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A review by chrisbiss
The Trouble with Peace by Joe Abercrombie
3.0
Over the past few months I re-read all of The First Law and the standalone novels so that I could read this trilogy for the first time.
I'm still not enjoying this series as much as the earlier books. So far it suffers from the same problems as Best Served Cold. I don't feel like I really know the characters all that well, and it's not as rooted in the geography as the earlier books soworld doesn't feel quite as alive or well-realised, either. People travel huge distances on journeys we don't get to see, and we don't really get any sense of how much time has passed in the interim. Meanwhile we keep being teased with glimpses and hints of the things Bayaz is getting up to off-screen, and I'm starting to wish that I was reading that book instead. Hopefully that will pay off in book 3.
It's strange, because these books are of a similar length to the original trilogy and feature a similar number of POV characters, and yet they feel a little rushed pacing-wise in ways that trilogy never did. We're presumably spending a similar amount of time with each of these characters but I don't feel like we're given long enough to really get to know them. After two books I honestly don't know what Rikke or Orso actually *want*.
I'll finish the series because at this point I'd be daft not to, but I sincerely hope it all comes together in book 3 so I can be excited about the books that Joe is currently writing.
I'm still not enjoying this series as much as the earlier books. So far it suffers from the same problems as Best Served Cold. I don't feel like I really know the characters all that well, and it's not as rooted in the geography as the earlier books soworld doesn't feel quite as alive or well-realised, either. People travel huge distances on journeys we don't get to see, and we don't really get any sense of how much time has passed in the interim. Meanwhile we keep being teased with glimpses and hints of the things Bayaz is getting up to off-screen, and I'm starting to wish that I was reading that book instead. Hopefully that will pay off in book 3.
It's strange, because these books are of a similar length to the original trilogy and feature a similar number of POV characters, and yet they feel a little rushed pacing-wise in ways that trilogy never did. We're presumably spending a similar amount of time with each of these characters but I don't feel like we're given long enough to really get to know them. After two books I honestly don't know what Rikke or Orso actually *want*.
I'll finish the series because at this point I'd be daft not to, but I sincerely hope it all comes together in book 3 so I can be excited about the books that Joe is currently writing.