The Age of Madness series – Joe Abercrombie
This one is a recommended read. This is another trilogy and includes “A Little Hatred”, “The Trouble With Peace”, and “The Wisdom of Crowds”. I picked this up because I happened to see the second book on an endcap and the cover caught my eye. I was luckily able to find the whole series at the used bookstore I was in, so I picked them all up.
The book is set in the country of Angland during a time violence and political unrest and upheaval. We follow a core set of characters as they navigate through war, political moves, and how their decisions shape their lives and impact their relationships with the people around them. This group includes the prince of Angland, a young warrior desperate for battlefield fame, a socialite and investor, a hillwoman (definitely magic) and her young charge who seems to be blessed or cursed with magic of her own, and sometimes more.
This book is definitely adult and not young adult, and there is a good amount of violence and sex in this book. Starting out, I wasn’t sure about it. Each chapter tends to switch to another characters story arc, and there was so much going on I had concerns that the story would feel disjointed. I was also concerned that it might get a little too focused on the violence. I’m so glad I kept reading.
First of all, the author did a fantastic job creating the setting and the world the books take place in. Second, his mastery of character writing is one of the most impressive I’ve read in a long time. For a book with so many characters as a focus, no one ever felt like an afterthought or like their story was lacking. Each character you feel like you come to know, and each decision, bad or good, intelligent or insane, felt on the mark for who they were. There also weren’t a lot of loose ends. They did a wonderful job connecting and closing out all the storylines they brought out, but there was also enough of a hint left to leave you thinking of the characters – to know that the end of the story isn’t really the end of the story. (I’d still read a sequel, but this didn’t leave me unsatisfied)
The depth of his characters and their growth through the series along with the way he ties in each thread that he slowly weaves stays engaging. You see an initial scene, and then as you learn more you’re able to see everything in a new light. It shows just how skewed perspective can be based on what we think we know, and how easily the truth can be spun.
For those who want a little more detail, I’ll have some light spoilers below, primarily in bits about each character:
Leo’s character arc was the most surprising to me. To be honest, I can’t honestly say that I every really liked him, but he’s arguably perhaps the main-main character, and seeing how all of the battles and life experience lead him to who he is at the end of the books is both is a journey. If you every needed a character to represent that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, Leo is that to me.
Stour Nightfall isn’t really a main character, but he is entwined with what happens for a lot of our other main characters. He’s a privileged, cocky asshole whose basically been given everything by his father and uncle, and as annoying as it is, he actually has the physical skills to back up a lot of his talk.
Prince Orso was probably one of my favorite characters. Entertaining and surprisingly self-aware, I couldn’t help but root for him most of the time. His assistant, Hildi, is also just as entertaining and I appreciated that she stayed a part of things. Hildi’s story arc overall might be my favorite, and I feel like I want at least a short story on her after everything.
Savine dan Glokta – Savine’s story had the most twists and turns to me. The only thing she has more of than money is ambition, and she isn’t keen to let anything stop her. Whip-smart and ruthless, she managed to surprise me plenty during the story.
Rikke – Probably my second favorite character. Rikke is charming in that she’s really the opposite of what you normally think of as charming. She says whatever she’s thinking without shame. I can’t lie – I rooted for her and Orso in these books. I won’t tell you whether or not that came true. She brings Isern-i-Phail into the story, first as a teacher and later more as an ally. She somehow managed to be very much like Savine and also completely different.
Clover was probably the last person I would have called a main character. I had moments where I loved him, and moments where, despite knowing what I should expect, I was shocked and hated him a bit. He’s out for himself, and he’s very honest about that. There’s no loyalty to anything but what will benefit him most, and he doesn’t feel the need to hide that.
The biggest reason this is a recommend for me is that it wasn’t just a great fantasy book with well written battles and a wonderfully crafted world. It definitely was that, but the attention to detail, the way everything tied together, and the care the author took in building up his characters into perfect examples of how our circumstances impact the people we grow into is one of the best, if not the best, that I’ve ever read. I’ve had characters I liked more, but rarely do I see books where there is the characters change this much, especially while making it seem organic to the story and not forced our out of character. The sheer breadth of growth and change that we see in the journey had me reading faster just to see how things would turn out and what would happen next. Not to mention, as you start to see how he shows you different perspectives of the events and who was involved and how, I found myself reading and re-reading to see what I’d possibly missed.
This is a longer, heavier read, so I don’t know that it’s something I’ll reach for often to re-read (not that I re-read anything super often), but it’s definitely earned a permanent place on my shelves.
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