Book Recommendation: The First Law Trilogy

I recently finished reading Joe Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy, which consists of The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, and Last Argument of Kings. Abercrombie is a young British author and this is his first published work. I give a complete thumbs up and recommend you try it.

It is difficult not to compare this fantasy trilogy to George R. R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series. Like Martin, Abercrombie writes "dark" fantasy, for lack of a better term. "Dark" in the sense that the violence, language, and sex are frank and real. "Dark" in the sense that the world is a dangerous place, lines of "good" and "evil" are often blurred, and every character has deep - and more importantly, interesting - flaws in their nature. (This does not mean "dark" in any goth sense, however - the setting is high fantasy.)

Unlike Martin, however, Abercrombie has created a trilogy - one that you can buy complete on the bookshelves today. No waiting months and months for the next volume. Also, Abercrombie has announced that his next two books will be stand-alone stories in the same universe.

Already, I love this guy.

Abercrombie presents what at first glance would appear to be a typical fantasy adventuring band - a high-bred knight in armor (a paladin, if you will), a barbarian warrior, an archer, a wizard, and a ... hmmm ... assassin? cleric? ... a member of the Inquisition, who could be considered both or neither. But never mind the stereotypical pigeonholes - Abercrombie turns these archetypes on their ears and gives each of them tremendous depth.

The title refers to one of the two (so far) revealed rules of magic in this universe. The First Law is not to have direct contact with the "other side" - which is the plane of demons from which magic power springs. The Second Law is not to eat human flesh. Naturally, conflict occurs among the people who would seek to break these laws.

I won't reveal any more of the plot, but suffice to say that there is enough here to satisfy all of your appetites - individual battles, siege combat, magic, intrigue, politics, betrayal, love, death. Moreover, it is presented in a thoroughly readable and entertaining form.

And what more can you ask for?

Obama: now with less non-change!

Richardson bows out.

By the way, is it just me, or....

Geekdom

You may have noticed the nifty title (and title graphics!) to my blog. Well, I sure did – thinking of a title cost me half a day in starting this thing! I’m ashamed to admit how long the title banner took.

And so it is time to subject you, the reader, to an examination of each piece of the multiple-personality pie that will be this blog. I had planned to start with a Bull Moose segment, but my Geek muse caught hold of me today when I saw this:

That’s right – steampunk Flash. It just doesn’t get better than this! Geekdom comes in many flavors, but steampunk must rank among of Geekdom’s Universally Accepted Genres (UAG’s), along with space, ninjas, robots, pirates, superheroes, and monkeys.

[Note that any combination of UAG items is also inherently cool (or inherently geeky, as the terms are interchangeable). Thus, space ninjas, pirate monkeys, or especially robot ninja pirate monkeys are all concepts that will cause instant salivation among geek fanboys and fangirls.]

But steampunk really gets me – I love all things Victorian. Geeks owe a certain debt to the era – after all, science fiction (known as “scientific romances” at the time) has its earliest roots during the Victorian time period. I would be bereft in my duties as host if I didn’t recommend some of my favorites: the Miller and Walter translation of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (accept no other translation!), Gibson and Sterling’s The Difference Engine, Connie Willis’ To Say Nothing of the Dog (although you need to read predecessor Doomsday Book first), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and from television, "The Wild Wild West" and "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr."

But this – steampunk Flash – is simply awesome.

Now I don’t know much about netiquette, and I don’t plan to outright steal things very often, but I must credit Newsarama with pointing me to Sillof’s Workshop’s version of Gaslight Justice League! Check out the whole series – as well as his steampunk Star Wars sets and Star Wars: 1942 line. Great, great stuff.

I played City of Heroes for a good while, and my main hero was a super-speedster. I’d have given a lot to make him look like steampunk Flash!

So how am I a geek? Because I get excited about stuff like this.

A Blog

Ah, a blog. That’s what I need in my life.

Well, maybe so.

As I reflect upon 2008, I realize no other year has given me more reason to want to write. It was a year of profound change for me personally. I started the year a single, childless man; I ended it married and with a daughter. Change indeed.

Politically and economically, 2008 produced more to talk and think about than any other recent year that comes to mind. Not only was it an election year, but the worldwide economy went into the tank. A spike in oil prices made us think about real energy changes for the first time in a long time. Change, both real and perceived.

I spent most of this year oscillating between elation and anger, depending on whether my attention was focused on home or the headlines. I often wanted to share my thoughts, and had no outlet other than my wife (who no doubt tires of my rantings) and daughter (who is probably entertained, but does not appreciate the quality of my rantings since she is not yet 6 months old).

Hence, a blog.

I’ll likely be all over the place subject-wise. Sci-fi/fantasy. Gaming. Politics. Sports. Religion. Random crap.

Or, I’ll post this one time and forget about it. We shall see.

This post is more or less a test post and a short intro. More blog to follow...