Yeah, he replied to my tweets and Facebook post about this review. Such a down to earth dude. Whole reason I've bought 4 full series from him (Broken Empire, Red Queens War, Book of the Ancestor, and Impossible Times) without even ever reading anything of his. Authors that are cool with their fans and not snarky to them are like my weakness.
How weird! I'm using this book as a palette cleanser between WOT too. I finished book 6 and was like 'let's read something that's faster paced for a bit'.
Great review, Mike. I totally agree with your impressions of this book. If you like grimdark, I recommend The Black Company series by Glenn Cook. Good stuff.
Thanks for watching. I love hearing the mixed opinions on this one. Folks are too sensitive, IMO. I respect Lawrence for sticking to his guns in a time where everyone is apologizing for everything/anything.
I wanted to love the book but didn't for some reason, I didn't hate it either I just thought it was decent. I also didn't think it was too extreme, Maybe I'm just as broken as Jorge lol.
Great review, Mike. I was wondering if you were going to tackle this one. I too was surprised with how uniform the themes were throughout. Expected a bit of redemption by the end. And in followup to when last we talked- The Blade Itself arrived last week, half way through it. It's as fantastic as you promised. In general I am not huge on grimdark but Abercrombie is so wonderful at characterization that violence and gore don't ever feel shoehorned in for shock value. Great recommendation! Will be relishing this series.
@@mikesbookreviews I really couldn't agree more! I really am surprised with this one. Usually when it comes to the hype books; particularly the grimdark ones, I'm often left feeling like maybe I just haven't adapted to what fantasy seems to have become. But this was a different story entirely; the POVs are tight, the characters interesting, the humor subtle but effective and the violence and grit just a natural extension of the world they inhabit. Thoroughly enjoying the ride and plan to revisit your reviews of the material after I finish as I expect they will take on more meaning once I've got a handle on what's what. What are you reading now that you finished with Lawrence?
@@davistalhone9482 I'm rotating several series while on sabbatical from Wheel of Time. Started book 1's of The Witcher, The Demon Cycle by Peter Brett, and Red Rising by Pierce Brown. Planning to do book 1 of Lightbringer after that before rotating around to the sequels for Broken Empire as well as these. You sound a lot like I was the first time I read Blade Itself. I was like "how have I not heard of this series?!"
@@mikesbookreviews I have heard A LOT of good about The Witcher series as well. You'll have to let me know what you think when you finish that one. I often forget that there are dozens of rich fantasy series out there based on video game franchises- The Witcher, Assassin's Creed, Dragon Age, The Elder Scrolls, Baldur's Gate, Guild Wars and even note Drew Wagar dug up the old Commodore 64 RPG Lords of Midnight and made it into a novel last year.
@@davistalhone9482 Lots of friends read the D&D books, but outside of Witcher I never really had any interest until I discovered that the Witcher games were based on the books, not the other way around. I've only finished the first short story collection (The Last Wish) that establishes the lore and what it is a Witcher actually does. It's much more interesting having seen these characters in the game. I liked it quite a bit.
I know that you have a gilion books to read, but try to read King of Thorns (even if it´s in a year or 2), because it´s really worth it. Jorg improves a lot (he´s still a garbage human being, but... ) and I think you might like the rest of the series even more. Also, the world building improves A LOT.
Found this video through /r/fantasy. I too just finished reading the Broken Empire Trilogy -- Loved it! I think Prince was my least favourite of the three; King, and Emperor do a lot more to make Jorg feel like a realistic person. Like you, I was pleasantly surprised how responsive Lawrence can be on social media. If I could offer some small critique of your video, I think I'd prefer if your points were a little more structured, some light BGM would be nice (check out Kevin MacLeod), and maybe a few visuals sprinkled throughout (stock imagery, old medieval paintings, official art from the book etc.) I'll be checking out your other videos later though -- been looking for a RUclipsr who specializes in Fantasy novels. Keep it up!
Since these just started out as "video diaries" while I was going through Wheel of Time and I'd be able to go back and reference them, I never really planned to make it a normal thing, but I have fun with them so I kept going. If you're looking for the humor, clips, artwork, etc., I'd recommend Daniel Greene's channel. He's the best Fantasy Books channel on RUclips.
@@mikesbookreviews was browsing through your reviews (just finished book 2 and wanted to see what you thought) and didn't find any on the rest of the broken empire, so I concluded you gave up on it. Glad to hear you finished the trilogy. Enjoy your vacations!!!
SUCKS. Imagine adult subjects and grim facts of life but told with the pace and vocabulary of a childrens book. Perhaps that is an achievement? Just BORING or leaving the reader indifferent and not attached. The main character might be evil, mean or at least morally ambiguous but that could (should) be a bonus to make an intriguing story. Sadly Jorg is... boring. And as for the plot, quest, goal? Also boring, no urgency, no real sense of danger and since Jorg doesn’t appeal in any way... WHO CARES if he gets what he wants?? The other characters hardly evoke any emotion or curiosity. On paper there is potential but, also on paper, the story and dialogue is flat and without flavor. Sorry but all the potent ingredients in this stew have been used so much better by other writers. Mentioning The First Law in the same sentence as this sleeping pill is blasphemy and an insult to Mr. Abercrombie.
I can certainly understand the criticisms of it. And, yes, not much compares to First Law. I think Glen Cook's The Black Company is the one I see most listed as similar to Abercrombie.
Yeah I wanted The Nuban to stay through the ending of book three as well, his name explains his entire character.
I absolutely loved the first book, now I just have to read the second book and appreciate it's brilliance!
Well, what did you think?
Mark Lawrence is very active on his facebook page and on the fantasy subreddit. He runs the Self Published Fantasy Blog off as well.
Yeah, he replied to my tweets and Facebook post about this review. Such a down to earth dude. Whole reason I've bought 4 full series from him (Broken Empire, Red Queens War, Book of the Ancestor, and Impossible Times) without even ever reading anything of his. Authors that are cool with their fans and not snarky to them are like my weakness.
I'm surprised more people haven't read this trilogy. It's the filthiest, darkest of grimdark..possibly my favorite series of books of all time.
I couldn't roll with Jorg. I hated him.
@@currangill430 you’re not supposed to like him.
@@GreatOldOne9866 I know. I still didn't like following him though
@@currangill430 I do, but that’s just difference of opinion. Like Mike says, you not liking something doesn’t take away someone’s enthusiasm for it.
@@GreatOldOne9866 I didn't take away anything. Bro what are you saying? Lol. All I said is that I didn't like following Jorg 🤦♂️
The part where jorgs men release the poison into the castle and have the castle explode caught me off guard .
Just sitting here working from home and watching your videos.
About to read king of thorns and watching this to recap the first book. Great content, Mike!
Also wild that you only had under 300 subs at this point… congrats on the success! Well deserved
Indeed😊
How weird! I'm using this book as a palette cleanser between WOT too. I finished book 6 and was like 'let's read something that's faster paced for a bit'.
Book 2 review plz! Don't know why I love this series so much😅
Great review, Mike. I totally agree with your impressions of this book. If you like grimdark, I recommend The Black Company series by Glenn Cook. Good stuff.
Thank you! Man, I have had The Black Company (10 books) on my iPad for awhile. I will certainly get to them eventually.
Thanks for the upload btw, I love seeing peoples opinions on this book!
Thanks for watching. I love hearing the mixed opinions on this one. Folks are too sensitive, IMO. I respect Lawrence for sticking to his guns in a time where everyone is apologizing for everything/anything.
Mike im struggling on this one , im glad you brought up the first person point i feel the same way
Wow, you're going way back. I don't even recall what I said at this point. But yeah, first person POV through a whole book is tough for me.
@@mikesbookreviews anytime im about to start a book i check your channel's review first 😃
I wanted to love the book but didn't for some reason, I didn't hate it either I just thought it was decent. I also didn't think it was too extreme, Maybe I'm just as broken as Jorge lol.
Love this series
this is the book that got me into reading
Great review, Mike. I was wondering if you were going to tackle this one. I too was surprised with how uniform the themes were throughout. Expected a bit of redemption by the end. And in followup to when last we talked- The Blade Itself arrived last week, half way through it. It's as fantastic as you promised. In general I am not huge on grimdark but Abercrombie is so wonderful at characterization that violence and gore don't ever feel shoehorned in for shock value. Great recommendation! Will be relishing this series.
I'm glad you're digging First Law. So dang good. I know I've said it before, but I feel like Rothfuss gets the recognition Abercrombie deserves.
@@mikesbookreviews I really couldn't agree more! I really am surprised with this one. Usually when it comes to the hype books; particularly the grimdark ones, I'm often left feeling like maybe I just haven't adapted to what fantasy seems to have become. But this was a different story entirely; the POVs are tight, the characters interesting, the humor subtle but effective and the violence and grit just a natural extension of the world they inhabit. Thoroughly enjoying the ride and plan to revisit your reviews of the material after I finish as I expect they will take on more meaning once I've got a handle on what's what. What are you reading now that you finished with Lawrence?
@@davistalhone9482 I'm rotating several series while on sabbatical from Wheel of Time. Started book 1's of The Witcher, The Demon Cycle by Peter Brett, and Red Rising by Pierce Brown. Planning to do book 1 of Lightbringer after that before rotating around to the sequels for Broken Empire as well as these. You sound a lot like I was the first time I read Blade Itself. I was like "how have I not heard of this series?!"
@@mikesbookreviews I have heard A LOT of good about The Witcher series as well. You'll have to let me know what you think when you finish that one. I often forget that there are dozens of rich fantasy series out there based on video game franchises- The Witcher, Assassin's Creed, Dragon Age, The Elder Scrolls, Baldur's Gate, Guild Wars and even note Drew Wagar dug up the old Commodore 64 RPG Lords of Midnight and made it into a novel last year.
@@davistalhone9482 Lots of friends read the D&D books, but outside of Witcher I never really had any interest until I discovered that the Witcher games were based on the books, not the other way around. I've only finished the first short story collection (The Last Wish) that establishes the lore and what it is a Witcher actually does. It's much more interesting having seen these characters in the game. I liked it quite a bit.
I know that you have a gilion books to read, but try to read King of Thorns (even if it´s in a year or 2), because it´s really worth it. Jorg improves a lot (he´s still a garbage human being, but... ) and I think you might like the rest of the series even more. Also, the world building improves A LOT.
I have. I’m currently halfway through book 3.
@@mikesbookreviews read GANTZ
You got every name right buddy!
Great book.
Great video😊
I just finished this one and I liked it! But did they even explain why the uncle killed his mom and brother?
Are you going to finish this series anytime soon? Cheers for the reviews!
I crapped out on book 3.
@@mikesbookreviews Nice; I have my personal issues with the series, too; would love to hear your thoughts on book 2, at least :)
Found this video through /r/fantasy.
I too just finished reading the Broken Empire Trilogy -- Loved it! I think Prince was my least favourite of the three; King, and Emperor do a lot more to make Jorg feel like a realistic person. Like you, I was pleasantly surprised how responsive Lawrence can be on social media.
If I could offer some small critique of your video, I think I'd prefer if your points were a little more structured, some light BGM would be nice (check out Kevin MacLeod), and maybe a few visuals sprinkled throughout (stock imagery, old medieval paintings, official art from the book etc.) I'll be checking out your other videos later though -- been looking for a RUclipsr who specializes in Fantasy novels. Keep it up!
Since these just started out as "video diaries" while I was going through Wheel of Time and I'd be able to go back and reference them, I never really planned to make it a normal thing, but I have fun with them so I kept going. If you're looking for the humor, clips, artwork, etc., I'd recommend Daniel Greene's channel. He's the best Fantasy Books channel on RUclips.
@@mikesbookreviews awesme, I'll check him out
Ha! Same for me. When I saw the outraged reviews I sort of understood that this was a book for me.
Did you finish?
Why did you bail out on this series and Mark Lawrence's books in general?
I don’t think I did? I probably won’t read Red Queens War but still planning to read Book of the Ancestor.
@@mikesbookreviews was browsing through your reviews (just finished book 2 and wanted to see what you thought) and didn't find any on the rest of the broken empire, so I concluded you gave up on it. Glad to hear you finished the trilogy. Enjoy your vacations!!!
the book is good, but the protagonist is extremely edge.
Ha ha I cannot disagree
SUCKS.
Imagine adult subjects and grim facts of life but told with the pace and vocabulary of a childrens book. Perhaps that is an achievement?
Just BORING or leaving the reader indifferent and not attached. The main character might be evil, mean or at least morally ambiguous but that could (should) be a bonus to make an intriguing story.
Sadly Jorg is... boring. And as for the plot, quest, goal? Also boring, no urgency, no real sense of danger and since Jorg doesn’t appeal in any way... WHO CARES if he gets what he wants??
The other characters hardly evoke any emotion or curiosity. On paper there is potential but, also on paper, the story and dialogue is flat and without flavor.
Sorry but all the potent ingredients in this stew have been used so much better by other writers.
Mentioning The First Law in the same sentence as this sleeping pill is blasphemy and an insult to Mr. Abercrombie.
I liked it more than this, but the more time has gone by the less impressed I am with this series. I DNF book 3 with about 200 pages left.
Great points all
This came across to me as YA trying to be edgelord. So many lapses of logic and prose.
SOUNDS AWESOME BUT YOU KINDA SPOILED IT ALL
I despise this book, everything that was good in The First Law feels amateur and childish in comparison.
I can certainly understand the criticisms of it. And, yes, not much compares to First Law. I think Glen Cook's The Black Company is the one I see most listed as similar to Abercrombie.
@@mikesbookreviews I should really try The Black Company, hearing about it for a while now.
@@SonOfSeth I've had about 10 books for that series on my iPad for almost a decade now. I'll get to them eventually.
Right
Harsh but fair