Before They Are Hanged

Executive Summary: Even better than the first entry in the trilogy, a dark and fun ride, not for the feint of heart.Full ReviewI enjoyed this entry even more than [b:The Blade Itself 944073 The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1) Joe Abercrombie http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1284167912s/944073.jpg 929009]. With most of the setup out of the way, Mr. Abercrombie now switchs to developing the characters and progressing the story further.Parts of this book reminded me of [a:Patrick Rothfuss 108424 Patrick Rothfuss http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1351307341p2/108424.jpg]'s Kingkiller chronicles. Stories shared within the main story building the lore and giving the reader clues as to just what the heck might be going on.This book is even darker than it's predecessor. It's not a nice world, and these aren't nice people. That doesn't stop you from rooting for them however.Mr. Abercrombie somehow manages to describe terrible acts of brutality yet through the thoughts of his characters you find yourself both laughing and sympathetic to killers like Logen and his friends and a torturer in Glokta. Bayaz is no Gandalf either.I'm still not sure how that's possible. There is obviously something wrong with me, and Mr. Abercrombie is tapping into that. Given the generally high rating of these books, I can take some small comfort that I'm not alone in this.My only real complaint about this book is that it doesn't so much end as it stops. Like [b:The Blade Itself 944073 The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1) Joe Abercrombie http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1284167912s/944073.jpg 929009], it's a reasonable stopping place though. It's probably a better one since some short term goals are accomplished, but there is still much left to be uncovered and resolved.I can't wait to finish this trilogy up next month. I might have to cheat and start early.Given the way things are going however, I suspect we won't be getting a “And they lived Happily Ever After..”