Hobbit
March 5th, 2007, 02:07 PM
Before They are Hanged is Joe Abercrombie's second book. Following on from The Blade Itself (official review here (http://www.sffworld.com/brevoff/293.html)) here's my thoughts.
THERE ARE NO SPOILERS IN THIS POST; however comments afterwards may have.
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Joe’s sequel to The Blade Itself is a cracking page-turner. I really enjoyed The Blade Itself, (one of my favourites of last year), but this is better. Before They are Hanged is a broader canvas, a better developed novel, and all the superior for it.
There is a touch of Lord of the Rings here. Rather like the end of The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2 of Joe’s series deals with the breaking up and dispersal of the characters seen in Book 1. Jezal dan Luthar, the caddish swordsman of Book 1, is now on route east with Bayaz, the First of the Magi, to the ancient city of Aulcus. Along with Jezal and Bayaz are Logen Ninefingers, multi-scarred anti-hero of the first book, Brother Longfoot (The Navigator), Malacus Quai, the novice and Ferro, a female warrior (who tended to bring images of Grace Jones to mind whenever I read about her).
At the same time much of the Union army has been sent North to stop the invasion of the Northmen. Bethod (ruler of the cruel and barbaric Northmen) and his army have moved south in force invading the Union country of Angland. Lieutenant West, (now Colonel West), with the rather unwanted hinderance of Prince Ladisla, is left in charge of an army left to defend the homeland and repel attacks expected from Bethod. At the end of Book 1 they were massing for attacks on Angland, which come to fruition in this book.
Inquisitor Glokta van Sand has been sent south to repel attacks from the Gurkish. Sent by Sult, he is given command of the city of Dagoska, to find it split by political treachery, poor management, social unrest and with little to call resources.
So we have a divided cast, spread across a wider canvas. This allows Joe to broaden his landscapes from hot desert lands to freezing alpine forests, from Mediterranean-style cities to barren wasteland. The picture created of Joe’s world is much fuller as a result, and generally improved.
In terms of backplot, some of the mysteries of the Ancients, hinted at in Book 1, are made clearer. Bayaz not only fills in some of the past history but some of his own lifestory too, yet is still enigmatic enough to be intriguing. This leads to the quest of the novel as Bayaz’s group search for an Object of Power, The Seed, whose purpose is rather mysterious until the end, but which will hopefully save the world from oblivion.
So we have here lots of 'good stuff' that fans of Fantasy will like. However, this book is much better than a lot of the other books I’ve read using similar tropes. Where Joe does score is in his characterisation and dialogue. This really worked for me. Snappy one-liners, coarse sarcastic quips, words that bond friendships in the most unlikely of situations – the dialogue works. In terms of characterisation, we see a development of the characters created in Book 1. What was a real strength here was that where I thought that in places Book 1 was a little predictable in terms of its use of archetypes – the wizard, the hero, the antihero, the cad, and so on - what Joe has managed to do here is subvert those into something better. What I was very pleased to find was that what I rather expected would happen, doesn’t - in lots of exciting ways, to such a point that when at the end certain key events ensue in a way that turns events on their head. The book is a lot more exciting as a result.
Joe has managed to do here is create characters that may not always be likeable, but you do care about. Glokta is still an excellent character, but other characters also develop nicely. In particular for me, Logen and West, and perhaps most of all Jezal develop into characters a little more than I was expecting. It was good to see The Bloody Nine reappear, whereas Ardee (Jezal’s love of Book 1) much less so. Like George RR Martin, Joe is not afraid to allow his characters to make mistakes, do the wrong thing and live with the consequences.
Joe also manages to juggle lots of plotlines simultaneously in a way much more experienced writers sometimes fail to do well. Big battles, torture, sieges, magic (of various types), political machinations, deserted cities, quests for objects of power – all are here. It can be difficult to keep all of that going, and manage a satisfactory ending, yet Joe manages it. The ending is much stronger than the first, and really makes me want to read the third book (provisionally titled the Last Argument of Kings.)
What amazed me when finishing this was that this is only Joe’s second book. In that context this is an incredible achievement. Fast paced, exciting, a good page-turner. Recommended.
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Hobbit
THERE ARE NO SPOILERS IN THIS POST; however comments afterwards may have.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe’s sequel to The Blade Itself is a cracking page-turner. I really enjoyed The Blade Itself, (one of my favourites of last year), but this is better. Before They are Hanged is a broader canvas, a better developed novel, and all the superior for it.
There is a touch of Lord of the Rings here. Rather like the end of The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2 of Joe’s series deals with the breaking up and dispersal of the characters seen in Book 1. Jezal dan Luthar, the caddish swordsman of Book 1, is now on route east with Bayaz, the First of the Magi, to the ancient city of Aulcus. Along with Jezal and Bayaz are Logen Ninefingers, multi-scarred anti-hero of the first book, Brother Longfoot (The Navigator), Malacus Quai, the novice and Ferro, a female warrior (who tended to bring images of Grace Jones to mind whenever I read about her).
At the same time much of the Union army has been sent North to stop the invasion of the Northmen. Bethod (ruler of the cruel and barbaric Northmen) and his army have moved south in force invading the Union country of Angland. Lieutenant West, (now Colonel West), with the rather unwanted hinderance of Prince Ladisla, is left in charge of an army left to defend the homeland and repel attacks expected from Bethod. At the end of Book 1 they were massing for attacks on Angland, which come to fruition in this book.
Inquisitor Glokta van Sand has been sent south to repel attacks from the Gurkish. Sent by Sult, he is given command of the city of Dagoska, to find it split by political treachery, poor management, social unrest and with little to call resources.
So we have a divided cast, spread across a wider canvas. This allows Joe to broaden his landscapes from hot desert lands to freezing alpine forests, from Mediterranean-style cities to barren wasteland. The picture created of Joe’s world is much fuller as a result, and generally improved.
In terms of backplot, some of the mysteries of the Ancients, hinted at in Book 1, are made clearer. Bayaz not only fills in some of the past history but some of his own lifestory too, yet is still enigmatic enough to be intriguing. This leads to the quest of the novel as Bayaz’s group search for an Object of Power, The Seed, whose purpose is rather mysterious until the end, but which will hopefully save the world from oblivion.
So we have here lots of 'good stuff' that fans of Fantasy will like. However, this book is much better than a lot of the other books I’ve read using similar tropes. Where Joe does score is in his characterisation and dialogue. This really worked for me. Snappy one-liners, coarse sarcastic quips, words that bond friendships in the most unlikely of situations – the dialogue works. In terms of characterisation, we see a development of the characters created in Book 1. What was a real strength here was that where I thought that in places Book 1 was a little predictable in terms of its use of archetypes – the wizard, the hero, the antihero, the cad, and so on - what Joe has managed to do here is subvert those into something better. What I was very pleased to find was that what I rather expected would happen, doesn’t - in lots of exciting ways, to such a point that when at the end certain key events ensue in a way that turns events on their head. The book is a lot more exciting as a result.
Joe has managed to do here is create characters that may not always be likeable, but you do care about. Glokta is still an excellent character, but other characters also develop nicely. In particular for me, Logen and West, and perhaps most of all Jezal develop into characters a little more than I was expecting. It was good to see The Bloody Nine reappear, whereas Ardee (Jezal’s love of Book 1) much less so. Like George RR Martin, Joe is not afraid to allow his characters to make mistakes, do the wrong thing and live with the consequences.
Joe also manages to juggle lots of plotlines simultaneously in a way much more experienced writers sometimes fail to do well. Big battles, torture, sieges, magic (of various types), political machinations, deserted cities, quests for objects of power – all are here. It can be difficult to keep all of that going, and manage a satisfactory ending, yet Joe manages it. The ending is much stronger than the first, and really makes me want to read the third book (provisionally titled the Last Argument of Kings.)
What amazed me when finishing this was that this is only Joe’s second book. In that context this is an incredible achievement. Fast paced, exciting, a good page-turner. Recommended.
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Hobbit