The Wisdom of Crowds

Abercrombie turns grim dark dial to eleven

Starts off very strong and intriguing right after the ending of The Trouble with Peace, but then slows down after a few chapters to create a setup in a new situation. And for a long time you just wonder what will the characters do, how will they survive?

Say one thing for Joe Abercrombie, say he knows how to write chaos…

The plot takes so many twists and turns and we get a couple of very epic battles with stakes higher than ever before. And it’s really surprising and amazing that characters continue to change even after a half of the book which is almost the end of the whole trilogy.

Also that open ending is so much more intriguing than The Last Argument of Kings.

Can’t wait for the next First Law book!

People who know me know that I am a massive Abercrombie fan. His Third Law world ticks all the boxes for me - the grittiness of grimdark, a wonderful cast of characters and dark, cynical sense of humour. This world has evolved from the more classical fantasy settings of the earlier books to a world of industry in this latest series and the parallels it draws to the French Revolution and Industrialization of Europe are fascinating. This is fantasy based on real world events that have transferred to a fantastical setting.

The Age of Madness has evolved from the initial Luddite style anti-progressive rumblings of the first novel into a full on revolution at the start of this. King Orso's victory is short lived as he stumbles straight into revolution as the Breaker's and the Burner's take charge. We continue to follow Savine, Leo and Rikke as they navigate this new order, with Savine and Leo learning to survive the revolutionaries and Rikke learning how to control the North.

The strength of Abercrombie is really in his characters. They are all flawed, all somewhat Machiavellian. You end up both liking and despising them at the same time. The growth in the characters over the series arc is impressive as well - the naivety has definitely worn off and these are some clever, scheming and morally ambiguous people. Abercrombie's world has no room for shining paragons of virtue. It gives it all a gritty reality that belies its fantasy setting

6 stars!
Seriously, I need to reevaluate my rating system in order to do justice to this book.

I've been looking forward to the conclusion of The Age of Madness all year and by the dead, Joe Abercrombie did not disappoint. The characterization and dialogue are off the charts. It's been quite the emotional and intellectual ride. I miss it already.