the james review

Joe Abercrombie’s refreshing and exciting The First Law trilogy is finally drawing to a close, and it leads off with Paul Gauguin’s: “Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge.” Last Argument of Kings may be about many things, but revenge is an anchoring [...]

“We should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged.” Heinrich Heine’s choice words on revenge and war are the first to greet the reader when beginning the journey into Joe Abercrombie’s excellent second book in the First Law trilogy, Before They Are [...]

“The blade itself incites to deeds of violence.” After reading these words, quoted from Homer, you can’t help but remember them as you read The Blade Itself, as virtually every character you meet happens to have several blades handy at all [...]