Tag: joe abercrombie

Book Review | The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie

Posted July 19, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie

Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he’s on the verge of becoming a dead barbarian – leaving nothing behind him but bad songs, dead friends, and a lot of happy enemies.

Nobleman Captain Jezal dan Luthar, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and dreaming of glory in the fencing circle. But war is brewing, and on the battlefields of the frozen North they fight by altogether bloodier rules.

Inquisitor Glokta, cripple turned torturer, would like nothing better than to see Jezal come home in a box. But then Glokta hates everyone: cutting treason out of the Union one confession at a time leaves little room for friendship. His latest trail of corpses may lead him right to the rotten heart of government, if he can stay alive long enough to follow it.

Enter the wizard, Bayaz. A bald old man with a terrible temper and a pathetic assistant, he could be the First of the Magi, he could be a spectacular fraud, but whatever he is, he’s about to make the lives of Logen, Jezal, and Glokta a whole lot more difficult.

Murderous conspiracies rise to the surface, old scores are ready to be settled, and the line between hero and villain is sharp enough to draw blood.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Audiobook Challenge
2024 Library Love Challenge

The Reason

My online bookclub had a disagreement about the books, with some saying they loved it and some saying they hated it. I had to see what the fuss was about and where I stood on the matter.

I finished these books way back in May and June, and hadn’t gotten around to reviewing them so I decided to review them as a series and not as individual books.

The Quotes

“You have to be realistic about these things.”

There are so many great quotes in this series and I had a whole post about it a couple of months ago. Check it out for more amazing quotes from the books!

The Narrator(s)

Steven Pacey. He is an amazing narrator for these books! I have to admit that he makes me want to reread the books again just to hear his narration. His portrayal of Glokta is particularly good, but he does a great job with all the characters throughout and I’m really curious to try more of his works.

My Thoughts

The Blade Itself
I started this book not really liking any of the main characters, and ended up loving them all! I think it’s brilliant that they are all so flawed and yet so relatable. I also love the “taglines” and repetitive quotes many of the characters use throughout the book. Some people criticise it as being lazy writing, but I feel like it’s actually quite true to real life because we repeat quotes and sayings all the time, and these characters and this world happen to have their own set of quotes and sayings they use all the time. I loved the first book and it left me wanting more.

Before They Are Hanged
I started the second book almost immediately after, and I loved it even more. I especially love the quest that Logen and his team go on, and the way they all bonded through that journey. A lot of second books aren’t the best, but I think this one might be my favorite book in the trilogy. The stakes get higher, and it’s so thrilling to see some of the ways they resolve their issues. Glokta’s story was very exciting too, and he’s easily one of my favorite characters.

Last Argument of Kings
It took a while to get to the final book because I had to wait on some book buddies, but I’ll be upfront and say I’m not completely satisfied with the resolution of the story in this book. I’m happy with most of it, but I have a problem with Logen’s storyline because I didn’t feel it was consistent what we’ve seen of him before. It’s a whole thing and I could get into it, but I won’t for now (unless provoked! 😂) so I’ll just focus on the positives. Overall, I loved the whole trilogy, and if I can find more audiobooks in set in this world narrated by Steven Pacey, I’m definitely going to read more!

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars

Have you read this series? Would you read this series? Did you like the books or do you think you would like them?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Favorite Book Quotes from The First Law Trilogy

Posted May 13, 2024 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 2 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Favorite Book Quotes

What a perfect time to have this topic! I’ve been making my way through The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie and there’s just a whole treasure trove of quotes and catchphrases I love! I’m not sure that I can limit it to only ten, to be honest, but I’ll try!

I’ve only just finished the first two books, but a lot of the catchphrases from the first book make it into the second one, and I hear they continue on to the third, so I’m just including all three books for the sake of the topic.

Top Ten Book Quotes from The First Law Trilogy

  1. “You have to be realistic about these things.”
  2. “Once you’ve got a task to do, it’s better to do it than live with the fear of it.”
  3. “If you say one thing for Logen Ninefingers, and one thing only, say he’s a killer.”
  4. “Broken hearts heal with time, but broken teeth never do.”
  5. “Every man has his excuses, and the more vile the man becomes, the more touching the story has to be.”
  6. “You have to have fear to have courage.”
  7. “Treat a man like a dog and sooner or later he’ll bite you,”
  8. “You carry on. That’s what he’d always done. That’s the task that comes with surviving, whether you deserve to live or not. You remember the dead as best you can. You say some words for them. Then you carry on, and you hope for better.”
  9. “No one cares about the past any more. They don’t see that you can’t have a future without a past.”
  10. “It was a fact, he was only now beginning to realise, that the conversation of the drunk is only interesting to the drunk. A few glasses of wine can be the difference between finding a man a hilarious companion or an insufferable moron.”
  11. “If a man seeks to change the world, he should first understand it.”
  12. “Everything frightens me, and it’s well that it does. Fear is a good friend to the hunted, it’s kept me alive this long. The dead are fearless, and I don’t care to join them.”

Have you read The First Law Trilogy? What did you think of it? Or would you read it?

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Sunday Post | And I Would Walk 500 Miles

Posted May 4, 2024 by Haze in Sunday Post, Weekly Book Memes / 27 Comments

Welcome to the Sunday Post, a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer to share weekly news and updates on what we’ve been up to on our blog, with our books, and book-related happenings. 

And I Would Walk 500 More

Last week was a total contrast with the week before, weather-wise. The weather was so nice two weeks ago and I walked so much outside, but last week it rained/snowed pretty much the whole week and I didn’t go outside at all. I did manage to get some exercise indoors though. I paced while reading, and I set up my computer on my walking desk so I was doing blog stuff while on the treadmill too, which is great!

Except that I got a bit of motion sickness and I had to take a lot of breaks.

I had wanted to post more, write some book reviews, but didn’t feel up to it with the motion sickness. I also had a lot to catch up on with replying comments and visiting blogs, and I’m still catching up, but I think I’m getting better doing longer sessions on the treadmill/computer, and I’m sure it will get easier once I get used to it. It’s a chore setting up the computer, so I can’t just switch it out when I get tired of walking and want to sit. I mean, I can, but it’s a whole lot of work. And I want to get used to this because I think it’s better for my health in the long-term.

It’s getting better already, see! I’m writing this post while at my walking desk!

In other news, husband and I finished watching Formula 1: Drive to Survive, and I finished watching Blown Away. We are now watching Physical: 100 Season 2 together, and I’m continuing with my 911 watch.

I also got caught up on laundry, yayyy, but of course it never really ends. And I took a break on cooking last week and husband cooked instead. He sautéed some salmon belly which was simple, but oh so delicious!

All the happy things:

  1. We had our final check-in for The Count of Monte Cristo readalong and had a wonderful discussion that went almost 3 hours!
  2. I managed to finish The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie in time for the book discussion and we had another great discussion for it, plus, I ended up really loving it and now I’m obsessed and have started reading the next book!
  3. I organized my work space – cleared some old papers, threw away stuff I no longer needed. More to go, but it’s a great start.
  4. The bad weather didn’t get me down because I still managed to walk a lot – indoors, but it still counts! I’m getting into the habit of pacing while I read and walking on the treadmill while working on the computer, and honestly, it doesn’t come naturally and I get tired easily, but I’m looking at the long term benefits.

The Books

Books I read last week:

  1. The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande â€“ I thought it was cool that a whole book was dedicated to the importance of having checklists. For the regular layperson like me, checklists are usually just part of the tools I use for convenience and keeping myself organized, and it has also saved me some stress many times, but in aviation, construction, and medicine, it can be the difference between life and death. I think checklists are worth implementing in any situation you can think of though, and I think the book is definitely worth reading.
  2. Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton â€“ I didn’t expect such a heavy subject matter, but I think it was an important story to tell and I appreciate the author being vulnerable and telling her story. It’s given me a different perspective about the oil sands industry, and about male-dominated industries in general.
  3. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel – This is my in-person bookclub’s BOTM for May, and I’d usually not read the BOTM so early, but I borrowed the book from the library before it was chosen for the BOTM, and I decided to just go ahead and finish it anyway. I might do a quick recap before the book discussion as a refresher.
  4. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie â€“ I just finished this book yesterday and I loved it! It was the highlight of the week! I had such an immersive experience reading it, plus having discussions about it immediately after. I’m still processing, or rather, I’m still half in the world of the book and I’ve already started on the next book, so I feel like I’m still immersed. Totally leaning into it!

Books I’m reading:

  1. Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie â€“ Just started but already excited about reading more!
  2. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou – I’m reading this on audio. It’s only 3 hours and I’m already halfway through. It’s breaking my heart a little.

Last Week on The Blog

This Week

I’m so obsessed with The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie that I might try to finish the second and third books this week. Let’s see if I can do that!

How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books on My Spring 2024 TBR

Posted March 18, 2024 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 42 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Books on my Spring 2024 TBR

Well, it’s time for the Spring 2024 TBR list! I only finished 4/10 of my Winter 2023-2024 TBR list, so if I was a good girl, I would’ve brought them forward to this list. But I’m not a good girl, and the heart wants what the heart wants, when the heart wants it.

Disclaimer: This Spring 2024 TBR list is non-binding and I reserve the right to change my mind and this list at any time.

I would like to finish all of these if I can because at the time of compiling this list, I assure you, I am very excited for all of them, but I am constantly distracted by new and shinier books all the time, so we’ll see how I end up doing!

Top Ten Books on my Spring 2024 TBR

  1. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett – Because I loved the first book and want to continue with any and all sequels!
  2. Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree – Same as above, and even more so because I love it so much!
  3. The Keeper of Hidden Books by Madeline Martin – I’ve read two of the author’s books and loved them. I’m sure I’ll love this one too.
  4. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson – It sounds so intriguing and I must know what everyone is raving about!
  5. The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed – I need this book, it sounds right up my alley. It gives me chills! In a good way.
  6. Shark Heart by Emily Habeck – I’ve been so curious ever since the TTT prompt for things you googled because of a book.
  7. Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman – This would be a reread, but I’ve been wanting to reread the whole series.
  8. Funny Story by Emily Henry – I am very, very, impatiently waiting for this one to be released!
  9. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie – My online book club seems to be having a disagreement about whether this book is good or not, and we are required to choose sides, so I have to read it before making my decision!
  10. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan – A story set in Malaysia, written by a Malaysian author. I must support my countrywoman, and besides, the book sounds really good!

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? What’s on your Spring 2024 TBR?

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