/lit/ - Literature

>>16353687
A Little Hatred, The Age of Madness #1 / First Law World #8 - Joe Abercrombie (2019)
While it's not required to have read the original trilogy or the standalone books before you read this, I think it would be rather silly to not have done so. The book starts around 28 years following the conclusion of the trilogy, so if you were expecting a direct continuation of the trilogy, that isn't what this is. It's not a continuation of the intervening books either. Even without the time skip, this would probably be less of a thematic continuation as well than some may be expecting.
By comparison to the original trilogy, this book has more political relevance to contemporary events. There are concerns about automation, working conditions, protests, inequality, inadequate political representation, non-white immigration into predominately white locales, and other matters of contention. I was reminded that one person's schadenfreude is another person's gratuitous misery porn, so political inclinations may play a greater role in enjoyment than with the previous books, if only because they are more resonant with our modern times.
As with all the previous Abercrombie books the characters eschew the traditional conventions of fantasy morality and regularly do rather atrocious and deviant acts to and with each other. Though, if my recent reading is any indication, this may be more the new standard rather than an outlier. Books that are populated with characters that are paragons of good and evil tend to be less exciting and amusing for me, so I appreciate it when they aren't.
Almost every viewpoint character is the child of a character from the previous trilogy, so there's a definite emphasis on legacy of the previous trilogy. Some may be concerned that as a result, among other reasons, that the trilogy may remain in the shadow of the previous trilogy, but that may be a premature conclusion. I'll withhold judgement on that matter until the trilogy is finished as I don't think it's worthwhile to compare the entirety of one trilogy to the beginning of another.
The next two books seem like they will be about extreme social upheaval where all traditions, the old ways and the old guard, are swept away by the tides of change well before they were ready. All that remains will be have been transfigured into Modernity. I expect to enjoy it. Others who believe we're undergoing excessive social upheaval ourselves may find it to be too much.
Rating: 4/5