The Trouble with Peace

This is a tale of rebellion, full of scheming, deceit, trickery and bad faith, capped off with an epic and harrowing battle. It's not just the characters being manipulated - your sympathies will slide all over the place as you find yourself urging on someone who stands against the character you were rooting for just one chapter ago. No one is really good, no one is pure evil. They're all a cocktail of motives and emotions, expertly sketched by Abercrombie in a tale told with his trademark sharp dialogue and mordant observation.

Middle volumes can often feel a bit padded and ineffectual, as the big drama gets saved for the climax. Not the case here, as the last quarter builds to one of the grittiest, most widescreen, battles in recent fiction. The final sting in the tail leaves us poised on the edge of all kinds of upset...so frustrating to know the third and final book is already written, but we have to wait a year to read it. Bring it on!