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A review by uncleginger
The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie
4.0
Summary
War in the north. The Union forces are tired and their morale is low with no end to the war in sight, until an end is demanded by his August Majesty.
The northern troops are little better. Black Dow, who is said to have stolen the throne from the Bloody Nine, is losing his grip on the north, and he knows it.
After three days of fighting, we find out quickly who The Heroes really are.
Initial Thoughts
I'll be honest, this was the first Joe Abercrombie book to take me a while to really start enjoying. At the beginning of the book it felt like I was introduced to a new set of characters at the beginning of each chapter, which was really overwhelming.
That changed when I started to look at this book like a season of 24. If you've never seen 24, it's about a government agent named Jack Bauer who uncovers and stops a terrorist plot in 24 hours each season. Every episode is in real time, so you would constantly be going back and forth between sets of characters and their arcs. Once I realized that's pretty much what this was, I started to enjoy it a lot more.
Final Thoughts
Overall I had a great time reading this one. Joe Abercrombie has yet to write a bad book, and his character work really flourishes in this book. At times there are entire chapters where it feels like he's just showing off, but you're content to let him keep going. We get multiple arcs in this book. We have coming of age, redeemed villain, and old veteran who just wants to retire among others.
Would I recommend it?
Yes, but it's the 5th book in The First Law world, so I wouldn't recommend starting this one. If you have read The First Law trilogy and Best Served Cold, definitely give it a go! You're clearly invested enough in this series to keep going.
War in the north. The Union forces are tired and their morale is low with no end to the war in sight, until an end is demanded by his August Majesty.
The northern troops are little better. Black Dow, who is said to have stolen the throne from the Bloody Nine, is losing his grip on the north, and he knows it.
After three days of fighting, we find out quickly who The Heroes really are.
Initial Thoughts
I'll be honest, this was the first Joe Abercrombie book to take me a while to really start enjoying. At the beginning of the book it felt like I was introduced to a new set of characters at the beginning of each chapter, which was really overwhelming.
That changed when I started to look at this book like a season of 24. If you've never seen 24, it's about a government agent named Jack Bauer who uncovers and stops a terrorist plot in 24 hours each season. Every episode is in real time, so you would constantly be going back and forth between sets of characters and their arcs. Once I realized that's pretty much what this was, I started to enjoy it a lot more.
Final Thoughts
Overall I had a great time reading this one. Joe Abercrombie has yet to write a bad book, and his character work really flourishes in this book. At times there are entire chapters where it feels like he's just showing off, but you're content to let him keep going. We get multiple arcs in this book. We have coming of age, redeemed villain, and old veteran who just wants to retire among others.
Would I recommend it?
Yes, but it's the 5th book in The First Law world, so I wouldn't recommend starting this one. If you have read The First Law trilogy and Best Served Cold, definitely give it a go! You're clearly invested enough in this series to keep going.