From the First Law wiki
This book is, in my humble opinion, a great companion piece to the second novel in the Song of Ice and Fire trilogy A Clash of Kings. There's sieges, intrigue, questing and politics, and it all comes together in a fantastic climax both disheartening and mysterious! Mild spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn't read The Blade Itself but I will attempt to keep it as spoiler free as possible.
Our story here picks up only shortly after the events of the first book. Led by Bayaz our heroes Logen, Ferro and Jezal all head for the edge of the Circle of the World to find a mysterious item to defeat the Prophet Khalul and his army of Eaters. Collem West marches with the Union Army to Angland to fight the invading armies of Bethod King of the Northmen, while the Dogman and his companions march south to link up with the Union, as the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Further south, Glokta travels to the city of Dagoska where the Gurkish Emperor, a servant of the Prophet, has set his sites on the southern most outpost of the Union, here he must hold the city or die trying, all while uncovering a conspiracy which very well may cost him his life!
The meat of this story is both the war in the North and Dagoska, and the quest undertaken at Bayaz's insistence in the west. It takes some of the standard tropes of fantasy and turns them well on their head. The most satisfactory story to me was that of Glokta in Dagoska, as his character remains my favorite in the series. The intrigues inside the besieged city and all the desperation of siege warfare with the need for provisions, repairing the defences and keeping the enemy out are well done. I thought the conclusion was a great surprise as well, and even on my second read through I was thrilled to discover that while I had missed some things on the first read through, I managed to find some great surprises in round two!
Meanwhile West and Dogman in the North follow the usual war story. There's great battles, running from the enemy, and even a bit of special forces style attacks on enemy scouts. The interaction with West, a Northerner turned Union man, and Dogman, a Northerner through and through, are always good for a laugh as you see their worldviews clashing so well. The action is just as visceral and intense as Abercrombie can deliver, and he manages the flow of large battles and small man on man action well. I never found myself confused as to what was going on nor did I feel like I had missed something in the text. It remains that Abercrombie writes some of the best action scenes in fiction.
The quest which transports our other three characters across the Old Empire to the edge of the world fills in the time between these two stories. It's a masterful example of a well done travelogue across a diverse landscape richly filled with danger and history, and studies in hardship and friendship between characters. Logen tries his best to befriend his companions and Luthar goes from a sniveling, self-centered coward to a fighter and someone who keeps trying to be a better person, though he backslides from time to time. Ferro tries to learn trust, and she tries really hard.
What I enjoyed on this read-through was that much of the greater lore of the world was expounded upon in great detail. The creation of magic, where all the fighting between Khalul and Bayaz originated, and the greater history of the world. On this re-read I was impressed on how much I had missed in the first read through which showed off Bayaz's long term plans and foreshadowed the events of the third book! Abercrombie really knows how to plot in advance.
Like I said above, this one pairs really nicely with A Clash of Kings and it has similar themes in politics and sieges which I just love to read about. The story is a wonderful sequel to the first and sets up the intrigues and epics of the conclusion of this trilogy! Join me next time when we dive into The Last Argument of Kings in a few months!
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