There are few fantasy series more frustrating than George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice And Fire. The book series, which was adapted into Game of Thrones, remains one of the great fantasy epics of the 21st century, but it's still annoyingly incomplete. The prospect of actually seeing the final installments of the story looks increasingly unlikely, but fortunately for frustrated readers, there is another option that might just scratch the itch left behind by Winds of Winter or House of the Dragon.
Joe Abercrombie's First Law series has much of what made Game of Thrones so compelling: sprawling political intrigue, colorful characters, brutal violence, a blend of fantasy tropes and cynical realism, and a gleeful tendency to pull the rug out from under the reader. Abercrombie takes the grimdark ball and runs with it, resulting in a series of novels that are arguably even darker than Game of Thrones. And, given that Abercrombie's series has a proper conclusion, it's a perfect fit for fans of Martin's works.
The original First Law trilogy consists of three novels, beginning with The Blade Itself and followed by Before They Are Hanged and The Last Argument of Kings. The books track a number of protagonists who initially seem to have been plucked straight from the fantasy fiction glossary:
But the First Law trilogy isn't your run-of-the-mill fantasy story, and no sooner has Abercrombie established these characters that he starts pulling these archetypes apart. Ninefingers, whose blackouts cause him to wreak havoc on all those around him, is nowhere near as noble as he initially appears, and he's often compared to The Hound for his brutal violence and internal conflict. The arrogant Jezal is hopelessly inadequate when faced with a decent adversary, and jovial old Bayaz is considerably less benevolent than his kindly demeanor suggests, with his calculated nature feeling reminiscent of Littlefinger.
Glokta is Abercrombie's most indelible creation. Once a celebrated swordsman, he was captured by the enemy and tortured until he is barely recognizable to those who once knew him. He is a grotesque figure; his every movement brings intense pain, his teeth have been filed down to make eating impossible, and his greatest enemy is the staircase outside his quarters. Yet he is also a brilliant investigator and political operator, and despite being deeply unpleasant, we can't help rooting for him due to his underdog status, which he retains even as he rises up the political ranks.
This makes him more than a little reminiscent of Game of Thrones' breakout character Tyrion Lannister. Like Tyrion, Glokta possesses a morbid sense of humor, with the repeated refrain of "body found floating by the docks" constantly drifting through his thoughts, while his investigations during the Siege of Dagoska are reminiscent of Tyrion's tenure as Hand of The King. All the main characters have just as rich a backstory though, and the way Abercrombie methodically deconstructs the characters we expect is always incredibly rewarding. Just like in Game of Thrones, nobody is quite what they appear.
It's become a bit of a pejorative term now to claim that something subverts expectations. Rightly or wrongly, it's gained the reputation of referring solely to moments that feel like a cheat. Early moments in Game of Thrones that subverted expectations still retain their power (Ned's execution, the Red Wedding, the Mountain vs the Viper), but later scenes relied purely on shock value, and the result was often a tiresome experience. On the other hand, Abercrombie's books don't just flip expectations on a whim.
The author interrogates these character archetypes, and the subversive nature of the novels rarely feels like being shocking for the sake of it; instead, the genuine surprises come from the complex characterization. What really helps the First Law trilogy stand out is what happens at the close of the first trilogy. Rather than immediately launching into another saga, Abercrombie wrote three standalone novels, all set in the same world, generally featuring a background character from the main series as a point of view character.
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