen to me. One can be so miserable with just about any disability when your normal rights as a human are stripped away. To never run, to never hug your lived ones and theres just so much more one can lose. Worst part is people who cared for you before will always be eventually tired of taking care of you if you do need the help. You cant even show weakness and cry sometimes cause that looks pathetic and like you delve in self pity too much. Soon enuff people stop looking qt you as the person yiu used to be and now as sth tedious and lesser that always needs help. It gets worse cause i bloody did it myself before. I put the kindle down when i saw what happened to poor old Leo and calm my nerves. Wasted potential like you said.
Agreed that Orso was the mvp; I found myself rooting for him the most. I actually came around on Leo towards the end. And yeah savine is ambitious but I didn’t find her as maniacal as Cersei. I’m hoping the three of them plus rikke team up to take down bayaz in the end. But, knowing Joe, it probably won’t be so neat lol.
Clover a great character, Orso had some great moments. His inner conflict is very interesting. Rikke blew my mind, I never saw her screwing Leo, but who knows what she has seen. Gunner was a good character, I enjoyed him
I have to smile because what you said about Savine and Glokta... that was me all over. The whole second series turned for me on that pivotal point. How very dare she disrespect and dismiss him and ultimately betray him? From that point on, I had a world of fun with the second half of the book and the worse it got for Savine and Leo, the more I enjoyed it. They both got exactly what they deserved.
Northman are the best at eulogies This was my third favorite of Ambercrombie's world. 1. Before they are hanged 2. The Blade itself 3. Trouble with peace eeks out best served cold The Jappo chapter was one of the best ever
Great video. I too love the legacy characters like Shivers. In fact, I'm surprised you didn't mention the hidden cameo by one of my absolute favourites - Friendly - in the Styrian casino...
Potentially unpopular opinion: I wanted Leo to die on that gallows Like, I wanted him to win the rebellion because I want nothing but bad things for Bayaz and his team. But, after he lost, I was /so/ ready to be done with Leo. I despise him utterly (as a person; he's a great character, of course) and I can't see what narrative point there is to him now, except maybe showing us what Glokta might have become if he wasn't tempered by his crippling. Also, I really just want Orso and Savine to rule as co-monarchs. I know it would be awkward because of their past but I don't see why you can't have a brother-sister team, rather than giving power to whomever Orso marries, if he marries.
Almost a year late to this party it's fun reading the comments, and finding i feel the same way about a lot of things in this book Orso best character yup Leo becoming Glokta 2.0 yup Clover being great yup The scene with Orso and Jappo was pure joy Joe really is one of the best authors around Starting the Wisdom of Crowds tonight and i can't wait
The Dogman's dead. As Dow would say for a lifelong frenemy... "I'm less, now that he's gone, and so are all o' you." Also, only Joe can make my eyes moist with a single PoV of somebody as hated as Terez. I was satisfyingly glad about her Reunion with Shallere.
It will be interesting in the third book to see how Bayaz responds to the revolution. Will he just step away and leave the antagonists to sort it out only to return in 150 years when the world has moved into being a modern economy?
Tinfoil theory of mine, but I think the kind executioner from Leo's hanging could be Logen. Unlikely, but his small gentle gestures have me sorta convinced.
That is so weird, I just finished the book and thought "the executioner" has to be someone...then. lightning. It's Logan, he sees himself as an executioner...I SO hope that's true
I was kinda surprised that Jezal's death had zero emotional impact in this book. He and Orso seemed pretty close so you'd think Orso would be in mourning or something but nope he barely thinks about it. It's especially jarring when you see how much Rikke mourns Dogman's death
@@archlectoryarvi2873 I believe it's just over a year. Certainly there's a passage where Rikke mentions it's been about 1.5 years since she was fumbling about with Leo in Uffrith.
It can't be long between books because Savine conceives the child in the last one and isn't really showing it in the beginning of this. My estimation would be 3-5 month And yes I was also wondering about Orso. But everyones grief is different and running a kingdom seems to me a pretty good way to keep yourself occupied
In A little Hatred Logen is mentioned in a broad chapter. “He had a star shaped scar on his face and a notch out of his ear” broad has an encounter with this man and they almost fight
Good review mike. Though for me it makes a lot of sense if that was the last we see of Glokta, because of the way wthe trial of Wetterland ended in such a disaster. I first thought it was kind of a plothole, something like that would never slip past Glokta and they way Wetterland acutally appeared the way he did in court (I mean the guy was sitting in a cell in the House of Questions). I just think after 30 years always with the breath of Bayaz in your neck and most of his lifetime now in constant pain, they guy is just finished. In the end, that is true to me for a lot of the old characters. The dogman was also finished, he said it himself. After all, you have to be realistic about these things.
