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A review by river24
Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
4/5
One should learn the lessons of history. The mistakes of the past need only be made once.
The action really kicks off in this book. Abercrombie proves his immense skill in every fight scene, from the moment-by-moment desperation of survival to the large and swarming mess of battle. I adored how much more we got in this, I loved getting to see so much of the world!
Glokta's chapters in Dagoska often proved to be my favourites, I adored all the political machinations that constantly seemed to engulf him. He's resourceful, I'll give him that! And he's an absolute delight to read about, despite (and often because of) all his moral failings. I did like that his morality was further nuanced in this book.
All the chapters in Angland were incredible as well, I loved following the Named Men and West's intriguing narrative. The Named Men (surprisingly, given who they are and all the blood on their hands) add a lot of heart to the story because of the long roots of their camaraderie. And something about a cold, snowy setting always makes me adore the story, I don't know why I have this bias, but it holds true!
Our chaotic band traveling to the edge of the world could not be any stranger if they tried, but I loved every single one of their chapters too. (There's not a single chapter that I don't enjoy in these books!) I've always adored Logen, Jezal's arc this story was incredible and (even though it's shocking to everyone) I really enjoy him as a character now, Ferro had a little more depth added to her character, and Bayaz and Quai were as mysterious and untrustworthy as we'd expect. I really loved the odd friendships formed. (Note the word friendship!)
Every man who's worth a damn feels fear. It's the use you make of it that counts.
So why isn't this higher rated? I really enjoyed almost every moment of it. That's the word, almost.
I hate the way Abercrombie writes women. I know he's admitted this himself and I've heard that he gets much better, but I really struggled with it in this book, even more so than in the last book for some reason. I think in this book I despised the sexualisation which was more prevalent, there were just more moments overall that I grimaced at. And the fact that there aren't any complex female characters doesn't help to counteract this. He doesn't write Ferro with the same intricacies as he does the other male main characters and it's a shame, because she seems like she could be fascinating.
As I said, I still really enjoyed this book overall, but I think this is important to bring up and acknowledge so that others know this before going in. I am very excited to continue my First Law journey though!
We should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged.
I read this with Abby's First Law World book club on Fable and it was so much fun getting to discuss it with everyone!
One should learn the lessons of history. The mistakes of the past need only be made once.
The action really kicks off in this book. Abercrombie proves his immense skill in every fight scene, from the moment-by-moment desperation of survival to the large and swarming mess of battle. I adored how much more we got in this, I loved getting to see so much of the world!
Glokta's chapters in Dagoska often proved to be my favourites, I adored all the political machinations that constantly seemed to engulf him. He's resourceful, I'll give him that! And he's an absolute delight to read about, despite (and often because of) all his moral failings. I did like that his morality was further nuanced in this book.
All the chapters in Angland were incredible as well, I loved following the Named Men and West's intriguing narrative. The Named Men (surprisingly, given who they are and all the blood on their hands) add a lot of heart to the story because of the long roots of their camaraderie. And something about a cold, snowy setting always makes me adore the story, I don't know why I have this bias, but it holds true!
Our chaotic band traveling to the edge of the world could not be any stranger if they tried, but I loved every single one of their chapters too. (There's not a single chapter that I don't enjoy in these books!) I've always adored Logen, Jezal's arc this story was incredible and (even though it's shocking to everyone) I really enjoy him as a character now, Ferro had a little more depth added to her character, and Bayaz and Quai were as mysterious and untrustworthy as we'd expect. I really loved the odd friendships formed. (Note the word friendship!)
Every man who's worth a damn feels fear. It's the use you make of it that counts.
So why isn't this higher rated? I really enjoyed almost every moment of it. That's the word, almost.
I hate the way Abercrombie writes women. I know he's admitted this himself and I've heard that he gets much better, but I really struggled with it in this book, even more so than in the last book for some reason. I think in this book I despised the sexualisation which was more prevalent, there were just more moments overall that I grimaced at. And the fact that there aren't any complex female characters doesn't help to counteract this. He doesn't write Ferro with the same intricacies as he does the other male main characters and it's a shame, because she seems like she could be fascinating.
As I said, I still really enjoyed this book overall, but I think this is important to bring up and acknowledge so that others know this before going in. I am very excited to continue my First Law journey though!
We should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged.
I read this with Abby's First Law World book club on Fable and it was so much fun getting to discuss it with everyone!