Joe Abercrombie
Where Joe Abercrombie is concerned, it seems that I may have been a little late to the party. I also snuck over the back fence, by reading his later trilogy first. Rather than reading The First Law Trilogy when it hit the shelves in 2006 (a full 6 years before the Shattered Sea Trilogy first appeared), I stumbled across the latter books first. That may sound unlikely given the popularity of The First Law books, but Tomeopathy has been in hibernation for much of the last 15 years.
Joe Abercrombie is very much an exponent of the recent trend for morally ambiguous fantasy which has sprung up following the success of Game of Thrones. Whilst not as expansive as Game of Thrones, The First Law follows a similar multi-perspective style with interweaving and overlapping storylines. The characters can be callous and calculating, with very few easily identifiable ‘heroes’, positive behaviour is present but rarely sustained. Despite this the major characters of the First Law trilogy never become completely repulsive, flawed yes but not irredeemably so. The characters develop as their stories unfolds, some of them become more likeable, others less so, they react believably to circumstances and the motives behind their actions are clear, if not always agreeable. It is easy to identify with characters as their best intentions go awry, or unspoken actions are misinterpreted, I recognise behaviour and reactions in most of the cast that I could easily attribute to myself at my most insecure or petulant (I’d point out here that there are obviously various degrees of feelings, where a character in the novels might respond to an insult by splitting open a skull, I would attempt a withering retort, it’s nothing like as serious but it’s on the same spectrum). There are points in the story, when the characters are removed from the circumstances that have shaped them, it’s possible to see a different side to them, the effects of changing circumstances is also reflected in later actions.
In the World of the First Law, as it’s now known, Abercrombie has created a realistic setting complete with various countries, religions and competing political factions. It is a brutal and harsh environment but all the more believable for it, the background material is plausible, magic such as it is occurs infrequently and for the most part there are consequences for the wielder. At no point in the trilogy does the narrative feel forced or contrived, there is no playing for time or unrealistic tension building while characters recover from selective amnesia. In short for fans of George RR Martin, Glen Cook or other ‘gritty’ fantasy series, the World of the First Law would be highly recommended.
The Shattered Sea Trilogy is quite tame by comparison to its big brother, understandably so as it is directed at a slightly younger, mid to late teen audience. That said it retains a lot of the darker elements of the First Law, characters cannot be taken at face value and the world is still a relatively barbarous setting, Hogwarts it isn’t. Events take place around the titular Shattered Sea and while the earlier novels followed multiple characters, this trilogy focuses on Yarvi, the physically impaired heir to the throne of Gettland. There are other perspectives from book two onwards but these characters are largely in the thrall of Yarvi’s own story. Once again the author has built a perfectly feasible world in which the story can unfold, additional characters are fleshed out to the level required. Religion plays a large role in the governing of the countries of the Shattered Sea, and therefore provides large portions of the plot and numerous antagonists. The Shattered Sea Trilogy would be a suitable introduction to Abercrombie for those used to more sedate fantasy offerings, for those finding that Harry Potter is a little genteel or for those who’ve come late to the genre and aren’t yet ready to commit to some of the longer series out there.
For a moment then I thought I’d made it through that whole post without using the word, gritty, I was going to give myself a pat on the back but then realised I had. It’s in inverted commas though so I think that basically makes it invisible.
P.S. in apropos of nothing, now that I’ve finally gotten around to reading these books it struck me that Abercrombie has a limited stable of actors in his imagination, there’s a physically disabled schemer (Glokta/Yarvi), a firebrand female warrior (Ferro/Thorn), a hulking barbarian with strong spiritual leanings (Crummock-I-Phail/Grom Gil Gorm), a good looking but ineffective warrior (Jezal/Brand) and a grizzled, bloody minded fighter caught in their own reputation (Logen/Uthil). Character similarities are somewhat inevitable in the fantasy genre, but I still found it surprising just how many parallels I was able to draw between two trilogies from one of the more highly respected fantasy authors. Doesn’t stop them both being good reads though.