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?
November 2021 Update – Peter
Peter’s monthly update for November 2021!
Review: Altered Carbon – Richard Morgan
In a future in which your consciousness can be downloaded into a machine in your neck Takeshi Kovacs wakes up in prison on Earth, far away from home on Harlan’s World, sleeved in a new body, to solve the murder of a man rich enough to have survived his own death.
Review: Quest – Indie Boards & Cards
Reviewed by: Card game designed by Don Eskridge Artwork by Luis Francisco & Weberson Santiago Published by Indie Boards & Cards Released in 2021 4-10 players Playing time: 30 minutes Quest is a social deduction card game set at the court of King Arthur. Players are divided into two teams: the loyal servants of Arthur and the evil minions of his foe Mordred. The good guys try to get three victorious ‘quests’ to win the game, and the bad guys try to prevent that. A quest is successful when all participating players play a ‘success’ card. When there is at least one ‘fail’-card, the quest fails. Players constantly try convince, bluff and deceit the others that they are, truly, of good will. Key – ★★★½ Quest is a spiritual successor of the games The Resistance and Avalon from creator Don Eskridge. The Resistance and Avalon are essentially the same game with a different flavor – Resistance is vaguely cyberpunkish in theme while Avalon is Arthurian legend – and a few tweaks. Quest improves (slightly) upon its forebears, but in its core it is very much the same game. I had played The Resistance before and remembered it as a fun, simple social deduction game. It was a bit slow, because every round players had to vote on the team that would play the success/fail cards. Quest runs a bit more smoothly, because the round leader decides on the teams without voting. I think it is a good adjustment for the flow of the game, although I did like the team-voting as something original and extra tactical. Some other changes in comparison to the earlier games: you can play with minimum 4 instead of 5 players (yay!); with a magic token the round leader can force a character to play a success card, although Morgana herself (one player) can ignore the token (nice double twist potential); the round leader chooses the next leader instead of passing it on clockwise (yay!); players can only be round leader once; and finally: the Final Quest. If the Evil team manages to win 3 quests before the Good team does, the Good team has a chance to name all Evil characters and still win the game. It is a crazy, all-or-nothing rule that I normally don’t endorse, but in this game it works brilliantly. Tensions rise, everyone tries one last time to present their theory and the fate of the world, the game and – perhaps most of all – your friendship hangs in the balance. I liked the game. It is basic, but it works. It does not need much more. It is no magical sword in a mysterious stone. But it is good. See also: Tagged:
Review: Fantasy High – Dimension 20
In this D&D web series, we follow a group of kids during their first year at Agueforth Adventuring Academy, a high school where kids learn to be classic D&D adventurers. The so called “bad kids” meet each other in detention, and form an adventuring party that faces monsters and, occasionally, classmates.
Recommendation: Winter-themed Book Tag
Looking for books to get you through the winter? See what our curator Robin recommends!
Review: Artemis – Andy Weir
Jazz Bashara lives in Artemis, earth’s first colony on the moon. She is also poor, a petty criminal and a deep disappointment to her father. When the chance at a really large stack of money comes by, she can’t pass up – but gets entangled in a game with the future of Artemis itself at stake.
