Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

Northmen have spilled over the border of Angland and are spreading fire and death across the frozen country. Crown Prince Ladisla is poised to drive them back and win undying glory. There is only one problem he commands the worst-armed, worst-trained, worst-led army in the world.

And Bayaz, the First of the Magi, is leading a party of bold adventurers on a perilous mission through the ruins of the past. The most hated woman in the South, the most feared man in the North, and the most selfish boy in the Union make a strange alliance, but a deadly one. They might even stand a chance of saving mankind from the Eaters if they didn t hate each other quite so much.

Ancient secrets will be uncovered. Bloody battles will be won and lost. Bitter enemies will be forgiven but not before they are hanged.

Average Customer Rating:

very good fantasy novel

Customer Rating:

Similar to the Fire and Ice series by George R R Martin (but on a far smaller scale) this series focuses on about 6 to 8 people fighting, scheming, torturing and killing their way through a fantastic sword and sorcery landscape. There are some humorous moments, but this is NOT a funny book. It is well written and totally engrossing and well worth the money if you enjoy fantasy novels. This second book sets up the climax and is as good as the first.

Going downhill

Customer Rating:

Well sadly I think it's all downhill from here. I love the writing and the characters are great, but I think the plot kind of sucks. There are a couple places that scream for a climax or action or an event of some magnitude and then nothing happens. It's like the Simpson's episode that is a satire of Lord of the Flies where the episode is ended with the narrator saying "And then they were all saved by... let's say, Moe". The book is full of great characters that don't reach their potential because of the story they are in. Also, the author has lifted scenes from movies like Excalibur and plopped them right down into the book. The parts with Logen are littered with dialogue out of Unforgiven. I am irritated now that I spent $40 on a trio of books (friggin tradepaperback format) where the author can't even come up with his own ideas.

A journey

Customer Rating:

Before They Are hanged (lower case "h" mistake on cover) continues the story of 6 rag tag individuals traveling to the end of the world. Great fight scenes continue, Joe Abercrombie describing the landscape like a Cormac McCarthy novel and the same humor we've come to expect. No substantial new characters. What this trilogy really needs is a map. "A good cook was almost as good as a fighter. Not Here. Bayaz could just about get his tea boiled, Quai could get a biscuit out of a box on a good day. Logen doubted Jezal would have known which way the pot went up and he reckoned Ferro was used to eating her food raw. Perhaps while it was still alive". The reason Bayaz assembled this group is explained somewhat during their journey (all except one) and the fight scenes in Aulcus are like a scene in the video game Gears of War. West is still frustrated about the group he's with and protecting the clueless Prince. Lord Marshall Burr and whole whole indigestion thing does get as tiring as Grim always saying nothing more than, "Uh". Quai is Bayaz' apprentice, but has less lines than the Navigator. Logen asks if anyone knows any stories while they're all together around the campfire and Quai tells a brutally depressing tale about feuding brothers and sommoning magic from the other side which is forbidden and ultimately destroys an entire civilization then asking Logen if he liked the story. "I'd been hoping for something with a few more laughs, but I'll take what's offered". Not much of the first book is *re-explained* so reading the first book is a must and for those who liked The Blade Itself, you won't be diappointed.

The best I've read in a looooong time	Customer Rating:
Mature, fantasy readers must read this. If you haven't read The First Law trilogy, go buy it. Now. Abercrombie has an amazing style, characters and plot development, and more importantly...the entire series doesn't have a single character or word more than it needs. Absolutely the best I've read, in any genre, for a long time.

The book deserves a 4 1/2 star rating BUT only gets a 2

Customer Rating:

This book was actually very well written--the best of the three in the trilogy; I enjoyed the inlay of humor even during serious scenes. The character development is flavorful in its variety--several good characters well developed and completely different than the next and these characters are brought to new places where you can see their personalities effected by their circumstances. I must admit the profanity got me down, I'm such a prude, and that's why I originally knocked it from a 5-star to a 4 1/2, but it got shanked down to a 2 because the last book of the trilogy was awful, simply awful. What do I mean awful? Five main plots/subplots and only one of them turned out worth the ink used on the paper, and that one was just okay, not great. Personally, I just hate it when a good story gets a lousy ending...ruins the whole thing for me...makes me sorry I bothered with the first two books even though they are pretty darn good. It was so bad, that it inspired me to write this review, and I don't usually write reviews. I'd go into details, but I hate spoilers worse than I hate horrible, HORRIBLE endings. But if you can get over a LAME ending to the trilogy, don't mind an f-word thrown here and there, a very explicit sex scene thrown in the mix (although I don't mind that, I know some do) then read this book, because by itself, it is good stuff, leaves you wanting more, so you'll buy book three and it will SERIOUSLY crap on your book reading experience just like it did mine.