This was my first book from Joe Abercrombie and has been on my TBR pile for quite some time. Definitely a shame since this was a beautifully told story and I can’t wait to continue through the other books of this world. I gave this book an easy 4/5. You should definitely take the plunge if you are considering it.
**Spoilers Below**
Our main characters are Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, Nobleman Captain Jezal dan Luthar, Inquisitor Glokta, cripple turned torturer, and the wizard, Bayaz. Set forward into an epic fantasy land outfitted with swords, war and great palaces, we get to ride along with each of them as the threads of fate untwine.
Logan has decided he wants to try to be a better man after a lifetime of brutal killing but his past just wont die. In the first few pages we discover he was with a crew of other nortthmen, who had all gone rogue against the self declared King of the North, Bethod. While camped in the countryside, they are attacked by undead creatures named Flatheads. Logan is forced to jump off a cliff face to surviv, falling into an icy river and seperated form his group.
When he wakes in the river and climbs back to the hilltop, it appears his friends were all killed. Alone with his pot, he decides to keep moving on, hunting as he needs to for food. At one junction in the forest, he calls fire spirits for company and they notify him that a magi looking for him is just ahead of him. Here he meets Quia, the First of the Magi’s apprentice and summons him to Bayaz.
Bethod comes to visit them and demand the Magi kneels for him, but he refuses and means to declarer war on the Union. Bayaz leaves his fortress and takes his apprentice and Logen to Aldua, the capitol of the Union. In Aldu, their reception is one of disbelief since he hasnt made an appearance in literal ages of men. The closed council holds a ceremonial extra chair just for him, but no one believes the Magi is who he claims to be.
Gllokta works for the Inquisition office under, under Arch Lector Sult, and is tasked with finding a way to disprove that Bayaz is who he says he is. Unique to Glokta’s POV are italics that outline what he would rather say after he says the proper thing. I did enjoy his part very well as he makes the most of his life with his ruined body and missing teeth.
He delves into the library hoping for some information on the Magi and uncovers the Master Maker tower that has stood empty and sealed up for centuries has a key, and Bayaz, if he is real, should have it.
Meanwhile, Lothar, spends all of his time training to win a famous fencing competition that Aldua puts on every year. He also falls into lust with his friend and army mate, Colleum West. West suspects them and begs Lothar not to see her.
The day of the contest finds Bayaz, Quia, and Logan in the crowd watching. Lothar makes it to the end match but it badly outmatched by a outlands opponent, Georst. He is within his last mark when Bayaz bewitches him and forces out a victory instead. The evening of his celebration, Glokta arrives and notifies Bayaz that he can verify his identity by providing the key to the Maker’s Tower, which he does. He takes Glokta, Lothar, and Logen on a tour of the tower after he opens the base.
More intrigues abound within it’s pages but do keep in mind while this is an amazing read, it is not a happy book. I would call his style a cross between Tolkien and Stephan King. I still recommend it for reading!