The First Law trilogy - Joe Abercrombie
Earlier this year I decided to re-read all of Joe Abercrombie's novels in advance of reading the Age of Madness trilogy for the first time. This post collates my impressions of the original trilogy, which I re-read for the first time since they were initially published and reviews on Goodreads.
The Blade Itself
I can't remember when I first read this exactly, except that it was relatively new at the time and there was a lot of hype about it. I absolutely fell in love with it then, and have nothing but good memories of the series.
I also don't remember if I've ever re-read it. I was worried that it wouldn't hold up, but I'm delighted that it's still excellent. Great characters with distinct voices, incredible action sequences, a world that feels real and lived-in, and just enough of the politics to give us a sense of big, important stakes without ever getting bogged down or tedious. It's really a hell of an achievement and I'm very excited to reread the rest of them.
Before They Are Hanged
Equal to if not better than The Blade Itself, which is rare for the second book in a trilogy. The Blade Itself is fantastic but I felt like it largely exists to set up the world and the stakes. We don't see much character growth and the ending feels like a pause before the next chapter.
Before They Are Hanged takes everything that worked in The Blade Itself and makes it bigger and better. Now that we know the characters we get to watch them grow and change, we get to see the threats that were only hinted at in the first book realised, and we see much of what we've been working towards come to a head. This feels less like the middle book of a trilogy and more like the second half of the first novel.
Last Argument of Kings
A very good conclusion to the series, and it reaffirms my feeling that the First Law feels less like a trilogy than one large book split into three volumes.
This is the weakest of the three, which is a shame given that it's the conclusion, but it's still very good. Abercrombie is at his best when the scale is relatively small and personal. Last Argument Of Kings spends a lot of time in large pitched battles, and it suffers as a result of that. (This is also why I think The Heroes is my least favourite of his novels). The siege of Adua is really the climax of everything the series has been building towards, but I found it a bit of a slog to get through - especially coming straight off the back of the siege of the Hillfolk fort a few chapters earlier. Thankfully the final chapters post-siege put us back into the smaller, more personal space as we wrap up each character's individual stories, and the book ends solidly after a brief dip.
I remember being absolutely outraged by Logen's final moments when I first read this on release, but in hindsight I think the ending is both perfect and hilarious.