The First Law Trilogy
and master of grimdark fantasy, Joe Abercrombie. "The finest epic fantasy trilogy in recent memory." - Junot Diaz Murderous conspiracies rise to the surface, old scores are ready to be settled, and the line between hero and villain is sharp enough to draw blood. Unpredictable, compelling, wickedly funny, and packed with unforgettable characters, the First Law trilogy is noir fantasy with a real cutting edge. This boxed set includes: THE BLADE ITSELF, BEFORE THEY ARE HANGED, THE LAST ARGUMENT OF KINGS. For more from Joe Abercrombie, check out: Novels in the First Law world Best Served Cold The Heroes Red Country Sharp Ends: Stories From the World of the First Law
Stats for nerds
15recommend
21mentions
17people
2014–2026years
71% recommend29% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- It always blows my mind that Lonesome Dove is recommended across so many different communities, especially nerd-related ones like HN. I read ~100 books a year on average and it continues to top my all time favorites list; but, in all honesty, I cannot believe it appeals to the wide audience it does due to its content.
That said, here are some of my all time favorites (no particular order):
01. Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
02. Lonesome Dove (Larry McMurtry)
03. A Painted House (John Grisham)
04. A Gentleman in Moscow (Amor Towles)
05. The Great Alone (Kristin Hannah)
06. All the Light We Cannot See (Anthony Doerr)
07. Annihilation (Jeff VanderMeer)
08. The First Law Trilogy (Joe Abercrombie)
* this encompasses three long books; however, I consider them one long epic novel
09. Mailman (Stephen Starring Grant)
10. Demon Copperhead (Barbara Kingsolver)
11. Lessons in Chemistry (Bonnie Garmus)
12. Hench (Natalie Zina Walschots)
13. Personal Librarian (Marie Benedict)
14. In Cold Blood (Truman Capote)
15. Life We Bury (Allen Eskens)
16. Ordinary Grace (William Kent Krueger)
17. God of the Woods (Liz Moore)
18. Maid (Nita Prose)
19. The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell (Robert Dugoni)
20. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store (James McBride)
- Try "Best served cold" by Joe Abercrombie. Followed by The Heroes. And to avoid minor spoilers, read the First Law trilogy first. All good books are great, The heroes is probably the best!
- The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie starts with a fantastic inversion of this writing advice that sets you up for the tone of the entire series's humor, I highly recommend it!
- The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. Grim and gritty, with phenomenal character development that hones in on the fallibility of people. The narration by Steven Pacey is incredible, if you'd like to go that route.
- > I would suggest Joe Abercrombie's The First Law trilogy
Agree - I really enjoyed this. I particularly liked that many of the characters who would traditionally be the bad guys are treated sympathetically, and their 'badness' is motivated by their personal circumstance and experience. This is in contrast to the somewhat cliched representation in many stories (fantasy or otherwise) of the bad guys who are evil just because the plot demands it.
- 1) Non-fiction: Common Lisp: A Gentle Introduction to Symbolic Computation
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/LispBook/
Entire e-book available free online. The recursion part is especially fun. If you haven't tried Lisp, this is a great book to start with, and it will open your mind to new approaches to computing without the tough academic grinding of SICP.
2) Fiction: The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie.
It's dark fantasy. Emphasis on dark. Feels like real life, except less victimology. I find the darkness a palate cleanser, excellent for when I have to deal with the realities of people and their burning desire to avoid responsibility for their own actions.
You can read some short bits by Joe free at the publishers site
https://www.tor.com/2016/01/12/twos-company-joe-abercrombie/
