Joe Abercrombie’s best book is part of his book Age of Madness TrilogyThe follow-up saga to The first lawAnd it proves a truth about fantasy sequel series. I considered Joe Abercrombie The first law As the perfect replacement for A Song of Ice and Fire. It was the first fantasy series I found among my wait for The winds of winter Which took the morally ambiguous character elements I loved so much about George RR Martin’s world and handed them in, arguably even improving that aspect. There’s a reason Joe Abercrombie is Lord Grimdark, after all.
While I consider the original First law Trilogy, especially Last argument of kingsTo be near the top of Joe Abercrombie’s best books, I gave the number one position to The wisdom of crowds in my rank. Although Goodreads ratings deserve to be taken with a grain of salt, there is a reason that nearly 30,000 readers have given this novel a 4.6/5. Remember, this is one of the highest-rated books on the entire site. Apart from the individual successes of the novels, however, The Age of Madness Trilogy sets a precedent for fantasy sequel series In general.
Joe Abercrombie’s best book proves that fantasy sequel series can work when it’s right
Not many fantasy worlds pull off the time jump
Taking a beloved series and trying to replicate its success with a sequel series is a daunting task. This is not the same degree of risk as writing a sequel book, which would involve the same characters and the same plot, but rather take the world of the original and expand it into a new era. I have found that the series often succumbs to the same pitfalls, in this Either they rely too heavily on the legwork of the original books and just end up being supplementary material or that I end up not liking the changes in aesthetic Or any of the new characters.
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To give an example in popular imagination, I love Brandon Sanderson Mistborn series and its cosmic universe in general, but the Wax & Wine Follow-up books didn’t really do it for me, and I found myself reading through them mostly for references to the original trilogy. Of course, there are other popular examples of these successes, but none feels as notable as what Joe Abercrombie manages to do with his. First law World.
Why the Age of Madness Trilogy is such an impressive follow-up to The First Law
Joe Abercrombie demonstrates a mastery of his world and the grimdark subgenre
The Age of Madness Executes the time jump between the trilogies perfectly, resuming the story decades later. Importantly, 28 years is long enough for the world to have changed, but there are still many familiar faces. I found the original characters exciting to see return at first, but it wasn’t long before I found myself more interested in the new generation. It never felt like the newcomers were overshadowed by the weight of the original trilogy but rather elevated by Joe Abercrombie’s continuously developing mastery of The first law World.