Name: Before They Are Hanged
Rating: 4.224806201550388 (129 reviews)
ISBN: 9780575077881

Joe Abercrombie

Before They Are Hanged

It's extremely fun and the charm of every character holds this book up to be fantastic. It does have flaws (every woman is written poorly IMO) but the characters (Glokta the favorite for me) kept me hooked the entire time. Will be reading the 3rd ASAP!

Max Riley

After a strong introduction to some of the best characters in fantasy genre, Joe Abercrombie returns with his 2nd book in the First Law Series in which Bayaz the First of Magi takes a ragtag group to the edge of the world where they discover something that'll leave huge impact on their lives and everyone's favourite Sherlock, Mr. San Dan Glokta tries his best to save the falling city while trying to cope with his failing life.

1) The Character Work: Stating the obvious. It's what this series and the author is known for. But it is so well done that I have to mention it. The scope of storytelling increases in this book with the readers getting 6 characters' pov. It is fascinating to see how the author builds on a strong groundwork laid down in the previous book.

2) Chemistry between the ragtag group: I really enjoyed the love and hate relationship between the group of characters that Bayaz takes with him for exploration. The interaction between Bayaz-Luthar-Logen-Ferrow and Longfoot makes their journey quite a fun.

3) San Dan Glokta: One of the finest characters ever written! San Dan Glokta and his sarcasm, his continuous pondering of his existence, his questioning of the work that he's doing and his constant fear of the most dangerous villain in his life - The stairs have all turned him into an iconic character!

4) The Northmen: Dogman, Threetrees and co. have been given more time in this book. I enjoyed their group, the role they played for the Union, how all of it panned out and the dynamic between them and West.

5) Action galore: After a slow start to the series, this book sees lots of battle scenes, fights and overall bloodloss making it an action packed read.

1) Exploration: The journey that Bayaz and co. go on essentially take them out of the main storyline for almost the whole book. It feels like the author decide to take that route to build the world and the characters for a payoff that might come in the final book. The problem is that when most of the main characters are not at the scene where the actual story is progressing then it reduces the interest and impact of that that story.

Before they are hanged is a solid second book in the first law series. It builds on the strong base set up by the first book and leaves you hanging for more (in a good way).

Adwait Kulkarni

Summary:
After a strong introduction to some of the best characters in fantasy genre, Joe Abercrombie returns with his 2nd book in the First Law Series in which Bayaz the First of Magi takes a ragtag group to the edge of the world where they discover something that'll leave huge impact on their lives and everyone's favourite Sherlock, Mr. San Dan Glokta tries his best to save the falling city while trying to cope with his failing life.

What I liked:
1) The Character Work: Stating the obvious. It's what this series and the author is known for. But it is so well done that I have to mention it. The scope of storytelling increases in this book with the readers getting 6 characters' pov. It is fascinating to see how the author builds on a strong groundwork laid down in the previous book.
2) Chemistry between the ragtag group: I really enjoyed the love and hate relationship between the group of characters that Bayaz takes with him for exploration. The interaction between Bayaz-Luthar-Logen-Ferrow and Longfoot makes their journey quite a fun.
3) San Dan Glokta: One of the finest characters ever written! San Dan Glokta and his sarcasm, his continuous pondering of his existence, his questioning of the work that he's doing and his constant fear of the most dangerous villain in his life - The stairs have all turned him into an iconic character!
4) The Northmen: Dogman, Threetrees and co. have been given more time in this book. I enjoyed their group, the role they played for the Union, how all of it panned out and the dynamic between them and West.
5) Action galore: After a slow start to the series, this book sees lots of battle scenes, fights and overall bloodloss making it an action packed read.

What I didn't like:
1) Exploration: The journey that Bayaz and co. go on essentially take them out of the main storyline for almost the whole book. It feels like the author decide to take that route to build the world and the characters for a payoff that might come in the final book. The problem is that when most of the main characters are not at the scene where the actual story is progressing then it reduces the interest and impact of that that story.

Conclusion:
Before they are hanged is a solid second book in the first law series. It builds on the strong base set up by the first book and leaves you hanging for more (in a good way).

Michael Springer

Alright, so, this is me becoming a legitimate Abercrombie fan. 
 
In "The Blade Itself," Abercrombie showed a high level of skill at creating characters that fit firmly into the traditional roles of fantasy fiction (the warrior barbarian, the whiny nobleman with a sword, etc.), yet were crafted with a level of nuance beyond what you come to expect from a fantasy series. I was fairly impressed. But, I've read a lot of good books lately, so I wasn't, you know, knocked out of my socks or anything.
 
"Before They Are Hanged" is significantly better, mostly because it does exactly what you hope the second book in a trilogy will do: startles you with new realizations about the characters, introduces new settings and new conflicts, raises the stakes, and turns your expectations on their head more than once. Abercrombie knows the expectations of his readers, the traditional fill-in-the-blank hero's journey tropes, and he clearly gets a kick out of subverting them just when you were lulled into thinking you knew what to expect. 
 
And, have I mentioned the characters? Crikey, I love them all! Even the ones I was less impressed by at the end of book 1 have reached a level of complexity at this point that is astounding. Jezal isn't just some fop with a blade, Glokta isn't just some crippled torturer. Nobody is a "goodguy," nobody is a "badguy," everybody is a PERSON in full detail. Abercrombie writes his chapters through the lense of a specific character's thoughts, and you can (most of the time) tell after the first sentence whose lense it is. The character's minds all work in slightly different ways (Ferro thinking in short, colorless sentences; Logen often returning to the lame sayings of his father; Dogman thinking mostly in self-deprecating slang), which helps create a stylistic difference from chapter to chapter that always helps with understanding the characters, and often creates a hilarious contrast as well, when multiple characters are thinking about the same event in very different ways.
 
Before reading this, I'd heard so much about its GRITTINESS, and its DARKNESS, and the VIOLENCE, and BARBARIANS CHOPPING MOTHAFUCKAS' HEADS OFF! What I didn't hear as much about is how he writes about these characters that aren't the nicest people in the world with enough warmth and empathy to make them all LIKEABLE, even during their darkest and most selfish moments. Because, even then, you really have the sense that you are with them, that you are taking the journey with them. 
 
I've said nothing about the plot, and that is intentional: I don't want to spoil anything for those who plan on reading the series. And, if you are a fan of fantasy, I suggest you do. The most applicable comparison is to George R R Martin, except in many ways this is better. Before you declare me a heretic, here's why: the characters are similarly complex, yet none of them are "slow" characters that you kinda wish you could skip over. The world here is ALMOST as intricate and full of intrigue, but with a more limited scope---kinda like he's only writing three books. And, the magical elements of the series seem to work better. And this is funnier, and Abercrombie has written the whole thing. It is all published and at the book store. 
 
This is a lot of fanboy gushing, considering I haven't even finished the series. But, even if he jumps the shark in book 3, it has been a fun ride.

Bitter and merciless war is coming to the frozen north. It's bloody and dangerous and the Union army, split by politics and hamstrung by incompetence, is utterly unprepared for the slaughter that's coming. Lacking experience, training, and in some cases even weapons the army is scarcely equipped to repel Bethod's scouts, let alone the cream of his forces. In the heat-ravaged south the Gurkish are massing to assault the city of Dagoska, defended by Inquisitor Glokta. The city is braced for the inevitable defeat and massacre to come, preparations are made to make the Gurkish pay for every inch of land ... but a plot is festering to hand the city to its beseigers without a fight, and the previous Inquisitor of Dagoska vanished without trace. Threatened from within and without the city, Glokta needs answers, and he needs them soon. And to the east a small band of malefactors travel to the edge of the world to reclaim a device from history - a Seed, hidden for generations - with tremendous destructive potential. A device which could put a end to war, to the army of Eaters in the South, to the invasion of Shanka from the North - but only if it can be found, and only if its power can be controlled ...

could not put it down. builds on the first book in the best way possible, expanding the scope, raising the stakes, and developing the characters by breaking them down and making them question themselves at every turn. i love how grimy and gritty and real the setting is, i love that we're only given as much detail about the world as we need while it still feels full and vibrant. i love how the characters are going, jezal and west in particular. i love how brutal and exciting the action is while still emphasizing that fighting and killing are scary, unpleasant affairs. i loved just about everything about it. fantastic book

Tuck

Gavin

So yeah it's about a big siege, a big battle and a big quest, but somehow new and uncliched. The heroes, about their quest: "What are we doing here?"; "Got nowhere better to be".

Prashanth Srivatsa

Better than the first, but just. Glokta is brilliant, just brilliant.

Anastasia 

FUCKING FINALLY 😭😭😭


finishing this was the most challenging thing I experienced this month, not even joking, the pacing was significantly worse than the first book, I only kept going cos of glokta and jezal ...the prose is still easy to read as always but the prolonged battle scenes I didn't enjoy at all 

I hope the next book really offers something different 6.5/10

Superior Glokta has a problem. How can he defend a city surrounded by enemies and riddled with traitors, when his allies can by no means be trusted? Ancient secrets will be uncovered and bitter enemies will be forgiven--but not before they are hanged--in this sequel to "The Blade Itself."

Before they are hanged

Celeste Richardson

You can find this review and more at Novel Notions. 
“We should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged.” 
I am astonished by how much I loved this book. I went from thinking that grimdark wasn’t for me to being an unapologetic convert to the genre. Whatever the cause for my change of heart, I’m insanely glad it happened, because Before They Are Hanged is absolutely fabulous. Brimming with humor and overflowing with compelling characters, the second installment of The First Law quenched a thirst for high stakes and long odds that I didn’t even know I had.
“Honour, eh? What the hell is that anyway? Every man thinks it's something different… The more of it you have the less good it does you, and if you've got none at all you don't miss it.”
First, I’m crazy impressed that Abercrombie was able to pack this much character development and engaging plot into a second installment. With so many trilogies, book two is something to struggle through, bogging readers down in overly extensive world building and an awkward trudge from the introductory plot points of book A to the concluding plot points of book C. There are exceptions, of course. City of Blades, Words of Radiance, Valor, and Bloody Rose are among some of the best books I’ve ever read, and they were second installments, though not exclusively for trilogies. It looks like I can now add Before They Are Hanged to that list, as it kept me completely enthralled from start to finish.
“People love to see death. It reminds them that however mean, however low, however horrible their lives become… at least they have one.”
Abercrombie could (and should) give classes on crafting amazing character development. Every single perspective character grew by leaps and bounds in this book. Even those whose point of view chapters were scant in The Blade Itself (Ferro, West, and Dogman) were incredibly compelling and vibrant and sympathetic. I cared about every single perspective character, and was always a teensy bit desperate for my time with them to last a little longer before the point of view shifted. Abercrombie did an amazing job of imbuing each plot line with a sense of urgency that kept me on the edge of my seat for the duration of the book. It was honestly a little exhausting, but in the best way possible. While all of the characters grew tremendously and felt almost tangibly real, the award for the most character development in this book and possibly in any book I’ve ever read has to go to Jezal Luthor. I don’t want to spoil anything by getting into how he grew and why, but I was astounded by his alteration.
“Anyone can face ease and success with confidence. It is the way we face trouble and misfortune that defines us.”
Something that is always hit or miss for me is an author’s presentation of sex scenes. Some are beautiful, like those written by Nora Roberts, emphasizing the emotion of the act more than the mechanics. Some are painfully awkward, like just about every sex scene I’ve ever read by Stephen King. (The man is insanely talents with words, but they fail him when it comes to sex. I wish he would just…not.) Abercrombie’s sex scenes are hands down among the funniest I have ever read. There was one scene in particular that was perhaps the angriest mutual sex act I’ve ever read, and it had me laughing so hard my sides hurt. 
“A choice between killing and dying is no choice at all. You have to be realistic about these things.”
Also, I’m not usually a fan of fiction this militaristic; I tend to get lost in the details. However, Abercrombie excels at that as well, and really makes me care not only about the outcome but about the battles themselves. Is there anything this man can’t do?
“An open mind is like to an open wound. Vulnerable to poison. Liable to fester. Apt to give its owner only pain.”
I don’t know if I’ve ever rated another book with 5 full stars and placed it among my favorites that left me so unsatisfied. There were decisions made and outcomes reached that were incredibly anticlimactic and had me groaning in disappointment. However, I knew from the warnings of friends (Petrik and Emma in this case) not to expect rainbows and unicorns. This is grimdark, after all. The name of the genre should tell you not to hope for a happy ending. Because I was warned, that frustration that I felt at said outcomes only added to the reading experience for me. There were no neatly tied conclusions to the plot lines Abercrombie followed throughout this book. I have a feeling that I’ll feel the same except to a greater extent about the final installment. And I’m actually okay with that. While I still have my fingers crossed that SOMETHING will turn out okay for at least one or two of the characters, I have no illusions of a happily ever after. I actually think that it would cheapen the entire story if everything worked out in the end, and I don’t know that I’ve ever felt that way before. I love happy endings, but such an outcome wouldn’t be at all believable in this case.
“There was no such thing as luck. Luck was a word idiots used to explain the consequences of their own rashness, and selfishness, and stupidity. More often than not bad luck meant bad plans.”
I’m so glad that I decided to give this series another chance, and that I happened to be in just the right mood for it when I picked it up. If The Last Argument of Kings is as good as its predecessors, it looks like I’ll be rearranging my already stuffed living room shelves to make room for another favorite series. Here’s hoping it blows me away!

Ashutosh

"What? A family?” Ninefingers frowned, rubbing grimly at the stump of his middle finger. “I did have one. And now I’ve got another. You don’t pick your family, you take what you’er given and you make the best of it.”

Joe Abercrombie has an amazing grip on his writing style and how it decently portrays the desired character traits. While this book starts off where the first one ended, it definitely holds a lot more detailings of the world building. We get a deeper dive into the historical events that form a base for the current events. 

In Blade itself I was a lot confused as to what the plot wants to achieve and what the characters aspire in the grand scheme of events. While things do get clear by the end of Blade itself, they start make a lot more sense in this sequel. We get to know the characters more deeply and also at some instances their morally grey features go into hiding. Bloody battles, gory violence, and some minor plot twists just add to the characteristics of a grimdark fantasy.

Even though there are almost no likeable characters, I still loved how Joe tries to lean towards a realistic view when he presents some good aspects of the characters, while not completely subsiding their brutality and cruelty. And speaking of some good aspects, I definitely started loving Logen Ninefinger's character much more then the first book, as it was just an introduction. Also we get development on Jezal's character as he struggles through his own thouguand beliefs, and craving for just one more chance to leave his selfishness and egoistic attitude behind, and start anew. Glokta was much more interesting and calculating, and the was almost emanating Tyrion Lannister vibes. 

To sum it up, this book was much better than the first one in almost all aspects, but mostly characterizations. 

However, one thing that still bugs me is that the plot consists majorly of character driven storyline and the focus is pretty economical when it comes to exploration of the history and magic system, but it wasn't much bothersome to the extent as I would rate it less. There was an immense focus on the political manueverings. The amount of fun and intrigue is what matters to me. 

Anyways, that's all what I thought about this sequel, which is a prime exception to the Middle-book syndrome.

Happy Reading ☺️

Alost

Nothing like game of thrones, but a man in a desert should drink any or something.

dead line

I feel kind of whelmed by this book. The first in the series set up some interesting ideas, but this added nothing new, and characters seem to just diddle about.

The gang go on a journey to do a magical thing - cool and good. But we're kept in the dark as to what the magical thing is for most of it. Which would be fine but it's coupled with Bayaz telling stories of all the cool things that have already happened. There's no mystery, he knows why there is a city in ruins, and it's a totally sick story. It feels like we're being dragged along by an old man, who knows exactly what needs to be done, and will tolerate no deviations.

Ferro is also just such a grating character. She's damaged and trusts no one, we get it - can we maybe get a crumb of more personality?

Meanwhile Glokta is set a task that we find out has absolutely no impact on the goings on. We spend a quarter of the book caring about the outcome of his task, but joke's on me because it never mattered.

Also meanwhile, did this author punish a woman with a painful death for having sex with someone other than the POV character? Because that's what it sure feels like. The POV character saves the woman from being raped, after saving her from a prison camp, she chooses to sleep with someone else, POV character feels scorned and angry, and oopsie she's dying painfully. Kinda weird tones here...


In all, it was fine. Competently written.

Kayla Smith

Surprisingly, I didn't love this installment as much as the first. However, I still had a great time with all of our characters and I'm excited to see where things will go in the third book. I had a hard time getting through the 50-65% mark of the story. It seemed to drag and I was ready for all of the travelling to wrap up. The occasional action and skirmishes our characters got themselves into while they were travelling just weren't enough to hold my attention for very long. Once I finally got past that point, I couldn't stop reading. I had to finish the last 3 hours of the audiobook in one sitting because I had to know what would happen next.

Deborah Kerr

As expected: absolute brilliance.

Seriously. So freaking good.

I have a sneaking suspicion that by the time I'm done with Last Argument of Kings that The First Law will be one of my favorite series of all time.

Ben Nathan

A very good second installment. I'm taken with the characters as they all have MAJOR flaws and that makes them infinitely more interesting than if they were perfect in any way, shape, or form. Also, with the way this work, I'm excited that it is only three, as I think it would just get a little ridiculous if it went longer. You can say one thing about Logan Ninefingers, you can say he's in a good series.

Anyaconda

When the torturer of the Inquisition is still your favorite character...

Nick Rothweiler

Jordan Chan 

nina 

Jesse White

Dalia Ergas

Katie OConnell

'As brilliant as its predecessor' SF REVU Bitter and merciless war is coming to the frozen north. It's bloody and dangerous and the Union army, split by politics and hamstrung by incompetence, is utterly unprepared for the slaughter that's coming. Lacking experience, training, and in some cases even weapons the army is scarcely equipped to repel Bethod's scouts, let alone the cream of his forces. In the heat-ravaged south the Gurkish are massing to assault the city of Dagoska, defended by Inquisitor Glokta. The city is braced for the inevitable defeat and massacre to come, preparations are made to make the Gurkish pay for every inch of land ... but a plot is festering to hand the city to its beseigers without a fight, and the previous Inquisitor of Dagoska vanished without trace. Threatened from within and without the city, Glokta needs answers, and he needs them soon. And to the east a small band of malefactors travel to the edge of the world to reclaim a device from history - a Seed, hidden for generations - with tremendous destructive potential. A device which could put a end to war, to the army of Eaters in the South, to the invasion of Shanka from the North - but only if it can be found, and only if its power can be controlled ...

Before They Are Hanged

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