Joe Abercrombie’s First Law series is not quite as simple as its name suggests. There is an original trilogy, three books frequently called “standalones,” a second trilogy, and two collections of short stories scattered around the timeline.
Thankfully, the actual reading order is much less complicated than it looks. For a first-time reader, the best way to read the First Law books is in publication order.
That means starting with The Blade Itself, continuing through all three standalone novels, and only then moving into The Age of Madness.
This guide covers all 11 published First Law books and collections without spoiling any of them.
The First Law books in publication order
Here is the complete First Law reading order:
- The Blade Itself (2006)
- Before They Are Hanged (2007)
- Last Argument of Kings (2008)
- Best Served Cold (2009)
- The Heroes (2011)
- Red Country (2012)
- Sharp Ends (2016)
- A Little Hatred (2019)
- The Trouble with Peace (2020)
- The Wisdom of Crowds (2021)
- The Great Change (and Other Lies) (2023)
The nine full-length novels form one long, loosely connected history of the First Law world. The two short-story collections fill in gaps around that larger story, but each works best when read at the point where it was published.
The original First Law trilogy
Abercrombie’s original First Law trilogy should always be read first and in order. The three books are effectively one enormous story divided into three volumes.
1. The Blade Itself
The Blade Itself introduces the Union, the North, and the deeply flawed cast at the center of the series. This is the book where readers first meet characters including Logen Ninefingers, Sand dan Glokta, Jezal dan Luthar, and Bayaz.
2. Before They Are Hanged
Before They Are Hanged picks up directly where the first book ends. The cast spreads across multiple conflicts, the world becomes much larger, and the trilogy’s separate storylines begin gathering momentum.
3. Last Argument of Kings
Last Argument of Kings concludes the original trilogy and delivers the payoff to the characters, wars, and political schemes established across the first two books.
It also provides the foundation for everything that follows. The next three novels feature new central stories, but they take place in a world permanently changed by the original trilogy.
The Great Leveller standalone novels
Next come Best Served Cold, The Heroes, and Red Country. The three have been collected under the title The Great Leveller, although most readers simply call them the First Law standalones.
“Standalone” is accurate in the sense that each book has its own setting, style, and main conflict. It becomes misleading if it makes you think the books are optional or can be read in any order. All three move the wider history forward, continue character arcs from earlier books, and set up the world inherited by The Age of Madness.
4. Best Served Cold
Set primarily in Styria, Best Served Cold is a vicious revenge story centered on mercenary commander Monza Murcatto. It has a faster and more focused plot than the original trilogy, with the structure of a crime thriller dropped into Abercrombie’s grim fantasy world.
It also brings back characters from the original trilogy and reveals some of what happened after Last Argument of Kings. You could technically understand its main story without reading the trilogy first, but several appearances and developments would lose much of their weight.
5. The Heroes
The Heroes narrows its focus to a single battle in the North fought over three bloody days. It is part war novel, part political satire, and one of the clearest examples of Abercrombie taking a familiar fantasy setup and stripping away every heroic illusion around it.
The novel introduces new point-of-view characters while continuing stories from both the original trilogy and Best Served Cold. Read it fifth, even if its largely self-contained premise makes it tempting to pull from the shelf early.
6. Red Country
Red Country takes the series into the Far Country for Abercrombie’s version of a frontier western. It follows a new central cast, but longtime readers will recognize several important faces and understand layers that would be invisible to someone starting here.
The book also closes or advances threads running through the previous novels. Of the three standalones, this is the one most likely to lose its impact when read out of sequence.
Where does Sharp Ends fit in the First Law reading order?
7. Sharp Ends
Sharp Ends is a collection of short fiction set at different points throughout the First Law timeline. Some stories take place before The Blade Itself, while others unfold between or alongside the six novels you have already read. The collection also includes a recurring sequence of adventures featuring Shevedieh and Javre.
It may sound logical to pull every story apart and insert each one at its chronological location. Do not do that on your first read. Several stories rely on what the novels have already revealed about their characters, and part of the fun comes from seeing familiar people from a new angle.
The cleanest placement is immediately after Red Country and before A Little Hatred.
You can skip Sharp Ends and still understand the main plot of the series, but it is worth reading. It adds context to several major characters, returns to corners of the world the novels only briefly explored, and acts as a natural bridge before the large time jump into the next trilogy.
The Age of Madness trilogy
The second trilogy begins with A Little Hatred and follows a new generation living with the decisions made in the earlier books.
This trilogy tells a new central story, but it is not a fresh starting point. Reading the first six novels beforehand dramatically changes how you understand its families, institutions, alliances, and returning characters.
8. A Little Hatred
A Little Hatred begins The Age of Madness as factories, labor unrest, and new technology push the First Law world toward an industrial revolution.
9. The Trouble with Peace
The Trouble with Peace continues directly from A Little Hatred. Ambitions harden, alliances shift, and conflicts that began in the first book move rapidly toward open confrontation.
10. The Wisdom of Crowds
The Wisdom of Crowds is the final novel in The Age of Madness trilogy and, for now, the end of the main First Law storyline.
This is the culmination the entire First Law series. Its revolutions, personal grudges, and struggles for power are built on a history stretching all the way back to The Blade Itself.
The final First Law short-story collection
11. The Great Change (and Other Lies)
The Great Change (and Other Lies) is a novella-length collection of four stories connected to The Age of Madness. Three were originally published in special editions of the trilogy, while the title story was written for this collection.
The stories trace the materials, people, and ideas feeding the industrial and political transformation of the Union. They are small-scale glimpses of the machinery behind the much larger events of The Age of Madness.
Read this collection after The Wisdom of Crowds. Although parts of it occur earlier in the timeline, its context and destination assume you already know where the trilogy is heading.
This is currently the most commonly missed part of the First Law reading order. It is shorter and more optional than the nine novels, but it is still an official collection set in the same world.
Can you skip the First Law standalone books?
You should not skip Best Served Cold, The Heroes, or Red Country.
Each novel has a complete central plot, but together they cover the years between the two trilogies. Important characters change, political situations evolve, and choices made in one book echo through the next. Jumping straight from Last Argument of Kings to A Little Hatred is possible, but it cuts out a major portion of the larger story.
Calling these books “standalones” describes their structure, not their importance.
Can you start with Best Served Cold?
Best Served Cold can work as an alternate introduction if you want a faster, more tightly plotted revenge story before committing to a trilogy. It has a new lead, a distinct setting, and a conflict that reaches a conclusion within one book.
It still is not the best place to begin. The novel reveals outcomes from the original trilogy, includes returning characters, and assumes some familiarity with the powers shaping its world. Start with The Blade Itself unless you have already tried it and need a different entrance point into Abercrombie’s writing.
Are The Devils or Shattered Sea part of the First Law series?
No. The Devils is the beginning of a separate series set in its own version of Europe, while The Shattered Sea is a separate YA trilogy consisting of Half a King, Half the World, and Half a War.
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