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  • The Wisdom of Crowds

  • The Riotous Conclusion to The Age of Madness
  • By: Joe Abercrombie
  • Narrated by: Steven Pacey
  • Length: 23 hrs and 36 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (3,495 ratings)
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The Wisdom of Crowds

By: Joe Abercrombie
Narrated by: Steven Pacey
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Summary

Concluding the AGE OF MADNESS trilogy, THE WISDOM OF CROWDS brings the series which is revolutionising fantasy to its stunning conclusion. . . 

Chaos. Fury. Destruction.

The Great Change is upon us....

Some say that to change the world you must first burn it down. Now that belief will be tested in the crucible of revolution: the Breakers and Burners have seized the levers of power, the smoke of riots has replaced the smog of industry and all must submit to the wisdom of crowds.

With nothing left to lose, Citizen Brock is determined to become a new hero for the new age, while Citizeness Savine must turn her talents from profit to survival before she can claw her way to redemption. Orso will find that when the world is turned upside down, no one is lower than a monarch. And in the bloody North, Rikke and her fragile Protectorate are running out of allies...while Black Calder gathers his forces and plots his vengeance.

The banks have fallen, the sun of the Union has been torn down and in the darkness behind the scenes, the threads of the Weaver's ruthless plan are slowly being drawn together....

©2021 Joe Abercrombie (P)2021 Orion Publishing Group

Critic reviews

"Joe Abercrombie is doing some terrific work." (George R. R. Martin)

"No one writes with the seismic scope or primal intensity of Joe Abercrombie." (Pierce Brown)

"Delightfully twisted and evil." (The Guardian)

What listeners say about The Wisdom of Crowds

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Saved by the last few chapters

Most of the book is sheer drudgery but the last few chapters were enjoyable. Is it that JA wrote the ending first and just heaped a load of dross to fill in the gaps. I missed the creative humour, the great characters and entertainment that was prevalent in the books up to and inc the heroes

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Just... disappointing

Before I read this book, I don't think I could've found a single negative thing to say about Joe Abercrombie's writing, having read every book in the series/verse that precede this one. He weaves stories together and brings even minor side characters to life with such vibrance (and, often, violence), that after finishing the second book of this trilogy I was desperate to get onto the third and final.
I will stay away from direct spoilers but as I was able to surmise how this book would end prior to listening to it by reading the non-spoilery reviews of other listeners, doubtless my own review give something away nonetheless. So if you want to be entirely surprised by the book, maybe don't read this.

Essentially, the book's a mess. The characters are all over the place and for many of the lead characters there's no consistency in their actions or motivations. One of the PoV characters is so one dimensional that his chapters (presumeably meant to be shocking due to his violence?) are just straight up boring. Large sections of the book (and the trilogy) were basically rendered entirely pointless by events in the last 1/3 of it.
All in all it reads like a prologue to whatever he's going to write next; which does a huge disservice to the characters of this particular trilogy. Characters do not have to be good people in order to be interesting and captivating. But they do have to be well-written and possess some quality in them that somehow makes them likeable perhaps in spite of whatever despicable things they do. We rooted for Ninefingers in previous books in spite of the fact that it'd be rather difficult to argue that he's a paragon of virtue. His apparent 'parallel' in this book is just a pale shade of a character in comparison. Likewise, Glokta was darkly hilarious to read/listen to; and his 'parallel' (there seem to be a lot of them in this book?) is just plain obnoxious.

I don't need happy endings; many a brilliant read has left me in tears of sadness or frustration, or desperate impatience to find out how the situation at the end of one book could possibly be salvaged by the next. But to just feel deflated? Not really what I'm looking for.

Even so, one disappointment out of ten books? Pretty good going. He's been churning them out reliably for years now and to have maintained such a high standard for so long is impressive. Still one of my favourite authors by a long shot; but whilst I know I'll re-listen to the First Law and the standalones quite happily, I wouldn't listen to The Age of Madness, simply because of this last book.
Naturally I'll still be looking forward to the next book he writes; just possibly with a little more caution than I've approached any of his previous works.

Needless to say, Pacey's narration was still spot on, and I can't imagine anyone else ever voicing the characters of this world.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Harrowing, funny, engrossing, brilliant!

Oh gosh what a listen! This puts the seal on it, this is my favourite trilogy and this my favourite book of all! Some moments are really harrowing, some had me laughing out loud but the last 2 hours or so had me at the edge of my seat throughout! What a fantastic ending (and a new beginning?)
Wow, Lord Grimdark, thank you! And thank you Mr Pacey for yet again being the best narrator I have ever listened to!
And now I am restarting on book 1!

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

disappointing

narrator was great, but the story isn't as good as the others in the series.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not the same quality.

Not as good as the other books in the series, felt motives of a lot of characters to be questionable. Many of the twists were to easy to work out so there were few surprises. Still enjoyed, shame though.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Massive disappointment

Was expecting so much and given so little, gutted and hugely disappointed by this book

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Second time around

I have to say after my second time through the series that the last book is much better that I had previously thought. I still think that it t could do with an edit but while not the best in the series it’s still pretty good and worth a listen.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Sadly dull

Having enjoyed most of the tales so far in this epic, even the superb narration couldn’t spark much interest in this one.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The best author and the best reader

Doesn’t disappoint, marvellous. Though still a punch in the gut. Can’t wait to hear what happens next.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Just when you thought he couldn’t get any better ,,,,,

I smiled,laughed, cried,,,,,just couldn’t stop listening,,,the horror,betrayal,destruction,,,life or death situations,,,love,hopes,,,,twists and turns,,,it’s a masterpiece,,,can’t wait for the next one,,,,,

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3 people found this helpful