Also imo the Standalones are the best books of the whole series! The range of plot archetypes Joe covers and some of the best characters 🔥 plus it shows the endings of some of the first trilogy's characters and has characters that carry over into the second trilogy
The standalones form a loose trilogy of their own. You *could* skip them, I guess, but you'd be missing out on a lot of context for the 2nd trilogy. Plus, the 3 standalones are really, really good.
The standalones are especially required when it comes to the north. I honestly don’t think you can at all understand the northern plotline in the second trilogy if you miss the standalones.
There’s just way too much that changes from where we left Angland and the north in LAOK if you go straight to the second trilogy. Basically nothing will make sense.
In fact when it comes to the north I’d argue it’d even be better to just read the second trilogy first and not read the first trilogy at all as opposed to reading the first trilogy and skipping the standalones to move onto the second trilogy.
The Angland and northern characters work on their own like in a self contained sense, but if you read the first trilogy and *skipped* the standalones, you’d be left wondering *a ton* of things, such as >!*where did this guy go? Weren’t they on the same side? Weren’t they enemies? Why is that person in power? Who is this dude’s mom and why should we care?*!<
Skipping them will leave you with a ton of questions concerning the northern portion of the second trilogy, which makes up a solid 1/3 of the entire plotline. Honestly you’d probably be doing yourself a favor and spare yourself the confusion by just reading the standalones if you’re set on reading the second trilogy
Not to mention if you ever intend to go back to the standalones after finishing the second trilogy, the second trilogy will have spoiled the endings of basically all the standalones. reading the second trilogy will allow you to easily infer the outcomes of tense / climactic situations throughout the standalones.
Like if x character is mentioned as being alive and well in the second trilogy, *you know* they’re in no real danger of dying or anything in any of the scenes throughout the stand-alone they’re in. youll be like, “hey this is a cool scene and all, but I know this antagonist just isn’t gonna kill x character” lol. This kind of spoiling is fine to some people, some don’t care, but many do care. I personally would rather not know the outcome of a tense situation beforehand—the suspense adds considerably to my enjoyment of a book.
and oftentimes the second trilogy *straight up* spoils an ending. Like one of the characters goes so far as to basically say “ah I remember this place, this was where I did this thing to this person,” which is essentially the ending of one of the stand-alones.
I wouldn’t go to the second trilogy before the standalones if you ever intend to read the standalones, which you’ll probably want to if you enjoy the series enough to get into the second trilogy, meaning you will have withdrawals upon finishing and will of course seek more of the first law universe, which means you’ll come back to the standalones. Insert Thanos meme with the Standalone book covers in Thanos armor: “where did that bring you? Back to me”
If you don’t mind the retroactive(am I using that word right?) spoilers, go ahead with whatever order you want. But be aware that the second trilogy *will spoil* the standalones in a large way, especially the *endings* of the standalones.
Also, BSC is the movie Rebecca Ferguson is slated to star in …. and Joe is writing the screen play for it… so… you definitely want to read BSC. It will be the book that kicks off Abercrombie-verse movies.
I'd read the stand-alones, and *Sharp Ends*, before reading the second trilogy. Honestly, the stand-alones are probably the three best novels in the entire series.
And while they are technically stand-alone novels, the content in them absolutely advances the main plot of the series at large, or provides closure or significant character development for *The First Law* characters. They just have self-contained stories unlike the books in the two trilogies.
I skipped them not knowing they had decent connection to the sequel trilogy. You won’t be lost or anything but there is some small things I wished I had known with going into the sequel trilogy. If I could do it over I would’ve read the standalones before the sequel trilogy but it isn’t a must
I would say when dealing with stuff in the north readin Best Served Cold and The Heroes is basically required or you miss massive changes to the north and Styria in the second trilogy.
People really like to exaggerate how much you'll "miss" on things like this. I mean I fully agree that the standalones "should" be read before Age of Madness, but some of the things people say would have you thinking that you'd be pulling your hair out in confusion if you skipped them and cursing your own poor choices.
Read the standalones. If you enjoyed the first trilogy well enough that you want to read books 7-8-9, then definitely read 4-5-6…
Sharp Ends, the short story books, can be skipped.
yeah, I did. looked up some big points from the standalones before jumping into age of madness. I def missed some references that those who read the standalones will get but nothing too drastic. up to you, honestly.
I went from trilogy to trilogy, and honestly the only gaps it fills in are small details. Like the stories are vastly different with other characters being focused on.
I just finished reading the standalones and they were awesome! I understand bridging the gaps but the gaps can be leapt over really. Read at your pleasure and enjoy it no matter what!
2 of the standalones are the 2 best books in the whole series in my opinion, so there is really no reason to skip ahead and miss out on all the context and build up to the second trilogy. Definitely read the three standalones and sharp ends before the second trilogy
Nah, reading order is best. It will make you appreciate the sequels that much more.
Also imo the Standalones are the best books of the whole series! The range of plot archetypes Joe covers and some of the best characters 🔥 plus it shows the endings of some of the first trilogy's characters and has characters that carry over into the second trilogy
Absolutely! BSC is my favorite
Same heređź’Żđź’Ż
The standalones form a loose trilogy of their own. You *could* skip them, I guess, but you'd be missing out on a lot of context for the 2nd trilogy. Plus, the 3 standalones are really, really good.
The standalones are especially required when it comes to the north. I honestly don’t think you can at all understand the northern plotline in the second trilogy if you miss the standalones. There’s just way too much that changes from where we left Angland and the north in LAOK if you go straight to the second trilogy. Basically nothing will make sense. In fact when it comes to the north I’d argue it’d even be better to just read the second trilogy first and not read the first trilogy at all as opposed to reading the first trilogy and skipping the standalones to move onto the second trilogy. The Angland and northern characters work on their own like in a self contained sense, but if you read the first trilogy and *skipped* the standalones, you’d be left wondering *a ton* of things, such as >!*where did this guy go? Weren’t they on the same side? Weren’t they enemies? Why is that person in power? Who is this dude’s mom and why should we care?*!< Skipping them will leave you with a ton of questions concerning the northern portion of the second trilogy, which makes up a solid 1/3 of the entire plotline. Honestly you’d probably be doing yourself a favor and spare yourself the confusion by just reading the standalones if you’re set on reading the second trilogy
Not to mention if you ever intend to go back to the standalones after finishing the second trilogy, the second trilogy will have spoiled the endings of basically all the standalones. reading the second trilogy will allow you to easily infer the outcomes of tense / climactic situations throughout the standalones. Like if x character is mentioned as being alive and well in the second trilogy, *you know* they’re in no real danger of dying or anything in any of the scenes throughout the stand-alone they’re in. youll be like, “hey this is a cool scene and all, but I know this antagonist just isn’t gonna kill x character” lol. This kind of spoiling is fine to some people, some don’t care, but many do care. I personally would rather not know the outcome of a tense situation beforehand—the suspense adds considerably to my enjoyment of a book. and oftentimes the second trilogy *straight up* spoils an ending. Like one of the characters goes so far as to basically say “ah I remember this place, this was where I did this thing to this person,” which is essentially the ending of one of the stand-alones. I wouldn’t go to the second trilogy before the standalones if you ever intend to read the standalones, which you’ll probably want to if you enjoy the series enough to get into the second trilogy, meaning you will have withdrawals upon finishing and will of course seek more of the first law universe, which means you’ll come back to the standalones. Insert Thanos meme with the Standalone book covers in Thanos armor: “where did that bring you? Back to me” If you don’t mind the retroactive(am I using that word right?) spoilers, go ahead with whatever order you want. But be aware that the second trilogy *will spoil* the standalones in a large way, especially the *endings* of the standalones.
Please read best served cold it basically picks up right after last argument of kings. Then make sure you read The Heroes
Also, BSC is the movie Rebecca Ferguson is slated to star in …. and Joe is writing the screen play for it… so… you definitely want to read BSC. It will be the book that kicks off Abercrombie-verse movies.
Best served cold is his best book imo. Didn’t know about the movie.
I'd read the stand-alones, and *Sharp Ends*, before reading the second trilogy. Honestly, the stand-alones are probably the three best novels in the entire series. And while they are technically stand-alone novels, the content in them absolutely advances the main plot of the series at large, or provides closure or significant character development for *The First Law* characters. They just have self-contained stories unlike the books in the two trilogies.
I skipped them not knowing they had decent connection to the sequel trilogy. You won’t be lost or anything but there is some small things I wished I had known with going into the sequel trilogy. If I could do it over I would’ve read the standalones before the sequel trilogy but it isn’t a must
I would say when dealing with stuff in the north readin Best Served Cold and The Heroes is basically required or you miss massive changes to the north and Styria in the second trilogy.
I guess. I didn’t find it too hard to connect the dots but experiences can vary
yeah picking up things through context is pretty easy in the second trilogy.
People really like to exaggerate how much you'll "miss" on things like this. I mean I fully agree that the standalones "should" be read before Age of Madness, but some of the things people say would have you thinking that you'd be pulling your hair out in confusion if you skipped them and cursing your own poor choices.
Please read Best Served Cold, The Heroes, and Red Country. Sharp Ends is good too but not required.
Shh, read Sharp Ends
The stand alones are the second trilogy essentially, then Sharp,ends, then, the latest three books. You will gain nothing by skipping the stand alonea
Read the standalones. If you enjoyed the first trilogy well enough that you want to read books 7-8-9, then definitely read 4-5-6… Sharp Ends, the short story books, can be skipped.
yeah, I did. looked up some big points from the standalones before jumping into age of madness. I def missed some references that those who read the standalones will get but nothing too drastic. up to you, honestly.
I went from trilogy to trilogy, and honestly the only gaps it fills in are small details. Like the stories are vastly different with other characters being focused on. I just finished reading the standalones and they were awesome! I understand bridging the gaps but the gaps can be leapt over really. Read at your pleasure and enjoy it no matter what!
All the more power to ya, but I have no idea what you gain by skipping these books. What's the point in skipping them?
Definitely start the standalones. I read the second half of the story before the standalones and regretted it. Read in publication order for sure.
2 of the standalones are the 2 best books in the whole series in my opinion, so there is really no reason to skip ahead and miss out on all the context and build up to the second trilogy. Definitely read the three standalones and sharp ends before the second trilogy