Character has almost always finished a distant second in epic fantasy: fantasy authors of the past have typically chosen to prioritize intricate, twisting plots and depth of setting over characterization.  Creating depth of character, therefore, often became a simple question of adapting existing archetypes and of attempting to conceal cliche. 

Joe Abercrombie, on the other hand, chooses character over plot.  The consequent effect is often a bit disconcerting: something in the back of the veteran epic fantasy reader's head is telling him stop, wait, there's something wrong here: things aren't proceeding as planned.  The cliches of epic fantasy are so ingrained in our heads that when an author strays from the formula, it immediately catches our attention.

Not that Joe Abercrombie is a stranger to formula or cliche; rather, he tends to take formulaic elements and give them his own cynical twist, especially when it comes to his characters.  The First Law trilogy has to this point been a veritable commentary on the state of the epic fantasy subgenre.  Combined with his own signature style of gritty realism, this makes reading a Joe Abercrombie book a singularly interesting experience, albeit one that sometimes makes you yearn for things to take a quicker, less examined pace.  That said, we decided it was finally time to review the second book in The First Law, Before They Are Hanged.