Say one thing for Joe Abercrombie...

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Say one thing for Joe Abercrombie...

sarsbar: Oct 16, 2007; GA: Yes Your Shout Pole Is Like A Tower Broadcasting Your Fear Across The Ring And You Are Right To Be Afraid

I finished the trilogy, and I'm almost done with BSC. Last Argument of Kings ruined my week; never has so much wrist-slitting despair and frustration been seen outside a history book.

The thing is, the only one I really feel bad about is poor Malacus. He died like a bitch in the first book, and what I thought was him developing into an interesting character was actually just an impostor. An important and very awesome impostor, but still. :smith:

At least things weren't quite so bad for Glotka and Ardee. I mean, they were dickish and psychotic, but I was just so glad that at least someone didn't end up having every single thing blow up in their face at the end. Besides, who in the book wasn't dickish and psychotic?

Also, the only character I despise more than Bayaz is motherfucking Yoru Sulfur. :argh:

edit: whoopsie.

sarsbar fucked around with this message at 18:14 on Jul 25, 2010

# ¿ Jul 25, 2010 03:50

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# ¿ May 3, 2024 08:43

sarsbar: Oct 16, 2007; GA: Yes Your Shout Pole Is Like A Tower Broadcasting Your Fear Across The Ring And You Are Right To Be Afraid

I read the last 100 or so pages of BSC last night, and it's probably okay to smile again, because Monza pretty much told Yoru to gently caress himself. Maybe she'll end up dying of Bayaz's magical cancer anyway, but I'll enjoy her refusal to get tangled up with Valint and Balk while I can.

And I totally didn't see it coming when Shenkt turned out to be the guy who saved her life in the beginning. I can't wait for The Heroes!

# ¿ Jul 25, 2010 18:21

sarsbar: Oct 16, 2007; GA: Yes Your Shout Pole Is Like A Tower Broadcasting Your Fear Across The Ring And You Are Right To Be Afraid

Evfedu posted:

Yeah, I thought Best Served Cold was a bit... stretched.

Felt like he was repeating himself in places, and there were just too many loving fights that spanned pages and pages.

Still good, don't get me wrong, but only the first few hundred and last fifty pages were as good as I'd come to expect.

It didn't seem so bad to me since he's so good at describing the fight scenes. They weren't slowed down by poor wording, they were easy for me to follow, and they were graphic--I could actually tell what was going on. That's a big accomplishment, if I'm to compare him to what few fantasy authors I've read (not that they were any good themselves, but still). Those fight scenes definitely aren't the part that I'd want to skip.

I just hope that Joe Abercrombie doesn't get lazy/bored as an author, and that he never jumps the shark... or at least that he does it after I stop caring.

# ¿ Jul 28, 2010 17:54

sarsbar: Oct 16, 2007; GA: Yes Your Shout Pole Is Like A Tower Broadcasting Your Fear Across The Ring And You Are Right To Be Afraid

Kneel Before Zog posted:

One of the things I'm always speculating to myself about is how big of a role does Bayaz play with his force meditation-esque abilities. Whenever Jezal is giving a speech or doing something that his inner monologue tells us hes finding difficulty with and Bayaz is nearby I think oh that must be Bayaz doing force mind tricks on him to give him more courage or find just the right words to say.

loving Bayaz. gently caress him.

Anyway, I think those sudden bouts of courage are probably more psychological than anything. After all, Jezal occasionally finds the balls to snap at Bayaz and the other council members, and I can't see Bayaz actually wanting him to do that.

ninja edit: should I just spoiler all this? Yeah... :/

# ¿ Aug 26, 2010 04:35

sarsbar: Oct 16, 2007; GA: Yes Your Shout Pole Is Like A Tower Broadcasting Your Fear Across The Ring And You Are Right To Be Afraid

Bummey posted:

Uhh.. Guys. It's extremely obvious that Bayaz directly imbued Jezal with superman juice during the tournament's final round. Yeah, it drained the gently caress out of him like all of his demon-fueled magic does, but there should be no argument that he did it. Pretty sure he did it a second time, but I can't recall exactly where in the book that happened or I'd look it up.

I wasn't referring to the fencing tournament. I was talking about after Jezal was crowned.

# ¿ Aug 26, 2010 06:50

sarsbar: Oct 16, 2007; GA: Yes Your Shout Pole Is Like A Tower Broadcasting Your Fear Across The Ring And You Are Right To Be Afraid

Mr.48 posted:

"Bloody Nine" Would be the most metal song ever.

There's already a song that pretty much covers him... sort of.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MhYBGzcNMQ

# ¿ Oct 10, 2010 04:17

sarsbar: Oct 16, 2007; GA: Yes Your Shout Pole Is Like A Tower Broadcasting Your Fear Across The Ring And You Are Right To Be Afraid

John Charity Spring posted:

That is one very tiny planet they have there.

# ¿ Oct 17, 2010 18:09

sarsbar: Oct 16, 2007; GA: Yes Your Shout Pole Is Like A Tower Broadcasting Your Fear Across The Ring And You Are Right To Be Afraid

A Nice Boy posted:

I assume he'll expand it beyond all that if he keeps writing in the same universe, like Feist did from Riftwar to Serpentwar.

Here's hoping. Keep the books coming, Abercrombie--I want a whole shelf of amazing tattered paperbacks to leave my future kids.

# ¿ Oct 18, 2010 20:12

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# ¿ May 3, 2024 08:43

sarsbar: Oct 16, 2007; GA: Yes Your Shout Pole Is Like A Tower Broadcasting Your Fear Across The Ring And You Are Right To Be Afraid

Koryk posted:

I read Cold before the trilogy, and Cosca doesn't even seem remotely like the same character.

We only saw so much of him in the trilogy, so we didn't get too close of a look at how much of a wash-up he'd become until BSC (and I mean that in the nicest way possible, no disrespect to Cosca).

# ¿ Dec 16, 2010 05:15

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