First Law Along #10: The Wisdom of Crowds
With this tenth post, the #FirstLawAlong is over! The live show for this book already took place at the beginning of September and I miraculously managed to finish the book before the start of the show. I didn’t manage to write and post my review before then, however, which is why I have now procrastinated on it, since the events are already over.
It’s crazy that this readathon is over and that I have actually completed it, especially considering the fact that I was quite skeptical about this series. And although this has not become an absolute favourite, I certainly enjoyed the journey through this entire series and have grown quite fond off the Abercrombie’s writing style. I am even looking forward to possible sequels (spoiler?) and other work by this author!
Although, I don’t know if I would have been as enthusiastic without the audiobooks. I read all ten books through the sublime storytelling talent of Steven Pacey, who always managed to elevate every sentence to a higher level.
But without further ado, here is my review of the (for now?) last book in the world of the First Law and the end of the Age of Madness trilogy.
Joe Abercrombie – The Wisdom of Crowds (The Age of Madness #3) ★★★
Genre: Grimdark Fantasy
The Great Change is upon us…
Some say that to change the world you must first burn it down. Now that belief will be tested in the crucible of revolution: the Breakers and Burners have seized the levers of power, the smoke of riots has replaced the smog of industry, and all must submit to the wisdom of crowds.
With nothing left to lose, Citizen Brock is determined to become a new hero for the new age, while Citizeness Savine must turn her talents from profit to survival before she can claw her way to redemption. Orso will find that when the world is turned upside down, no one is lower than a monarch. And in the bloody North, Rikke and her fragile Protectorate are running out of allies… while Black Calder gathers his forces and plots his vengeance.
The banks have fallen, the sun of the Union has been torn down, and in the darkness behind the scenes, the threads of the Weaver’s ruthless plan are slowly being drawn together…
“Sometimes, the only way to improve something is to destroy it, so it can be rebuilt better… Sometimes, to change the world, we must first burn it down.”
The Wisdom of Crowds, the final book in the Age of Madness trilogy, ultimately became my least favourite of the three. It isn’t a bad book by any means. It continues to exhibit the strengths I’ve come to expect from this author – his eloquent, engaging and quotable prose, dark humor, and remarkable character work. But as much as these hallmarks are present, some did begin to feel repetitive and stale. This finale left me with a sense that something was missing and it wasn’t the powerful conclusion I had hoped for.
“The thing about history is you don’t know what the right side is till long afterwards, and by then it hardly matters.”
In hindsight, this feeling of disappointment could be largely due to my expectations.
The second book was packed with twists and stunning developments, leading me to anticipate similarly or more from the ending. Yet, if there is one thing I should have learned about Abercrombie by now, it’s that he thrives on defying expectations. In many instances this can be amazing, but in others, when he fails to make it explosive, it can leave you deflated and despondent.
“They’re monsters,” Orso heard her whisper.
“I almost wish they were,” he muttered. “That would be easier. But they’re just people.”
“They’re the worst people I ever saw.”
“Of course they are. We hanged all the best ones. The ones who might have helped, might have compromised, might have built bridges, we left dangling over the road to Valbeck. Of course they are cruel, and greedy, and brutal. Those are the lessons we taught. That was the example we set.”
In this novel, while the trilogy seemed to be building towards an explosive climax, the major event happens within the first 10% of the book, leaving the remainder to focus on the aftermath. Rather than thrilling, much of this aftermath felt repetitive and sluggish, even with many brutal and shocking scenes. Their repetitiveness just made it all blend into one monotonous whole.
A lot of the political machinations were just talking in circles without amounting to anything, which may very well be the point Abercrombie wants to make, it doesn’t necessarily make for engaging reading.
That being said, this sense of tedium of the middle may have contributed to the plot twists catching me off guard, and I’m still unsure if I should count that as a strength or a flaw.
“You let one sheep pick its own path,” said Isern, “and ’fore you know it the whole herd’s got opinions.”
Another aspect contributing to my sense of dissatisfaction is the fact that I believed this book would serve as a definitive conclusion, not just to the Age of Madness, but to the overarching ten book series. Consequently, the inconclusive nature of some storylines, and the absence of key characters I had expected to play a prominent role, left me feeling somewhat let down and did not give me that “I completed a series” satisfaction I had expected to feel when finishing this book.
While the hints at future books are intriguing and I am excited about the potential implications for future stories, they do little to alleviate my disappointment that this particular trilogy did not give all the answers and closure I wanted from it.
“ Better to do it, than live with the fear of it ”
I do recognize that Abercrombie thrives on delivering emotional gut punches, with his proclivity to highlight the futility of it all, so expecting a “satisfying” ending may have been unrealistic. For instance, he has never shied away from treating his characters cruelly and this book is no different.
The character arcs in The Wisdom of Crowds remain as phenomenal as ever, even if some of them left me heartbroken and angry. Characters I once loved or pitied, I have now grown to despise; others, who once grated on me, have now won my respect. I cheered for some character’s fate, while others left me gutted and quite mad.
It’s this emotional investment that showcases the strengths of this book and series. Even when I didn’t like or want the fate of certain characters or aspects of the narrative, Abercrombie managed to pull me in, forcing me to care. And that’s where I wrestle with my rating: how do I reconcile my disappointment in the book’s pacing and plotting with the undeniable emotional impact it had on me?
“So… the same people, doing the same job, but called something else?”
“You may have hit closer to the essence of the Great Change than Chairman Risinau has in a hundred hours of speeches.”
In the end, The Wisdom of Crowds is a fitting, if imperfect, conclusion to this trilogy. It exemplifies Abercrombie’s trademark ability to subvert expectations, delivering an ending that is emotionally raw and deeply unsettling. While it may not have provided the explosive, satisfying closure I might have hoped for, its showcasing of the messy, brutal truths of power, rebellion and human nature is very fitting for the realities in this fictional world, and unfortunately our own as well.
