The Trouble With Peace

Joe Abercrombie books are my happy place. They are pure comfort reading for me, albeit with a somewhat grim and dark theme. I think it is the character work he does. Every single one of his characters has there morals and manipulations going on - a seething web of different objectives and purposes tangled into delightful tale of pointless and bloody rebellion.

The Trouble with Peace takes up pretty close to where A Little Hatred left us. Savine is trying to reestablish herself in society, Orso is confused as hell but oddly likeable as a King. The Northerners are plotting and squabbling (like much of the rest of the union). It all comes to head in a glorious battle of rebellion against the crown. Very bloody and ultimately very pointless (like most war). It also sets up for an intriguing finale with plenty of foreshadowing of things to come (where are the Burners and the Breakers?).

Ultimately it is the array of tragi-heroic characters and their interactions that make this book, and there are few better in the business than Abercrombie at painting vivid characters. Beneath the blood and guts is a warmth of wit and wry cynicism that brings the characters he is gradually murdering off to life.