Words&Dirt

Summary:

Joe Abercrombie’s Before They Are Hanged is the middle book in The First Law Trilogy. As Collem West enters a bitter war in the north for the Union’s holdings in Angland, Sand dan Glokta is sent to the southern port of Dagoska to root out a conspiracy and coordinate the city’s defense against the Gurkish Emperor’s massive army. Meanwhile, Bayaz, Logen Ninefingers, Ferro Maljinn, and their companions venture west in search of a powerful item that might turn the balance of power in conflicts to come.

Key Concepts and Notes:

• My favorite part of this book is how the relationships evolve in the crew that travels west with Bayaz. Logen, Ferro, and Jezal all have experiences that help them soften toward one another and grow as individuals. Jezal’s character building is especially poignant, with him learning the hard way that he’s led a privileged life for which he hasn’t been remotely grateful.
• Glokta’s narrative also continues to be intriguing, with hints that he might yet retain some shreds of decency and mercy.
• Abercrombie maintains and expands the feeling from the first book of being caught up in a vast historical/mythological drama that no character fully understands. There are some solid additions to the worldbuilding and filling in of backstory in this book.
• Unfortunately, I didn’t like this book nearly as much as The Blade Itself. Before They Are Hanged is replete with failures, setbacks, and deaths, and I struggled to find positive elements to connect with. I think the anticlimactic tone is intentional, to be fair, but I found it pretty oppressive.
• The book’s grim vibe would have been more tolerable if it wasn’t also boring. The vast majority of Abercrombie’s characters are static and predictable. His prose is serviceable but he recycles the same conventions and tropes over and over. And the action scenes are well done but far too plentiful for my taste; I found myself skimming through them most of the time, wondering when something interesting would interrupt the bloodbath.
• Middle novels in trilogies can be tough to nail, so I don’t fault Abercrombie for slipping up here. And sometimes a slump is necessary to set the stage for a masterful finish, so I am hopeful that Abercrombie can bring it home with the next book.

Favorite Quotes:

Without trust and respect the group would fall apart in a fight, like walls without mortar.

Still, Logen had won over tougher audiences, in his time. Threetrees, Tul Duru, Black Dow, Harding Grim––he’d fought each one in single combat, and beaten them all. Spared each man’s life, and left him bound to follow. Each one had tried their best to kill him, and with good reasons too, but in the end Logen had earned their trust, and their respect, and their friendship even. Small gestures and a lot of time, that was how he’d done it. “Patience is the chief of virtues,” his father used to say, and “you won’t cross the mountains in a day.” Time might be against them, but there was nothing to be gained by rushing. (118)

We are left one with the ruins, and the tombs, and the myths. Little men, kneeling in the long shadows of the past. (162)

Fearlessness is a fool’s boast, to my mind. The only men with no fear in them are the dead, or the soon to be dead, maybe. Fear teaches you caution, and respect for your enemy, and to avoid sharp edges used in anger. All good things in their place, believe me. Fear can bring you out alive, and that’s the very best anyone can hope for from any fight. Every man who’s worth a damn feels fear. It’s the use you make of it that counts. (183-4)

Doing better next time. That’s what life is. (206)

A length of wood does not by itself make a man wise, or noble, or powerful, any more than a length of steel does. Power comes from the flesh, my boy, and from the heart, and from the head. From the head most of all. (501) 

Rating: 5/10