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PART I - I wasn't overwhelmed by the start in the original trilogy, but I'm liking the start in this book much more. The groundwork of the world has been set in the previous books and this is an interesting continuation of all that. It contains a set of interesting new characters added with some familiar faces from the past. Looking forward to where this is going.

Chapterhouse Dune - I had high expectations for this book after the great HoD. Unfortunately those weren’t completely met. The book started pretty slow with much introspection and discussions, not always interesting, and sometimes too philosophical. The story was there to make more of it, but the execution lacked in the first part. It’s only in the later part that the book got momentum and started to deliver: 3,5/5

Heretics of Dune - I lost my interest to continue after GEoD. It now seems this was a mistake; I really loved this book. There are some slow parts but it gives a pretty good story overall. The tensions between the different factions play a large part here; Bene Gesserit, Tleilaxu, forces from the scattering … We get a good start and it all leads up to an amazing second half. Some excellent characters as well. 4,5/5

Made A Monster - this story brings us back to the North, Carleon, and also back to the past (Summer 570). This is the time in which Bethod hadn’t conquered the whole North yet and was settled on having peace with Rattleneck. His champion was still The Bloody Nine. Very good story, especially as it was told from the pov of Bethod. It shows his doubts in regards to Logen. One of my favorites in the collection!

Tough Times All Over - The final story with Shev and Javre, in Sipani this time. Events take place two years after their previous story. This is a story with the typical Abercrombie trademark of shifting viewpoints; one scene with one pov leads to the next with another pov. This also means that screen time with Shev and Javre is limited. Center of the story is a package that everyone wants to have.

Freedom! - a retelling of the liberation of Averstock, in the Near Country, by Nicomo Cosca and his mercinaries. If you’ve read Red Country you know how this went. This retelling is different, it’s pure propaganda for Cosca by his hired writer Sworbreck, who is working on his biography. Still a nice and fun story. However you can ask youself the question if we shouldn’t expect more than a rewriting of earlier events

Three’s a Crowd - This is the next story with Shev and Javre, this time taking place in Talins. You can situate the story about 7-8 years after events in Best Served Cold. Shev has finally solved her problems and doesn’t need to run anymore. Off course there’s a twist and she needs to seek aid from Javre. It’s the longest story in the collection. I liked it the best of all the stories so far.

Yesterday - back in the North, near a town called Barden, this story takes place right before events in The Heroes. Abercrombie gives more of what we got in that book; a clash between the Union and the Northmen, here the men from Pale-As-Snow. Gorst is the main returning character in this story; it’s always nice to read about Gorst. Nice job from Abercrombie in showing the effects of war on both sides.

Some Desperado - we go to The Near Country and meet up with Shy South, known from Red Country, my least favorite First Law book so far. The story take place before events in Red Country. Shy still hasn’t returned home and is currently on the run for her former allies after she left with their loot. She is stranded in the middle of nowhere and awaiting their arrival. Decent story, not great.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time - This story takes place in Styria. We revisit three events from "Best Served Cold" through the eyes of some random people: a bank clerk, a whore and a soldier. Each story is linked to one of Monza’s vengeance plots. Nice to come back to and see those events from a different perspective, but it doesn't add much new, and this seems to become a trend among these stories. Still a decent one.

Two’s Company - this is the third story featuring Shev and Javre. They’re in the North now, still on the run for their enemies. They meet Whirrun of Bligh, who’s on the run himself. Their encounter results in some hilarious situations. We get some more encounters afterwards, these with some actual fighting. Nice story again!

Hell - This story brings us to Dagoska, after the siege has been broken. We get a better insight in stuff that happened off screen during ‘Before They Are Hanged’. We follow these events from the POV of Temple, one of the main characters in ‘Red Country’. This was definitely a nice read, but it didn’t bring much new to the table if you read all previous First Law books.

Skipping Town - This is the second tale with Shev and Javre. The story takes place about two years after they met. They’re in the Near Country now, and after having finished a job, they’re about to meet with their client to get paid. Things however turn out differently. This was a decent story, but on the short side. What I especially liked is that we get some more information about the history of Javre.

The Fool Jobs - A story about a job for Curnden Craw and his crew. They set out on a mission to recover a ‘thing' from a town east of the Crinna. Most of these characters we've already read about in The Heroes. It was a nice enough read, but nothing spectacular either.

Small Kindnesses - this is a story about Shevedieh (Shev), the best thief of Westport. She gets herself into trouble, but it seems a small kindness of hers saves the day. From what I understood it’s the start of a new duo. It seems this duo will return for more stories in this collection later on. This one was a nice start and a good introduction for more!

A Beautiful Bastard - always good to get a new story centered around Glokta. Here we see him in action in full glory, before he sets off against the Gurkish … we all know what became of that.

“The Sins Of Our Fathers” - the concluding story takes place after the end of the main books, when the gates are gone. The focus is on colony site, on a distant planet in a far away system. It follows an important returning character from the main books. The story looks into the conditions these people have to live in; more importantly how they have to live with each other and the knowledge they’re on their own.

“Auberon” - another story with a focus on Laconia. It takes place on the planet Auberon after Laconia has taken over control of the gates. Its main focus is on the new Laconian governor; he has to make sure Laconian rule will go smoothly and has to cut out corruption, but is quickly confronted with it himself. At heart this is a crime story, one I liked very much. The fact there’s a returning character also helped

“Strange Dogs” - this story goes back to the begin period of Laconia when it was already colonized a couple of years. At that time Winston Duarte had also arrived to the planet with his soliders. The story follows Xan and Cara, children of the original settlers. We learn what happened to them before they became research objects for Cortazar.

“The Vital Abyss” - this story gives the background of Paolo Cortazar, the head scientist working for Laconia and Duarte. In this story we learn how he came to be involved with Protogen and Duarte afterwards. No action packed story, but definitely very interesting!

"The Churn" - Great back story for an important character of the main series. When you've read this in the past, before the main series was completed, it may have come as a surprise who this character is. But as I already completed the main series recently, it's quickly clear who this is. As explained by the authors, it's also a different type of writing for this one ... Nicely done as well !

“Gods of Risk” - in this story we follow David Draper, nephew of Bobbie Draper. So it’s also a side story of Bobbie, even though she doesn’t take on a prominent role until the end. David is a student working on his study to get a good placement later on. But … he also has a side job in coocking, and not the good kind. I thought It was a decent story, but I would have liked a more important role for Bobbie.