Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.
For this week’s edition of Waiting on Wednesday, I check out what has to be one of the most anticipated upcoming fantasy novels of 2019, A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie. A Little Hatred will be the first book in the new The Age of Madness trilogy, which will follow up Abercrombie’s iconic grimdark fantasy trilogy, The First Law trilogy.
The First Law trilogy, released between 2006 and 2008, was an epic trilogy that has long been considered the gold standard of the grimdark fantasy genre. Featuring several memorable but incredibly flawed main characters, this trilogy was an outstanding piece of fantasy fiction that featured some truly dark moments, including brutal deaths, numerous torture sequences, berserk rages and magical cannibals. Since the original trilogy’s end, Abercrombie has expanded out his fantasy universe with three standalone novels, Best Served Cold, The Heroes and Red Country, all of which were set after the events of The First Law trilogy and featured a number of characters from the original books.
I only got into The First Law trilogy a few years ago, but I found myself quite enjoying this outstanding grimdark adventure and the excellent characters that Abercrombie created. The First Law trilogy is very unique, and I am quite intrigued to see how the author will continue his work. The Age of Madness trilogy will be set nearly 30 years after the events of The First Law trilogy, and will apparently follow several new characters, including the children of some of the characters from the previous books.
Goodreads Synopsis:
The chimneys of industry rise over Adua and the world seethes with new opportunities. But old scores run deep as ever.
On the blood-soaked borders of Angland, Leo dan Brock struggles to win fame on the battlefield, and defeat the marauding armies of Stour Nightfall. He hopes for help from the crown. But King Jezal’s son, the feckless Prince Orso, is a man who specialises in disappointments.
Savine dan Glokta – socialite, investor, and daughter of the most feared man in the Union – plans to claw her way to the top of the slag-heap of society by any means necessary. But the slums boil over with a rage that all the money in the world cannot control.
The age of the machine dawns, but the age of magic refuses to die. With the help of the mad hillwoman Isern-i-Phail, Rikke struggles to control the blessing, or the curse, of the Long Eye. Glimpsing the future is one thing, but with the guiding hand of the First of the Magi still pulling the strings, changing it will be quite another…
I like the sound of some of the plot points being explored in this book. The idea of the world advancing into a more industrial age could have some interesting potential, and it will be interesting to see how this world’s devastating magic will play a part in it. I also like the sound of the characters involved in this book. While some of the characters sound new and unattached to other books in the series, several have connections to the original trilogy and some of the other books in the series. I most like the sound of Savine dan Glokta, the daughter of one of the best characters from the original series, Inquisitor Glokta, and I will love to see how someone raised by the ruthless inquisitor will handle the business world. I also like that Bayaz, the First of the Magi, is returning once again. He was a fantastic, if morally challenged, character, as well as an ace manipulator, so it will be good to see him pull the strings again in this book, and maybe he will get some just deserts in this series. It will also be interesting to see where some of the original characters from The First Law series ended up, and whether they are still alive. The original series left some storylines for these characters open and I am curious to see if they will be resolved in this new trilogy.
Overall, A Little Hatred sounds like it will be an amazing start to this new storyline in Abercrombie’s dark fantasy universe, and I will be interested to see how it goes. This book currently has a release date of 17 September 2019, with the following two books in the trilogy being released in September 2020 and 2021. I am planning to review The First Law trilogy as part of my Throwback Thursday series in the next couple of weeks, and I will have to check out the three standalone books in the universe to see how the story progresses in the years between The First Law trilogy and A Little Hatred. Hopefully I will able to get through all three of them before September, and I look forward to experiencing more of this first-rate grimdark fantasy tale.
The Unseen Library 