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Trivia
Trivia, title by title: 36 in total. Tap a cover to open it. Titles you haven't marked as read stay locked so nothing gets spoiled.
- Referencenod to comics or other movies
- Cameoa familiar face shows up
- Setupplanted now, pays off later
- Behind the scenesproduction trivia
- Behind the scenesWritten in the downtime
Abercrombie was a freelance film editor and used his spare time to rework an idea from his university days. He wrote the book from 2002 to 2004. After about a year of rejections, Gillian Redfearn at Gollancz bought it in 2005.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesA title from Homer
The name comes from Homer's Odyssey: the blade itself incites to deeds of violence. The saga's titles come from quotes by people like Homer, Heinrich Heine and Louis XIV.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesNo map
Abercrombie prefers not to use maps, and the trilogy has none. The standalones got local maps, and a full world map only showed up on the cover of Sharp Ends.
source ↗ - SetupWhere the name comes from
The First Law is the first of Euz's laws: it is forbidden to touch the Other Side directly. Keep track of every conversation about those laws and about who broke them.
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- Behind the scenesForgive, but later
The title comes from Heinrich Heine: we should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged. Part one opens with an epigraph from the German poet.
source ↗ - ReferenceThe Great Leveller
The first chapter is called The Great Leveller. The name came back in 2015 as the title of the omnibus collecting the three standalones.
source ↗ - ReferenceDagoska from another angle
The siege of Dagoska gets another point of view in the story Hell, in Sharp Ends.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesTwo US publishers
The trilogy first came out in the US from Pyr. Later Orbit, which already published the standalones, put out its own editions.
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- Behind the scenesEngraved on cannons
The title comes from Louis XIV, who had the phrase ultima ratio regum engraved on his cannons: the last argument of kings.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe biggest of the three
It runs 603 pages in the first UK edition and 656 in the Orbit US trade paperback, the longest book in the trilogy.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesRookie finalist
In 2008, the year this book came out, Abercrombie was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.
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- Behind the scenesA movie in the works
Skydance is developing a film directed by Deadpool's Tim Miller, with Rebecca Ferguson as Monza. Abercrombie wrote the script himself. It was in pre-production as of 2023, with no release yet.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesFirst one with a map
The trilogy had no map. This was the first book in the saga to get one, showing only the region where the story happens.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesUp for three awards
It was nominated for the British Fantasy Award, the Gemmell Award and the Kitschies.
source ↗ - ReferenceMonza returns in the stories
The story Wrong Place, Wrong Time, in Sharp Ends, is set in Monza Murcatto's time.
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- Behind the scenesSeven years later
The story is set about seven years after the trilogy, in the North, and covers only the days of one battle.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThree nominations
It was nominated for the British Fantasy Award, the Gemmell Award and the Locus Award.
source ↗ - ReferenceBefore the hill
Two Sharp Ends stories are set before this book: The Fool Jobs, with Curnden Craw and his dozen, and Yesterday, Near a Village Called Barden.
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- Behind the scenesWith a soundtrack
It got a Booktrack edition, with a soundtrack synced to your reading of the ebook.
source ↗ - ReferenceAn old acquaintance
Nicomo Cosca, the mercenary saga readers already know, is back leading the Company of the Gracious Hand, now working for the Inquisition.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThree more nominations
Like The Heroes, it was nominated for the British Fantasy Award, the Gemmell Award and the Locus Award.
source ↗ - SetupWatch the stepfather
Thirteen years after the trilogy, a big Northman who won't talk about his past. Anyone who read the earlier books will keep an eye on Lamb from page one.
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- Behind the scenesSix years of stories
The stories came out between 2010 and 2016 in anthologies and online before being collected in April 2016.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesA Locus in the bag
Tough Times All Over won the Locus Award for Best Novelette. The Fool Jobs and Some Desperado were also nominated.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesA map at last
After several books without a world map, this one has the whole world map on its cover.
source ↗ - ReferenceGlokta before the torture
It has Colonel Sand dan Glokta during the Gurkish invasion, before everything readers saw in the trilogy, and Bethod with his champion, the Bloody-Nine.
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- Behind the scenesFantasy with factories
The publisher puts it this way: the age of the machine dawns, but the age of magic refuses to die. It became a New York Times bestseller.
source ↗ - ReferenceThe kids
Leo dan Brock, Savine dan Glokta and Prince Orso are children of characters from the earlier books, and the surnames are no accident.
source ↗ - SetupThe wizard is still around
The First of the Magi is still pulling strings. Watch who profits from every crisis.
source ↗ - ReferenceThe Great Change
In 2023 Abercrombie released The Great Change (And Other Lies), short stories that follow materials and objects through the industry of the First Law world.
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- Behind the scenesOne a year
It came out on September 15, 2020 in the UK, a year after A Little Hatred. The trilogy kept to one book a year through 2021.
source ↗ - SetupThe title warns you
Peace here is just war by other means. Pay attention to who stays quiet in the meetings.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe middle book
The Orbit US trade paperback runs 544 pages, longer than the first Age of Madness book.
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- Behind the scenesAn economist's title
The name comes from James Surowiecki's nonfiction book The Wisdom of Crowds, about how groups make decisions.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe latest, for now
It closed the Age of Madness in September 2021. After that, Abercrombie moved on to a new series, which began with The Devils in 2025.
source ↗ - SetupWho runs the crowd
The title is about crowds. The question the book asks is whether anyone controls the crowd, or the crowd controls everyone.
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