THE BLADE ITSELF by Joe Abercrombie

Narrated by Stephen Pacey

* Incites to deeds of violence

Continuing my foray into contemporary fantasy I found this book to have nearly the same feel as that of The Riyria Revelations by Michael J. Sullivan. This is not the High Fantasy of Tolkien populated with noble races of Men and Elves, filled with grandiloquent speech or even, a quest to save the world, but a modern take on a low-tech world populated by mercenary soldiers, noble dolts and snappy dialog. To me that is the hallmark of contemporary fantasy. I must say that I liked Inquisitor Glokta best of all the characters. The unspoken dialog that runs in his head just before he speaks is quite cynical and so well suited to his character that he becomes likeable despite his loathsome appearance and deplorable torture tactics as described in the novel.  This book has other fine characters. Another is that of Logan, the Bloody Nine, a barbarian from the north: brutal in combat, but subtle in the art of leadership. As a first book, this one does everything right: Characters get introduced. We get to know the main political players. And it manages to do it all in an entertaining fashion. I don’t expect the series to plumb the depths of the human psyche, but even that potential is there.

Stephen Pacey is fantastic in this book. He is, perhaps, why I found The Blade Itself to be so entertaining. He takes the characters Abercrombie has given him and assigns them with voices so suitable that it makes you wonder if the characters were written with his range in mind.

The above was written after my first listen to this book. I have now listened to it two additional times along with the First Law World books—Best Served Cold, The Heroes, and Red Country Joe—two more times each as well. I only listen to a book twice when I enjoyed the first experience immensely and know that a repeat performance will help enhance my enjoyment. I can unequivocally state that Joe Abercrombie is a top shelf storyteller and that Stephen Pacey is in the first rank of narrators. These audiobooks I now consider to be among my absolute favorites.