The First Law

The First Law is a fantasy series written by British author Joe Abercrombie. The First Law is the title of the original trilogy in the series, but is also used to refer to the series as a whole. The full series consists of a trilogy, three stand-alone novels, short stories, and a second trilogy, titled The Age of Madness, of which the third book was published in September 2021.
The original trilogy is published by Gollancz in the UK and Pyr in the United States. The stand-alone novels remain with Gollancz in the UK but were published by Orbit Books in the United States, with Orbit also releasing later editions of the original trilogy. Gollancz and Orbit also released The Age of Madness trilogy in the UK and the US, respectively.
As of 2023, a film adaptation of Best Served Cold from Skydance Media is in pre-production, with Tim Miller attached to direct. Abercrombie wrote the screenplay and Rebecca Ferguson is set to star as Monza Murcatto.

Published works

Series	Book	UK release	Pages	Words	UK ISBN
The First Law trilogy	The Blade Itself		529	191,200
The First Law trilogy	Before They Are Hanged		539	198,300
The First Law trilogy	Last Argument of Kings		603	234,100
Standalone books	Best Served Cold		534	228,000
Standalone books	The Heroes		506
Standalone books	Red Country		451
Short story collection	Sharp Ends		336
Age of Madness trilogy	A Little Hatred		471	177,800
Age of Madness trilogy	The Trouble With Peace		506	195,300
Age of Madness trilogy	The Wisdom of Crowds		560	199,200
Short story collection	The Great Change		120

;Short stories

Chronology of events

All fictional dates are in relation to the founding of The Union; Before the Union or After the Union.
The Original Trilogy story arc :

566 AU : "A Beautiful Bastard"
570 AU : "Made a Monster"
575 AU : The Blade Itself
575-576 AU : Before They Are Hanged
576 AU : "Hell"
576-577 AU : Last Argument of Kings

The Best Served Cold story arc :

579-80 AU: Best Served Cold
580 AU: "Wrong Place, Wrong Time"

The Heroes story arc :

574 AU : "The Fool Jobs"
584 AU : "Yesterday, Near a Village Called Barden"
584 AU: The Heroes

The Red Country story arc :

584 AU : "Some Desperado"
590 AU : "Freedom!"
590 AU: Red Country

The Shevedieh, Javre and Carcolf story arc:

573 AU : "Small Kindnesses"
575 AU : "Skipping Town"
576 AU : "Two's Company"
587 AU : "Three's a Crowd"
592 AU : "Tough Times All Over"

The Age of Madness Trilogy story arc, begins in 605 AU:

A Little Hatred
"The Thread"
"The Stone"
The Trouble With Peace
The Wisdom of Crowds
"The Point"
"The Great Change"
Book titles

The titles of the works derive from various sources, including real-world quotes or phrases, and in-world references.
The title of the original trilogy is a reference to a law put forth by the legendary half-Demon Euz from the series, which stated, "It is forbidden to touch the Other Side direct," the Other Side being the realm of Demons, from which magic power derives.

Series	Title	Origin or inspiration
The First Law trilogy	The Blade Itself	Taken from a quote said by Odysseus to Telemachus at the beginning of Book XIX of The Odyssey by Homer: "The blade itself incites to deeds of violence."
The First Law trilogy	Before They Are Hanged	Taken from a quote by German writer Heinrich Heine: "We should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged."
The First Law trilogy	Last Argument of Kings	A reference to the words that Louis XIV had inscribed on his cannons: "Ultima Ratio Regum," which is Latin for "the last argument of kings."
Standalone novels	Best Served Cold	A reference to the phrase "Revenge is a dish best served cold," which originated with the French diplomat Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord.
Standalone novels	The Heroes	A reference to an in-world monument consisting of many large, upright stones on the top of a hill, called "The Heroes", where it is said that a legendary hero of old is buried. The monument is a central part of the setting for the book.
Standalone novels	Red Country	A reference to something a character in the book says, referring to the Near and Far Country and specifically encroaching civilization. "The world out there is a red country, without justice, without meaning."
Standalone novels	The Great Leveller	A reference to the proverb "death is the great leveller", meaning that everyone is equal in death.
Age of Madness trilogy	A Little Hatred	Inspired by a quote by English literary critic William Hazlitt: "Love turns, with a little indulgence, to indifference or disgust; hatred alone is immortal."
Age of Madness trilogy	The Trouble With Peace	Taken from a line of dialogue in the play Mother Courage and Her Children by German playwright Bertolt Brecht, said by a character called 'The Sergeant': "What they could do with 'round here is a good war. What else can you expect with peace running wild all over the place? You know what the trouble with peace is? No organization. And when do you get organization? In war."
Age of Madness trilogy	The Wisdom of Crowds	Taken from the title of the book The Wisdom of Crowds by American author James Surowiecki, which was itself inspired by and a reversal of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, a study of crowd psychology by Scottish author Charles Mackay.

Setting

The First Law series is set in an epic fantasy world at war, on the verge of an Industrial Revolution. Long ago, the world was inhabited by both Demons and Humans. Then hundreds or thousands of years ago, in the Old Time, Euz, a legendary half-Demon, half-Human with great magical powers, banished the Demons from the world. Magic still exists, which relies on connections to the Other Side, where the Demons live. However, Euz left behind the First Law: "It is forbidden to touch the Other Side directly."

The Union contains the provinces of Angland, the Midderlands, Dagoska, Starikland and the city of Westport in Styria. It is a powerful kingdom reminiscent of Western and Central Europe, particularly the Holy Roman Empire.
The Gurkish Empire is a sprawling empire to the south of the Union, similar to the large Middle-Eastern empires of antiquity.
The North is referred to as such not only by The Union but also by those who live there, who refer to themselves as Northmen.
Styria is a large island continent to the east of the Union containing multiple warring city states and factions.
The Old Empire is a former world power to the west of the Union, now reduced to a patchwork of squabbling warlords all vying for the throne.
Far Country is a near lawless frontier region to the north of the Old Empire and west of Starikland province.

The books of the trilogy do not contain maps, as Abercrombie prefers not to use them. However, the three stand-alone novels do contain their own local maps and a World map was finally produced in full on the cover of the Sharp Ends short story collection.

Plot overview

''The First Law''

The plot of the original trilogy involves three major powers: The Union, the Gurkish Empire, and the North, recently united under King Bethod.
There are two major theaters of war. The first takes place in the north between the Union and the Northmen, who invade the Union's northern province of Angland. The second is in the south between the Union and the Gurkish Empire, who attempt to annex the Union city of Dagoska. The trilogy centers on the fortunes of a variety of characters as they navigate through these and other conflicts. The trilogy follows the stories of six point-of-view characters, whose paths often intersect.

''The Blade Itself''

The first book introduces the three main characters of the trilogy and three secondary ones. Logen Ninefingers is a warrior who earned a fearsome reputation helping to bring Bethod to power in the North, but has since fallen out with him. Logen and his small crew of friends flee after being attacked by Shanka creatures. Logen is separated from his crew, and sets off on his own path. He meets Bayaz, a powerful centuries-old Magus, who enlists Logen's help in accompanying him to Adua. Sand dan Glokta leads an Inquisition investigation into a bribery case, which leads to him uncovering a wider corruption among the merchants. His superiors divert him into investigating Bayaz. Jezal, a vain young nobleman who has become a Union army officer due to his connections, trains for a prestigious swordfighting tournament. He falls in love with Ardee, the sister of his friend and superior Major Collem West, and wins the tournament with help from Bayaz. At a celebration banquet, Bayaz is challenged to prove who he is by entering the House of the Maker. The main characters of the book converge in accompanying Bayaz into the building. Bayaz retrieves an artifact and announces his plan to retrieve the Seed, a powerful magical artifact that can help him take on Khalul and the Gurkish Empire. The book also follows the journey of Logen's companions, led by Dogman, to warn Bethod about the Shanka, and Ferro, a mysterious escaped Gurkish slave, with some useful hidden powers, who travels with another Magus to find Bayaz. West is recruited to the Lord Marshall's personal staff, in preparation of the army moving out to defend Angland.