The Blade Itself

I just finished reading The First Law series over the last few days. I was recommended the first book by a friend. It was so good I had ordered the next two before I finished reading it. It is low fantasy in general with few monsters and a little bit of magic. Which generally makes for a better fantasy book in my opinion. I still have about twenty pages to finish on the third book but the story has wrapped up. The setting is nicely evoked and well described. It is also fairly original in some ways though the cliché of the frozen north filled with Vikings and the south being a desert filled with Persians are once again here. The north is described well and the culture is also given a good description throughout the series so despite it being much the same as other books it is fine. Very little action happens in the south so not much attention is paid to it. The charcter development was pretty good for the most part and the characters themselves are interesting.

The second and third books continue the story and have excellent pacing. I was particularly impressed by the build up towards the battles in the second book. The character development is a little forced during this book for one character but thats only a minor thing and it didn't effect my enjoyment of the story. So now I just need to decide what I read next... not an easy prospect as nothing jumps out at me. At least Steven Erikksons final book in the Malazan series is done and released. Once it gets a little cheaper I will pick it up.