And so The Bloody Nine rages on... I am reading Abercrombie’s wonderful trilogy with quite broad gaps of time in between each book, but as soon as I picked up the second book in the trilogy, Before They Are Hanged, the addictive tales of Ninefingers, Glokta, West and all the others came flooding back to me in pleasant cascade.
It is hard to write a review of this book without giving away any plot points to those who haven’t yet read The Blade Itself, so a different approach shall be adopted: asking the simple questions of whether this is a successful continuation of the trilogy and whether it improves upon the first book.
I feel that this novel succeeds in both respects. Firstly, the battles here are larger, more frequent and often grimmer than any we witnessed in the first book. Secondly, for the first time we feel like we’re on a real quest and the plot is actually heading in some tangible direction, as we follow Bayaz’s band of lovable misfits (even if this sense of purpose is snuffed out violently by the ending and we’re left back at square one).
Each of the three main plot threads – Bayaz’s group, West’s plight in the North and Glotka’s mission to defend the city of Dagoska – (and the continual and skillful switching of point of view to various different characters within) I found all very compelling; to the point where I couldn’t decide which story I most wanted to jump back to at the close of each chapter.
The most powerful quality of Abercrombie’s writing is certainly his characterisation; from the Dogman to Jezal, there are a host of characters here that you can’t help but become strongly attached to as you watch them grow into better people and often stronger warriors.
Whilst I found The Blade Itself to be a little lacking in parts, this is a much stronger step forward for this trilogy. Based on how this book wraps up and how little is accomplished here when all is said and done, it looks like Abercrombie is saving pretty much everything for the final stretch (Last Argument of Kings). Rather than this book serving us key plot progression, as it seems to me most second books in a trilogy provide (you’re past introductions and not quite ready for the final sprint, so all the effort is put into taking those necessary steps towards the endgame), this is rather progressive only in the sense of characterisation – but it’s so good that this isn't a bad thing at all.
8/10
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