The Sharpen's is the opportunity to see the Kessel Run. It's, uh, it's just a delight. I don't know how you made it this year, Oliver. Yeah, I was, I was at Ann's Hall. Oh, you want some more? Hey guys, it's Leon and I'm here today to talk about Sharpen's by Jo Abber Crumpy. Sharpen's is the collection of short stories that take place in the world of the first law. And no, you cannot skip it. And no, you cannot read it first. No, you cannot read these books in any order of the then publication order. I said what I said. But Sharpen's is a delight to read if you have read all of the books that come before it in the world of the first law because this book delivers both new characters that you have not seen before in the world of the first law. They're totally new, brand new. But also has plenty of opportunities to see characters that you have met in the world of the first lot of other books in settings that you're not used to or seeing them do things that you heard about because it's part of their legend, part of their reputation, some event kind of like the Kessler Run that Han Solo's famous for having done or achieved or whatever. I've never seen the movie Solo, but I believe you see the Kessler Run in Solo, which makes sense. So the Sharpen's is the opportunity to see the Kessler Run for like all the characters that have one. So for example, is this for the reason to tell you? I don't think so. As we know, Glokta in the first law trilogy is heavy duty crippled because he was captured by the Gerkish and tortured as a prisoner of war. But you hear about how he was this like amazing fighter. He was a complete asshole, very cocky because he was handsome. So he had all the ladies all the time and he was a dick to all of them. And he had just an ego that was off the charts. And he was obviously extremely humbled by, well, it's humbled makes him sound like he's now super zen. I mean, he's just been brought low. And he frequently reflects upon how he used to have all these things. He used to be all these ways. And like, he's pretty self aware about being like, I was an asshole. Not that he's not still an asshole, but he's, yeah, he recognizes like how he definitely, if he met him, like if crippled Glokta had to encounter pre crippling Glokta, how much he would hate him. So, but all that to say into our bends, you get to see Glokta pre crippling back when he was the bee's knees, which is just, it's amazing to, it's not like it's the most amazing short story by itself. But because you know Glokta so well and you've heard so much about how what he used to be like, to actually see what he used to be like, it's just, it's just fun. And then you have Logan Ninefingers who, again, you've heard plenty about his reputation from before the events of the first law. So you get to see some of that in Sharpen's. There is, I always say this that like my example or my, the reason I give the example for a reason for why you have to have read the books that come before it is that in red country, there is something that going on in red country that is the reason that is, we have a short story in Sharpen's, is there a result of that? I, I don't know how to say it, it's not spoiler, is it? Spoiler, I don't think it's, I feel like I can say this, it's not very spoiler, because it's just insane, you know, like what happens. But anyway, so there's somebody in red country that is like writing down events. And so one of the short stories in Sharpen's is what he wrote down. That may not sound very interesting, but I promise you it is, especially if you listen to the audio book because this is once again read by Stephen Pacey, except for that story. That story is read by Joe Evercrombie. It's, it's just a delight. There are also characters that are brand new, that are doing things and interacting with things that are familiar, that makes sense. So they themselves are characters that you've heard of at all, or seen before, they're not like minor characters that are now thrusted at the spotlight, they're new, but they, they're paths crossed with characters that you have seen in other books. So the character that's familiar to isn't the focal point of the story, but they like pop in. And it's just, it's overall, it's just a good time if you enjoy the world of the first law, and you just want to like, keep up around and just experience little snippets of things going on in the world of the first law, be they before the events of the trilogy, actually the events of the trilogy, et cetera, et cetera. It's just, it's almost like fanfic, I guess. I've never really been a person to read fanfic. And I've never, other than the fanfic I read for a video that was first law fanfic, I've never actually, that I can recall, actually read fanfic. I don't think that I have. I feel like the enjoyment that people derive out of fanfic, like the reason fanfic exists, being that people just kind of like, want to see more of their favorite characters, just doing things. It doesn't have to be like a whole 300, 500, 700 page arc. It's just like, I want more snippets of scenes, opportunities for these characters to interact, or for two characters that never had the opportunity to interact, to finally see them interact. And it's just, I mean, it's written by JoEvroCromby, so it's not like the shitty, pale, attempted version. So it's just an opportunity to basically have the author say, oh, you want some more? It's like an encore, if that makes sense. Like, if you've gone to like a music performance, and you know, you want an encore, and it's like, okay, I could do you a few more. So that's what this kind of feels. Like, it feels like he's written all these long books, like The Trilogy, and then all these stand-elands that are very long and involved, and it's a whole plot arc. And Sharp Friends is like the encore. You're like, okay, like I can do you a few more. And it's just, it's great. It gives you the opportunity to see these little things that like, there isn't anywhere that they would necessarily fit in a larger book. There's nowhere that you could put this stuff that it would make sense to have it in a full book, but it's never the less fun to see it. It's great to see it, and we love to see it. I think my favorite short story is, that's hard. I mean, obviously the lock is my favorite character, so I mean, the first time I read this, I was the most excited about seeing Glokta, young, and it's still really fun to see. But I think I still drive the most just sheer enjoyment, just like, delight from the short story that is the one that do ever come to your reads that is inspired by, or like a spin-off of Red Country. You know, the Red Country is my least favorite book. But the short story in Sharp Friends is worth the time of reading Red Country for. I just, it's a good time. That's all I can say about this. Like, what else can you say about this? I mean, this might be my favorite short story collection that I've read in general, but it's helped by the fact that all of this does take place in the same world. So much short story collections, you have to like, you're introduced to a whole new setting, a situation in characters that you have to orient yourself in, and then get through the story, and then the whole, the next one is like, a completely new again. And it's very jarring and disorienting. And that's one of the reasons I don't like short story collections. But this has the benefit of all taking place in the world of the first law. So it's not like each one is jarringly, like, whole different world, different situation, different characters that you have to now figure out. It's all in the world of the first law. So it's just, there, it's great. It's, I didn't give it five stars because I just, I don't feel right giving someone like this five stars because it doesn't feel like it required as much of the author or of me as the reader as a full book that has taken me through this whole plot arc and this whole journey and this incredible character study. But even so, like, as I've said many, many times, Joa Bacombi's character work is what mainly shines in his books, his ability to write three dimensional characters that leap off the page. But once, so it's once again impressive that the characters that are brand new that aren't like Galactia young, the ones that you've, you're meeting for the very first time in sharp ends that in such a short period of time, he has once again managed to write fully fleshed out through dimensional characters that you're, that already feel like you know them probably as well as you know the characters that are from the full novels. And again, you cannot skip it because new information is told to you in sharp ends. It isn't all just like let's see Galactia young. There is new information that you need in order to read the neutral. Yes, you can read the neutral, do that reading anything else before. But why would you do that? Why did it is so much more interesting and so much more rewarding when you've read everything that came before it? Just why? Why would you? So I can't say too much more about sharp ends. It's just, it's great. It's short. If you like this world and you like his writing style, then you're gonna have a good time. So don't skip it. If you don't like this world and you don't like his writing style, I don't know how you made it this far. And you're thinking that you want to give his writing a go by just trying out sharp ends and seeing how you do with that before you read a full book. Don't do that because this won't make a whole heck of a lot of sense to you because you'll be like, okay, so this Galactia guy seems like a prequel to my care. You care because you ran the first laundry. So yeah, let me know in the comments down below if you've read sharp ends, if you like sharp ends, if you dislike sharp ends, if you went against every bit of advice that I would give you and you read this first or if you read it in some other kind of random spot in the order, like you read the latest self before they were hanged and then sharp ends and then back to last argument of kings. I mean, what? Why? So if you did that, feel free to let me know so that I can chastise you for it. Oh, whenever you want to let me know. I post videos on Saturdays, other random times as well, but I think Saturdays. So like and subscribe. Join my Patreon if you feel so inclined and I'll see you when I see you. Bye.