About the Book
The Trouble with Peace is the second book in Joe Abercrombie's Age of Madness trilogy, a follow-up to A Little Hatred set in the same world as the First Law series. The story picks up after a destructive industrial uprising, with the Union's fragile political order already beginning to crack. Conspiracies form quietly while the characters who survived the first book maneuver for position, some through money, some through force, some through prophecy.
The central figures each operate with their own logic. Savine dan Glokta, daughter of the feared Inquisitor Sand dan Glokta, was a ruthless speculator until events humbled her badly in the previous book. She isn't reformed, she's recalibrating. Leo dan Brock is a celebrated war hero who has no patience for peacetime politics and whose restlessness makes him easy to manipulate. Rikke, who can see flashes of the future through the Long Eye, is trying to consolidate power in the North while being surrounded by people who want to use her gift for their own ends.
Abercrombie's approach here is less about twists than about watching people with clear motivations make decisions that are individually understandable and collectively catastrophic. The world has recognizable industrial-era tensions underneath its fantasy surface, class conflict, political corruption, the gap between how power presents itself and how it actually operates. Readers who haven't read A Little Hatred, or who are unfamiliar with the original First Law trilogy, will be lost. This is not a standalone entry.
Narration & Audio Performance
Steven Pacey has narrated Abercrombie's First Law world for years, including the original trilogy and several standalones, and the consistency shows. He knows these characters, not just how to voice them, but how to time them. Abercrombie's dialogue is often dry, darkly comic, and loaded with subtext, and Pacey handles that register without overselling it. The humor lands because he doesn't signal it too hard.
Character differentiation is strong across the cast. He draws a clear line between Savine's clipped, composed delivery and Rikke's rougher Northern cadence. Leo dan Brock sounds like someone who says important-sounding things without thinking them through, which is exactly right. Pacey's Logen Ninefingers voice, for readers who know that character, remains consistent with prior entries. This kind of continuity across a long-running series matters, and it's not something every narrator manages.
Pacing suits the material well. Abercrombie writes scenes that shift between political maneuvering and sudden violence, and Pacey adjusts without the transitions feeling jarring. There are no known production issues with this release. If you've already listened to A Little Hatred with Pacey, this is exactly what you'd expect, and that's a compliment.
The Audible Verdict
Steven Pacey narrating Abercrombie is one of the more reliable pairings in fantasy audio, and The Trouble with Peace is a strong entry in the Age of Madness series. If you've already listened to A Little Hatred on Audible, there's no real reason to switch formats, the audio experience is consistent and the narration adds genuine value to the ensemble cast. This earns a paid credit for established fans of the series or listeners already familiar with Pacey's work in the First Law world.
Listen on AudibleIs This Book a Good Fit for Audio?
Epic fantasy with a large ensemble cast can go wrong in audio if character voices blur together or if the narrator struggles with tonal range. Neither is a problem here. The Age of Madness books are structurally well-suited to audio, each chapter follows a named POV character, which gives listeners clear anchors, and the plot moves through dialogue and scene rather than through dense exposition or appendices.
Abercrombie's prose doesn't rely on maps or visual formatting to communicate. The world-building is embedded in character perspective, which is exactly the kind of writing that holds up when you can't flip back a page. If you listened to the First Law trilogy or A Little Hatred in audio, this will feel immediately familiar in format and approach.
The one caveat: this is a middle book, and some of its payoffs depend on memory of earlier events. Listeners who haven't recently engaged with A Little Hatred may find themselves lost on character backstory in the early chapters. It's worth re-listening to a summary or revisiting the previous entry before starting this one.
Popular Listener Questions
Do I need to read A Little Hatred before this one?
Yes. The Trouble with Peace is a direct sequel and assumes familiarity with the events and characters of A Little Hatred. Starting here would be confusing.
Do I need to have read the original First Law trilogy first?
Not strictly required, but it helps significantly. Several characters and locations connect to the earlier books, and some of the political context carries more weight if you know that history.
Is this a good audiobook for someone new to Steven Pacey's narration?
It works as an introduction, but you'd get more out of starting with The Blade Itself, the first First Law book, where you'd meet the characters fresh alongside the narration.
Is this book part of a trilogy?
Yes. The Trouble with Peace is the second book in the Age of Madness trilogy, which is itself set in the same world as Abercrombie's original First Law trilogy and its standalones.
Similar Audiobooks
The direct predecessor. Start here if you haven't already, same narration, same world, essential context.
The first First Law book. Pacey has narrated the entire series, and this is where the narrator-author partnership began.
A standalone set in Abercrombie's world with a tighter cast. A good entry point for listeners who want to try the combination without committing to a trilogy.
Another large-cast epic fantasy with strong audio production. Different tone, more earnest than Abercrombie, but a natural recommendation for the same audience.
A Dance with Dragons
If you're drawn to fantasy where political maneuvering and betrayal drive the plot as much as combat, this is the obvious parallel.
A standalone First Law novel focused almost entirely on a single battle. Pacey's narration, Abercrombie's voice, and a contained enough scope to finish in a weekend of listening.
Audiobook Details
| Title | The Trouble with Peace |
|---|---|
| Author | Joe Abercrombie |
| Narrator | Steven Pacey |
| Genre | Epic Fantasy |
| Year | 2020 |
| Publisher | Orbit |
| Abridged | Unabridged |
| Cast | Single narrator |
| Author-narrated | No |
Ready to listen?
The Trouble with Peace is available on Audible with Steven Pacey narrating, if you're already in the First Law world, this is a reasonable use of a credit.
Open on Audible