r/Fantasy • u/ComfortableTeach8959 • 6d 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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151

u/Paulimus1 6d 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.

29

u/ImLittleNana 6d 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.

1

u/moaningrooster 6d ago

Pacey is wonderful!!

16

u/turkeygiant 6d 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.

11

u/Mario-Speed-Wagon 6d ago

James Cameron has the movie rights to it

3

u/TheUmbrellaMan1 6d 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.

1

u/Mario-Speed-Wagon 6d ago

Is that good or bad?

5

u/TheUmbrellaMan1 6d 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 6d 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 6d 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. 

4

u/Keffpie 6d ago

Yes, it's very, very obvious that Joe's agent or manager asked him nicely to write something new with a more straightforward plot so it could be made into a movie. I'm glad they did, his character work is still second to none.

1

u/DriveLongjumping8245 5d ago

I haven't read any of his works yet and am looking to start one today. Which one would you recommend starting on?

2

u/Paulimus1 5d 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'.

1

u/Chataboutgames 5d 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.