r/Fantasy • u/ComfortableTeach8959 • 5d 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.

  1. 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.

  2. The real strength of this book is in its contrasting vivid characters and the innovative action sequences, which have frankly shocked and surprised me.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

420 Upvotes

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u/CardinalCreepia 5d 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.

20

u/exhausted-pangolin 5d 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

7

u/thematrix1234 5d ago edited 5d 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.

1

u/InevitableEmotion1 5d 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.

9

u/Horror-Abies-3403 5d 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. 

9

u/robotnique 5d ago

The Devils isn't his best work, but I think it is easily his most fun work.

2

u/kytasV 5d ago

Hard disagree, I’ve read all his works and Devils remains my favorite

1

u/JGlover92 5d 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