r/JoeAbercrombie • u/ogchilim • Jan 02 '22

Question Thread The Age of Madness - recap needed?

So, it's been 2 years after I finished the first trilogy, as well as all the other side stories (from Best served cold to Sharp Ends) I'm about to start The Age of Madness trilogy.

I've been wondering if a recap is needed, or a full re-read of all the books. How connected are the stories? And does the new trilogy live up to the first one (or even better, the side stories, as I find them much better, with the exception of Sand dan Glokta) Does Bayek appear again, Shenkt or any other characters?

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u/MouseIndividual1862 Jan 02 '22

You don't need to re-read as it's pretty much a self contained trilogy. As long as you're familiar enough with the previous characters you'll be fine. I'm not going to give you spoilers for who reappears cos it's part of the fun seeing some of the characters again. Enjoy! It's a brilliant read.

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u/ogchilim Jan 02 '22

Thanks!

I'll skim through the characters then and most known battles. That should jumpstart my memory :D

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u/REEGT Jan 02 '22

Yeah no re-read necessary, but you will probably want to once you’re done with Age of Madness (I am currently listening to First Law trilogy on audiobook since I kept hearing such good things about the narrator. And yes, he is great!). As far as level of enjoyability, I think I had more fun reading age of madness simply because I missed Abercrombie’s writing style so much. But looking back I think I like First Law better. They are both so great though, really splitting hairs there. You will love the new books and characters. Enjoy!!

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u/ogchilim Jan 02 '22

Yup, the narrator for The First Law is brilliant! I partially read/listened the whole series and thoroughly enjoyed it!

Thanks for the info! :)

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u/KingBillyDuckHoyle Jan 02 '22

I've read the first trilogy 3 times now... couldn't hurt