The Blade Itself

Incredible on all fronts. The story is captivating and magical yet unadulteratedly honest. The narrator is the best there is.

This is by far the best fantacy series ever writen. I absolutly love this series. Yes this book is mostly setting up future books, but for someone who has been in the military and seen the ugly side of a corrupt empire and returned home to find that people are mostly vapid and self-aggrandizing, without having any inkling of the atrocities that are being done in their names, these characters are relatable and incredibly interesting. I can't recommend this series enough. And I really love the narration too.

Wow, it started off so slow and boring and then it got so damn good. I can’t stop listening. Every character is brilliant, the narrator is top notch. Way to go. Def buying book 2

A true masterpiece, I think it's the best Fantasy epic in many years.The narration is top notch, the storyline is immense, and the characters were brilliant, if you enjoy Fantasy, this is an absolute must.

It took a bit to get into it however isn’t that the way it should be? A gradual build of characters and personalities that keeps the end goal just out of grasp! I loved it and have to finish the series! Excellent Narration!

wonderful! Great job building characters. The narrator is one of the most talented I have heard. I'm looking forward to the next book!

greatttttttt

great series

Can't say enough about this series. So far, definitely a contender for favorite fantasy series of all time. Abercrombie really has a way of making unique characters and putting the reader in their heads. The world feels real and lived in like few others without the need for excessive exposition and the story has a natural, gritty flow, like ASOIAF, but without the gratuitous shock value. Also, Steven Pacey is among the best narrators I've had the pleasure to experience. Really adds depth to every scene.

It is quite a bit slow in the beginning because it’s building everyone up. But these characters are some of the best ones I’ve seen in a while, Nine fingers and glokta are just so awesome. Narrator kills it. Would recommend the entire series.

It was entertaining and I was able to get a good feel for all of the main characters and settings, of which there are many. I’m looking forward to book 2. I’m not sure why people are upset that book one was a bit slower and spent so much time setting up the characters and plot. It’s like complaining about your appetizer because it wasn’t an entree when you’re the one that ordered a 3 course meal.

Amazing fantasy story. I can’t wait to get into the second book. Thank you for writing this!

The whole book is but a preparation for the series. There's little, to almost no plot at all. Mainly an introduction to the characters, places and overall situations, but that's it - nothing is really happening. Or almost nothing. I was disappointed by that. I give this book 3 stars because to me 2 stars is somewhat of a bad book, which this book in not - It's not bad, it just doesn't go anywhere and only prepare you for the rest of the series, or at least I hope so.. I don't know if the rest of the series will be the same - heavy character examination with not much of a plot. The character examination is interesting, but I really wish that in the next books there will be more plot to follow.

Read this book three times already. Downloaded for my commute which is now not long enough. Joe never let’s you down. By far my favourite fantasy writer.

Great books even better listen

Great book that introduces lots of great characters. Definitely felt like it could have been part one of book one. Nothing wrong with setting up a storyline and arc but maybe not for the whole book. Needed more of a pay off at the end.

AMAZING characters.....loved it!

What a disappointment!! The narrator and the voices he chooses are terrible! I couldn’t get past the first hour.

My favorite series hands down! The narrator brings these masterfully written characters to life. I love it so much I've already started listening to it all over again.

Story is slow going and difficult to keep up with setting and character changes but once you get further into the book it starts getting really interesting.

Very engaging. Some really memorble characters that I still find my self thinking about.

Joe Abercrombie is an amazing writer! He does an outstanding job at making you love characters that are not without flaws. This was a great book, and the narrator does an amazing job with the storytelling.

Outstanding book and narration. The depth and facets of these characters are reminiscent of Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicles.

The narration of this book was superb, it made listening like watching a movie. The 1st book of the First Law series was really good, fantasy at its finest. The characters are despicable, barbaric, but likeable at the same time. Don't try to guess the outcome of anything, you'll get it wrong every time.

This is a great start to an excelent series. Narration is pretty good, he makes the caracters come alive with his multitude of voices. Joe Abercrombie created a special universe in the First law books

I loved the plot and characters but there was no climax or resolution at the end. I guess I have to read the whole trilogy. It just ended in a weird place. Narration was great. I love the different voices he used for the different characters.

Fantastic fantasy series. Joe Abercrombie is my new favorite author. A writing style similar to R.R. Martin that flows better and easier to read.

interesting first book. I listen to many books while I work so I must say that the book and narrator have done a great job at capturing my attention. I am interested in seeing where this book will lead to. there are many characters that have two sides to them plus a good amount of fantasy.