The Wisdom of Crowds

Finally, the Age of Madness comes to an end! With civil war, revolution and bloody cunning, the world of the First Law is finally brought into a new era with The Wisdom of Crowds.

From the First Law wiki

Picking up almost immediately after the events of The Trouble With Peace we return to the Union in the aftermath of the pulse pounding events of the recent civil discord, only to find more civil discord awaits! King Orso has arrived home expecting his subjects to fete him as a hero, instead he finds a sullen population who seem to hate him more than ever. From political favorite to disgraced traitor, Leo dan Brock doesn't know whether he can expect execution or imprisonment. His wife, Savine dan Brock nee Glokta, is in much the same straights, waiting for the fates of her children to be decided.

In the far north Rikke of the Long Eye must now match wits with the cunning Black Calder, all while having to depend on the loyalty of the most disloyal man in the North, Jonas Clover.

Once again Abercrombie brings his dark and humorous take on the world to the fore, and he does it in a few surprising ways. Some uplifting, others very potently disturbing. There are revolutions, battles, and terrifying leaps of faith. Here we explore the darker side of national mass movements, and see a few familiar notes from history, and with some familiar sinister characters from the events of A Little Hatred.

In truth, much as I love Abercrombie, I came away both awed and a little disappointed by this book. It is still a stellar read which ties all the characters together, and explores the power of shared trauma and deadly political intrigue, but it seems to set up more subtle hints for the future than it does resolve major issues for the here trilogy as a whole. I did appreciate though, how well the characters grew and changed, and just how downright ruthless many of their actions became. It made for an amazing reversal of where so many started, and a very tragic end for some.

That being said, the reveals for the overarching mystery of this trilogy were amazing, and some of the final scenes left me slack jawed in how powerfully they were written! The twists must be read to be believed! It also gave a rather terrifying vision for the future of this story, and one I sincerely hope is eventually investigated!

A solid ending to a good trilogy. 

The Trouble With Peace

Having once again fallen into chaos, the Circle of the World returns to the Age of Madness as though the wars have been won for now, Joe Abercrombie shows us that an absence of conflict can be as much of a problem itself. This is indeed The Trouble With Peace.

Picking up almost directly after the end of A Little Hatred we once again join our new cast of characters in the world of the First Law. Leo dan Brock is basking in the victories he has achieved in the last novel, Savine dan Glokta is alternating between her life collapsing around her and making something of herself, Prince Orso is finding terrifying new responsibilities while feeling stuck in a moribund power structure, Rikke struggles with the Long Eye, Broad doesn't know whether he is a man of peace or war, Vick struggles with her role in the Union, and Clover is trying to stay alive beneath the capricious and violent shadow of Stour Nightfall. 

From goodreads.com

I admit to not quite knowing what to think going into this book. It raised the stakes in a way I hadn't seen used by Abercrombie before. He wasn't giving us any indication of an imminent war at the end of the last book, the status quo seemed to be god. Of course, by the end of the first third of the book that's all been thrown out the window as men's ambitions are never satiated!

This book was, compared to much of Abercrombie's other work, a sort of slow burn. The machinations of our protagonists built over time, and the results definitely took time to get to the payoff. The final act of this book though, was spectacular, but more on that in a moment.

Savine dan Glokta, Leo dan Brock, and Prince Orso arguably took center stage for this piece. They had the most view point issues by far, and over all, managed to drive the plot almost in spite of the presence of other characters. I do think that this series has, overall, shaped up to almost be about the main characters of Savine, Leo, Orso, and Rikke, with the others being more of a supporting cast to these four characters machinations.

That said, this book was the most political and bathed in conspiracy and backstabbing since arguably Last Argument of Kings and Best Served Cold, and it had many call outs to Best Served Cold which absolutely endeared it to me. Those two books contained some of Abercrombie's best pushes towards political backstabbing and personal vengeance, as well as amazing battle scenes. Though The Trouble With Peace is a lot less bloody than those two, it doesn't disappoint when it comes to battles or treachery. The slow burn plot does an excellent job of giving us reasons to root for both sides of the emerging battle lines, and it makes it quite impressive as the two factions end up coalescing around various characters, and the lengths each character is willing to go to because each character believes so firmly in their cause.

I believe that this book works well because A Little Hatred built up these characters so that we could care about them. That they now have competing ambitions in a time of peace makes it so much more tense as you get led along through conspiracy, webs of lies, and competing ideas and ambitions which pits these men directly against one another. It means that the stakes are very real, and as the book comes blazing towards its conclusion you get a number of shocks and feel real tension for our main characters as they come up against obstacles both on and off the field of battle. I won't spoil where that battle takes place, but boy does it take everything Abercrombie has built on since the last few installments and really make it shine.

The finale honestly blew me away. It combined some of Abercrombie's best work in writing well plotted violence, the tension he can create for both combatants and non-combatants, and the sheer pull of characters. He shows the push and pull of a battlefield in ways that, quite honestly, many people who write military fiction often fail to do. The ground pounders view to the commanders view lets you see the chaos, the violence, and the blood and mud. I loved that about his writing and anyone who loved his standalone The Heroes won't be disappointed by what he manages to craft here. Then the aftermath of the battle, and the actions of the victors, just adds an entirely new layer of excellence.

Personally, I don't feel this will become my favorite book of his. It takes much of what he does well and combines it, but I do think that some of the pacing felt off. The characters and their flawed actions were all very well executed, but I don't think it had the same stakes as say, Best Served Cold or Before They Are Hanged. While it is an excellent middle book, which reintroduces us to some of our favorite characters from the previous series, I did honestly think something was missing overall. Perhaps it was that the main four I highlighted felt like they received more attention so that the secondary characters all felt like a supporting cast where in A Little Hatred they played more central roles and had more agency. It also might be that I felt that a few of the revelations were not as well foreshadowed as they might have been.

All that being said, I sincerely enjoyed this book and roared right through it in a couple days. Fast paced and it never once drags and gives you a bit of everything you enjoy about Abercrombie. Characters are maimed, people claim the ashes of victory, and many new and scary revelations are brought to the forefront. It is just more proof that Abercrombie remains an excellent writer.

Best Served Cold

What happens when you combine Quintin Tarantino with Guy Gavriel Kay and Alexander Dumas? You get a low fantasy story of rip roaring revenge across a continent! We find these blended together in Joe Abercrombie's amazing Best Served Cold! This is hands down my absolute favorite book of Abercrombie's. I'm not exaggerating when I say it is possibly one of my favorite novels of all time either. 

From the First Law Wiki, Best Served Cold

I originally read this work back in the summer of 2017, and I immediately fell in love with it. By the time I had already read the First Law trilogy for the first time, and the book The Heroes so I happily jumped in to the events in this far off land of Styria. Naturally this is part of the 2020 re-read.

What is fabulous is that you don't necessarily have to know the First Law trilogy to read and enjoy this book. There's references to the former plot, the former cast (with one even showing up in the flesh) but the mentions are vague enough and with little real association to the former series that it really just serves as interesting background information to the story while informing readers well caught up on the meta-plot about things going on since the end of the original trilogy. It's nice and ambitious that way, but also won't turn off casual readers.

The new cast is largely fresh. We do have two characters we've seen before, namely Caul Shivers of the North and the infamous soldier of fortune Nicomo Cosca who was first introduced at the Siege of Dagoska in Before They Are Hanged. Both of them were sufficiently deep secondary characters they they manage to become wonderfully enmeshed in this story. 

Our main protagonist though is Monzcarro "Monza" Murcatto, Captain General of the Thousand Swords, the most feared mercenary company in all of Styria. She has fought her way to the top of the heap and is very determined to stay there. She's a new character, well actually mostly new. She's first mentioned offhandedly by Cosca in Before They Are Hanged as part of his backstory for how he fell from grace commanding the Thousand Swords. Betrayal runs deep in Styria after all. And sadly, that is precisely what happens to Monza. Despite having served loyally at the side of Grand Duke Orso of Talins for eight years, he fears her power and orders the murder of her and her brother Benna. Hurled off a mountain, crippled, and left for dead, Monza swears revenge on the seven men who were in the room when it happened.

She enlists the help of killers, mercenaries, poisoners and torturers to do this. First with Caul Shivers, and then with the numbers obsessed former prisoner the oddly named, taciturn Friendly. Padding out her merry band of assassins are the flame haired Shylo Vitari, and the preening, pseudo intellectual Master Poisoner Castor Morveer and his apprentice Day. Together they must kill seven of the most well guarded and powerful men in Styria in the middle of a war, or die trying.

The three main leads though, are Monza, Cosca, and Shivers. Shivers has set out to be a better man than what he was in the North, where he fought in wars and blood feuds. Unfortunately, he finds himself entangled in the mother of all blood feuds when Monza enlists his aid in killing her betrayers. Monza, who already had a dark reputation, has been twisted by her desire for revenge and looks at the world in a dark a cynical way. Cosca meanwhile, veers between being a genius or a madman who just loves to put himself in danger. Their different goals, becoming better, and seeking revenge, all play off one another as they attempt to change to either fit their circumstances or overcome them. Each one reaches new lows and soars to new heights. I'll leave to your imagination which that is before you read it.

At it's heart the story actually does have a pretty deep and complicated message on whether people can change, and whether revenge is worth it. As Monza leaves corpses piled up in her wake, she finds herself feeling very different, and it doesn't bring the dead back, but it makes her feel. The interplay of her conscience and that of Shivers, and Cosca's well...lack of one, is what makes this epic drama across a continent flow very smoothly and with a number of twists and turns in characters and circumstances which are deftly woven together needing to be seen to be believed.

Her foes are also interesting. Grand Duke Orso is playing for keeps across all of Styria, and that makes his role in this little drama all the more powerful. He is at the peak of his might, looking to make his sons rulers of a unified nation, and his subordinates and allies are no less powerful, but that doesn't mean their invulnerable. Our heroes, or villains depending on where you stand, go up against him and make it a very fun competition against great odds.

From the First Law Wiki, Styria

In fact, I think that the continent of Styria itself deserves to be seen as a character. It is a continent oft mentioned in the first trilogy, but never seen. Other than the land from which Grand Duke Orso and Queen Terez and a few minor characters, hail, it's only known for its wine, glass, treachery and mercenaries. If there's one thing which is not in short supply in Styria, it's treachery.

The continent has never been united, and it has been riven by the rivalries of the various city states. The greatest among them, Talins, Visserine, Ospria, and Sipani, having vied for position for centuries. In the current climate though, Talins has risen to be powerful enough to challenge them all for dominance, and in response Ospria and Visserine have declared an alliance with the other city states and formed the League of Eight to challenge the power of Talins. This has lead to the Years of Blood, two decades of continuous war. Steadily though, they've been ground down by Monza's military genius, and it seems Talins will reigns supreme over the whole continent with its first king ever.

These politics, and the changes in the world, are well woven into the plot. From comments on the old glory of Styria to commentary on printing presses, new inventions and new methods of war, the book deftly springs around any accusations of stagnation on the part of Circle of the World. Instead we find a very richly developed land in a renaissance fantasy which shows a changing world in terms of both technology and politics which our characters have to navigate. It's one which I hope more authors will follow.

I very much think that as a standalone book with a richly developed setting, characters, plots and motivations, it is hard to beat. I picked up many subtle details and plot points I missed in this reading, much like on my re-read of the original trilogy this year. It really made me love, revile, and revel in these characters and their story all the more.

Even if you don't think 'grim dark' fantasy is your thing, I would advise you to pick this one up and give it a try. Great story with a strong cast, and enough surprises that you definitely won't get bored!

Last Argument of Kings

At last I come to the final installment of the excellent First Law trilogy. We finally see how our 'heroes' end up, whether their quests were all in vain, or whether they can save themselves in one last bloody blaze of glory. In doing so can they actually become better people? But what you need to know is that debts are called in, war horns sound, and with fire and steel we come to the Last Argument of Kings!

From the First Law wiki

As the ending to a trilogy, I couldn't really ask for better. The characters have their important arcs wrapped up, the many mysteries which the series are, mostly, answered. The fact that it leaves us with an open ending for the future while bringing the main trilogy to a satisfying conclusion is part of what makes it such a stand out work. 

We have our main cast, Luthar, West, Glokta, Ferro, Logan and Dogman as they have survived war, treachery and pointless quests. Each has risen, or fallen, in the world and learned to take stock of their new surroundings. Some of that though is bloody difficult. And emphasis on bloody. I will endeavor to be brief to avoid any spoilers because this series really deserves to be read in full. Needless to say though, the quest in the west has ended, the Siege of Dagoska is over and the war in the North is still bleeding on! There's scores to settle across the Circle of the World.

The interesting highs that a few characters reach are well worth watching. It makes for some very, very satisfying turns of events. I quite enjoyed how the little things each book added up over time led to this fiery conclusion which worked so well. I liked the action, the tension, and the true pulse pounding terror I felt at parts of the story. No punches were pulled here.

Like any good author, Abercrombie severely raised the stakes across the entire trilogy, no less in the last acts of this story. Every time you thought he might have run out of surprises he throws more at you. I found myself being pleasantly (and unpleasantly) surprised at how the story ended up turning out. There were some betrayals I didn't see coming (or even remember before this re-read), a few fun twists, and some overall great scenes in both terms of action and revelations. The churning chaos behind the scenes is almost as fascinating as what we see on screen as the players begin stepping out of the shadows and various pieces begin to click together in your head.

Then of course he just doubles down on the action. The blood runs red in this piece, and I really felt the viscera flowing alongside the heroism and pointlessness of war here. It locked in a sense of powerlessness the powerful might feel at the top as well as showing how much a bird's eye view of events might not offer us as much control as we think. The great ending set piece battle really drove that home and I was amazed at how well Abercrombie orchestrated it.

Having finally reached the end of the trilogy, I couldn't be more satisfied with my re-read, and really recommend the events of the First Law trilogy to lovers of fantasy.

Before They Are Hanged

Having just re-read a fantastic story of The Blade Itself, I shortly jumped right back in to the First Law trilogy and attended an excellent meeting of characters Before They Are Hanged.

From the First Law wiki

This book is, in my humble opinion, a great companion piece to the second novel in the Song of Ice and Fire trilogy A Clash of Kings. There's sieges, intrigue, questing and politics, and it all comes together in a fantastic climax both disheartening and mysterious! Mild spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn't read The Blade Itself but I will attempt to keep it as spoiler free as possible.

Our story here picks up only shortly after the events of the first book. Led by Bayaz our heroes Logen, Ferro and Jezal all head for the edge of the Circle of the World to find a mysterious item to defeat the Prophet Khalul and his army of Eaters. Collem West marches with the Union Army to Angland to fight the invading armies of Bethod King of the Northmen, while the Dogman and his companions march south to link up with the Union, as the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Further south, Glokta travels to the city of Dagoska where the Gurkish Emperor, a servant of the Prophet, has set his sites on the southern most outpost of the Union, here he must hold the city or die trying, all while uncovering a conspiracy which very well may cost him his life!

The meat of this story is both the war in the North and Dagoska, and the quest undertaken at Bayaz's insistence in the west. It takes some of the standard tropes of fantasy and turns them well on their head. The most satisfactory story to me was that of Glokta in Dagoska, as his character remains my favorite in the series. The intrigues inside the besieged city and all the desperation of siege warfare with the need for provisions, repairing the defences and keeping the enemy out are well done. I thought the conclusion was a great surprise as well, and even on my second read through I was thrilled to discover that while I had missed some things on the first read through, I managed to find some great surprises in round two!

Meanwhile West and Dogman in the North follow the usual war story. There's great battles, running from the enemy, and even a bit of special forces style attacks on enemy scouts. The interaction with West, a Northerner turned Union man, and Dogman, a Northerner through and through, are always good for a laugh as you see their worldviews clashing so well. The action is just as visceral and intense as Abercrombie can deliver, and he manages the flow of large battles and small man on man action well. I never found myself confused as to what was going on nor did I feel like I had missed something in the text. It remains that Abercrombie writes some of the best action scenes in fiction.

The quest which transports our other three characters across the Old Empire to the edge of the world fills in the time between these two stories. It's a masterful example of a well done travelogue across a diverse landscape richly filled with danger and history, and studies in hardship and friendship between characters. Logen tries his best to befriend his companions and Luthar goes from a sniveling, self-centered coward to a fighter and someone who keeps trying to be a better person, though he backslides from time to time. Ferro tries to learn trust, and she tries really hard.

What I enjoyed on this read-through was that much of the greater lore of the world was expounded upon in great detail. The creation of magic, where all the fighting between Khalul and Bayaz originated, and the greater history of the world. On this re-read I was impressed on how much I had missed in the first read through which showed off Bayaz's long term plans and foreshadowed the events of the third book! Abercrombie really knows how to plot in advance.

Like I said above, this one pairs really nicely with A Clash of Kings and it has similar themes in politics and sieges which I just love to read about. The story is a wonderful sequel to the first and sets up the intrigues and epics of the conclusion of this trilogy! Join me next time when we dive into The Last Argument of Kings in a few months!

The Blade Itself

As part of my Great 2020 reread I'm returning to a series which I originally picked up way back in the 2010s, I can't remember exactly when, but was drawn to it by the TvTropes page. It promised me a delightfully twisted story of torturers, barbarians, mad wizards, cannibals and the moral grayness of war. I was not disappointed! I give you the First Law trilogy, starting with The Blade Itself! Thanks to Homer for the title!

From the First Law Wiki

Welcome to the Circle of the World, a place I have visited before. It is a world of mighty empires and kingdoms, shattered empires and emerging kingdoms. We start in the grim North, where Logen Ninefingers, The Bloody Nine, is fleeing from the bestial Shanka who want to make him a meal. After being ambushed, separated from his band of fellow warriors, and thrown from a cliff, he survives to seek out the advice of the spirits who guide him to the First of the Magi, Bayaz. What this old sage has need of in a bloody and brutally scarred barbarian like him he can't say for sure.

In the Union we see Captain Jezal dan Luthor who is busily training for The Contest, to win glory for himself. Vainglorious and selfish, Jezal is an officer in the Kings Own, the army that holds the disparate parts of the Union together. He fights for himself though and is happily vain and willing to do anything to advance his position. That is, until a chance meeting puts in in the path of the sister of his commoner superior Major Colleem West. Maybe Jezal has a heart after all.

Also in the Union, in the capital of Adua, Sand dan Glokta of His Majesties Inquisition, war hero, winner of The Contest himself, and former guest of the Emperor of Gurkhul is seeking answers to his questions. Thankfully, no one knows more of questions than him. As a guest of the Emperor he was brutally tortured, losing many of his teeth, the toes on one foot, and being cut, beaten and subject to some of the worst tortures imaginable. Now he must unravel a conspiracy which seems to go to the heart of the Union, and many powerful men want him to succeed or fail and that can be a matter of life and death.

Finally, far to the south, at the edge of the Gurkish Empire, Ferro Maljinn is seeking revenge. Revenge against the Emperor, revenge against his empire, revenge against the whole world. An escaped slave and a notorious bandit to boot, she is hunted by the ferocious warrior priests of the Prophet Khalul, the Eaters. She is saved by a mysterious old man named Yulwei, who declares he desires greater things from her than being a corpse. They head northwards, towards the Union.

These disreputable characters all meet in Adua where blood flows in the streets, corruption festers up from the halls of power, and an ancient feud boils into the open.

This starts off the simply superb First Law Trilogy, the story which brought Joe Abercrombie into mainstream fantasy. Since reading it, it has become one of my favorite series, and he is probably one of my favorite authors because of it. Since I did make some allusions to the newest novel, I would encourage those just discovering this series not to read that review first and to instead read these reviews upcoming.

What probably drew me into this series is that Abercrombie writes immensely flawed characters. They are vain, selfish, cowardly, and twisted people. They commit evil acts while trying to be better, or just for the hell of it. Hell, one of the view point characters is a torturer! But that does make these characters deeply interesting, as we can see our own flaws, shortcomings, and even cowardice reflected in them. I myself was swept away by Jezal's arc in this book where he goes from selfish fop, to a man trying to prove to himself that he can be a better person, all to win a girls heart.

Credit to teaxerz

Glokta though, is probably my favorite character. He begins as a self-piteous cripple who loathes the world around him, both for what he has become after his glory days, and a feeling of betrayal at friends who seem to have abandoned him. He also carried the meat of the intrigue plot on his back as with the death of the leader of the Closed Council, his boss, Arch Lector Sult, is jockeying for power with the disparate factions in the realm, and he means to come out on top, even if that means doing so on top of a pile of corpses. Glokta's included.

The infirmities Glokta labors under are interesting as well. Having been crippled from torture he is in constant pain, and must tread carefully lest he cause himself agony. Despite this, he has a keen mind and is very sharp in his observations. One could almost call his storyline a very grimdark noir detective piece. I deeply enjoyed it, and his POV's are probably my favorite throughout the books.

I think what sucked me in though was that while the story itself had a slow build, Abercrombie writes a surprisingly complex and deep backstory. He deftly weaves in discussions about the lore of the world, hints towards the future, and neatly lays out things that upon rereading I found myself shocked at how much he managed to telegraph with me not even guessing!

Then the little bits of writing he does, using simple words and capturing complex thoughts, and little actions. This impressed me as he uses an excellent conservation of language while imparting the maximum meaning of his words. I always come away feeling awed by his stories, and I really look forward to recapturing that feeling I had when I first picked up his books.

Finally, Joe Abercrombie writes action like no one else in the business. It is visceral, brutal, and you can practically feel blood flowing and bones crunching as the action scenes take place. He puts you right in the swinging fists and swords and you almost fear for your life when the steel comes out! If you need a good action scene, read Joe Abercrombie!

I'll be getting into the meat of this series with the sequel Before They Are Hanged soon, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy!

A Little Hatred

Once again we're looking at a book I have been excited for few months to read. Joe Abercrombie, perhaps best described as 'the Quentin Tarantino of fantasy' returns to his First Law world with the first installment of a wonderful new series. In the new book A Little Hatred, we kick off the Age of Madness!

Picking up thirty odd years after the original First Law trilogy, we are now viewing the world through the eyes of new characters, some the children of previous characters and others entirely new people populating this fascinating world! We have the self centered Crown Prince Orso, the unscrupulous daughter of the Grand Lector, Savine dan Glokta, an up and coming noble from the North in Angland, Leo dan Brock, daughter and potential witch Rikke, veteran and family man Broad, urchin and revolutionary Vick, and a named man of particular distinction working for the forces of the North, Clover.

This new cast has many connections to the old cast. Friends, children, and others who have come to the fore. They are in a new world, a new age. The chimneys of industry rise over the Union, the old Gurkish Empire is in shambles, and rising powers in the east and west, the Old Empire and the Kingdom of Styria, all strive to displace the Union as the foremost power of the world. But this is an unequal age, unrest is formenting in the Union as workers struggle to survive, the nobility is restless, and above all, war looms large in the North. All is restless in the Circle of the World.

Because I have not yet talked about the previous trilogy (which I will get around to reviewing in full in 2020) I will be making this review as spoiler free as possible. So no worries, I will not be giving anything away here. Pro-tip though, don't do what I did and go to the First Law Wiki and spoil some minor plot points!

For those familiar with the first trilogy (and the spin offs) you will be quite happy to know we come back to a world well versed in moral ambiguity and bloodshed. Some old faces are still around, some have gone back to the mud. You'll be quite happy if you've read all the books so far, and I can say without question that this keeps Abercrombie's signature style, as well as adding some whole new troubles and fun into the mix!

The cast is well rounded, and a particular new standout is Clover, something of a lazy, indolent layabout. He is new to this series, and he helps run Abercrombie's style from the moment he steps foot into the plot. To be clear, he is self-centered, amoral and very much willing to use violence to achieve his ends when absolutely necessary.

Each character has their own signature style and plot line, and they often intersect in quite interesting and often very surprising ways. I guarantee that readers will be kept guessing about the penultimate destinations (and fates) of so many of our 'heroes' to the very end of the story! Some people are genuinely heroic, others are wolves in sheep's clothing, and it is up to you to figure out which is which!

Blood soaks every page almost from the beginning of the story. It is so much more than that however, as complex stories about politics, economics, and even a smidge of philosophy gets thrown in. It is a fast paced read, with many twists and turns, and our cast will both surprise and horrify you to equal degree. If you aren't shocked and appalled at the end like I was, you really won't have been paying attention!

The themes of change and how it effects everyone are well addressed. On the cusp of an Industrial Revolution, much of the old order in the Union has been upended. The nobility still control much of the world, but are finding themselves squeezed by new taxes to pay for wars and industrialization. The working men are also squeezed by taxes, but greedy nobles and industrialists buy their land out and put them in miserable shanties to eke out a rough existence on the edge of death and poverty. What we read is almost Dickensian in nature, but it is still something just shy of the horrors and brutality of our own gilded age. Savine is a particular window into this world of squalor and nouveau riche mentality which keeps the wealth flowing upwards, and it is well examined all around. From the poor to the wealthy, things can go downhill quite quickly.

As usual, Abercrombie delivers on the action and the intrigue. Bayaz looms large over the plot, and you'll be happy to see he's back and just as bad. The story is well split with the characters, and even some with only a bit of screen time get fleshed out quite well in little asides that build the world and establish the madness of the times the characters are going through! The ending really does set us up for the sequels, and it makes me unable to wait for the next installments!

A definite must read for people who love the fantasy genre. It's an especially important read if you want to read dark fantasy done right. I love this author and I can't recommend him enough!