Common folk are flooding the the few cities that have jobs. Nobles are dividing up their properties and pushing common folk off their land. Previous wars have left the kingdom’s coffers bare resulting in higher taxes squeezing nobles. The peace has allowed the advancement of technology and the rise of mass production. Children of heroes are now grown adults, never having known the hardship their parents endured. A generation of relative peace has passed since the tumult of wars in the “First Law” books.

Magic seems to be even more scarce in an already low magic world. This trilogy is subtitled the Age of Madness and Abercrombie has advanced his civilization to where an industrial revolution is underway. He has also become a more balanced writer, the main protagonists are evenly split male and female, there are far more women throughout the book and particularly in positions of power than in previous works. Abercrombie is not a pretty writer but he is clever, funny, crafts excellent fight sequences, and this book is chock full of social commentary. The closest the story comes is that at one point it was implied to be about to happen off screen in the midst of an uprising. Despite the visceral brutality, there is no rape. Violence isn’t constant but when it happens, it’s grim. If grisly combat descriptions about splattering brain matter, limbs being hacked off, and gouts of dark blood, or the casual use of the word ‘cunt’ are problematic for you, then pass on these books. At author events he expressed that he thought it worked out well but isn’t eager to replicate the feat. It has been interesting following along with his writing adventures online. Once that was finished he shared about coming to a deal with his publisher to write all three volumes of his newest trilogy at once, and then release a book a year, so no waiting years between books! The impetus for the idea was so that by writing it all together, he could go backwards and forwards changing or updating as the story unfolded, and not have any awkward surprises while writing the third book, when it’s too late to change anything. A few years ago Abercrombie put out a YA fantasy series that I was overall disappointed with, excellent first book, second was okay, third was a big let down. But for whatever reason I never picked up the standalone volumes that occurred afterwards.

It was unlike any fantasy I had read up to that point and I tore through it. In the mid 2000’s I discovered Joe Abercrombie’s gritty and brutal “First Law Trilogy”. Isern-i-Phail – “One man’s mad is another’s remarkable” Savine dan Glotka – “One man’s mad is another’s perceptive”

A little hatred book 3