The First Law
This dark and gritty fantasy trilogy—The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, and Last Argument of Kings—follows a morally compromised cast, including a crippled torturer, a barbarian warrior, and a vain nobleman. Set in a world of corrupt politics and brutal magic, the series deconstructs fantasy tropes with black humor, moral ambiguity, and sharp dialogue. Abercrombie’s world is violent and cynical, yet deeply human. The trilogy continues with standalone novels and a second trilogy in the same world, expanding its reputation as one of the defining works of modern grimdark fantasy.
Inquisitor Glokta, a crippled and increasingly bitter relic of the last war, former fencing champion turned torturer extraordinaire, is trapped in a twisted and broken body - not that he allows it to distract him from his daily routine of torturing smugglers. Nobleman, dashing officer and would-be fencing champion Captain Jezal dan Luthar is living a life of ease by cheating his friends at cards. Vain, shallow, selfish and self-obsessed, the biggest blot on his horizon is having to get out of bed in the morning to train with obsessive and boring old men. And Logen Ninefingers, an infamous warrior with a bloody past, is about to wake up in a hole in the snow with plans to settle a blood feud with Bethod, the new King of the Northmen, once and for all - ideally by running away from it. But as he's discovering, old habits die really, really hard indeed...especially when Bayaz gets involved.