First Law World
#304.33 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 9 books Status Complete 2006–2021 Reading commitment High Joe Abercrombie Last reviewed 2026-08-05
Overview
Joe Abercrombie's First Law world is the standard-bearer of modern grimdark: morally compromised viewpoint characters, brutal subversion of epic-fantasy tropes, black humour. Launched with The Blade Itself (2006), the cycle closed with the Age of Madness trilogy (2021): an internally consistent canon of nine novels plus two story collections. Abercrombie's current work (The Devils, 2025-) is a separate universe. The original First Law trilogy introduced a cast built around subverted archetypes, including a sadistic torturer, a vain swordsman, and a crippled barbarian, set against the political machinations of a manipulative wizard; later standalone novels and the Age of Madness trilogy return to the same world a generation on, following new protagonists shaped by the earlier books' consequences. Abercrombie's work is widely credited, alongside authors such as George R.R. Martin, with popularizing morally grey, unglamorous "grimdark" fantasy as a major strand of the genre through the 2010s.
Grimdark · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (9 works) counts toward ranking
The First Law (trilogy) Joe Abercrombie
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Blade Itself | 2006 | core | 4.22 (336,225 ratings) |
 | Before They Are Hanged | 2007 | core | 4.36 (234,161 ratings) |
 | Last Argument of Kings | 2008 | core | 4.37 (215,887 ratings) |
The Age of Madness Joe Abercrombie
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | A Little Hatred | 2019 | core | 4.45 (66,252 ratings) |
 | The Trouble with Peace | 2020 | core | 4.60 (50,141 ratings) |
 | The Wisdom of Crowds | 2021 | core | 4.59 (44,795 ratings) |
A generation later, during the Union's industrial revolution.
Best Served Cold (2009) core · 4.25 (118,865 ratings); Standalone ('The Great Leveller' informal grouping).
The Heroes (2011) core · 4.35 (81,816 ratings); Standalone.
Red Country (2012) core · 4.32 (70,196 ratings); Standalone.
Excluded (2 works)
Sharp Ends: Stories from the World of the First Law (2016) ; Story collection; includes the Locus-winning novelette 'Tough Times All Over'. Registered Expanded; fails the foundational-collection criteria (it post-dates the novels).
The Great Change (And Other Lies) (2023) ; Second First Law world collection.
The Devils (2025) and The Heretics (2027): a new, separate Abercrombie universe (alternate magic-riddled Europe), verified against the official site. The Shattered Sea trilogy likewise separate.
Quick answers
- How many books are in First Law World? First Law World's Core Canon is 9 books, plus 2 more in the wider Library/Expanded material.
- What is the reading order for First Law World? Publication order, starting with The Blade Itself. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is First Law World finished? Complete (2006–2021).
- How much reading does First Law World take? High reading commitment (estimated from 9 Core Canon books · ~2,586 pages).
- How is First Law World ranked? #30 in this site's official ranking, based on 1,218,338 reader ratings across 9 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #30?
Ranked #30 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.33 across 9 core books.
- Backed by 1.2M reader ratings.
- Less than 0.01 behind #29, Riyria / Legends of the First Empire (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Top-tier rated · 9 books · Complete · 1.2M ratings · Ranks #30 overall
Good choice if you want a long-running grimdark fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (9 Core Canon books)
- The Blade Itself (2006)
- Before They Are Hanged (2007)
- Last Argument of Kings (2008)
- Best Served Cold (2009)
- The Heroes (2011)
- Red Country (2012)
- A Little Hatred (2019)
- The Trouble with Peace (2020)
- The Wisdom of Crowds (2021)
Awards (verified, with a correction)
- Gemmell Legend Award: nominated 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013: never won; the commonly cited Gemmell 'wins' were Ravenheart cover-art awards credited to the artists
- World Fantasy 2017 (Sharp Ends) + British Fantasy 2012/2013: nominated
- Locus Award (Best Novelette), 2015: won: Sharp Ends: Stories from the World of the First Law; For 'Tough Times All Over' (in Rogues; collected in Sharp Ends), recorded against the collection.
- David Gemmell Legend Award (Best Novel), 2012: nominated: The Heroes; Abercrombie never won the Legend Award (4 shortlistings); the associated Gemmell wins were Ravenheart cover-art awards.
- David Gemmell Legend Award (Best Novel), 2013: nominated: Red Country
- World Fantasy Award (Best Collection), 2017: nominated: Sharp Ends: Stories from the World of the First Law
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what First Law World and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- Malazan Epic fantasy / Grimdark · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.27
- A Song of Ice and Fire Epic fantasy / Grimdark · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.41
- Book of the Ancestor / Book of the Ice Grimdark · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.21
- The Chronicles of the Black Company Grimdark / Epic fantasy · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.06
Official resources
- joeabercrombie.com: official bibliography and monthly progress reports
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.33 across 1,218,338 ratings on 9 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: First Law World Core Canon accepted 2026-08-05
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Joe Abercrombie, official website Tier 1
- Wikipedia (English) Tier 2
- sfadb, Science Fiction Awards Database Tier 3
- Wikipedia: Joe Abercrombie Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-08-05
Rule: Collections, Sharp Ends (2016) and The Great Change (2023), are expanded: they post-date the novels, failing every criterion for the collection-as-Core exception.