The First Law - Joe better get writing!

I tried to get into Harry Potter, I really did. The stories, the movies, the fact my partner reads them and hates fantasy... it didn't work. The stories were just too simple, the characters fairly predictable and I just didn't care.
I was going to need another English Author for the Orbis Terrarum Challenge.......
Joe Abercrombie came out of nowhere! I was at my local Borders store a while ago, and saw the cover and had the usual 'Never heard of him, and the cover art looks a bit try-hard. Might give it a miss.' After a while I did read the cover, and it piqued my interest.
And then I read all three in a row.
Joe Abercrombie has created a world with a rich history, varied cultures and savage combat, but populated by flawed characters that really are individual. The comments made by the characters, and the manner in which they go about their day suits the characters and really defines them. There is nothing generic about them, and their faults are their highlights - they really are that interesting!
All the books were released around the same time in Australia, and i note on Joe Abercrombie's website that the English and American release are close together as well. It means no long waits between books and you can concentrate on the current events without having to remember what happened in the last one.
The first book (The Blade Itself) introduces the characters, and their world. The frozen Northland full of enemy Barbarians, the Hot Deserted Southland full of Dark Skinned enemies, and the pillar of righteousness in the middle, full of 'Pinks' as one of the characters calls them.
The South is ruled by a power hungry madman, with an evil Mage as the influence behind the throne. The North is ruled by a power hungry Madman. The middle is ruled by a power hungry inner circle of administrators, because the king is mad. Pretty standard stuff, but with a personal twist.
The story gets deeper in Before They Are Hanged, with relationships, journeys and the real flaws coming to the surface, but despite the flaws the individuals begin to change, and work for the better.
By the end of Last Argument of Kings you will want some characters dead, and be scared that others characters who might originally seem to deserve it, will come to a grisly end they no longer deserve.

If i rated books out of 10, this trilogy might get it. There's no replacing Raymond E. Feist's Magician as one of the best Fantasy books I have read, but these books really are close to that level.
To quote Scott Lynch: "A long career for this guy would be a gift to our genre."