The Blade Itself [52 Books #5]

Love the simple painting of the characters in The Blade Itself. There's not too many, enough to keep the story going, and each is given depth where necessary, and no more. There's some nice sketching by the author to fill in these people and it feels just right. We first meet a warrior losing a fight and barely surviving, then a interrogator, then a infantry leader, then the warrior's companions. And that's all the viewpoint characters, leaving less than a dozen other significants. Abercrombie paints a whole fantasy world with just these few lines, and I'd like to see more of it.

The overall plot, summarized, is so typical it's a joke. Old empire if faced with an uppity neighbor while some ancient evil is lurking in the background. Like Orson Scott Card said in his SF&F guide, it doesn't matter if the story's been used before, it's your writing and it's what you do with it that counts. Abercrombie does good work in this initial novel of this trilogy. The world is there, the cultures are there, the characters rarely bore, and although it takes a while to start cranking, it gets the motor purring by the end.

I've already ordered the sequel, Before They Are Hanged, and unless I'm quite dssapointed I'll be picking up the finale sometime this year.