I've heard the phrase, "The book felt like a prologue." I don't think any book I've ever read has quite felt as much like a prologue to a larger story as The Blade Itself felt like to the larger First Law World.

It didn't feel like anything significant happened, just set up for other future novels. A larger world was hinted at but never explored.

However, the deciding factor and the main reason I enjoyed this book were the characters, each of them was interesting, and that interest started ramping up when they began interacting with each other.

Anyways this book was good, started slow, but the brilliant characters carried. If this is the worst the series offers, then I'm all in