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: Blade Runner 2049 – Denis Villeneuve
In 2049, androids have replaced humans as blade runners – androids are now hunting their own kind. When K is sent to retire a particular android, a peculiar find under the roots of dead tree sets him on the trail of something equally impossible and dangerous: an android that was born. Over the course of his investigation, he finds out about his own origins as well.
Review: Blade Runner – Ridley Scott
Rick Deckard is a blade runner, a bounty hunter tasked with seeking out – and taking out – rogue androids who have infiltrated society. When he is faced with a particularly dangerous group of the newest models, his conscience starts troubling him when he begins having difficulty telling them apart from humans.
Review: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep – Philip K. Dick
In a radioactive dust-covered, post-apocalyptic LA, Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter, charged with ‘retiring’ a series of androids, fake humans who are hiding in plain sight in society and who can only be found by testing them for their lack of innate empathy response. Deckard dreams of using the bounty money to replace his fake electric sheep with a real animal so he can demonstrate his own empathy to his neighbours. But these androids are of a new type – and Deckard must carefully control his own feelings toward these non-humans.
Review: Total Recall – Paul Verhoeven
Based (rather loosely) on Philip K. Dick’s 1966 short story We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, Verhoeven’s 1990 cult classic is a weird amalgamation of senseless violence, aged effects, mediocre acting and a thought-provoking concept.
Review: We Can Remember It For You Wholesale – Philip K. Dick
This 1966 short story is the basis for not one but two films named ‘Total Recall’. It tells the story of Douglas Quail, an office clerk who dreams of an exciting life as a secret agent, and of traveling the stars to visit Mars. Because he knows he can never afford such a trip, he instead visits a clinic to have a memory of the journey implanted. That procedure, however, runs into some unexpected complications…
Review: Minority Report – Steven Spielberg
This Spielberg film is loosely based on ‘The Minority report’, a 1956 short story by Philip K. Dick. It takes the story’s premise of a police agency that prevents crimes on the basis of predictions of the future, and a police chief whose life is turned upside down when it is predicted he will commit a murder himself. Hollywood adds Tom Cruise, an innovative near-future cyberpunk visual style, action-packed chase scenes, and a twisting plot.
