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The Blade Itself

The First Law: Book One

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The Blade Itself

By: Joe Abercrombie
Narrated by: Steven Pacey
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About this listen

Inquisitor Glokta, a crippled and bitter relic of the last war, former fencing champion turned torturer, is trapped in a twisted and broken body - not that he allows it to distract him from his daily routine of torturing smugglers.

Nobleman, dashing officer and would-be fencing champion Captain Jezal dan Luthar is living a life of ease by cheating his friends at cards. Vain and shallow, the biggest blot on his horizon is having to get out of bed in the morning to train with obsessive and boring old men. And Logen Ninefingers, an infamous warrior with a bloody past, is about to wake up with plans to settle a blood feud with Bethod, the new King of the Northmen, once and for all - ideally by running away from it.

But as he's discovering, old habits die hard....especially when Bayaz gets involved. An 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 Glokta, Jezal, and Logen a whole lot more difficult....

©2010 Joe Abercrombie (P)2010 Orion Publishing Group Fantasy Fiction Scary Thought-Provoking Emotionally Gripping Combat Sports

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All stars
Most relevant  

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This book is a good multi character, multi plot book that has great story and character development.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Blade Itself?

Logan saying when threatened. "kill me? I do the killing here!".

Which character – as performed by Steven Pacey – was your favourite?

the Inquisitor Glocter, no idea why but I like the twisted Man a lot.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

A definite adrenaline rush in the last rage filled fight seen.

Any additional comments?

Yes a few, I don't know if this is just me (I live in the UK) But I pronounce (and have heard it spoken as) Grimace as Grimm-iss and grimaced in the past tenses grimm-issed, the narrator pronounces it Grim-aced. like Grimm and then Aced like aced a test. I don't know if this is American English not matching with English English. or me being an uncouth heathen. but this happen over quite a few different words and makes me twitch in annoyance over the course of the audio book.

A slow Burner that end Well

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Fantastic book, brilliant narration. The only downside - I HAVE GOT WAIT TWO WEEKS UNTIL MY NEXT CREDIT!!!

Can't wait for book two!!!

Why Do I Do This???

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I've listened to plenty of audio books I like to rate them but not to do reviews as they are good what I call a time passer while doing automatic things that dont require full concentration but not that good I want to say something... except in this case the value of a book is the story teller...Steven Pacey is a good narrator but Joe Abercrombie has written an excellent story... I've come to the end of this 22 hour book wanting more what's going to happen to Glokta, Logen Ninefingers,First of the Magi, and so many more.. which shows that this book has mind hooks for this reason I'm getting book 2 Before They Are Hanged in the hope this doesnt turn out to be dissapointing as some series.
Thank you Steven Pacey for the attenntion/detail/effort you place in narrating this book.
Thank you Joe Abercrombie for such excellent characters and story line

the value of a book is the story for me it's 5*

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Struggled to get started, but really grew on me. Now off to get the next.

Slow starter

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Pretty good! I didn't think I'm gonna like it based on the genre, but I heard good reviews about it, so I gave it a try and I'm glad I did. :) Both the performance, and the story is excellent work!

Interesting...

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I have listened to a lot of audiobooks on my journeys to work. A lot. At least 3 hours a day, every day, for about three years. I'm now 140+hours into Joe Abercrombie's books. Worryingly, I will in fact run out before he finishes anymore and I am feeling anxious about that on a ridiculous scale. I think I'll just start from the beginning again - why not?! It's been the best 140 hours I've ever spent on anything and re-listening can only enhance the experience. Do it, read it. If they'd had Steven Pacey narrate the Game of Thrones series, I wouldn't have given up after the first two hours.

In it for the long haul!

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This is the benchmark that all others must be measured against, both story and performance are genuinely 5 star reviews.
Glad that it is a trilogy and there are other tales from the pairing of Abercrombie and Lacey.
if you have never read/listened to them, you owe it to yourself to at least see what all the fuss is about.

Superlative , a line in the sand few can cross

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Incredibly well written, a dark gritty story with great characters and a must read for fantasy lovers.

Amazing

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great storyline, characters jumped off the page with larger than life personalities.
The narrator was excellent.

excellent yarn

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if I had the time I would have listened in 1 go! well worth the time :)

Fab listen

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