The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie

[Comrade Gwydion]

Is there actually news about a second trilogy of FL coming or its only some weak rumor??

Well, actually it's quite certain. Joe Abercrombie, the writer, has announced that after the first trilogy he would write three stand-alone books in the same universe and a second trilogy.

At the moment he has finished the first trilogy and two stand alone books, with the third stand-alone coming out in October.

 

[Boneman]

Nothing like putting prerssure on himself, then? I read an excellent blog between Patrick Rothfuss and Terry Brooks, where they talk about the pressure to compete with deadlines, as opposed to being an aspiring writer, just trying to achieve. Wonder what Joe thinks of that? (He very occasionally pops in here...)

 

[Connavar]

Well, actually it's quite certain. Joe Abercrombie, the writer, has announced that after the first trilogy he would write three stand-alone books in the same universe and a second trilogy.

At the moment he has finished the first trilogy and two stand alone books, with the third stand-alone coming out in October.

I finished the last of the trilogy last night and this changes my views of the ending. I knew Logen would have an upcoming book but i thought why did he leave so many characters hanging with out a real end. The Magi war didnt etc

Its not about wanting a second trilogy for me but i want to see more about the characters and the Union,Gurkish etc. Stand alone with other characters in Styria isnt the same.

 

[somnambulist]

Is there actually news about a second trilogy of FL coming or its only some weak rumor??

yes

http://geekus.net/2012/02/21/joe-abercrombie-discusses-his-next-trilogy/

looking forward to Glokta's adopted son in conflict with Jezals true born children

 

[Comrade Gwydion]

Nothing like putting prerssure on himself, then? I read an excellent blog between Patrick Rothfuss and Terry Brooks, where they talk about the pressure to compete with deadlines, as opposed to being an aspiring writer, just trying to achieve. Wonder what Joe thinks of that? (He very occasionally pops in here...)

Well, I don't think he mentioned deadlines, as in, when to finish these books.

I finished the last of the trilogy last night and this changes my views of the ending. I knew Logen would have an upcoming book but i thought why did he leave so many characters hanging with out a real end. The Magi war didnt etc

Its not about wanting a second trilogy for me but i want to see more about the characters and the Union,Gurkish etc. Stand alone with other characters in Styria isnt the same.

Well, actually I think it's a shame Logen is returning. I like the complete unexpected, sudden and merciless downfall of the Bloody Nine. In the stand-alones, rumors of the Bloody Nine being alive play a big role in some scene's, and I would have loved those scene's all the more if they were indeed just rumors, and Logen, sadly, dead.

As for the War of the Magi, don't wory: in every stand alone book you learn more about it. Even if it may have to wait untill the final chapters of the book. Also, the standalones are only stand-alone in name: in reality they have a lot of characters from the earlier novels, especially The Heroes but BSC too.

 

[Connavar]

Well, I don't think he mentioned deadlines, as in, when to finish these books.




Well, actually I think it's a shame Logen is returning. I like the complete unexpected, sudden and merciless downfall of the Bloody Nine. In the stand-alones, rumors of the Bloody Nine being alive play a big role in some scene's, and I would have loved those scene's all the more if they were indeed just rumors, and Logen, sadly, dead.

As for the War of the Magi, don't wory: in every stand alone book you learn more about it. Even if it may have to wait untill the final chapters of the book. Also, the standalones are only stand-alone in name: in reality they have a lot of characters from the earlier novels, especially The Heroes but BSC too.

I dont think its a shame Logen is returning. He grew to me only first after the second book when he came home to North where his friends,enemies reacted to him being alive, how he had to deal with the fame of Bloody-nine.

The end was too much cliffhanger that it annoyed me of all the endings for the characters. It was typical tv season ending cliffhanger type. I rather see something had happened for real to Logen and let it end brutally. Nothing more cliche than jumping from cliff to escape. Glokta,Jezal had much better endings in the book.

Yeah i wasnt really keen to read stand alone set in the same world because they wont be changing anything as FL series did after each to the world. Seeing which character might return of the second characters will be interesting to read. I dont need to be spoiled about that. Knowing War of Magi will be learned little is enough.

 

[viZion]

Nothing more cliche than jumping from cliff to escape.

I think it's a device that works since it's exactly how the first book begins. Things coming full circle, so to speak. I like when books, movies, etc, do that. The Bourne series of movies does it, too.

Like someone said earlier, the stand-alone books continue the major plotline taking place in the background of all of the books. Best Served Cold actually throws quite a major wrench into that background war. Also, they are technically stand-alone but I don't think you can really enjoy them without reading the previous books. I.e. read everything in order by release date. Don't read The Heroes before Best Served Cold or you'll be skipping some major information.

TL;DR: Try them. You'll probably be pleasantly surprised by what you find.

 

[Boneman]

Thought I'd bump this thread, in the hope someone can answer me a small point. It's my pleasure to read a book for the first time without questioning anything at all, just letting it wash over me with the characters and world-building, and the story-telling absorbing my attention.

I'm re-reading The Blade Itself, and getting more out of it than the first time (back in April 2010), because I take it slower, (like savouring an excellent meal, rather than bolting the food down, because it tastes so good) and one thing occurs to me. Glotka and Jezal enter the House of the Maker with Bayaz, and all manner of fantastical happenings occur (most of which prove Bayaz is who he says he is) but there's virtually no mention of this again. The first time in centuries someone's entered!! Sult is dead set on proving Bayaz an imposter, but doesn't call for Glotka to find out what happened immeidately they come out. This is an incredible event, yet it's allowed to pass without further comment. Why?

Many thanks, if anyone actually knows... I'm moving on to Before they are Hanged tomorrow...

 

[Gumboot]

I don't want to read this thread because I've only read the first book, but I just wanted to comment that I've recently discovered these books (half way through the second) and am really, really enjoying them.

Joe Abercrombie paints his characters extremely vividly.

 

[Jonathan C]

Thought I'd bump this thread, in the hope someone can answer me a small point. It's my pleasure to read a book for the first time without questioning anything at all, just letting it wash over me with the characters and world-building, and the story-telling absorbing my attention.

I'm re-reading The Blade Itself, and getting more out of it than the first time (back in April 2010), because I take it slower, (like savouring an excellent meal, rather than bolting the food down, because it tastes so good) and one thing occurs to me. Glotka and Jezal enter the House of the Maker with Bayaz, and all manner of fantastical happenings occur (most of which prove Bayaz is who he says he is) but there's virtually no mention of this again. The first time in centuries someone's entered!! Sult is dead set on proving Bayaz an imposter, but doesn't call for Glotka to find out what happened immeidately they come out. This is an incredible event, yet it's allowed to pass without further comment. Why?

Many thanks, if anyone actually knows... I'm moving on to Before they are Hanged tomorrow...

Sult is the kind of guy who doesn't like to hear bad news. That Bayaz could enter the House of the Maker itself almost proves that he is the real deal, and he doesn't want to hear anything else about it because he is afraid of the answer. Bayaz actually being Bayaz puts a rather large dent in his worldview that he- Sult- is the centre of the universe and can pull the strings of the entire Union.

Besides, its not long after the House of the Maker that Bayaz, Logen, Ferro and Jezal leave the city for parts unknown, while Glokta is reassigned to fight the Gurkish Empire. The problem has temporarily gone away, and if he has any questions about it, he has to wait for Glokta to come back. Wouldn't be surprised if he had a message from a certain bank about his investigations either.

Basically Sult is a short-sighted egotistical coward who doesn't take well to finding out that the game he had been playing for his whole life was rigged against him because a player he didn't believe existed turned out to be holding all the cards. As for why nobody else makes a big deal about it, there weren't too many witnesses that I recall, and I'm sure the Inquisition wouldn't mind making sure they kept their mouths shut about it, assuming anyone believed them (or cared- not many people are that interested in history; they care about career, politics and power). And Glokta himself is in shock about the whole thing, so he might find excuses to keep quiet about it anyway.

 

[Bowler1]

I don't want to read this thread because I've only read the first book, but I just wanted to comment that I've recently discovered these books (half way through the second) and am really, really enjoying them.

Joe Abercrombie paints his characters extremely vividly.

As above for me too. I discovered recommendations for Joe's stuff on here so I invested some of my hard earned £££'s and it was money well spent. Not the deepest plots ever, more adventure and drama really, but with characters that are so realistic he pulls it all off. A good read and I'm just finishing off the last of the series now.

He also does description really well and has a nice sentance structure which keeps us more fussy technical heads happy.

In the end, it's just good fun, in a nice blood and guts way.

 

[biodroid]

He is my favourite author at the moment. His characters have heart even if they are crooked. His descriptions paint a vivid picture in my mind.