Two Recent Trilogies: The Grishaverse and The First Law

[Raven]

So, I figured I'd make a separate thread out of these.

I've been reading fairly voraciously. I just started on the Nightwatch by Terry Pratchett and I got a Dragonlance novel, which is my first foray into that world. But I just finished a dive into two new trilogies that are relatively contemporary.

Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse.
Now, I really have read more in this world since I read two others from this same universe. But I just finished the Grishaverse trilogy and I understand they're making a series out of it. These novels were pretty engaging, although I do not think that Bardugo's writing style is on the same level with someone like Abercrombie, Martin, Lynch (Lies of Locke Lamora), or Rothfuss. Still, they are entertaining and I can see why they'd make a film out of it. The world is fairly fleshed out but the storyline of this trilogy follows closely to a single protagonist and is written in first person, which I think would lend itself easier to a screen adaptation. This world feels like there is a little less depth, and it is tied fairly closely to real-world cultures, with the main culture being Russian in style. The magic system is interesting enough. Overall, I'd give this series a 6/10 rating. I may read more in this world in the future.

Joe Abercrombie's the First Law trilogy.
This trilogy was hard to get into, and it is long. The first novel felt slow and only one of the characters was really interesting. But I slogged through it. I'm glad I did, because the story really picked up in the second novel and by the third I was very engaged. Abercrombie is a good writer, overall, and he develops characters who feel dynamic and able to undergo believable change while still remaining identifiably the same person. I don't want to give spoilers, but I was quite struck by the ending -- Abercrombie manages to subvert moral expectations within the genre to provide quite a remarkably different conclusion to the stories. I will most likely continue on to read more novels within this world.