Book · 2006
The Blade Itself
by Joe Abercrombie
Nine-Fingers the barbarian just wants to survive one more winter, but a torturer's investigation and a prince's war have other plans.
What does Reddit think of The Blade Itself?
The Blade Itself pulls almost all of its 3210 tracked mentions from r/Fantasy (2347), with r/suggestmeabook (524) and r/printSF (339) trailing well behind. That imbalance matters: printSF's presence is thin enough that the book's reputation as a crossover pick for science-fiction readers looks more asserted than proven. Inside r/Fantasy itself, the recurring threads aren't really debates about plot. One 896-upvote thread just asks when Abercrombie will continue the First Law world, seven years on. Another, at 614 upvotes, praises the sex scenes for being treated as mundane rather than a cosmic set piece, and pointedly contrasts that with "whatever Rothfuss did." Nine-Fingers gets singled out, at 497 upvotes, for being ugly and unglamorous rather than heroic. The Blacktongue Thief comes up as a natural next read for the same grim, dialogue-heavy register. Yearly counts run flat: 462 in 2019, 489 in 2025. Interest has held steady for seven years without accelerating.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · grim, unglamorous violence played straight
- · sex scenes written as mundane rather than dramatic
- · fan demand for a series continuation
- · dialogue-driven, character-first fantasy
Common praise
- + Redditors quote Nine-Fingers as 'scary big and ugly, often with poor hygiene,' and treat that as the whole appeal.
- + The 614-upvote thread credits Abercrombie for playing sex scenes as a fact of life instead of a cosmic set piece.
- + An 896-upvote r/Fantasy post still asks when the First Law world gets a continuation, seven years after the last quote logged.
- + Commenters pair it with The Blacktongue Thief when someone wants the same grim, dialogue-driven register.
Common criticism
- − r/printSF logs only 339 mentions against r/Fantasy's 2347, so the science-fiction crossover reputation looks asserted more than demonstrated.
- − The strongest praise keeps measuring Abercrombie against other authors, Rothfuss on sex scenes and Sanderson on plotting, rather than describing his prose on its own terms.
- − Yearly mentions have gone nowhere in seven years: 462 in 2019, 489 in 2025.
Who it's for
Pick this up if grimdark violence needs to look ugly rather than cinematic; Nine-Fingers is the test case for that. Fans already sold on Sanderson's plot machinery will find a different gear here, slower, meaner, more interested in dialogue than magic systems. If The Blacktongue Thief already worked for you, the fit is closer than the genre labels suggest. Those hoping for a hard science-fiction crossover should temper expectations, since r/printSF's numbers say that audience is small. And if you're already in the r/Fantasy threads asking when Abercrombie returns to this world, you don't need convincing; you're the built-in audience the mention counts describe.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for The Blade Itself?
Top-upvoted quotes across the subreddits where this book is mentioned. Click through to read the full thread.
“When if ever can we expect a continuation of the first law? Sorely missing it currently and debating a re read!
“Yeah, Sanderson has his lane and he's not really changing. Nor should he. He is what he is, and he's there for when you want that. It's been wildly successful for him. Approachable, fun, structured stories. The "MCU" of the genre is such a great comparison. You'll have tons of people wishing it cou…
“For me, too many authors treat sex as some earth-stopping cosmic breakthrough. It just comes off as too much. And then there is whatever Rothfuss did. But I actually enjoyed the sex scenes in The First Law world. Abercrombie treats sex scenes as a fact of life, as it should be.
“"Better to do it than live with the fear of it." From the First Law series.
“Sanderson always gets hyped for his magic systems, but his portrayal of three different forms of mental illness throughout the **Stormlight** is really freaking well done. **First Law** actually has really great (if subtle) lore and worldbuilding, IMO.
“In Joe Abercrombie’s First Law series Nine-Fingers is scary big and ugly, often with poor hygiene according to well bred city folk.
“Sanderson is a widely prolific author, but character work is NOT the reason why. His characters are above-average interesting, but nothing more. What he excels at is plot-driven narratives (in opposition to character-driven narratives). As others have said, one great author for character work is J…
“Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy and subsequent books. Very character and dialogue driven. Very grounded and gritty. Grim and hilarious and poignant. Christopher Beuhlman's The Blacktongue Thief. This one will likely be up your alley as well for similar reasons. I fell in love with this book…
Convinced? Pick up The Blade Itself
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The Blade Itself — frequently asked
Is The Blade Itself just Joe Abercrombie doing Game of Thrones grit?+
Not really. r/Fantasy's top threads don't reach for the GRRM comparison at all in this sample; the recurring one is Christopher Buehlman's The Blacktongue Thief, cited for the same dialogue-heavy, grim-but-funny register. The 896-upvote thread asking about a continuation, and the 497-upvote Nine-Fingers quote, both point to character voice as the draw, not a political-intrigue plot engine.
Does Reddit think The Blade Itself is worth continuing as a series?+
Yes, emphatically. The single highest-upvoted quote in the dataset (896 upvotes on r/Fantasy) is someone asking when a continuation is coming and admitting they're 'debating a re-read' in the meantime. That's the top-ranked comment out of 3210 tracked mentions, which suggests appetite for more outweighs any fatigue with the world.
Are the sex scenes in The Blade Itself worth the discourse?+
Depends who's asking. A 614-upvote r/Fantasy comment credits Abercrombie for treating sex as ordinary rather than dramatic, then contrasts that directly with 'whatever Rothfuss did.' The thread defends Abercrombie's approach against a genre-wide habit of treating sex as a plot event, without pointing to any specific complaint about this book.
Is The Blade Itself popular outside r/Fantasy?+
Barely. Of 3210 total mentions, 2347 sit in r/Fantasy alone; r/suggestmeabook adds 524 and r/printSF just 339. The book's discourse is overwhelmingly a r/Fantasy phenomenon, with the science-fiction-adjacent r/printSF crowd showing comparatively little engagement over the tracked seven years. That imbalance makes any claim of broad crossover appeal harder to support than its reputation within fantasy circles.