The Trouble with Peace

Part five (or nine, depending on how many spin-offs you’ve read) of “Same old, same old Abercrombie”

It’s hard to describe all features of Abercrombie’s writing especially when it’s the second book in the second trilogy and you probably already know what’s going on. And unfortunately I haven't read any spin offs yet because I was very tempted by A Little Hatred’s rating and reviews, so I'm getting more and more spoilers for those here.

The book starts a little slow to remind where the previous one has ended and spends a lot of time to build up the stage for something very big and epic, but to me it somehow—I rarely like long setups, especially when it’s the second part—still feels very interesting, probably because of the writing. And I think because of the pacing and some hints from the first book you sometimes have a feeling that you know where some storylines are going like “she will do this and it will be so epic”.

Also I really like the chapters where main characters get together in one place and we get different points of view in one chapter. For example, there’s one where two characters arrive at an “entertainment” house at the same time but they’re the worst enemies and everyone there is wearing a mask, it’s awesome. Overall I find a couple of characters not very likeable, though it’s still interesting to follow their path and see how they change. To me Leo is the most boring and has almost no development, when in A Little Hatred he seems very similar to Jezal from the first trilogy.

Although there’s almost no action until the last 100 pages, it’s fine because we get a big, mad, impersonal, pointless battle which is shown from many very different points of view—pikeman, crossbowman, canon guy, messenger—that are chained together, which is a great way to show this kind of action scene.

The ending has three plot twists, one of which is shocking and devastating where a character is crushed completely. But for some characters it feels like a long awaited redemption. Also the endings in the first and the second books in both trilogies are filled with so many gripping events that you want to grab the next book.

So I really can’t wait to read The Wisdom of Crowds!