Read The Blade Itself first, then stay in publication order. The most useful full route is the original trilogy, the three novels sometimes marketed as standalones, Sharp Ends, and the Age of Madness trilogy. The Great Change (And Other Lies) is an optional final collection, not a book to insert near the beginning.
The important warning is that “standalone” does not mean disposable. Best Served Cold, The Heroes, and Red Country tell their own central stories, but the world and recurring characters keep moving. Skipping all three creates a large gap before A Little Hatred.
The First Law order at a glance
| Step | Book | What it is | Can a first-time reader skip it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Blade Itself | Original trilogy, book 1 | No |
| 2 | Before They Are Hanged | Original trilogy, book 2 | No |
| 3 | Last Argument of Kings | Original trilogy, book 3 | No |
| 4 | Best Served Cold | First Law world novel | Not if continuing to Age of Madness |
| 5 | The Heroes | First Law world novel | Not if continuing to Age of Madness |
| 6 | Red Country | First Law world novel | Not if continuing to Age of Madness |
| 7 | Sharp Ends | Short-story collection | Optional, but read it here |
| 8 | A Little Hatred | Age of Madness, book 1 | No |
| 9 | The Trouble with Peace | Age of Madness, book 2 | No |
| 10 | The Wisdom of Crowds | Age of Madness, book 3 | No |
| 11 | The Great Change (And Other Lies) | Age of Madness short fiction | Optional; read it last |
That is also the audiobook order. Do not create a separate chronological sequence for a first listen: publication order protects reveals and lets returning characters arrive with the context the books expect.
Choose the exact version of The Blade Itself
For audio, look for The Blade Itself: The First Law, Book One by Joe Abercrombie, narrated by Steven Pacey. Audible currently identifies that exact production as book one; its product identifier is B003LZ8PMG.
See the Steven Pacey audiobook on Audible
For print, the established U.S. Orbit trade paperback has ISBN 978-0-316-38731-6 and Amazon product identifier 0316387312. That edition is a cleaner first purchase than a title-only search, which can mix printings, imports, ebooks, and the separate graphic adaptation.
See the Orbit paperback on Amazon
Affiliate note: we may earn from qualifying purchases or eligible sign-ups. Editions, availability, and prices can change.
What to read after The Blade Itself
The immediate next book is Before They Are Hanged. Do not detour into a standalone novel or short story after book one. The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, and Last Argument of Kings are one trilogy, and the second and third books carry forward the same central conflicts.
This is also why The Blade Itself can feel more like an extended setup than a self-contained adventure. It introduces the major point-of-view characters and moves them into position. Judge the original arc after book three, not after book one alone.
If you only want one contained commitment, stop after Last Argument of Kings. You will have finished the original trilogy without taking on the entire First Law world.
Why the three “standalones” stay in order
After the trilogy, read:
- Best Served Cold
- The Heroes
- Red Country
Each has a distinct central story and setting, which is why shops and readers often call them standalones. They still share the same world, advance its politics, and reuse characters. Their publication order is the simplest spoiler-safe route.
Best Served Cold is the revenge story and the first bridge out of the trilogy. The Heroes narrows its focus to a battle and its participants. Red Country shifts toward a frontier story. The change in shape is part of the appeal, but it is not a license to shuffle them randomly.
If you own an omnibus called The Great Leveller, do not mistake it for an extra series. Joe Abercrombie’s official site describes it as a collection of those same three novels: Best Served Cold, The Heroes, and Red Country.
Where Sharp Ends belongs
Read Sharp Ends after Red Country and before A Little Hatred.
It is a collection rather than the next main novel, so a reader focused only on the core novels can skip it. The placement still matters because its stories range across the established First Law world. Reading it early can flatten introductions or reveal characters before the main books have done their work.
For a first pass, treat Sharp Ends as a well-timed bonus after six novels. Do not use its internal story chronology to break up the original trilogy or the middle books.
The Age of Madness order
The second trilogy is straightforward:
- A Little Hatred
- The Trouble with Peace
- The Wisdom of Crowds
Read these three without interruption. They form a new central arc, but they are set in the same world after the earlier books. A new cast does not make A Little Hatred a better first entry than The Blade Itself for someone who intends to read everything.
The cleanest stopping points are therefore after book 3, after book 6, or after book 10. Stopping between volumes of either trilogy leaves a direct arc unfinished.
What to do with The Great Change
The Great Change (And Other Lies) is a novella-length collection of four stories tied to The Age of Madness. Read it after The Wisdom of Crowds, not beside the earlier Sharp Ends collection.
Availability is less straightforward than for the ten main novels. Abercrombie’s own 2023 review describes it as a Subterranean Press collection, so verify the format and seller instead of assuming a search result is a standard mass-market edition. You do not need it to understand the main sequence.
Print or audiobook?
The content order does not change by format. The decision is about how you retain a large cast and whether performance is part of the appeal.
Choose print or ebook if you like checking names, moving back a page, or keeping the three phases visually separate on a shelf. Choose audio if character voices help you track point-of-view changes and you want one narrator-led route through the world.
Before using a credit or buying a download, verify the title, author, narrator, language, and series position on the exact listing. A dramatized adaptation, an abridged recording, and Steven Pacey’s unabridged narration are not interchangeable just because the cover uses the same title.
If you are still choosing a first fantasy listen, compare this darker, character-first route with our beginner epic-fantasy audiobook guide. If political danger and morally compromised characters are the draw, the audiobooks for Game of Thrones fans guide gives you adjacent options without changing this order.
What is not part of The First Law
Joe Abercrombie’s Shattered Sea trilogy is separate. The Devils also begins a different series. Neither belongs between The Blade Itself and The Wisdom of Crowds.
Graphic adaptations and omnibus editions can make retailer results look more complicated than the underlying sequence. Use the book title and format, then check whether an omnibus contains books already listed here before buying it as though it were a new installment.
Frequently asked questions
What book comes after The Blade Itself?
Read or listen to Before They Are Hanged next, followed by Last Argument of Kings. Those three books form the original First Law trilogy.
Is the audiobook order different?
No. Use the same publication order. The current Audible page for The Blade Itself identifies it as book one and credits Steven Pacey as narrator.
Can I skip Best Served Cold, The Heroes, and Red Country?
You can stop after the original trilogy. If you intend to continue into The Age of Madness, keep the three middle novels: they advance the shared world and recurring characters even though each has its own main story.
Should I read Sharp Ends before the trilogy?
No. Put Sharp Ends after Red Country. Its stories move around the timeline, but first-time readers are better served by publication order than by rearranging them chronologically.
Is The Great Change required?
No. It is optional short fiction connected to The Age of Madness. Read it last if you want the extra stories and can find the edition you want.
Is The Devils the next First Law book?
No. The Devils is a separate series. It should not be inserted into this reading order.
The straight answer
Start with The Blade Itself, finish the original trilogy, read the three middle novels in publication order, place Sharp Ends after Red Country, and then finish the Age of Madness trilogy. Use the same sequence for Steven Pacey’s audiobooks. Add The Great Change (And Other Lies) only at the end.
Sources: Joe Abercrombie’s official books overview, First Law trilogy box-set page, and 2023 review; Orbit/Hachette’s First Law series page and The Blade Itself edition page; and Audible’s The Blade Itself listing.