The Great Leveller

First Law World #4-6

by Joe Abercrombie

Collected together for the first time, here are the three hard-hitting standalone novels set in the world of Joe Abercrombie's bestselling FIRST LAW trilogy.

BEST SERVED COLD: War may be hell but for Monza Murcatto, the Snake of Talins, the most feared and famous mercenary in Duke Orso's employ, it's a damn good way of making money too. Her victories have made her popular - a shade too popular for her employer's taste. Betrayed, thrown down a mountain and left for dead, Murcatto's reward is a broken body and a burning hunger for vengeance. Whatever the cost, seven men must die.

THE HEROES: Over three bloody days of battle, the fate of the North will be decided. But with both sides riddled by intrigues, follies, feuds and petty jealousies, it is unlikely to be the noblest hearts, or even the strongest arms that prevail. Three men. One battle. No Heroes.

RED COUNTRY: Shy South hoped to bury her bloody past and ride away smiling, but she'll have to sharpen up some bad old ways to get her family back, and she's not a woman to flinch from what needs doing. She sets off in pursuit off her family's killers with only a pair of oxen and her cowardly old stepfather Lamb for company. But it turns out Lamb's buried a bloody past of his own, and out in the lawless Far Country, the past never stays buried.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Epic Fantasy, Heroic Fantasy, Magic, Novels

1677 pages, ebook

First published February 26, 2015

About the author

Joe Abercrombie was educated at Lancaster Royal Grammar School and Manchester University, where he studied psychology. He moved into television production before taking up a career as a freelance film editor. During a break between jobs he began writing The Blade Itself in 2002, completing it in 2004. It was published by Gollancz in 2006 and was followed by two other books in The First Law trilogy, Before They Are Hanged and Last Argument of Kings. He currently lives and works in London with his wife and daughter. In early 2008 Joe Abercrombie was one of the contributors to the BBC Worlds of Fantasy series, alongside other contributors such as Michael Moorcock, Terry Pratchett and China Mieville.

Reviews

[Petrik · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is just me failing to deal with my compulsive disorder, I must rate and review every book I've read and owned in my shelves, including my box set. I already did a full review for the series, here are the links

Series review:
Best Served Cold: 4.5/5 Stars
The Heroes: 4.5/5 Stars
Red Country: 4/5 Stars

The Great Leveller Collection: 13/15 Stars

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

¿Quiere saber más de esta trilogía, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com....

[Shreyas · Rating 4 out of 5]

1) Best Served Cold: 4/5.

2) The Heroes: 3.5/5.

3) Red Country: 5/5.


The Great Leveller Trilogy: 8.25/10.

[Audrey Friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved Shy South and "Lamb" (loved the very most) and thought some loose ends were tied up very well. Also that the Monza story arc and the Caul Shivers arc was just wonderful. I quite liked Day and Morveer as well.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beware the Spoilers...

And the bloody nines return. Epic. But need more...love this genre but The Bloody Nine is a hell of a Character. I wanna know more about his demons. Where can I find out more?

[Ostrava · Rating 5 out of 5]

The First Law saga is basically a story of cameos and reappearances: no character has a proper farewell and is never revisited again. This is especially true for the novels of the Great Leveller. All of them are stronger on their own than the original trilogy, and together they're a fucking blast.

Abercrombie just knows his way around a good story!

[Cian Armitage · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant read

Great book for fans of the First Law series and newcomers alike. Also loved the Wild West vibe throughout the story.

[dan zambello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abercrombie is "the dubstep bass drop" of fantasy. Twists and turns that you dont see coming. It's been said before bit it is very grim.

[chris biggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genius JA

[BuddyErhardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must for every fan of the third law series.

[asher persits · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greta epic book

This is an amazing book. Rich plot great great read. A real masterpiece. Highly recommended. Yes highly highly recommended. Yes

[Meghana · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[LambchoP · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the stand alone series may not quite stand up against the original trilogy, I still feel like each of these books are great grimdark stories that anyone who is a fan of the First Law world will absolutely eat these up! Some of the entries are stronger than others. Best served Cold probably being my favorite, while Red Country being the weakest. As I said before though, even one of Abercrombie's weakest entries are still better than most other authors best works. Even though the original and sequel trilogies are stronger, I still consider each and every one of the stand alone books must reads. A VERY strong 4/5 stars!

[NG Yabili · Rating 3 out of 5]

Red country feels a little.... stale; compared to the other 2. I'm not the kind to leave a story mid-way cause it's got boring @ some point (unless the book is REALLY bad), so in the spirit of continuity we got through this and are headed towards "Sharp Ends" to finally end the journey

[LOL_BOOKS]

I THINK ABERCROMBIE'S STUFF IS GRATE, IF YOU'RE COMFORTABLE WITH GRIMDARK, AND HIS YA STUFF ISN'T PARTICULARLY GRIMDARK.

I DON'T REALLY LIKE ABERCROMBIE THAT MUCH TBH. HE'S REALLY OVERRATED AND BEST SERVED COLD WAS A TERRIBLE BOOK, SO BAD THAT I GAVE UP ON HIM DESPITE HAVING READ THE ENTIRE FIRST LAW TRILOGY.

REC ME A BOOK YOU L VERY MUCH, EVEN IF IT'S EMBARRASSING.

BEST SERVED COLD, NOT THAT I'M EMBARRASSED ABOUT HOW MUCH ILIT.

MEME, CAN YOU NN BOOKS WITH FEMALE MAIN CHARACTERS WHO ARE ANTIHEROINES? IN THE WAY THAT MALE CHARACTERS GET TO BE, NOT SOME TAMING OF THE SHREW BULLSHIT.

BEST SERVED COLD, KIND OF.

ABERCROMBIE IS AT LEAST TRYING, ALTHOUGH HE HAS A LONG WAY TO GO. I THINK HIS TEENIE BOOKS WERE A RLY GOOD LESSON AND DEVELOPING GROUND FOR HIM, AND WHEN HE COMES BACK WITH THE NEXT SET OF FIRST LAW BOOKS THEY'LL BE EVEN BETTER THAN THE SECOND SET. THE HEROES IS JUST A GRATE FUCKING BOOK AND IT'S THE CLOSEST THING TO ASOIAF I'VE EVER READ, BUT THE WORLD-BUILDING IS ON PRETTY SHAKY FOUNDATIONS EVEN IF THE CHARACTERIZATION IS GRATE. I THINK IF HE FINALLY DECIDES TO START A NEW WORLD FROM THE GROUND UP, HE'LL BE AS GOOD AS IF NOT BETTER THAN GRRM.

I FEEL LIKE HE COULD HAVE ACTUALLY DONE SOMETHING RLY INTERESTING WITH HIS PERSONAL TAKE ON DECONSTRUCTING FANTASY TROPES IN FIRST LAW, ESPECIALLY IF HE PLAYED IT OUT, BUT IT WAS JUST SO EARLY AND HE WENT WAY OVERBOARD. LIKE, OVERALL I THINK ACTUALLY ASKING "WHAT IF GANDALF WAS AS EVIL AS SAURON? WHAT THEN?" IS A FAIRLY INTERESTING QUESTION, BUT HE WAS JUST WAY TOO HAM-HANDED WITH THE FIRST PART AND MADE BAYAZ AND KHALUL JUST TOO STRONG, BUT ALSO TOO UNSUBTLE. I THINK HE COULD HONESTLY SPEND LIKE 14 BOOKS PLAYING OUT THE RAMIFICATIONS OF THAT QUESTION AND STILL MAKE IT INTERESTING, BUT NOT WITH BAYAZ SO MUCH IN THE FOREGROUND, AND NOT WITH 6 OF THOSE 14 BEING THE FIRST TRILOGY. WE GET ALMOST ALL OF THE BASIC WIZARD POLITICS AND CONFLICTS AND MANIPULATION OF THE WORLD BY BASICALLY BOOK 2, WHICH IS JUST SO DUMB IN RETROSPECT. LIKE, I THINK YOU COULD KEEP THE WORLD FRESH, BUT NOT IF YOU ACTUALLY FOUND OUT "OH YEAH THE MENTOR IS AN EVIL GUY!!!" THAT EARLY ON.

IL THE HEROES BUT IT SEEMS TRY-HARD IN A WAY THAT BEST SERVED COLD AND RED COUNTRY DON'T. BUT ABERCROMBIE I THINK ALREADY HAS A BETTER SENSE OF PACING THAN GRRM, AND IS CONSIDERABLY LESS LOL MEN.

I'M ANNOYED ABERCROMBIE SUBJECTED ME TO THIS SEX SCENE. :6

[Robert Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am reminded of a quote from Star Wars, the first one, or the fourth depending on your point of view. On reaching Moss Eisley spaceport in search of transport old Ben Kenobi says to Luke "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious" I can only assume that none of Joe's books made it to a Galaxy far far away.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm putting this epic aside for a while. its very long and has become boring with its endless battles. I hate to say something is a guy's book but this seems to be nothing but killing without any of the fantasy I like. I did want to see the arrogant Wizard get his butt kicked and his agent, the Cripple. its just taking too long. These aren't on par with the first three books.

[Jenny Clifford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three novellas about sort of side characters from the First Law trilogy. It is such a good book, and it adds a really deep layer to the previous trilogy. I really enjoy this dark and sort of tired world, and Abercrombie is a really excellent writer.