The Trouble with Peace

Executive Summary: I struggled with this one at times, but ultimately found it as enjoyable as I probably could in the year 2020.Audiobook: Steven Pacey does his usual excellent job. Not all of the American Abercrombie books have had him as a narrator, but I was happy to see him used for this series. He does some voices and generally just reads in a way that gives the audio that extra something for me.Full ReviewI've largely been avoiding darker stories this year because there is enough darkness going on. So I didn't jump on this one right away given Mr. Abercrombie's tendency towards dark fantasy.There were parts of the book I found a bit slow. In particular, he used a literary style or technique in this book (not sure of the correct way to describe it) that I first encountered in [b:The Heroes 9300768 The Heroes (First Law World, #5) Joe Abercrombie https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1375671200l/9300768.SY75.jpg 12879765]. I'm not sure if the novelty of it wore off, or if I generally cared less this time around but I found it kind of dragged a little by comparison.Much like his other books it can be difficult to have anyone to root for, since most of the characters tend to be pretty self-serving. If anything I'm rooting for Rikke, and I found her part of the story pretty enjoyable.Overall this was a solid entry in this series, and I'm looking forward to reading the next one. Hopefully the world is a lot less dark by the time it comes out.