Play Book Tag discussion

A Little Hatred
by Joe Abercrombie
4 stars

Age of Madness #1

My biggest problem with this, and many epic fantasies, is that the entire trilogy (or whatever) has to be read. Otherwise this is interestingly atypical. There's a good half dozen major figures across the country(s) of this universe. There are some classic warriors trudging through the mud and fighting with swords for honor and glory. There is a woman wielding her beauty and intelligence to expand her power and wealth as technology advances business. There are workers whose jobs are being lost to those technologies while being taxed by the nobles and aren't going to take it anymore. There are government inquisitors with broad authority infiltrating and harshly stopping those uprisings. And there is a woman with the ability to see shadows of the future - her prophesy on page 1 is the setup for the entire series... and it became obvious about halfway through the novel we were only going to cover the first line or two in these several hundred pages.

Fans of epics should definitely read this - it's exciting, funny, full of fighting and sex. The world building leaves a bit to be desired if that is your thing (what is this Union?), but it is left behind in favor of the many, fully formed and unexpected characters.

Other than the prophesy there isn't magic and less technology than the plot summary (and even conversations in the novel itself) would suggest, but I think in future novels there will be more.

I love Aberbrombie-I finished book 5 in the series and am looking for space in the rotation so that I can make room for the next book. For sure an author every Epic fan should read