Nick
I recently binged all of Neal Asher's Polity universe, and I must say I was very pleased to return to the familiar cast of Cormac, The Brass Bastard, Arach, the Black AI, and Blite. I definitely felt like that story hadn't been told through yet. This is an entertaining and pretty break-neck adventure told from just enough viewpoints to keep things interesting, but not so many as to be confusing.
The biggest thing holding it back for me is that Asher wrote some books that take place far in the narrative future many years ago, and has more recent books which predate those narratively. I feel that he's introduced some inconsistencies and plot holes that get a bit hand-waved over. Nothing egregious, but keeps the book and the series from being among the best for me personally.
It's hard to review this book on its own, The First Law trilogy is truly a trilogy. Abercrombie has created a very interesting world here, and he sets up some even more interesting characters faced with some interesting challenges. If I hadn't read the trilogy back-to-back-to-back I would have been disappointed with this first book, though, as the characters never amount to much and events aren't wrapped up.
Having read the full trilogy, however, I can highly recommend it as a whole.
What could I say that hasn't been said before. An absolute classic, and anyone who enjoys fantasy and science fiction must have this one on their list.
A great series, if a bit elementary. Dragonlance was basically my introduction to epic, sprawling fantasy novels, and it holds a special place in my heart. I highly recommend anything written by Margaret Weis.