If you like happy endings where the hero gets the girl, or the hobbit returns home to sit by the fire and enjoy the rest of his life, then you need to look elsewhere. Joe Abercrombie is ruthless in the way he resolves his story arc and no character gets through this series unscathed no matter how important. Things go from bad to worse for most of the characters and even those who win big in the end are actually losers. All characters in a Joe Abercrombie world find the cards stacked against them in everything they do, but it is impossible not to be entertained as we witness them doing their best to achieve a positive outcome that will never materialize. This is a 3 book series that wraps itself up nicely despite the fact that Abercrombie has written additional books in this world with some of the same characters.

The series starts with The Blade Itself, which contains 3 main point-of-view characters:



The first is Logen Ninefingers, a Northman known as "The Bloody-Nine." The nickname comes from the wake of corpses he has left in his past as well as the fact that he is missing one of his fingers. Logen has a surprisingly easy going personality for someone with his bloody history and is often surprised by the fact that he is "still alive" whenever he survives yet another life threatening encounter.



Inquisitor Glokta is a bitter, crippled torturer who would like nothing more than to torture whoever it was that invented stairs, which are the bane of his existence. He learned how to torture and break people first hand when he was a prisoner of war and he was the victim of such treatment. He since bears many permanent handicaps including the fact that half his teeth were removed in such a way that his remaining upper and lower teeth never overlap and he cannot chew solid food.



And finally there is Jezal dan Luthar, who is an arrogant, self-centered nobleman with every advantage in life and he takes it all for granted. He is a promising swordsman who really doesn't want to work hard to realize his true potential. His father's wealth has provided him an entry into The Contest, the most prestigious fencing tournament in the Union; however, he seems determined to embarrass his family name and throw all his advantages away through his questionable actions.



What really amazes me is that none of these 3 main characters are all that likeable and their stereotypes are somewhat cliché in the fantasy genre. They have many undesirable traits, they act in unethical ways, and there is really no reason to root for any of them, but I loved them all! Once Bayaz, the First of the Magi, enters into the picture you can tell things are building up to something special. Bayaz acts as a catalyst that turns everyone else's life upside down and he assembles the characters into an incompatible group of personalities for a purpose only he knows. I quickly found myself ready to go on a grand adventure with this unlikely collection of individuals and then all of sudden book 1 was over. If you are looking for a single book experience then I must caution you against The Blade Itself; however, if you want to be entertained and are willing to commit to all 3 books in the series then bust out your antidepressants and dive right in. Reading Joe Abercrombie should come with a warning label: the writing is dark, the female characters are treated pretty poorly, and the world itself is pretty bleak and almost without hope. Yet he is masterful with his characters and I can't wait for each new book in this world to arrive.

Audiobook fans are in for a real treat with this series as Steven Pacey's performance is simply amazing. The way Pacey reads each character makes them feel like old, trusted friends and therefore I am willing to look the other way when they do something I despise. I have listened to a lot of audiobooks and I would rank Steven Pacey as one of my favorite narrators.

The Trilogy consists of The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, and Last Argument of Kings. If you like the trilogy there are 3 additional standalone books in this world: Best Served Cold, The Heroes, and Red Country. The 3 additional books should not be read prior to the trilogy as you need to context and the character backgrounds to truly get the most out of them.