26th October 2025 - The First Law Book Series
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The First Law is a trilogy of books by Joe Abercrombie. They are set 
in a fantasy world where there is feudal state in the middle, vaguely 
Arabian sultanate to the south, former empire to the east/west (I 
forget which), industrial place in the opposite direction and then a 
wild northern realm filled with wild men to the north. There is not 
much originality in this map but hey, it works. It is easy to follow 
without someone drawing it all out. There is magic but it is 
dwindling. There was a time where there was no seperation between the 
demon realms and human realms. Magic was rife at this time. However, 
since the seperation, the magic has reduced. In terms of technology, 
this world is at the start of gun powder appearing in one realm. Think 
1400/1500s.

The series follows a group of people from different realms. We have 
Logan, a north man fugitive who has been seperated from his gang and 
so tries to reach some form of civilisation. We also meet Glotka, an 
unfortunate chap who was a dashing officer in the army but was 
captured and tortured. This torture broke him and turned him into this 
gurning cripple who is in constant pain. We first meet him as he faces 
his usual nemesis - stairs. This makes the reader sympathise until 
they realise what Glotka is descending the stairs to do - torture. He 
is part of the inquisition and spends his time overseeing the torture 
of others, using his first hand experience. We also follow Jezal dan 
Luthar, a cocky officer in the Union army who fancies himself. 

To go further would ruin far too much. There are many characters and 
the books typically focus a chapter on each of these 3 at a time. 
Their stories are weaved together in ways which keep you turning the 
page. 

Joe Abercrombie has a way of writing which just appeals. These are 
long books but the narrative keeps you wanting to keep reading. I 
think the pace of the reveals within the book are perfectly paced. 
Some are not surprising. Of course, it is fantasy and there are tropes 
for a reason. However, the way these things happen are often 
interesting at the very least. 

This is a series which I discovered by accident. Parade du Grotesque 
on Mastodon (paradegrotesque@mastodon.sdf.org) posted about reading a 
book by Joe Abercrombie which seemed interesting and so I went to find 
out more. I discovered this series was the first which he released and 
so decided to give it a go. I am very grateful for this as it has been 
a refreshing change of pace from my usual crime or spy related books 
of choice. 

Do yourself a favour as the dark nights draw in. Pick up "The Blade 
Itself" and be prepared to get "Before They Are Hanged" and "Last 
Argument of Kings" before too long.