The Trouble with Peace by Joe Abercrombie

Conspiracy. Betrayal. Rebellion.
Peace is just another kind of battlefield . . .

Savine dan Glokta, once Adua’s most powerful investor, finds her judgement, fortune and reputation in tatters. But she still has all her ambitions, and no scruple will be permitted to stand in her way.

For heroes like Leo dan Brock and Stour Nightfall, only happy with swords drawn, peace is an ordeal to end as soon as possible. But grievances must be nursed, power seized and allies gathered first, while Rikke must master the power of the Long Eye . . . before it kills her.

Unrest worms into every layer of society. The Breakers still lurk in the shadows, plotting to free the common man from his shackles, while noblemen bicker for their own advantage. Orso struggles to find a safe path through the maze of knives that is politics, only for his enemies, and his debts, to multiply.

The old ways are swept aside, and the old leaders with them, but those who would seize the reins of power will find no alliance, no friendship, and no peace, lasts forever.

The Trouble with Peace is everything that I will ever need in a book.

Seriously. I love Joe Abercrombie’s novels. I love the way that they play with grey morality, conflicting motives, and character desperation — all while showcasing the author’s unique sense of charisma and humour. But I think I love this one in particular.

Coming off of the astounding A Little Hatred — a book that is maybe my favourite series opener of all time — I had insanely high expectations for the sequel. But The Trouble with Peace met pretty much all of them. It’s maddening. It takes the pieces from the first installment (and everything that came before), and uses them to construct some mesmerising, blood-stained jigsaw landscape.

Remember when you used to watch Art Attack as a kid? And Neil Buchanan would make these giant floor canvases out of things like salt, cardboard, or fabric? Well, Joe Abercrombie does something similar. With corpses.

While A Little Hatred was focused on the introduction of the next generation of First Law characters, The Trouble with Peace shows what happens when these characters take their place in the new world. Nothing kills youth like responsibility, and our characters now face themselves wielding the kind of power that comes with intense scrutiny and expectations. One of the major themes revolves around the idea that while it is easy to criticise leadership from without, it’s another thing entirely to enforce it from within.

This is explored to a fascinating degree, and it’s these kind of thought experiments that keep me coming back to the First Law world. Much is made of Abercrombie’s “shades of grey” worldview, but it’s not often noted that this complexity isn’t limited to the morality of his characters. I can’t adequately describe just how interesting it is to see an established fantasy world seen through the eyes of a second generation. All those inter-generational conflicts. All those passed-down stories that lose detail and nuance in the telling. All those nooks and crannies that are so often plastered over in the worldbuilding, but here are the focus of the story.

And it’s fascinating, too, to see the characters live and grow and die through the course of that story. Orso, Savine, Rikke, Leo, and the rest… all of them face consequences for every single thing they are a part of. They bear the scars of every battle. They gain experience from every shortfall. They feel real, not so much pieces on a board as living, breathing people, each with their own anxieties and worries and fuck ups.

But. Well. Even so. Anyone who has read this far in the series knows that there’s at least one character out there who will only ever see them as game pieces. And he’s watching.

I can’t praise this book enough. It touches on almost every one of my favourite things. It has a class war and a civil war, it has a revolution, it shows both sides of a conflict, and every single thing that happens has an impact on what comes next.

If you’ve liked what you’ve seen from this world so far, then you’re gonna love this.

We received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thank you to Gollancz for the review copy!