There's a fat vein of cynicism and dark humour throughout. Perhaps more remarkable, however, is the way Abercrombie sets the scene * EDGE MAGAZINE * The Blade Itself is a page-turner powered by a combination of fast-paced action and juicy doses of cynicism. There is a gritty edge to his world and an awareness of the human cost of violence that is very contemporary * THE TIMES *ĭelightfully twisted and evil * GUARDIAN * It's delicious, the characters sharply drawn and their motivations believable, the clash of cultures (always particularly difficult for an author to pull off) believable as well. I might not end up marrying this book, but I'm certainly infatuated with it right at the moment. Highly recommended - a funny, finely-wrought, terrifically energetic work of high fantasy. Publisher: Orion Publishing Co ISBN: 9780575079793 Number of pages: 544 Weight: 376 g Dimensions: 198 x 132 x 42 mm MEDIA REVIEWS 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 Glotka, Jezal and Logen a whole lot more difficult. But as he's discovering, old habits die really, really hard indeed. Vain, shallow, selfish and self-obsessed, the biggest blot on his horizon is having to get out of bed in the morning to train with obsessive and boring old men.Īnd Logen Ninefingers, an infamous warrior with a bloody past, is about to wake up in a hole in the snow 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. Nobleman, dashing officer and would-be fencing champion Captain Jezal dan Luthar is living a life of ease by cheating his friends at cards. Inquisitor Glokta, a crippled and increasingly bitter relic of the last war, former fencing champion turned torturer extraordinaire, is trapped in a twisted and broken body - not that he allows it to distract him from his daily routine of torturing smugglers.

Abercrombie the blade itself