Book Review: Before They Are Hanged | Joe Abercrombie (The First Law #2)
Superior Glokta must protect a city beset by foes on all sides with no help, no friends, no resources. In Angland, the worst-led army in the world, under the command of Crown Prince Ladisla, is keen to drive an army of barbarians back. And Bayaz, First of the Magi, is leading a party of adventurers to the edge of the world on a perilous mission to save the world. If only they all didn't hate each other.
The second novel of The First Law trilogy and the second novel therefore of its writer Joe Abercrombie, published in 2007 by Gollancz Books. It was preceded by The Blade Itself and succeeded by Last Argument of Kings.
Where The Blade Itself was a solid opener, Before They Are Hanged ups it all, and the result is a swifter, tenser book, sharper in its wit and cynicism than its predecessor.
Everything I enjoyed in the first book remains: Superior Glokta, one of the most interesting characters, at once horrible and sympathetic, the tortured turned torturer, finds himself in the city of Dagoska, the Union's sole foothold on the Kantic continent and a thorn in the Gurkish emperor's side.
Colonel West is now with the army in Angland, attempting to advise Crown Prince Ladisla, a thorough incompetent. And Jezal, whose character development I liked in the last book, receives a bevy more of it as he is forced through trial and tribulation beyond his wildest imaginings.
In terms of the side characters, Bayaz, initially a Gandalf-like figure with a little bit of a temper, unravels completely here as a Gandalf: temperamental, angry, disliked by nearly everyone he's traveling with, and when they meet others of his order, none of them have anything good to say about him.
Other side characters become much more, also: Ferro receives some character development, seemingly falling for Logen - though it's a twisted and shadowy form of love, since Ferro has resigned herself to a life without hope or love, but love nonetheless.
Malacus Quai becomes a figure of some mystery, suddenly disobedient and bearing better memory than before. And Brother Longfoot, the Navigator, something of a caricature in the previous book, becomes a little bit more - disliking many of them, though often proclaiming the journey to be worth it. Alas, fighting is not among his many remarkable talents.
The supporting cast at Dagoska is able and ready and of course consists of many an awful person: the incompetent Lord Governor's son, a mercenary with a reputation for betraying whatever side he's on as soon as he gets a better offer. But there a couple decent people: the general in charge of the defense of the city, a representative of the native peoples, and even the Magister for the Guild of Spicers.
Dogman's end of the story, though never my favorite, is quite solid. The Northmen join up with the Union, aiming to see the end of Bethod.
Creating a unique atmosphere for the book is the contrast of grimdark - the tortured Glokta, the temperamental Bayaz and his unsuccessful mission, the barbarian Logen - with stuff that is more comical. Not the twisted and cynical wit that appears, but instead that Generals Poulder and Kroy, in the North, are caricatures more than people.
Mind, neither is extreme as Brother Longfoot had been in the previous book. It's a contrast that may by turns create a unique sense of horror and other times may simply be hilarious. Your mileage, as ever, may vary.
If I have one major critique of this book, it is that the contrast of grimdark and caricature does not quite work for me and it is that there are so few female characters. Those that are present are good characters - Magister Eiber almost a favorite - but there aren't many women at all.
As ever, it's sharply witty. It's also swifter-paced. Bayaz's party of adventurers traveling to the edge of the world is thoroughly exciting and often painful for all involved. Glokta in Dagoska is tense and thrilling as the Gurkish draw closer and closer and it seems only a matter of time before the city falls. And West is put in a unique position, advising an incompetent and befriending Northmen.
Abercrombie continues his use of repeating sentences from the previous book: "Say one thing for Logen Ninefingers, say X." "A man lost in the desert must take such water as he is offered, no matter who it comes from." "You have to be realistic." It's enjoyable to see such familiar friends and of course links the book together, too.
We also the first sex scene here. It's terrible, consisting basically of the characters grunting with little other description, but it's terrible in the sort of way that suggests it's deliberately bad. So it may well serve to amuse the reader. It certainly made me giggle.
A sharper book and a tenser one, however solid the opener was, Before They Are Hanged is much better with only the most minor of problems - themselves probably unnoticed by many a reader or even appreciated, in the case of the caricature characters. The prose is sharp and the wit remains wickedly funny, even moreso than before. I quite enjoyed it and am reading the third and final book already. You may look forward to my review of it, too.