The Trouble with Peace: The Gripping Sunday Times Bestselling Fantasy

As the age of magic ends and reason gains ascendency the Union finds itself torn apart facing threats from outside and in not least a new violent king of the north and the seeds of civil war are sown, as the games of intrigue and war are played. Savine, Leo , Orso and Clover, Rikke and Vick will all find themselves having to pick a side as events spiral out of control while in the background the first of the Magi Continues to pull strings.The trouble with peace avoids the dreaded sophomore slump and instead kicks the age of madness into high gear, for those who felt that A little hatred, book one, lacked action then this book makes up for it especially in its final quarter. The characters are glorious, the morals are murky and while things are technically bleak verging on soul destroying there’s Abercrombie’s trade mark pitch black humour to ease the way through.I love this series both because it’s perhaps it’s his most accessible work outside his original trilogy and because it’s also a treasure trove of Easter eggs and hints for long time readers I called the first book Discworld for bastards a dark mirror to the kind of optimistic humanist fantasy that Sir Terry Prattchett used to write and The Trouble with Peace only cements my opinion in that regards.The best part of this series is long time readers get to try to read between the lines and take guesses to what is going on , to come up theories and then see if there are right either way knowing Abercrombie I don’t expect to be disappointed. Roll on book three.

It can be frustrating when you think an author is milking a seam. I really loved the first law books and then was slightly ‘meh’ about the far county ones. This though absolutely smashes it. I am absolutely gobsmacked by the depth of the characters. There isn’t a right or wrong side and right until the end you are sympathetic to pretty much all of them (some exceptions). This is without a doubt the best of his books and in my top five of any books I have read. I can almost forgive the long wait given how much I enjoyed it

With the artful cruelty of one of his own inquisitors, Abercrombie creates characters we care about and then puts them through hell. There were parts of this book I found genuinely difficult to read - not because it wasn't gripping or well written, but because I felt too much empathy for the poor buggers he's created.Abercrombie is a writer at the top of his game. His prose is elegant and concise. His setting is convincing and well fleshed-out. His plots are intelligent, unpredictable and merciless.I'm guessing that if you're reading the second book in his latest trilogy and ninth book in the setting, then you're already reasonably invested, so will mainly want to know if it's good. To that, I'd answer yes - very.

Not much to add that all the previous reviews haven’t covered. I loved every single page of this book. Joe’s pace in storytelling is unmatched. I love the GOT novels but Joe builds such an expansive world and such fleshed out characters in a far more succinct fashion. A true pleasure to read.How he weaves so many threads of such a satisfying narrative, spread all over the circle of the world, is beyond me.His prose are on another level. I don’t normally bookmark a page for a great paragraph but I did for this (No spoilers): “They say belief is righteous, but to Muslan only doubt was devine. From doubt flows curiosity, and knowledge, and progress. From belief flows only ignorance and decay.”Just amazing. So annoyed I have to wait for the next instalment, but it’s a small price to pay for excellence.If you gave this less than 5 stars, reevaluate your life choices.Keep up the good work Joe.

You know what's annoying about someone telling you a book will subvert your expectations? You end up spending the whole book trying to guess ahead about how your expectations might be smashed to bits, and potentially lose out on the joy of not knowing what's coming.Fans of Joe Abercrombie will be used to him playing fast and loose with the laws of the genre, and this book is no exception. Some readers haven't enjoyed the move to a more Industrial society in The Age of Madness trilogy, but really it's refreshing to read a fantasy book inspired by early industrial England that doesn't fall into eye-rollingly terrible steampunk.This book leans back from the industrial setting, but the tensions caused by a society in the grips of technology induced change underpin the main conflicts of the book. The main plot follows another, different type from rebellion from A Little Hatred. I found the motivations of the main rebel to be unconvincing at first, but the characterisation is done so well, that in the end I came round.The "old" characters from the first law trilogy barely make an appearance, which to be honest, I felt glad about as they felt like they were holding back progress in some regards for the new characters (there are some hints they may return).Overall I really enjoyed reading it once it got rolling with the main narrative and leading up to the climax I really could not guess what would happen, but enjoyed every minute of it.

It’s not an original comment, but it is difficult to see how this book can be bettered in the last part of the trilogy; it’s just so bloody brilliant.There are so very many well written characters who either win your sympathy or can be truly despised (and they are all listed right at the very end of the book).The plot is first rate and fortunately had exactly the outcome I hoped although I feared it would not.The humour is gentle, self deprecating and a joy.However be prepared for a hard read in parts as this book sets out the futility of war in such a compelling way I sometimes needed to stop and composing myself for the next bout of brutality before continuing.Quite simply a modern masterpiece.