Robin (Bridge Four)'s Reviews > Before They Are Hanged

4.5 With Characters Like These Who Worries About the Plot Stars

Buddy read with Athena, Alexa, Ashley, Eon, Anasylvia and Michelle

The Blade Itself was a complete character study without a lot of plot, Before They Are Hanged has a little more plotting involved but for me it was still all about the characters. I travelled with them, I worried for them, I hoped for the best even in the midst of the worst and at the end I’m left wondering how they will ever get out of the complete mess they are all in.

Glotka


Strange how, with time, even the most terrible suffering of others can become . . . tedious

Glotcka has proved again what a complex character he is. Is he the misunderstood hero or is he the villain? I’m never quite sure myself. He can torture better than anyone but still it seems that he has a conscience and I love the inner dialogue he has. I look forward to his chapters because even though in so many ways he is awful he is also extremely clever and knows the true score. He might be dead as soon as the other players in this dangerous game he is playing. If he can’t keep on the right side of the people in power he will be the body floating in the docks. So he plays his part of the game better than anyone else and proves that just because you are horribly crippled the mind is a dangerous thing and being smart will save your ass more than a solid sword arm.

Logen and Ferro + the rest of the travelers (Bayaz, Jazel, Quai and Longfoot)


I ship Logen and Ferro so hard. Both are fierce warriors with horrible pasts. Again we get to see Logen and the burden he has carried by having Ninefingers as a traveler in his head. Logen is calm, smart and collected. He hands out great advice and seems like the true leader of the pack. But when 'The Bloody Nine' comes out to play no one is safe, even his allies.

Ferro, I just want to hug you, but you’d probably slit my throat if I tried. Learning about her past made me feel so much for her character. She is a feral beast to be sure but I loved the time she and Logen spent together and how close they became.

Jazel surprisingly has grown on me, all it took was a near brush with death and some real pain to make the boy grow up a bit. He might be a decent person after all and it just make me wonder what is Bayaz grooming the boy for.

‘Easy, now, and listen to me. It hurts, yes. Seems like more than you can take, but it isn’t. You think you’re going to die, but you won’t. Listen to me, because I’ve been there, and I know. Each minute. Each hour. Each day, it gets better.’

Bayaz is still a huge mystery to me and everyone else he is traveling with so I guess it is only fair I’m in the dark about his character as well. It seems that Quai has started to question his master a little more and the First Magi must tell stories of his past in order to convince the group that he is prepared and will not make the same mistakes again.

“All the great heroes of old, you know - the great kings, the great generals - they all faced adversity from time to time.” Jezal looked up. He had almost forgotten that Bayaz was there. “Suffering is what gives a man strength, my boy, just as the steel most hammered turns out the hardest.”

Wow what a journey these characters had and I will say at the end of it I was beyond surprised with how it all turned out. With all they went through to get where they were going I didn’t expect the outcome and can’t wait to see what the band of brothers + Ferro will do now.

The Northmen and West


The Named men from the north have found a common ally against Bethod, but the crafty king has a lot of tricks up his sleeve and things might just get a little bloody.

”It was a bad day for men, all in all, and a good one for the ground. Always the way, after a battle. Only the ground wins.”

I was so upset with West at the end of The Blade Itself but seeing him in his new position and having to deal with the Prince and a few other circumstances I really began to like him again. He has practically redeemed himself to me and I honestly felt extremely bad for him at one point (view spoiler)[

She winced and stared down at the ground beside his feet. ‘I didn’t mean to . . . well. I owe you a lot, I know. It’s just that . . . you’re too angry for me. That’s all.’
West stared at her as she trudged off up the hill after the Northmen, hardly able to believe his ears. She was happy to bed that stinking savage, but he was too angry? It was so unfair he almost choked on his rage.

So no love for West yet. (hide spoiler)]

But I like West and the Named men together and it seems they have a lot to teach each other.

The Rest of the Story

There was a lot going on in this and at the end of it and well to be honest, it seems hopeless for everyone. The deck is definitely stacked against them all and I’m not sure how they will win let alone survive the upcoming battles. There are so many players, old debts to be settled, new terrifying adversaries how many more will die???



That said I still can’t wait to see how everything plays out and I am crossing my fingers and hoping that at least of few of my favorite characters, if not all, will make it out alive.

Buddy Read of the next book cannot come soon enough.