Reading order
The First Law reading order
1
2
3- 3 volumes
- Volumes
- 2006–2008
- Published
- about 35 h
- Reading time
- Completed
- Status
- Fantasy#17
- Genre
Quick answer
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Publication order
3 volumes2006–2008Completed
- The trilogy reads in order, from The Blade Itself.
- Abercrombie's later novels in this world — Best Served Cold, The Heroes, Red Country — stand alone and come after the trilogy; among themselves they follow publication order.
A plan for the whole series
3 volumes, 1,792 pages, about 35 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 6 weeks.
Share of volume 1’s readers who reach the last volume. Chance of reaching the last volume: high
Stages
3 stages, with 2 short books from outside the series between them. You finish around December 20, 2026, 8 days later than in one go.
- Stage 110 h13 daysby November 11, 2026
- Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.8
- Stage 211 h14 daysby November 29, 2026
- Short breakOn Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century · Timothy Snyder · 128 pp. · score 8.4
- Stage 312 h16 daysby December 20, 2026
- The end of the series
We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.
Does the series hold up
Shape of the series: it gets better. Readers scored the opening (8.3) below the ending (8.6). After the first volume you do not yet know how good this series is.
Best volume: Last Argument of Kings (8.6, 1,607 ratings). Weakest: The Blade Itself (8.3). The series is complete; you can read it start to finish with no waiting. The last volume (8.6) scores close to the series average or above it.
How this plan is calculated
The plan comes from the pages and ratings of each volume: we split the series into stages of about three weeks’ reading, size each break to the stage before it, and read the chance of finishing from how many readers rate the last volume compared with the first. How we work out the plan →
Every volume in order
Order checked by hand · Order and years: Wikidata (CC0). Spotted an error? Tell us. · Data updated October 29, 2026
The First Law books ranked, best to worst
- 1.Last Argument of KingsBook 3 · 20088.6
- 2.Before They Are HangedBook 2 · 20078.5
- 3.The Blade ItselfBook 1 · 20068.3
Extras, short stories and spin-offs
Not needed to follow the main story — read them after the series or skip them.
- The Heroes2011
Frequently asked questions
Which First Law book is the best?
By reader score, Last Argument of Kings (8.6/10). The lowest-rated is The Blade Itself (8.3/10).
Which The First Law book is the longest?
“Last Argument of Kings” is the longest at 669 pages; the shortest is “The Blade Itself” with 531 pages.
What should I read after The First Law?
After the main series: The Heroes.
