The First Law World

Publication Order

The First Law World in the order Joe Abercrombie wrote it. The original trilogy establishes the world, its characters, and its moral framework. The standalones expand the geography and revisit familiar characters from new angles - each works independently but rewards readers who know the trilogy. The Age of Madness follows, set a generation later in a changed world. Sharp Ends fits best after the standalones and before Age of Madness, though it can be read at any point after the trilogy. Publication order is the way most readers first experienced the world, and the way Abercrombie built it - each book assumes familiarity with what came before.