A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie – Review

Published: September 17, 2019

Publisher: Orbit Books

Series: The Age of Madness #1

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 480 (Hardcover)

My Rating: 5.0/5.0

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

The chimneys of industry rise over Adua and the world seethes with new opportunities. But old scores run deep as ever.

On the blood-soaked borders of Angland, Leo dan Brock struggles to win fame on the battlefield, and defeat the marauding armies of Stour Nightfall. He hopes for help from the crown. But King Jezal’s son, the feckless Prince Orso, is a man who specializes in disappointments.

Savine dan Glokta – socialite, investor, and daughter of the most feared man in the Union – plans to claw her way to the top of the slag-heap of society by any means necessary. But the slums boil over with a rage that all the money in the world cannot control.

The age of the machine dawns, but the age of magic refuses to die. With the help of the mad hillwoman Isern-i-Phail, Rikke struggles to control the blessing, or the curse, of the Long Eye. Glimpsing the future is one thing, but with the guiding hand of the First of the Magi still pulling the strings, changing it will be quite another…

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JOE, YOU’VE DONE IT AGAIN. YOU’VE WRITTEN A BOOK THAT IS BOTH DRAMATIC AND BLOODY AND I SUSPECT INTENTIONALLY HAS LINES THAT MAKE ME SNORT-LAUGH IN AN UNLADYLIKE FASHION. 

Seriously though, this book was announced and I think the fantasy community lost their collective mind. I mean, if you read fantasy you’ve at least heard of Joe Abercrombie even if you haven’t read his books. And if you haven’t read his books, maybe you should remedy that… unless of course you don’t want to read about Northmen fighting one another, impending invasions, certain invasions, and that rat bastard Bayaz the magician. And that’s just the first trilogy. A Little Hatred is the start of a brand spankin’ new series called The Age of Madness and like the promo says, “The kids aren’t alright”. 

A Little Hatred takes place several decades after the events of the First Law trilogy (I’m guessing around 30 years) and the main characters are the children of the much beloved or beloathed characters from said series. The elegant viperess Savine dan Glokta is reveling in the new industrial age and has made herself a fortune off of investments and financial bullying. Prince Orso is a drunken sot and is honestly a sad excuse for a prince – he needs a rough journey to toughen him up, much like Jezal did. Rikke, daughter of Dogman, is trying to hone her skill with the Long Eye and is training the hillwoman Isern-i-Phail, though that’s interrupted when the North goes to war with itself again. Leo dan Brock, the handsome golden boy is coming to terms with the fact that war isn’t quite as glorious as perhaps it first seemed. Abercrombie has once again written characters that you can both hate and love a little at the same time. They’re so flawed, but in such a realistic way and you just can’t help but sympathize with them even when they’re being SOOOO terrible!

The plot is, well, as I expected epic in scope. Adua has entered the industrial age with all the growing pains that go along with it. Thousands of people have moved to the cities in search of work, housing is in short supply, and the factories that have sprung up have no one to govern worker conditions, fair pay, or rights of any sort. It’s a bloody free for all the common man is rising up against the owners who profit from their endless toil. The Northmen are once again at war with one another and it’s always the same grim cast of troublemakers – Bethod’s sons are rising up once again and the Dogman is left on the defensive along with the Union troops led by Finree dan Brock and her son Leo. Trouble within and without the Union is par for the course at this point, though after multiple wars I think things may finally come to a head once again. Bayaz still has his manipulative fingers in the affairs of the world and has Jezal and Glokta both dancing on puppet strings, though I think both loathe to admit it to anyone but themselves. 

This book was an absolute wild ride from beginning to end. I loved Savine’s POV chapters and she emerged from the fires forged anew, though not necessarily for the better. There were some awkward moments and scenes where I could barely contain my laughter or dismay (sometimes equal parts). I am loathe to give away the meat of the story since it’s such a joy to go in with no idea what’s going to happen. Rest assured, this is Abercrombie gold and I dearly wish I could binge read the whole trilogy right here and now. Alas, though I believe the series is already complete, we must wait for the next installment. One last point – this can be read as a standalone series, HOWEVER, it is so much richer having read the other books and you get a lot more nuance than you would otherwise.