The Blade Itself

The Blade Itself is what a debut book should read like. Well written, often funny, often pulsating in the action it contains, this is close to a perfect entrance into the world of fantasy fiction.Joe Ambercrombie certainly knows how to reach out to his reader, his book has managed to win a good deal of fans, and it’s really easy to say how, he’s written a very good book.

The Blade Itself raises the bar in all the crucial elements, bloody scenes, short and witty dialogue, fast paced plot, yet its in characters that Abercrombie shines. The deeply fascinating torturer Glokta, is possibly the book’s crowing glory, this shambling wreck of a man, now sadistically makes people scream, the catch, he was once a brilliant and dashing swordsman, now the only thing he fights is an ongoing battle combating the steep nature of staircases.

At times the blade itself feels like the screenplay for a film, it’s got that movie glitz thing going for it. The action is sharp and merciless, a scene where Logan the Bloody nine, shows us why he’s called the bloody nine particularly stands out. The humour is another enjoyable aspect, though very dark it’s still a welcome addition. Plus the well woven nature of the plot binds everything together in this lovely piece of writing. The actual book feels very nice too, I’ve been stroking it for weeks now, and still feels reeeeally good!

The Blade Itself - 8.5 / 10

The Etched City

For such a small and compact book, K.J.Bishop packs a good deal within the pages. It starts off fairly simplistically; the setting is a desert like clime, full of nomads and barren surrounds. Gwynn a killer and Raule a healer meet up in the middle of no where, two fugitives running from a lost war, pursued by its victors.


The setting soon shifts to the city of Asamoil, a breathtaking kaleidoscope of sights and sounds. This is a city comparable to the likes of New Crozubon and Ambergris, Viroconium and any other exotic and surreal cityscape. The book certainly follows in the footsteps of Vandermeer and Mieville, yet it has its own distinctively beautiful voice, which is impossible to ignore.

The central characters of Gwynn and Raule are quite the opposite, shown in the mainstay of their profession, they share only the cause they fought for in the conflict that brought them together, now in Asamoil they have a desire to lead a new life, not on the run. This new life is one chequered by events both surreal and starkly realistic, as the strange and vivid magic of the city becomes ever more entwined with the people who live within.

Weird, magical, artistic and profound, there is something for everyone within the Etched city, as not only does Bishop write convincing and stimulating philosophical debates, but she also provides us with some gripping and bloody encounters. Delirious and often quite mad, if you like Mieville, Vandermeer, Harrison, you will most certainly love this.

The Etched City – 9/10

Towing Jehovah - James Morrow

Now this is what I call outlandish fiction. The basic premise in this 1995 world fantasy award winner is that God has died, and his body needs transporting to his resting place. As I see it there’s only a few ways you could treat this subject, either with a perfect sense of formality, tailoring to a religious viewpoint or you can go for the laughs, and insult every religion possible along the way.

James Morrow chose the latter option.

And I’m thankful he did. Often the book borders on the ludicrously inane, the characters are quite flat, and are very type cast, and the book does sometimes have a strange sentimentality to it all. Yet, it is a funny book, and in a satirical ironic tone, that has some surreal and quite often hilarious moments, you really start to connect with the story, well you would when the central theme is of towing God by his ears from the back of an oil tanker.

Not a very great emotional impact, though this is more than compensated for by the outrageous way Morrow tackles the themes in the book.

Towing Jehovah – 7/10

Note to Self!

'Pocket cup'

- Michael Shea/ In Yana, the touch of Undying.
- A, Merrit/ The Moon Pool
- Barry Hughart/ Bridge of Birds
- Catherynne M Valente/ In The Night Garden
- Haruki Murakumi/ Kafka on the Shore
- Jorge Luis Borges/
- Franz Kafka/
- James Joyce/
- Vandermeer/ Veniss Underground
- Italo Calvino/ Invisible Cities
- Sean Williams
- Karl Edawrd Wagner
- Anne Bishop
- Llynn Llewelyn
- Paul Kearney
- Tim Lebbon
- The Physiognomy