Yevah Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 Hello all. I'm wondering which of the two I should buy for Christmas? I read the first few chapters of the Blade Itself, and never really got drawn into it. I could definitely finish it though. I have heard great things about each book series. Which of the two did you find more enjoyable and would you recommend? I think the reason I wasn't too drawn in to The Blade Itself is because after the first few chapters I didn't really get the 'plot driven' feel. thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuenjato Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 I prefer JA's first series. Shattered Sea is pretty much by-the-numbers fantasy, and very predictable. I found it increasingly diminishing returns across the three books, which is the opposite of The First Law.I'm not too surprised you struggled with The Blade Itself, as it is not very well written. But the series--particularly the prose--drastically improves over the course of the second book, and hits a real high point in Last Argument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerenthaClone Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 I prefer JA's first series. Shattered Sea is pretty much by-the-numbers fantasy, and very predictable. I found it increasingly diminishing returns across the three books, which is the opposite of The First Law.I'm not too surprised you struggled with The Blade Itself, as it is not very well written. But the series--particularly the prose--drastically improves over the course of the second book, and hits a real high point in Last Argument.I agree with all of this. TBI gets better fairly quickly, but opens with a pretty stock fantasy feel and some pretty good prose. First Law is a better series, overall, than Shattered Sea, though I enjoyed both. Note that Shattered Sea was also written to be more "YA" than First Law, so that might be a sticking point for you as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 The Blade Itself is the weakest of the First Law trilogy, and I did struggle a bit to the through it. However, it ended up being well worth it as the rest of the trilogy was very good. I've still not read the final book in Shattered Sea (I have no idea why not, I do enjoy the trilogy but something else always seems to crop up). IMO it's well written and doesn't feel that much like YA, if that is what was putting you off. Tamer than First Law but still quite brutal at times.Both are well worth reading, but I would go for the First Law trilogy first. The Blade Itself isn't representative of the quality of the later books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Seswatha Jordan Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 Yea, Shattered Sea never struck me as YA either. I loved both of the series. TFL is more of a traditional fantasy, though imo. I could recommend either one and I don't see where your going to go wrong either way. As other have said TFL improves a lot after TBI. The one difference that I might point out is TFL has a lot of dark humor. In fact, one of the funnier books I've ever read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRevanchist Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 Shattered Sea is better written, but The First Law has a more complex and interesting story and characters.The First Law wins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Writhen Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 All I've read is Half A King by him. Very entertaining, and I would read his other novels, but I couldn't get into the two short stories of his that I read.I think you kind of have to know the characters from the books first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 I'm sure Joe likes this competition as he's going to win. He'd probably suggest everyone buys and reads both series before deciding a victor and then buying copies of the winner to give to a friend.All I've read is Half A King by him. Very entertaining, and I would read his other novels, but I couldn't get into the two short stories of his that I read.I think you kind of have to know the characters from the books first.Can't say I've read a short story that isn't expanding on already introduced characters. I'll try and keep it in mind when the short story collection comes out as I think some of the characters are new or were previously very minor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 I read Some Desperado and Tough Times All Over before anything else by Joe and still thought they were very good. Assuming there are references to existing characters and so on then yeah it probably enhances the experience but they are pretty good short stories in their own right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Versus predator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Writhen Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 I read Some Desperado and Tough Times All Over before anything else by Joe and still thought they were very good. Assuming there are references to existing characters and so on then yeah it probably enhances the experience but they are pretty good short stories in their own right.I guess I could give Some Desperado another try. It is up on Tor. I finished the other one and it was decent, but like I say didn't really grab me.The next thing I read by JA will probably be The Heroes at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 I guess I could give Some Desperado another try. It is up on Tor. I finished the other one and it was decent, but like I say didn't really grab me.The next thing I read by JA will probably be The Heroes at some point.Why would you read that before TFL? *cue Abercrombie reading order thread joke* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Why would you read that before TFL? *cue Abercrombie reading order thread joke*I hope the anthology comes with clear instructions on reading order too. I'm assuming the order they come in but you never know. I don't even want to get started on where to read them in relation to the main series. Fun will be had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morrigan Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Tough call. They're both very good. I would suggest reading them all and starting with The First Law (or, well, finishing it as you said). Shattered Sea is a little less grimdark (due to it being sorta YA, though it's only YA in some aspects really), but it has amazing characterization and a fun, solid plot. I really enjoyed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRevanchist Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Double post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Cartman Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 The Blade Itself without question! Shattered Sea is nowhere near as good though a decent series on its own. Logen, Glotka and Bayaz are some of the finest characters ever written in Fantasy. Yarvi doesn't even come close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sleeper Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Depends on what floats your boat. Shattered Sea is a fairly straightforward fantasy that's well-written and engaging. However it lacks the the underlying black humor that is quintessentially Abercrombie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRevanchist Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Depends on what floats your boat. Shattered Sea is a fairly straightforward fantasy that's well-written and engaging. However it lacks the the underlying black humor that is quintessentially Abercrombie.Yarvi is very funny in the first book. It is certainly more juvenile than TFL though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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