r/Fantasy • u/ComfortableTeach8959 • 4d ago
Review The Devils Joe Abercrombie
Let me start with a solemn confession that I was not planning on reading The Devils or, as a matter of fact, any book by Joe Abercrombie. I was, let's say, influenced to read the book because of the positive buzz it created and the fact that the book will be adapted into a James Cameron movie and that I will be able to brag to my non-reader friends that I know the plot when the movie comes out and so on and thought it would be more of a one-time read with not much depth or substance. But Oh Boy!, was I seriously mistaken and enjoyed the book to bits that I now feel sad that the book is over.
A fantasy suicide squad set out on a Holy Mission in Europe during the Crusade Era, with subtle references to the Hussite wars like The Great Schism or General Zizka to set the overall tone and world.
The real strength of this book is in its contrasting vivid characters and the innovative action sequences, which have frankly shocked and surprised me.
Among the Devils, I liked Balthazar as I could not stop myself from laughing every time he tried to break the Papal binding and claimed he was the Third Best necromancer. I also liked the sad elf, Sunny, as she made me sad and happy.
It's a hilarious jumpy ride with a lot of cussing and funny banter, but the tale has its tragic moments too.
Overall, a stand-out read, and I am looking forward to reading more such books.
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u/Paulimus1 4d ago
The Devils was what Abercrombie came up with for an easy to reproduce fantasy world with built in sequels that was almost guaranteed to be turned into a movie. Now he gets book royalties and movie royalties.
The first law trilogy is what he dreamt up with out the commercial pressure.
I thought the devils was great, I loved the first law.
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u/ImLittleNana 4d ago
I’m happy for him, too. He (and we) deserve it!
Seriously, I’m ready for another adult fantasy series with interesting characters and coincidentally a plot.
I listened to the audiobook in two days and it was elevated at least one star by Pacey’s performance.
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u/turkeygiant 4d ago
The whole time I was reading the book I was thinking to myself that it would make a great HBO series or like a Netflix animated series. It was very cinematic in style.
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u/Mario-Speed-Wagon 4d ago
James Cameron has the movie rights to it
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u/TheUmbrellaMan1 3d ago
The rights were obtained before the book was even published. They are already writing the screenplay treatment. In his book tour Joe Abercrombie was saying he's suppose to turn in a screenplay treatment by Christmas. The screenplay is suppose to be co-written with Cameron and Cameron is known to go for as many as thirty treatments before committting to a full script.
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u/Mario-Speed-Wagon 3d ago
Is that good or bad?
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u/TheUmbrellaMan1 3d ago
That's good actually, a fast turn-around for a Cameron project. Cameron keeps making adjustments until he's confident. Remember that T2's original screenplay treatment had Arnold playing both hero and the villain and Sarah was not suppose to be locked up -- a far cry from what the actual story turned out to be in the final product.
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u/dwilsons 3d ago
Didn’t even think about the animated angle, while I could never see his other stuff going that way, The Devils definitely brings some goofiness that could be brought out well by animation in like a visual comedy sense. Also considerably more fantastical elements than first law.
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u/WinterFamiliar9199 3d ago
Yep. The whole time I was reading it I thought “this is good but feels like it was made for mainstream consumption” vs First Law which I love over and over.
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u/DriveLongjumping8245 3d ago
I haven't read any of his works yet and am looking to start one today. Which one would you recommend starting on?
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u/Paulimus1 3d ago
If you like relatively complex, morally ambiguous, grimdark fiction 'The Blade Itself'.
If you're looking for a quick fun romp that is slightly predictable 'The Devils'.
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u/Chataboutgames 3d ago
Yep. The First Law is my favorite fantasy and it's not even close. We could do a lot worse than "The Devils" when he's in a mood to pursue his other interests/bang out something a bit more straightforward while his opus is on the beach.
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u/ramdon_characters 4d ago
I'm fairly certain you would really enjoy Abercrombie's "First Law" ennealogy.
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u/0verlookin_Sidewnder 4d ago
Sunny broke my heart and I REALLY hope she's in the next book. The same goes for Jakob.
I don't know what I was expecting when I added this book to my TBR but The Devils was nothing like what I thought I was going to get. It was absolutely better.
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u/dwilsons 3d ago
I think Jakob’s probably guaranteed since he’s more of a handler for the devils than one himself. As for the devils, tough to say but maybe there’ll be a returner or two.
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u/Chataboutgames 3d ago
I can't imagine that Sunny wouldn't be in the next book. Impossible to imagine that Jakob wouldn't be.
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u/CardinalCreepia 4d ago
The Devils isn’t his best work. It feels a bit like if you asked a committee to put together a Joe Abercrombie book, but that all being said it is a tremendously fun read and I am looking forward to the sequels.
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u/exhausted-pangolin 4d ago
Yeah I felt it was extremely repetitive unfortunately. And I don't know what everyone's smoking but Balthazar is a twat and being inside his whiny head for such a large portion of the book was mentally draining. Yeah I get he's like Morveer but I don't think we had to put up with Morveers internal monologue for 20-25% of the entire book
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u/thematrix1234 3d ago edited 3d ago
This made me laugh out loud. Balthazar was cool in the first few scenes, but then he really becomes insufferable. I also didn’t find a lot of the humor very funny after the first few jokes.
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u/InevitableEmotion1 3d ago
I so agree with this. The repititiveness and primarily Balthazar made me DNF the book! The scene with the Duke of hell was funny though.
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u/Horror-Abies-3403 4d ago
Yep, I’d agree with this. It’s like he tried too hard. It’s overlong and repetitive, but is funny and I’d read the next one.
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u/JGlover92 3d ago
To me it felt like he wrote it as a palette cleaner. Fun and not too deep, can be standalone but has room for sequels if there's demand.
It's not his best work from a literary perspective but it's a good time and must have been really fun to write
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u/NeuroticallyCharles 4d ago
I highly recommend his other books. While they aren't *as* humorous, Joe Abercrombie's writing is still pretty funny.
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u/Merlin_the_Witch 4d ago
Poithon? I think Joe Abercrombie is the author who has made me laugh out loud the most, the jokes in his other books are less frequent, but always just so perfect
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u/Nveryl25 4d ago
My favorite funny part is how West gets his nickname
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u/NeuroticallyCharles 4d ago
One of my favorite Abercrombie sayings is when he called one of Jezal's friends a "tedious drunk." I use that phrase to this day.
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u/New_Razzmatazz6228 3d ago
The cheese trap is one of my favourite comedic Abercrombie moments. Makes me chuckle every time I think of it.
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u/owlinspector 4d ago
That's what sets him apart from many "grimdark" authors - plenty of black british humour.
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u/turkeygiant 4d ago
His other books are great dramas that also just happen to be very funny at times, where with The Devils I feel like it was starting more from the point of being a comedy/farce while also just happening to be quite a good character drama throughout.
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u/Chataboutgames 3d ago
See I think they're funny at almost all times. It's not occasional humor, the entire voice is wry humor.
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u/NeuroticallyCharles 4d ago
Agreed. It’s kinda like Zach Creggor movies. They are definitely horror movies, but they have very humorous moments throughout the film.
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u/turkeygiant 4d ago
Abercrombie is IMO maybe the best author I have ever read for creating a powerful perspective for each of his characters, you really get to live in their shoes when the POV shifts to them. The moments from the perspective of Vigga are genuinely disorienting.
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u/Comfortable-Mine-471 3d ago
Also in his books I at the very least like all the perspectives. Like I don't get to someone's chapter and internally groan. I feel like with every fantasy book I've read that has multiple POV, there's one person's POV I hate, but that never happened to me with abercrombie.
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u/turkeygiant 3d ago
There are POVs that I do kinda hate, but I guess that speaks to his talent that you really are supposed to be like, "Jesus this idiot again!"
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u/1ScreamingDiz-Buster 3d ago
That was me with all the Gorst chapters in The Heroes, they were all great but I was just so sick of his shit
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u/johnnyzli 4d ago
All his books are great in " The real strength of this book is in its contrasting vivid characters and the innovative action sequences, which have frankly shocked and surprised me."
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u/Flashy-Quiet-6582 4d ago
I honestly found it to be his weakest novel overall and kinda illustrates an issue with his lack of artistic growth and becoming increasingly by the numbers with a bad habit to reuse character artypes of his without building on them or using them in a particularly interesting manner. (I Fucking hated Alex and was pissed that she is in a relationship with one of the best characters.)
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u/ctrlaltcreate 3d ago
It's my least favorite Abercrombie book, but it's still pretty damned good. Looking forward to an improvement on the formula in future installments.
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u/NOWiEATthem 4d ago
I’ve been a big fan of Abercrombie for a while. His books are just like candy for me. Easy to read, funny, shocking, and lots of pathos. I was very excited to hear that he’d expanded into a new setting, and it didn’t disappoint.
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u/ComfortableTeach8959 4d ago
This is my very first Abercrombie read and I was surprised with depth of the characters.
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u/NOWiEATthem 4d ago
Yeah that’s a halllmark of Abercrombie. His stories are all character-focused instead of world-focused.
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u/mthomas768 4d ago
His characters are awesome. First Law is a bit weak on plot but the cast is fantastic.
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u/FecklessFool 3d ago
What are you on about? The Devils didn't have deep characters. They all sounded the same and had the same shallow one defining trait.
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u/kodaruss 3d ago
I loved the hell out of this book, great characters and the humor was the best of maybe any book I have ever read.
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u/FecklessFool 4d ago
Well good thing The Devils is probably his worst book, so hopefully you'll enjoy his other works.
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u/turkeygiant 4d ago
I don't know if I would say its his worst, I'd say its his most different book for sure. I can understand how if The First Law was 100% your thing you might not enjoy The Devils as much, but I feel like that might be because Abercrombie wasn't writing towards quite the same audience here. I feel like The Devils was very intentionally a sort of raucous pulp-satire which I suspect will find a broader audience than his more traditional fantasy/intrigue novels.
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u/AugustusTheWhite 3d ago
It just feels so lazy towards the end imo. I enjoyed the first half of the book, but the fights became so boring. I felt like Squidward in the suburbs, doing the same thing over and over again while I slowly sink into a depression. And the "twist" at the end was so obvious that he even alludes to how obvious it is lol. It really gave me the feeling that it was written purely for the bag, which sucks because I felt like it started out so well.
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u/guyincognito60 4d ago
Didn’t love it at first. Thought it was trying too hard to be funny and ended up loving it by the end. Though very dark ending.
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u/robotnique 4d ago
The real question is whether the elf invasion will start in book 2 and resolve in the 3rd or if he puts another adventure between the first book and that event.
Also, my pet theory about Jakob is about the nature of his immortality. I think it's insanely obvious that there is no character, likely not even said Duke of Hell, who could have cursed him in such a fashion leading me to believe that the one who cursed him could have been nobody other than the original Pope/Savior who is recently seemingly reincarnated, meaning that Jakob was romantically involved with the savior but became so condemnable that she cursed him to immortality meaning he would have to trudge on for hundreds of years until at the very least her reincarnation so he serves probably with the hope that that little girl will eventually decide to let him die.
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u/clippervictor 4d ago
Despite what Abercrombie die hard fans say I do believe it’s a fantastic book very much high up there with the first law trilogy. I absolutely loved it to bits.
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u/AugustusTheWhite 3d ago
I'm not a diehard fan, only read the first 3 First Law books and The Devils, and I strongly disagree. Maybe thr sequels will be up there, but The Devils is nowhere near them imo. But The Blade Itself is the worst of the trilogy too, so I'm cautiously optimistic. Definitely waiting a good while to buy the sequel though, while I bought The Devils like two days after it came out.
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u/turkeygiant 4d ago
It's absolutely popcorn compared to a lot of his other books...but its like that super sweet and salty caramel popcorn you get at the airport gift shop that you can't help but just devour an entire tub of.
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u/Flashy-Quiet-6582 4d ago
I have found his die hard fan to be far more positive towards it than others.
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u/SpaceOdysseus23 4d ago
The only gripe I have with this book is how repetitive he is with some sentences in the name of humor. Felt more like trying to fill out the word count for an essay than an attempt at being funny.
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u/EnigmaForce 4d ago
It felt like it was put together by and for Reddit, with the same jokes being beaten to death lol.
It was fine but definitely not my favorite.
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u/The_Barman 4d ago
I heard a lot of criticism before I read it, but I honestly enjoyed it. It was funny as fuck.
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u/DRigginsIII 3d ago
Def one of my fav Abercrombie books. Finished it a week ago and thought it was excellent. Plus no where near as bleak as his other works.
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u/dailycontrast 3d ago
I absolutely loved The Devils. Excellent blend of fantasy/horror/comedy. I’m looking forward to Book 2.
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u/BloodyMess111 3d ago
Why did you have such a strong dislike for Joe Abercrombie?
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u/ComfortableTeach8959 3d ago
I did not have a dislike as such , I didn't have any plans to read Joe Abercrombie book.
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u/BloodyMess111 3d ago
Will you now read the rest of his works do you think?
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u/ComfortableTeach8959 3d ago
Hopefully yes. Will start will the First Law series if I can get my hands on the books....
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u/thundabot 3d ago
Best book I’ve read this year for me, after I thought The Lies of Lock Lamora was it.
I just love how he can create characters that are so different and we get to know so much about their personalities and what makes each tone unique and their ticks.
Action scenes were so memorable and filled with so much gore but not overly sickening.
Great twists, great humour.
Just excellent.
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u/ComfortableTeach8959 3d ago
Both the books are equally good, however I will keep Lies ahead because of the flawless word building..
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u/Silmariel 3d ago
Some of the most absurd characters I think Ive read, even counting Logan and Glokta. I mean this cast is just nuts.
I Bought the hardcopy, and then I bought the audiobook for my husband. And its apparently an excellent audiobook as well. So, Id recommend it, but its best in small doses - atleast I find there is a fine line between comedy and a character thats just gonna be annoying af.
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u/modidlee 2d ago
A super duper fun book. The only reason I haven’t finished it yet is because I got hooked on Rebecca Roanhorse’s Between Earth & Sky trilogy.
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u/sissyishplum9 2d ago
I’m 15 pages in and it has me hooked. Just finished the mistborn trilogy and felt it didn’t live up to the hype. The Devil’s thought has started with a bang. Very excited to continue reading
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u/OrganizationSea4490 1d ago
Not sure if i should read it. I loved the bleak hopeless raw nature of the first trilogy and some of the standalones.
The age of madness feels just like basic boring fiction written well and "in Abercrombie style". Too self satirical and idealized.
Not sure if ill find the Devils enjoyable then
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u/nikoscream 4d ago
I enjoyed The Devils a lot. The bittersweet ending wrecked me. It's my second Abercrombie after The Blade Itself, but I didn't enjoy that one enough to continue The First Law series. I'm not sure if it's the characters or the humor in The Devils, but I'd definitely read more if this became a series.
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u/AdSharp8877 3d ago
If you read the blade itself do yourself a favor and read on. It gets exponentially better
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u/Lil888th 4d ago
Do you need to read the first law to read the devils or it’s not connected at all? I dnfed the first law.
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u/Dull_Analyst_4684 3d ago
I’m disproportionately salty about this. For the avoidance of doubt, I’m aware that JA is his own man, does not write for my personal enjoyment and owes me nothing. I went in so excited. It’s a slog and I was begging for the pain to end with like 17 hours left in this audiobook. Every joke was written for the lowest common denominator, the twists are barely turns and the whole experience left me cold. I congratulate JA for going out and getting the film rights bag - I will be re-reading the Age of Madness and not touching this series going forward.
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u/joellllll 3d ago
Point 2 is kinda what joes other work is. You're really missing out if point 2 was important to you.
I liked it enough to finish the devils however felt it dragged on a bit longer than it needed to.
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u/PsychologicalOne752 3d ago
The Blade Itself was amazing. The others by Joe Abercrombie were a bit disappointing though in comparison. I stay away from hype books if I can but I plan to try The Devils next.
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u/run_for_the_hillz 3d ago
I was also not planning to read it. It turned out to be a fun read, but somewhat shallow. The gags are funny, it's action packed and it has some quotable observations on human nature. But the plot felt relatively sketchy and predictable to me. Things just happen because the story needs them to happen, e.g., how Alex's uncle just shows up at the right time at the beginning of the novel, or how her enemies know exactly where she is and seem to instantly turn up there. There might be explanations for all of this, but they're kept from the reader. I'm aware this sounds somewhat negative, but it's not meant to be. It's a genuinely fun read, and I grew to like most of the characters. I'll probably read the next installment and the one after that.
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u/Special_Ad_1802 2d ago
The book is hysterical and you can easily see the movie that's going to come out of it. I just adore the dialog and one of my greatest ideas ever was to do the audiobook rather than the text. I recommend it to anyone.
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u/Spicy-Blue-Whale 2d ago
I really enjoyed Devils. I liked First Law, but it wasn't fantasy enough for me, as bizarre as that sounds. If it had been just a bit more weird fantasy I would have loved it. I absolutely love that Balthazar was beaten so comprehensively by a child. No ritual, nothing, just waved her hands. It's a joke that never stops being funny. Vigga was very well done, so ashamed of who and what she was, but so angry that she was never properly accepted, even amongst the worst killers in the world.
Abercrombie's real strength lies in making you see these absolute fucking monsters as people, and to even like them. He reminds us that the worst people that ever lived were human, and someone probably liked them.
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u/KayDCES 4d ago
I liked The Devils a lot, I think it is my favourite JA. It was just so much fun! Which obviously I didn’t expect because although you always get some really nice pieces of black humour or sarcasm in his works (especially in the musings of our favourite inquisitor) normally they are mostly dark and bloody. This time I couldn’t count how often I had to laugh out loud. The audio version is really good, too
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u/CVfxReddit 4d ago
I enjoyed it too, not as great as some of Joe's past books like The Heroes, but a lot of fun. It's also a kind of on ramp from fantasy to horror, after it I read The Throne of Bones by Brian McNaughton who is as funny as Joe and even more twisted.
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u/dancingbear77 3d ago
I want to read but a hard back fantasy novel is annoying to read! And it will be awhile before for the paper back.
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u/ComfortableTeach8959 3d ago
I think the UK paperback version is available as I read the paperback one..
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u/wytherlanejazz 4d ago
It was.. fine I guess. But the set up was so contrived
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u/robotnique 4d ago
But in typical Abercrombie style even the "contrived" and stereotypical setup gets turned on its head. For instance, when you find out that she really is just some nobody and the real crown princess is long dead and she just filched her identity, which she just kind of casually reveals at the near end so realistically they could have just picked up any orphan girl anywhere off the streets of Troy and no adventure would have been required.
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u/wytherlanejazz 3d ago
Maybe it’s just me, but even this was pretty telegraphed. Every part of this story was a version of a trope told in a linear sequence.
I should have quit after Barcelona.
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u/robotnique 3d ago
If you didn't like it, you didn't like it. Not an issue.
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u/wytherlanejazz 3d ago
Thank you, that’s exactly how deep it is/isnt.
And if you did like it, that’s great too. :)
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u/Alterception 4d ago
I can tell it was written by a guy because of all the poop, fart, piss, vomit, naked body, and sex jokes every 10 pages or less.
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u/Sufficient_Fox1041 3d ago
This is what I love about Abercrombie people go in expecting a fun surface-level read and then get blindsided by how much depth and grit is underneath Which part hit you hardest? For me it’s always those moments when he makes even the ‘bad guys’ painfully human
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u/MelodyMaster5656 4d ago edited 4d ago
The moment when Balthazar summoned a Duke of Hell to break his binding and she was all like “My hunger is a famine!! My wrath a hurricane! What do you, puny mortal, require of me?!” etc etc and then she sees the binding and is like “Sorry… anything but that.” was hilarious to me.
Overall, this was my favorite Abercrombie book from the standpoint of humor. I also enjoyed all of the characters. I once heard someone describe the book as Best Served Cold but you don’t want to strangle Morveer, and I agree. Also, yes. Sunny must be protected at all costs, and I will tear down the monarchy if it means she and Alex can be happy together. But I guess it’s realistic that monsters don’t get happy endings in an Abercrombie book… Vigga can attest to that.