Best Served Cold

If you're an Abercrombie fan like me, you owe it to yourself to avoid this book. Overly long, dreary, plodding, bleak and predictable, it suffers from the following unforgivable sins:

1) There is no character growth, unless it is to grow worse. Good fiction is all about character growth, and unless for you this means taking mildly optimistic characters and turning them into 'I could really care less if I died today' cardboard, you're not going to be happy with this book.

2) Revenge, revenge, revenge and more revenge. Its hard to like a character whose sole motive is based on such an ugly need, let alone when that character happens to be the main protagonist.

3) Characters you won't really care about. Not the main character, not the barbarian, not the old drunkard, nobody.

4) There is no real point. When you find yourself having to ask why you should care about anything you are reading, you know questions like 'how do I get those X hours of my life back?' are soon to follow.

5) The book is far too long. Why should a study in revenge conducted by such unredeemable scum take such a great amount of exposition? Is it because revenge is such a difficult subject to grasp? Maybe there was a surplus of trees available to the publishing house?

6) There is no plot. Okay, there is 'X, Y, and Z must die, die, die!' but don't make the egregious mistake of thinking this is somehow a fantasy 'Count of Monte Cristo'.

This book is best not served at all. If you need to spend money, invest it in something with an actual story to tell, like one of Adrian Tchaikovsky's books, or even any of Abercrombie's other works.

Amazon really needs to give reviewers a 'no star' option. The author is a good writer, but seems to have gotten caught in an endless mental loop. After the initial setup, the story became an endless repeat of graphic killing, betrayal and lengthy repetitious speeches on why they were such lowlifes. Over and over and over... There wasn't one character in the story I could even sympathize with because they would do absolutely anything for money, power or to further thir endless, over the top revenges (which were far worse than the original acts that prompted them). Perhaps the endless descriptions of the gory ways you can kill someone is okay if you've got a deep thirst for that, but for me there's got to be more. I started skimming the book a third of the way through and didn't miss a thing. If the editor had been as ruthless as the book's characters, it might have made a dark short story on the futility of revenge and how base humans can be... Unfortunately, that didn't happen. What a bloated waste of time!

During a long drought of anything from my favorite authors, I picked this book up, looked at the first chapter, and took a chance that it would capture my imagination. It did not. The characters were predictable and two dimensional, the scenes abrubtly changed with no resolution or continuation, and quite frankly it was boring. I never finished, because quite frankly, it reminded me of something written by a computer. I was rather appalled to see the other reveiws with four and five stars. Anyone accustomed to reading a well written book would soon toss this one in the trash.

I have become a huge fan of Joe Abercrombie. I've been recommending the Trilogy to all my friends. Those books were diverse in characters, riddled with intrigue from start to finish and just a pleasure to read from start to finish. This book is NOT in the same league of the Blade Trilogy. I admired that Joe wrote characters that you didn't have to be in love with. His char's are far removed from the stereotype of fantasy writing and I love that he is both graphic and is not afraid to tackle the uglier side of killing in battle. Furthermore I don't mind bad language if it promotes some insight into either the character or the landscape but let me start with that as my first critique of Best Served Cold. The horrid language while lending some credibility to the realism of the characters in the previous books were wasted in this one and in fact just seemed to show some lack of writing maturity on the authors part. The sex scenes in this book were mostly ok but again drifted to obscene but for no reason I could articulate. And trust me when I say bad language does NOT bother me, in fact sailors come to me to learn new words from time to time but again it was just unnecessary throughout most of this book.
The book was entirely too linear. We focused on one story line and while I admire it goes against stereotype (not having to find the one sword, ring, battle the one entity that will destroy all etc...) this book didn't bounce around at all. While that may work if the central char is strong but this character was truly a despicable person, so full of flaws that it made it hard to care whether she lived or died. Again, many of the characters from the trilogy were crusty loathsome people but there was enough bouncing around that you could trudge thru one section of that book b/c each chapter he moved onto another thread he was weaving together.
My last major problem with this book is that it would have been a great short story or just one part of this book but Joe seemed to get into the Robert Jordon trap of starting off each chapter writing a 2 to 3 page summation of what the each character had done that brought them to this point and that kind of reflection is only necessary if you haven't read the first books and even then only necessary to reflect once or twice on a characters past and then move on. Simply put, too much time was spent telling us what Shivers was thinking about what he had done in his past, not writing about his past, but rather telling us what he was feeling or thinking. 1/4 of this book just seemed to be page filler.
So while this wasn't that strong a book i'm still committed to seeing what Mr. Abercrombie has in store and will buy his next book.

First, I appreciate that the characters are less than virtuous. I'm tired of novels with characters who are all loveable and cuddly. But, I never grew to appreciate Monza, Shivers, or Friendly. Monza had no redeeming qualities. Shivers started with some, but ended with none. The evolution of Shivers was predictable, solely because of his portrayal at the beginning. But the interaction between Monza and Shivers was too full of characters acting in ways contrary to their natures. Friendly was interesting and had grand possibilities, but he was too charismatic for someone who is obviously written to be an autistic savant. I liked Day better than Morveer, but I hated Morveer. I liked Cosca, a lot. And the secondary characters (Orso, Rogont, et al) were pretty much stage props doing exactly as expected.

In the end though this novel left me wondering "why?" What was the purpose? What is the message? It was filled with blood, sex, and profanity. All useful to drive forward a story. But a story should have a message. and this one's only message seems to be, "it's okay to behave badly if it gets you what you want". I wonder if it was really just an excuse for Abercrombie to write about blood, sex, and profanity.

And for what it's worth, for the hype this book received . . . the paperback cover is absolutely disappointing.

Then Joe Abercrombie's your man. The only other writer who does characters this well that I can think of is George R.R. Martin.

When I first read the synopsis of BSC, I wasn't too awed by it. Beautiful fighter girl is betrayed by big, bad man and seeks revenge. In my mind, I immediately started hearing girl power tunes a la Charlie's Angels. *Yawn!* But having read TFL, I decided to give BSC a try...and holy shizzle, am I glad I did.

The main character, Monzcarro Murcatto, is NOTHING like your typical, run-of-the-mill heroine. I've heard of people comparing her to Katniss from The Hunger Games, but in terms of sheer grit, Monza would totally crush Katniss's pretty skull and mutilate her corpse. (And this is coming from someone who's a huge THG fan...) It's nothing against Katniss, it's just that Abercrombie has a way of creating characters that are at the same time amazing AND greatly flawed. If you're the type of reader who wants your main characters to always make the right choices and fight for morally correct reasons, then you'd probably hate Monza. She also does not have superhuman strength, speed, or agility that would make her somehow defeat stronger opponents. All of her battles she's had to either hire enough people to fight with her or win through some underhanded way. So if you're hoping for some ninja warrior heroine, then this is probably not the book for you either.

The beautiful thing about Abercrombie's main characters is that every one of them has his/her own motivation, whether it be to seek revenge, make a name for themselves, or strive to be a better person. Each character's motivation is strong and distinct; there is no character who's there simply as a plot device (cough, Denna in The Kingkiller Chronicles, cough). Every character is infused with his/her own voice and acts organically. Whether they are carrying out Monza's orders or betraying her, there was never a point in time where I stopped and thought, "Wait, that makes no sense, why would s/he be doing this?? What does s/he have to gain from it??" They all have their own background stories that make the reader empathize and want them to do well for themselves, even if it means going against the overarching plot (i.e. Monza's revenge).

There is nothing I love more than complex characters: heroes who strive to do good but are challenged by their own insecurities/selfishness and villains who actually do have a good reason for fighting a certain war. There is no clear-cut right vs wrong here, no Harry Potter vs Voldemort. No character comes out of this clean.

Also, when a main character gets injured, s/he STAYS injured and takes a realistically long time to heal, which I LOVE. Thank you SO much for that, Abercrombie. I am SO sick of authors taking short cuts when it comes to healing their mains. In the Kingkiller Chronicles, Kvothe gets injured a bajillion times and always comes bouncing back good as new within the next couple of pages. In HP, Harry and his buddies are often wounded and magically healed in fifteen minutes (e.g. Harry's bones being turned to rubber...Hermione almost getting killed by a basilisk...le yawn, we all know they're going to come out of it just fine...). In THG, Katniss's ear is magically healed. Ho hum. I'm not talking about whether or not these fast heals are believable, I'm just annoyed by the fact that most authors seem to love injuring their main characters, only to conveniently make them better a few pages later. Abercrombie and GRRM are the only authors I can think of who readily maim their main characters regardless of the inconvenience they might cause to the characters or the plot. (Think Jamie's hand, Tyrion's nose, and Bran's legs, amongst others.) In BSC, Monza never regains her agility and strength after being thrown off a cliff, and in fact becomes addicted to an opiate, which she never stops desiring. Her scars don't magically heal, leaving her with baby soft skin, and her hand doesn't ever become unmangled.

(SPOILER ALERT)
At one point, a main character gets an eye gouged out, and yep, that changed the character's life in a major way. There was no shortcut healing, that character suffers (loudly) for a long time and remains painfully scarred by the end of the book. It was painful to read and at times I hated Abercrombie for maiming his main characters so brutally, but I love that he didn't shy away from describing how tough surviving is after a serious injury.

Plot-wise, BSC starts out pretty straightforward: heroine is wronged and starts taking revenge. However, with such strong main characters, the plot can't help but become twisted several times along the way. It soon becomes a character-driven book, which is the best type of book of course, and the very last twist at the end of the book I would describe less of a plot twist and more of a character twist. Because of the many references to the different wars that are being fought and other important characters from TFL, however, I would strongly suggest that you read TFL first before reading BSC. I read TFL years ago and am a bit hazy on the back stories of several of the characters here, such as Nicomo Cosca and Yoru Sulfur, which is a real shame as they're both such great characters.

The writing is engaging as usual and a lot less rambly than TFL. I would say that Abercrombie's writing isn't as beautiful as Patrick Rothfuss or GRRM's, but then I enjoyed his books a lot more than Rothfuss's, and overall would rate it around the same as GRRM's. Definitely one to be cherished and reread once I've finished the next Abercrombie book!

This is not a Tolkein, Brooks, Donaldson type of fantasy. Some readers may find it similar to George R.R. Martin. I would describe it as The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Wild Bunch, combined with Serie Noire fiction, and set in a world reminiscient of renaissance Italy. The author describes it as "unheroic fantasy". A dark, grim, bloody thriller, this is a most violent yet supremely entertaining novel. One could read many novels, across all genres, and never find another female character as strong as Monza Murcatto. The book is remarkably well written. Betrayals upon betrayals, shifting loyalties, and reversals of fortune abound. The action scenes are phenomenal. Sword, knife, and mace combat is described with realism and gusto. The reader will encounter several helpings of sex, and the characters speak with creative profanity. There are flashes of humor, but also some melodrama. My one complaint is this: about 670 pages into the 880 page novel (US Orbit pb ed. not counting the extras) it began to seem as if Abercrombie was intentionally dragging the story out with excessive description and scenes told from multiple points of view. It was almost as if he had a specific page count he was trying to reach. This became tiresome. However, once the novel moves through these slow passages, it charges ahead to a sensational climax. Here's to more stand alone fantasy novels.

I REALLY love his First Law Trilogy. Probably 3 of my favorite books. However this one was REALLY long and for the last 150 pages I was having trouble staying with it. So much so that I read another book while trudging thru to the end of this one. Loved the ending but it took me a while to get there. Last 30 or so pages wrapped things up nicely for me. A lot of fighting and war in this book and you really have to pay attention and keep track of all the people. I recommend this book if you are into the battle stuff and war. If you prefer more of his First Law Trilogy stuff then I would skip this one.

Best Served Cold is a stand alone novel by Joe Abercrombie that follows the adventures of several secondary characters from his "The Blade Itself" series. Unfortunately, the novel never gets past being just that - a book about secondary characters. If you consider the characters in The Blade Itself the "A" team, Best Served Cold is about a group of characters best described as the "B" team.

The Blade Itself (series) had its quirks, but I thought the overall series deserved 5 stars based largely on the strength of the main characters. This book just doesn't have it. Case in point - just compare Shivers to The Bloody Nine. Not a comparison really, The Bloody Nine was a much more interesting character. Or compare Monza to Glotka. I vote Glotka.

Another issue I have with this book is that it is supposed to be a stand-alone novel, but I don't think it would make much sense if you didn't read The Blade Itself series first. Best Served Cold makes numerous references to events that unfolded in those other books. If you didn't read them in advance, I think you would be left to scratch yourself like a caged ape.

I also found myself going back to re-read passages on occasion. One minute everything would be going along like normal... the next minute I'd find myself saying, "...say what? What just happened?" and I'd have to go back a page and read it again.

No... this isn't because I'm dense. The author just sometimes has a funny way of describing things and he occasionally jumps the plot forward and re-hashes events in hindsight. Sometimes it works. Other times you have to do a double-take.

Therefore, I give the book 2 stars. If you figure 3 stars is a "good" solid book, I'd rate this just below that.

Joe Abercrombie is the new master of dark, gritty, realistic fantasy, and Best Served Cold might well be the masterpiece that represents that subgenre. Monza Murcatto is a renowned and very successful mercenary ... or was until she was stabbed, beaten, and thrown from a mountainside by her employer. Monza wants revenge, so she contracts a party of unsavory characters to aid her. Monza's story goes from dark to black to "a wet match in the bottom of a dark cave" -- everyone suffers, lots of people die, and the trail of blood and tragedy that Monza leaves in her wake is unprecedented.

Abercrombie takes what appears to be a simple tale of revenge and twists it into a sanguine journey of self-discovery on the part of each character. The heart of Best Served Cold is how Abercrombie strips our "heroes" down to their core and reveals who they truly are. No other author I've found works so hard to create likeable characters out of such nasty individuals. Best Served Cold is exceedingly well-written, so I have to give it 5 stars. It really is a great work.

Reading Joe Abercrombie is always bittersweet for me -- I know I'm going to get an amazing story with unique characters told in Abercrombie's special way. But the wonderful writing comes with a price: you change a little. His books have altered my perception of fantasy literature. Before, I was blissfully unaware of how truly brutal and tragic fantasy can be. Sure, George R.R. Martin loves to kill off his main characters, but I never had any doubt that I was observing his story from the outside. In contrast, Abercrombie brings you in: I feel the character's spirit break in the hands of the torturer. I know that the person on page 112 has become someone else by page 113, and it makes me sad. There is no redemption -- no "making it up" later -- they're irrevocably changed. It's a very real and unsettling thing for a reader to experience, and it's a feeling that's not commonly found in the fantasy genre. I have a love-hate relationship with Joe Abercrombie's books. I will most certainly continue to read them -- they are just too incredible not to. But I need something exceedingly optimistic to read afterwards.

Best Served Cold is technically a stand-alone novel, but I would highly recommend reading THE FIRST LAW trilogy first because I get the feeling of an overall "Big Picture" taking place in this world. Read Best Served Cold if you are ready to challenge your thoughts about fantasy literature. Do not read Best Served Cold if you like your fantasy to be a pleasant escape from the harsh realities of life.
--Justin at FantasyLiterature