It became more seamless as the book went on. A Savine chapter featured Leo, then lead into a Leo chapter that dealt with Orso, leading into an Orso chapter. Thus, this feeling made the events seem to go by very quickly, and made reading more exciting as there was no pause between chapters. The difference here is most of the points-of-view happening in close chronological order or features another point-of-view character’s events within. Before then, most of the point-of-view characters went in and out of orbit with each other. It wasn’t until some of the final chapters of the book that all of them came together. In A Little Hatred, the characters were kept apart for most of the book by different circumstances. By the end, it felt as if events went by so quickly I had to pause and take stock of what was happening. This is not a short book at nearly five hundred pages, yet the story seemed to breeze by. The Trouble with Peace will put their (lack of) convictions through the ringer.

On the other hand, Jonas Clover is very comfortable with what he’s done to survive but now is faced with choices that could mean than just doing what it takes for him to come out the other end alive. Still, it’s only a way to have some control, because she won’t admit to herself she has no control over her life and won’t confront the decisions she has made to survive. Vick has made herself a shell, a husk of a person who puts on a mask to do her job, and she does it well. Of course, the exceptions are Victarine “Vick” dan Teufel and Clover, who, due to failings and tragedy, have learned to do whatever is they need to to survive. Savine dan Glokta is traumatized by the events of Valbeck, Leo dan Brock is struggling with the changes within the nation he fought for, Rikke forced the Long Eye open and now cannot keep it shut, and Orso is struggling to figure out what exactly the King of the Union is supposed to do. However, the events of the Battle of Red Hill, the duel in the circle between the Young Lion and the Great Wolf, and the uprising in Valbeck have altered the characters significantly. As it begins, it looks as if the events of A Little Hatred have come and gone, with the most obvious example of Orso dan Luthar already being crowned king and dealing with Union bureaucracy.

Red country joe abercrombie review