Best Served Cold

This stand-alone novel set after the First Law trilogy was probably even darker than the series, and definitely filled with a lot more gore. As the title suggests it's all about vengeance. Monza Murcatto is the female captain general of the Thousand Swords, a mercenary army formerly led by Cosca, the drunken mercenary we met in the trilogy. Monza's boss, Duke Orso of Styria betrays her, kills her brother and throws her off a cliff. But she survives, and vows revenge against the 7 men involved in this betrayal.

It starts off like a bloody heist movie, as Monza and her crew of misfits plot to kill one target after the other. But the vengeance project changes all people involved, there's more people involved and it's all out war in the end.

The most likeable character is probably Cosca and he is just as murderous and selfish as everyone else is in this book.

I don't think I ever want to return to Monza as a character, but damn, Abercrombie writes such compelling terrible characters.

I can't wait to read on in this world.

After reading the trilogy and taking a long hiatus I returned to the Abercrombie world with "grim" (harhar) enthusiasm. To tell the tale this book wasn't as easy going down as the prior series. It started off well enough but like a big tasty greasy meal about mid-way through I started having acid reflux and it took a long time to get over. Luckily I think the ending chapters saved it a bit.



Andy, you ask, what praytell got you rubbed all wrong?

Deep, deep, character flaws and self-loathing.

The entire center of the book seems fixated upon the self-trolling of characters. Bad people in bad places doing bad things and arguing badly.

It just mired me down.

Look I understand the premise. I applaud the effort of vengeance as the centerpiece and the bogfest that happens when you have to travel down that road for a long period of time. The betrayal, counter-betrayal, counter counter-betrayals. Sure. I just got tired of it. Like a hot humid stink on a windless summer day, I just labored through it. I knew we'd have a climb out of the morass eventually but it took me time and that soured me a bit overall.

Joe knows his material, characters, personalities, mystics, fighting, and armies alright but I think the pacing could have been a bit different. I enjoyed this book, just not as much as I have in the past. As always, your milage may vary.

Really liked this story, which I hadn't expected after reading the First Law Trilogy. Those three books were "okay", a bit "meh", and a lot "trying too hard to be big and bad and gritty".
This one is a lot better.
The story is a cliché: person gets betrayed by someone, left for dead, recovers and swears bloody vengeance. Oh and gets that vengeance, oh, how she does.
It is not only this plot that gives me the Tarantino-feel, it is the writing. Gritty politicking in the end. People betraying and killing everyone in the end.
There are two twists even I hadn't seen coming, which is saying a lot.

Now, here's the rub (still). You can call this "grimdark" all you like... but that doesn't make it so. Alright, it isn't sparkly fairies fluffing unicorn er, icecream, but still... dark? No.
Mentioning toilet-habbits and swearing a lot doesn't make something dark, nor grim. There is just one grim bit: the eye scene... you know but even that is just... mildly dark. Bridget Wood does a lot worse than this and isn't considered grimdark.
I like that it isn't sugar and spice, but please, this isn't near as dark as a lot of other writers I love to read, so cut it out with the grimdark mkay. Go read some [a:Steven Erikson|31232|Steven Erikson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1219169436p2/31232.jpg] if you want high end classy darkness. Or [a:Bridget Wood|95774|Bridget Wood|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png] if you want real stomach turning. Or [a:Stephen Donaldson|7364771|Stephen Donaldson|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] if you want angst and darkness and swearing, and a really unlikeable (yet likeable) main character. Or many others.

Then there is the narrator. The narrator is Michael Page, who also narrates The Lies of Locke Lamorra. And as it is a same style/setting book, I expected Locke to appear any moment ;-)
But the voice is too rich for this book. Waaaaaay to rich. It is a roley poley posh voice and totally unfitting the story. I would rather have someone more... gritty.
This voice distracts me, keeps making me notice it, breaking the story. That's bad. I had the same problem in the Locke Lamorra series, by the way.
Page is excellent for fairy tales and christmas carols and such, but please keep him away from (semi) grit. He is too theatrical for it.

Grimdark or no, I enjoyed this book. Monszcaro (however you write her name, that's the problem with audiobooks)