Joe Abercrombie -- First Law books

[SilasCoade 2622]

I just finished the last book in the First Law world. I've loved every book he's done in that world. After finishing this trilogy though I started thinking about them a little less superficially. I started wondering how allegorical he intended the recent stories to be but quickly started thinking more broadly about all the books in that setting. The prevailing thread seems to be that the world will invariably change the individual, rarely for the better, but that individuals trying to change themselves inevitably fail. It's pretty bleak as a commentary on life in general. Anyone have other thoughts?

[Grippe 323]

Since we're separating this out of the F/SF thread to discuss story morals (morality?) - I've really enjoyed the recent trend (last 10-15 years) for authors in the genre to 'up their game' to propose social questions.  Abercrombie, along with Mark Lawrence and (more recently) Rob J. Hayes are all British writers that have been described as 'gritty' but I've been convinced they're making social commentary in the vein of the powerful elite vs. the enlightened heroes.

We could spend hours and countless thousands of pixels going back and forth on the merits of this style (especially if we compare it to other current works, such as the Corey's Expanse theme of "there are no easy shortcuts in life") but I hope it continues.  Great writing should do two things in my opinion (opinion alert! opinion alert!):

1.  Be entertaining (well written, interesting story, character development, etc.)
2. Stimulate personal growth and development

If Abercrombie's writing stirs something in you (or anyone else) to say "I believe in 'XYZ' and I'm going to do something about it" then he succeeded - but that brings up another question: Should a writer use dark/depressing/gritty themes to motivate/influence readers?

[SilasCoade 2622]

I don't know that Abercrombie is espousing any particular morality. I think the class warfare aspect you allude to is probably intentional, though he doesn't really seem to be pushing one side over the other as much as highlighting the intrinsic failings of both sides.

I did think of an apparent exception to my suggestion that he shows characters either failing in efforts to become better people or being swept up and ground down by events beyond their control. Victarine dan Teufel at the end of Wisdom of Crowds seems to be resisting the change Glokta wants to force onto her while still evolving beyond the absolute survivalist "stand with the winners" ethos she had at the beginning of the series. The assumption I have is that she is headed to Styria. This makes me want to re-read the 3 stand-alone books (especially Best Served Cold) as they might also highlight a few exceptional characters who are able to grow and resist the chaos of the world at large.

[Grippe 323]

I actually agree with you that he's not a proponent for one side or the other - his style seems more of the observational narrative type instead of championing a cause.  Hayes is similar where Lawrence seems to dabble into moral tragedy.