Caul Shivers is in all nine books, for example. Some of these characters we knew from the very beginning. To take a step back and think why I realized it’s because I’ve been reading these books for so many years. Among the books I’ve read recently which include an ode to Slashers and a Body Horror novel, this is the book I was most emotional over. I suppose with my comparison to the French Revolution that I should have seen certain things coming but it was absolutely heartbreaking when my worst fears came to life. There is a revolving door of close calls. I said his second book in this trilogy bored me so he kills me with his third. Because I was about to die thinking of the turmoil these people were in. Did I spend time with my children this labor day weekend? No. I found myself so emotionally vested in these characters that I was having heart issues sitting on my couch, trying to focus on other things. I thought this would take me a week to get through, reading in gaps during my break time. Could we have expected, after all, for King Jezal to kick the bucket as he did? Nobody is safe. This trilogy may have ended but we thought the same thing about The First Law. I say that as someone who looks to what comes next. Even though I’m settled with how things are resolved I’m still unsure of who has the shortest straw of those that remain. I hoped time and time again that somebody, anybody, would get a happy ending. In a world where people’s motivations and alliances change with the wind, I was not expecting a cyclone. Over the displays of humanity’s mad, animal instincts is an ultimately sad story. Remember when 2666 by Roberto Bolano came out and everyone talked about the part with all the murders? Try reading a fucking Abercrombie book. This would not be an Abercrombie book without the gritty realism and the violent, gore-filled showcases.
There is a display of restraint as the story works on more psychological levels. Without the formula, I’d found myself appreciating the writing on a new level. This has its own voice from everything that’s come before it. I can’t believe he went there and kicked my ass every step of the way. Did I ever think in a million years I would write a sentence like that? My expectations were blown away like they were paper at target practice. Abercrombie transports us to his version of the Reign of Terror. The climax of The Trouble with Peace which carried us into the beginning of The Wisdom of Crowds did not prepare me for this…this madness. I know way more about the American Revolution than the French but throwing tea into the harbor is never as interesting as chopping people’s heads off, the Committee, or the Reign of Terror. The adolescent in me still has a fetish for all things French Revolution. I was worried this was going to be a repeat affair in Abercrombie’s world. It also elevated my feelings towards the previous book. This was so unlike everything else I’d read from him. The Age of Madness trilogy comes to an end with The Wisdom of Crowds. Great writing but typical Abercrombie story. I regarded it as more of the same fanfare. Abercrombie had hit every mark that is to be expected from him. Last year at eight books in I declared myself rather bored with The Trouble With Peace.
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