Author Joe Abercrombie tweeted this today:

Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law trilogy was one of the best fantasy series I have read in years. I ate it up nearly as quick as Patrick Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicles, Stephen King’s The Dark Tower or more recently Scott Lynch’s Gentlemen Bastards. It felt like reading The Lord of the Rings if Middle-Earth were as brutal of a world of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. Just like people you’ll love the main characters one minute and hate their guts another. I never saw the twists coming, and when dialog was spoken I thought afterwards of course they would say that. I left reading the books thinking I could write something like this because of the ease of the prose then jealous when I realized how wrong I am because these books were brilliantly written. It’s one of those series that leave you floored as a reader and a writer.

As always remember that there are spoilers ahead.

I have to say ahead of time I have not read the First Law side books though I do know the big reveal of Red Country. Red Country, being the latest book in the First Law timeline takes place thirteen years after The Last Argument of Kings. So here is what I am speculating will occur in the next trilogy.

• Sand dan Glokta and Jezal dan Luthar will no longer point-of-view characters. Jezal will make an appearance, maybe even just a mention but won’t have any prominent plot points. Glokta will be a prominent secondary character to one of the point-of-view characters.
• There will be three or four new point-of view characters to replace the one we’re losing: Jezal, Glokta and Collem West.
• I’m on the fence on whether Dogman will still be a point-of-view character.
• Logen Ninefingers (still alive as revealed in Red Country) and Ferro Maljinn will be the only returning characters with a point-of-view.
• What the Bloody Nine is will be fully revealed in Logen’s quest to confront Bayaz.
• Bayaz manipulation of the North and the Union will begin to unravel but perhaps not fully free of the First of the Magi until the third First Law trilogy.
• Ferro will have to deal with her madness if she is to accomplish her goals with the Gurkish.
• The spirits that Logen can talk to will become more prominent again, and why he can do so will be revealed.
• Perhaps Bayaz himself will have a point-of-view exploring his background with the other magi.
• The Great Eastern Library will make an appearance
• Maybe even one of the other magi not seen in the original trilogy will get a point-of-view to explore Bayazs background.
• We will finally meet Khalul in person, perhaps through Ferro but like Bayaz his downfaill won’t come until the next First Law trilogy.
• Tolomei will be released or break out from the House of the Maker
• It is implied that Bayaz killed Juvens, we’ll find out why.
• The other side will be explored more, perhaps be a main focus of the plot.
• The mythology of Euz and his four sons, Kanedias, Juvens, Bedesh and Glustrod will be explored.
• Logen Ninefingers will be actually dead by the end of this trilogy, having started what will be the downfall of Bayaz.
• However, the Bloody Nine may not. With Logen dead the Bloody Nine may takeover to wreak havoc in the third trilogy.
• Luthar may die before the end of the second trilogy.
• There is no way there is only two laws by Euz. A third law will be revealed.
• Cawneil, one of the magi, may be forced to give up her slothful ways in the Great Western Library, possibly even have a change of heart about being a cynic.
• Zacharus may take a stand against Bayaz, and he will fall doing so possibly revealing Bayaz’s more sinister nature.

Obviously this is all based on having not read the three World of the First Law books, as I understand Bayaz makes an appearance in one of them.

There’s nothing like the feeling of discovering a new favorite book series and I hope Abercrombie will continue to do so with the next trilogy.