Welcome to the Escape Velocity Collection!
We are an opinionated group of friends reviewing all sorts of fantasy and science fiction media. Don’t forget to get to know the curators and visit our curated Collection, where we discuss the stories that never cease to transport us to another world.
Will you escape with us?
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- Book written by Joe Abercrombie
- Published 15 March 2007
- Part two in the First Law Trilogy
Bayaz, first of the magi, gathers a party of misfits around him for a quest to the end of the world. Among them are Logen, the barbarian looking for a better version of himself, Ferro mal Jin, the woman looking for revenge on an empire, and Jezal dan Luthar, the nobleman not looking for anything at all. In the meantime, Inquisitor Glokta is sent to an outlying Union colony to solve the murder of his predecessor, and Colonel Collem West is sent to the North, Logen’s homeland, to defend the civilised world from the unholy alliance of northmen, sorcery and Shanka that threatens to engulf the northern reaches of the Union. How they’re all connected remains to be seen…
Listened to the audiobook with Steven Pacey (whom I liked a lot).
I really felt like the first part of the trilogy was a prelude, so I am glad the story took off in the second instalment. The prose remains great and scene for scene, the book is a page turner, but as with the previous part, the plot progresses slowly once you take a step back.
I liked that Abercrombie had us spend a lot of time with Logen’s former crew in the North, which I think are some of the best characters from the series. I am also glad that Abercrombie manages to make the distant-past worldbuilding that will be necessary to understand where the overarching plot is going enjoyable, though I do have to admit that the worldbuilding itself is not mind-blowing.
Overall, a good read which sets up a lot of pegs for the final installment to knock down. You can read my review of The Last Argument of Kings to see whether I thought the conclusion to the plot was as satisfying as Abercrombie’s prose was in the first two parts.
Tagged:
- Book written by Joe Abercrombie
- Published 20 March 2008
- Part one in the First Law Trilogy
A cast of diverse characters, each broken and twisted in his or her own way, struggle to find meaning in a world where everything seems bigger than they can handle. Follow the stories of, among others, Logen Ninefingers, a grizzled champion from the barbarian north, Inquisitor Sand dan Glokta, a former war hero and current torturer, and captain Jezal dan Luthar, a fencing duelist with more skill than sense – all the while Bayaz, the First of the Magi, a quick-to-anger wizard, seems to have an agenda of his own…
Listened to the audiobook with Steven Pacey (whom I liked a lot).
An interesting read that features a lot of really dark characters that will, depending on your likes and dislikes, straddle the divide between too-edgy for their own good and refreshingly grim, but realistic. Personally, I found the characters well-written though I could not bring myself to like them, despite Abercrombie clearly trying.
The book has some of the most enjoyable prose I’ve encountered in a long time in a fantasy book, and it has an absolutely terrific balance between humour and serious storytelling.
Somewhat disappointingly, however, you cannot read this as a standalone book – this is the first book in a trilogy, and it shows. If you want to read this, plan on having to read the entire story for any of the story lines and character arcs to progress out of their initial stages. This book is a set up – and does well in that role – but requires further storytelling to bring home the rewards.
Initially I was a bit frustrated with Abercrombie for leaving so many endings open, and it took me a while before I caved and listened to the other two instalments; having now finished the trilogy, I can say that it is well worth the read.
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Welcome to the Escape Velocity Collection!
We are an opinionated group of friends reviewing all sorts of fantasy and science fiction media. Don’t forget to get to know the curators and visit our curated Collection, where we discuss the stories that never cease to transport us to another world.
Will you escape with us?
Review: Mammoths at the Gates – Nghi Vo
Chih is a cleric from the Singing Hills monastery, travelling the world gathering stories. When at long last they return home to Singing Hills to enter their stories into the archives, they find the monastery in a curious crisis: mammoths have come down from the north, the empty halls echo as the divine and most of the clerics are off on a mission, and the neixin aviary is in uproar over the grief of one of their number.
Review: Into the Riverlands – Nghi Vo
Chih is a cleric from the Singing Hills monastery, travelling the world gathering stories. When they cross the Riverlands, their travelling companions tell them stories of legendary bandits and martial arts masters, while philosophising on the origin of those stories and what the stories say about the people that tell them. But as they tell tales of bandits, they better look over their shoulders on the road…
Review: When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain – Nghi Vo
Chih is a cleric from the Singing Hills monastery, travelling the world gathering stories. When a pack of tigers threatens to eat them while they are on their way to a mammoth waystation, Chih offers to tell the tigers the tale of the scholar Dieu and her tiger wife Ho Thi Thao instead. Whether the tigers like Chih’s version of the tale remains to be seen.
Review: Mortal Engines – Christian Rivers
Tom Natsworthy is an apprentice historian in the traction city of London – a mobile metropolis chasing other traction settlements across the hunting grounds to devour their resources and enslave their people. Tom’s life is turned upside down when he meets heroic explorer and head historian Thaddeus Valentine – and witnesses a failed attempt to assassinate him.
Review: The Empress of Salt and Fortune – Nghi Vo
Chih is a cleric from the Singing Hills monastery, travelling the world gathering stories. When they arrive at the abandoned palace of Thriving Fortune, they meet the old woman Rabbit, a former handmaiden of the empress In-yo, the Northern princess that became the Empress of Salt and Fortune. Rabbit narrates to Chih the story of In-yo’s rise to power at court.
Review: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries – Heather Fawcett
Emily Wilde is a Dryadologist, a scholar specialising in the world of the fae. When she arrives in the Scandinavian village of Hrafnsvik to research the local faery population, she doesn’t intend to befriend the human townsfolk. She is also less than happy to discover that her dashing colleague, Wendell Bambleby, has followed her to the North. Before long, Emily finds herself closer than ever to the world she’s spent her whole life studying, and she finds out just how important friendship can be.
