First Law World

About First Law

Joe Abercrombie's First Law World is a grimdark fantasy universe that began with the First Law Trilogy (The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, Last Argument of Kings) and has expanded into six additional novels. The original trilogy follows three morally compromised protagonists — a barbarian trying to leave his violent past, a torturer who was once a great swordsman, and a vain soldier who thinks he's the hero — across a continent-spanning war orchestrated by the First of the Magi. Abercrombie is known for his dark humor, his subversion of fantasy heroism, and his endings, which consistently refuse to be satisfying in the ways fantasy endings usually are.