The Heroes

The Heroes embodies everything I like about the fantasy genre right now.

I was an English major once upon a time, and used to read plenty of serious literature. But as I've grown older, I have less patience for that kind of fiction. Writers of genre fiction, and fantasy in particular, haven't forgotten that great books are ultimately about great storytelling. It's about putting interesting characters in tight spots and seeing what happens. Everything else is secondary.

And The Heroes is a bloody great story. It's tightly focused on a single battle over a three-day period. The action is well done, but it's mainly the very flawed characters making good and bad decisions in desperate situations that make the story so entertaining. Each chapter has a point-of-view character, and the tone and style change, sometimes subtly, sometimes dramatically, as the story shifts between them. (The dialog and language of the northmen is just one example, and Abercrombie deliberately draws some humor out of this.) Each chapter reads like a well-honed short story, with a mini story arc for that particular character. I found each of the points of view interesting and entertaining -- there wasn't a single chapter where I found myself skimming to get to the next good bit, because every page is a pleasure.

There is a theme here (the nature of heroism), but it's not heavy handed and adds some emotional depth to the story. I even had a tear in my eye at one point. But mostly the book struck me as honest, funny, touching, and vastly entertaining.

"Another war," Clod Threetimes growled, "for another king who doesn't give crap for us. Seems a bit pointless, it does."
"Maybe," Nosegay shot back, "but do you want to be the one to let Tarry Blackstool down? Tell him how pointless his throne is!"
"Or maybe you want to take his place," Chug Beerbreath added, grinning as the fire shot sparks onto the toes of his deerskin boots. "King being such an easy job in a fantasy novel and all." He spat into the flames and resumed honing the edge of his axe.
"Not me," Clod said, rubbing his hands over the fire. His fingers hurt at night, but the fire helped with the worst of it. "I'm too old for that kind of thing. I only wish..." He trailed off. What exactly did he wish? For the return of his friends from the mud? For the vigor of his youth, in his sword arm and loins? For the chance to take a good dump without worrying about getting an arrow in his back?
The youngster's snotty attitude almost roiled Clod's temper; almost, but not quite. "I only wish," he went on, "that I wasn't spending another 600 pages in something that sounds like a damn out-take."
That put Nosegay back a bit. He leaned his sword on the boulder next to him, stroked his beard, and admitted, "You speak true there, Threetimes. I picked up on that myself. For at least a chapter I've been wondering why we all keep speaking in these war-weary tones. Aye, I've grown weary of all this war-weariness, and I expect a few readers have, as well."
Clod scratched the scars along his rib cage. "Back in the old days," he mused, "a book started with a proper thumping to someone. Something that got your blood racing. Like the Bloody Nine jumping off a cliff to save his hide, or two wonder-kids getting thrown off a cliff, but not the same cliff as the Bloody Nine. Which would have been a hell of a coincidence, when you think about it."
"That's how an adventure ought to start," the Chugger agreed. "Not like nowadays, when books start with a bunch of bit players trading menacing glances and tough-guy dialog, shuffling here and there until they get lost in bloody battle scenes with no point." He looked up at the grizzled Named Character. "Do you think those days will ever come again?"
"Days don't come back," Clod said. "At least not as long as Abercrombie continues milking the same world and characters that he already used to death twice before, without adding anything new. Even Bayaz just seems to be going through the motions nowadays. He's ever tossing his staff down in undignified ways and speaking brusquely and rudely, like Basil Fawlty with a bad hangover."
"We need some new ideas," Beerbreath muttered, "we surely do, but only Abercrombie can give us them." He heaved a sigh. "Until he does, we're just a bunch of well-written but one-dimensional swordsmen, trying to convince ourselves that this big war isn't just a fistfight between two bullies, played out on a grand scale."
"Or a money-making scheme," Threetimes agreed. Chug barked harsh laughter in response.
"At least this time I'll probably get laid," Nosegay said hopefully. "And in a very detailed, even gratuitous, way, Gods willing. That's a treat, even for a fictional character. I only hope she doesn't come on to me in a stilted and unconvincing manner, as if she were being paid to tart it up like --"
His remark was cut off as an arrow pierced his right eye, sending his flopping corpse tumbling into the darkness. Screams erupted from beyond the stone ring as a squadron of Tarry Blackstool's deadliest clichés sprang their trap. Beerbreath swung his axe about his head, roaring his battle-belch, while Clod sighed and thrust his sword between the ribs of yet another opponent. If only there was a point...

With the [[ASIN:159102594X The Blade Itself (The First Law: Book One)]], the first novel in his First Law Trilogy, Joe Abercrombie emerged as a breath of fresh air in fantasy literature. No, that's not right. The truth is, Abercrombie emerged as a highly realistic shot of cold air, reeking of mud, blood and human waste. He's the darkest fantasy writer.

In the First Law Trilogy, there weren't many heroes, and to the extent there were, they didn't last long. As one protagonist repeatedly observed, "Nobody gets what they deserve." In the Trilogy, only the torturer had anything like a happy ending. Abercrombie isn't kind to his characters.

And so we come to [[ASIN:0316044989 The Heroes]], the fifth novel set in the Circle of World, set 8-10 years after the events of the First Law Trilogy. Black Dow is the Leader of the Northmen, having stolen the kingship from the equally brutal Bloody Nine. There is a war between the Northmen and their former allies, the Union. Like all of the conflicts in the Circle of the World, there are other agendas, other would-be puppetmasters behind everything that is going on. In fact, The Heroes is about a great battle where neither side is particularly competent or aligned with the angels.

Of course, there are good reasons why in each case. There are cowards, traitors, manipulators and venal liars on both sides. The First of the Magi has no particular desire to see the Union be too strong. Or ruled by competent, honest men. And the Named Men of the North, while heroes every one, are not well-armed, well-led or particularly apt as soldiers.

Abercrombie is gifted at characterization. It's a strength that has improved with each novel. He writes from the shifting point of view of different characters (I think I counted fifteen), and the voice, motives, desires and feel of each character is very different. He writes equally strong, equally venal men and women. But Abercrombie is not as gifted at plot. The First Law trilogy was well-plotted, especially the first and third books. [[ASIN:0316044954 Best Served Cold]] was a much more pedestrian plot: a revenge novel.

And in The Heroes Abercrombie's plotting skills are weaker still. Partly, it's because he over-indulged in point-of-view characters. Too many viewpoints diffuse the force of such plot as there is. Indeed, some of them disappear from the story without explanation. Partly, the book feels forced, as if he didn't have time to refine it as much as he would have liked. And partly because it is very hard to generate a meaningful plot about what is a pretty meaningless battle. So what you are left with is a 500 page vignette on the folly and nihilism of war, brutally told.

I do give credit to Abercrombie for building, novel by novel, a credible, interesting world. There is a sense that the series of novels is building to a final confrontation. As you watch one irredeemably arrogant character after another go to a nasty, ugly death, you can't help but feel that something similar will happen to the most consistently arrogant, ugly character of them all: the First of the Magi.

But nobody gets what they deserve.

Like Best Served Cold this book is simply NOT fantasy. There is about one paragraph with an element of fantasy, the rest is an extremely long and, despite the blood and gore, boring description of one battle. Plus Abercrombie really needs to buy a thesaurus, just take a look at how many times his characters "smirk".

His previous books were great, but I think this one was a bit rushed and could have used a lot more refining. Too many superficial characters and choppy story path (no pun intended). I had to force myself to read it vs. previous efforts. Hopefully, he will spend a little more time on the next one and put a little more flesh on his characters before he hacks it off.

This is the 5th book by Joe Abercombie I've read and it's definitely on par with all the previous - achievement almost non-existent in most of the series I've read so far. I wouldn't call it a stand alone book - too much of the characters and the events occurring have their origin in previous books. But if you are new to Joe Abercombie's world - so much better for you - do the right thing and start from The Blade Itself. I am a little envy of all those that are yet to meet the characters.

The Heroes is a book about few heroes and even more anti heroes. The POV characters in the book are all complex and tri-dimensional , I am yet to decide who of them I really like and who I dislike. Every one of them stands for something and everyone develops and changes as the days past. The one who really stands out (IMO) is Bremer Dan Gorst - the insides of his head are very detailed and really remind me somewhat of Glokta.

The battle sequences are detailed and realistic, decisions and lack of such affecting the lives of thousands. Both sides of the war are equally well described and I really loved the different view points of characters on the same matter. The pace is just right - not rushing forward the plot yet steadily advancing, keeping the reader glued to the book till the end.

And of course the end was outstanding. There are all those fantasy books with banal endings, you could've guessed from the start. Not Joe Abercombie - he keeps some trumps in his sleeves and plays them just when you didn't expect them. That really raps the book and makes it more satisfying.

INTRODUCTION: Bursting upon the epic fantasy scene with his superb First Law trilogy, Joe Abercrombie became the "perfect" representative of the "new gritty" epic fantasy for me and his books have not disappointed so far. Best Served Cold was a top 5 sff of mine in 2009 so The Heroes should have been one of those "beg for an advance review copy" books that I use every spare minute to read when I get them..

Well, there was a hitch, namely the fact that the blurb made it clear the novel is about a battle and while books like that have a storied tradition - I have recently read one such, fittingly called The Battle by Patrick Rambaud and part of a trilogy to boot, that has won one of the ultimate literary prizes in the world, the Goncourt prize in France in 1997 - they do not really excite me that much since they are limited in scope. A battle is a battle is a battle...

On finishing The Heroes, I found myself conflicted - the book is very well written, maybe the best technically of the author so far and with all the stuff I came to expect from Mr. Abercrombie; it even transcends somewhat its limited setting but I still wish it would have been about more as he clearly has shown he can do it in his First Law trilogy and in the superb Best Served Cold. I came from The Heroes feeling I read a side episode in a saga - a long one at over 500 pages - but something that will later be regarded as a minor part of it.

The following will contain spoilers for the First Law trilogy and for Best Served Cold so be warned!

OVERVIEW: Technically a standalone, The Heroes takes place some four years after the end of Best Served Cold and eight years after the First Law trilogy and features many characters from there, though there are several new ones too. I believe that while you can read this one independently, the experience is considerably enhanced if you have read First Law before since a lot of undertones, motivations and general background come from there. The Best Served Cold references are less important except in Bremer van Gorst's case, but that backstory is fully told in due course.

The general outline in a nutshell is that after Black Dow took over the throne of the North at the end of The Last Argument of Kings, the Union objected since it had a deal with Logen Ninefingers and the intervening years saw low-level conflict between the Union troops and their "loyalists" allies led by the Dogman and the Northern clans under Black Dow and his carls.

But now the Union feels the drain in money and resources, the Gurkish are stirring, Styria did not go the way the Union wanted, so the orders came to finish the independent Northmen at all costs, hence a major battle is in the offing. Of course Black Dow has his allies too, while recently returned Caul Shivers is even more savage than usual as his right hand man and "enforcer"...

In the background, young "Prince" Calder, "renowned" as a coward and treacherous plotter and who had escaped execution so far only because his father-in-law is a powerful clan leader and to a lesser extent because his older brother accepted Dow's rule and settled as one of his major carls, wants to survive and just maybe claim want he regards as his heritage, Bremer van Gorst wants redemption for the happenings four years ago at a Styrian party and Finree dan Brock (nee Kroy, the daughter of the Union Army's commanding officer) wants to advance the fortune of her husband who is maybe the nicest character of the author, though of course he is marked as a famous traitor's son. Old warrior Craw and comic-relief corporal Tunny add a grunt's eye view of the events.

The major leaders, Black Dow, Caul Shivers and Bayaz dominate the pages in which they appear, but overall I would say that Calder, Bremer and Finree are the main "heroes" of the novel and they are all done superbly. We even get the famous internal monologues of the author from Bremer's perspective and those are one of the major highlights of the book.

ANALYSIS: "The Heroes" showcases everything I liked in the author's first four books and while there is a certain predictability to some of the things that happen, there is enough new to keep one happy. The heroes are definitely not that heroic, the prophecies may not quite happen as foretold, everyone gets their say and action and of course there is grit; true grit here as in mud, blood and sweat...

The novel transitions seamlessly between the various pov's and locations while the timeline is roughly chronological with the necessary backstory inserted at the right moments.

From an action point of view, The Heroes has the expected vitality and the battle scenes that constitute the core of the novel are vivid, though the individual combat scenes, including one for the ages that probably best represents the author's take on the fantasy tropes he partly reinforces, partly subverts, were more memorable for me.

The intrigue - especially in Finree's machinations on behalf of her husband and in Calder's attempts to improve his status - was also on par with the author's best and the expected quips kept coming, with Bremmer's monologues maybe not quite as entertaining as Glotka's but close...

The Heroes flows well and despite its heft is a novel one finishes fast since the pages turn by themselves, so from all "check the boxes in reviewing" points of view, an outstanding novel which gets my A++ highest rating; but still, its intrinsic limitation in content left me wishing for a wider scope novel and feeling that in the grand scheme of the First Law universe this one will be just a minor side novel...

This is a hard review for me to write because I am such a fan of Abercrombie's work. Such a fan in fact, that I re-read the entire First Law trilogy and Best Served Cold to catch back up. That and I've spent far to much money collecting ARCs, Limited Editions and the like. So it's with a heavy heart that I give The Heroes, Abercrombie's fifth installment in this realm, only three stars.

The Heroes stands alone on it's own but it's part of the same realm as his other works. Many of the same characters are involved, Kroy, Gorst, Calder, Bayaz and his servant Sulfur, Shivers, Black Dow and the Dogman to name a few. It's been roughly a decade since the events of the First Law trilogy and war has come to the North again. Black Dow is the self proclaimed "Protector of the North" and has united what was left of Bethod's forces against the Union. Only the Dogman and his allies stand apart and alongside the Union.

The Heroes covers a three day period of war in which both sides collide at a place known in the North as "The Heroes". All is not as it seems though, as is often the case when the First of Magi and his enemies are involved, and both sides fight to place another pawn on the board.

A lot of people, myself among them, found the sections covering the North during the First Law trilogy to be some of the more gripping and interesting aspects of the story. So it's not a surprise that Abercrombie chose the North as the setting for his next book. Unfortunately, he failed to capture the same magic that made it so interesting before. Fans of the Dogman and his crew will be sorely disappointed. While the Dogman does make some appearances, none of his point of view is followed even though he and his crew play as much a part of the story as anyone else. The characters followed are a bit of a letdown and come as being gray for gray's sake, as in it feels forced. That's not to say there are not any interesting characters in the book, quite the opposite in fact and I found myself frustrated at only getting glimpses of them instead of actually following their perspective.

I don't want to give any of the story away so it's hard for me to go into too many details about why I found this installment lacking. Suffice to say that if you were hoping to find some answers about unresolved characters (Logan Ninefingers) or going into this hoping to have a few questions answered, you'll be disappointed. I could have lived with those things though, it was the lack of having any draw towards any of the main characters, the pacing and the general un-epicness of the story that made this such a hard read.

Having read all of Abercrombie's past novels, I knew going in not to expect rainbows and sunshine. I did however expect to find surprisingly real and interesting characters. It's hard to care about a story when you don't really care about any of the protagonists or the outcome. I was disappointed that I didn't get to follow any of the Northmen on the Union side. It's also hard to believe that Abercrombie couldn't have at least included one Union general that knew what he was doing. Above all though, the story just didn't have that same epic feeling that his other works have had.

On the positive side, Abercrombie is still a master when it comes to changing his voice with each character, adding his own unique flavor to the story. I did get a few laughs out of the book and it did have it moments. The story or the characters just didn't feel very fleshed out this time around and perhaps my review is a little harsher based on comparing it to the level at which I know Abercrombine can write.

I'm still a fan though and I will still be first in line to pick up his next book. This one just didn't resonate with me at all.

The cover art on the other hand is my favorite from the series. The type treatment is fantastic and the color scheme is striking. Five out five for the cover art on this one.

Last August I ordered The Blade Itself on a whim. For years I have kept strictly to science fiction having given up the fantasy genre for stagnant and unimaginative. Half way into reading The Blade Itself I went ahead and ordered the next two books in the First Law Trilogy as well as Abercrombie's standalone novel Best Served Cold. Abercrombie introduced me to a fresh fantasy world where the heroes aren't so heroic and the legends aren't quite so legendary. The Blade Itself brought me back to the genre that started my reading passion in the first place. I loved the First Law Trilogy and went on a week long reading binge to tackle it. Afterward I read Best Served Cold and was not nearly as pleased. Best Served Cold was much like its dark predecessor but even darker yet, featuring rather unlikable characters on a less interesting continent. Regardless of my feelings toward Abercrombie's first stand alone effort there was never a doubt that I would be purchasing his next entry in the series.

The Heroes is ,at its heart, a very pure representation of the Sword and Sorcery sub-genre of fantasy that has gotten a resurgence in popularity as of late. Where as epic fantasy focuses on large scale struggles between the treacherous powers of evil and the unflinching forces of good, sword and sorcery is more about individual struggles and moral ambiguity. The Heroes is about a three day battle for a rather worthless valley between the savage Northmen and the civilized Union. Abercrombie highlights the horrors of war commonly overlooked in most fantasy novels that instead prefer to glorify combat and bloodshed. Abercrombie can paint a picture of warfare that is gritty and solemn and unflinchingly realistic. There are military blunders on both sides of the conflict, bravery as well as cowardice, honor as well as back-stabbing. A more accurate depiction of battle in fantasy you are unlikely to find.

Though Abercrombie can write gripping action sequences his strongest point is the characters he populates the world with. The main characters of the First Law Trilogy were deeply flawed characters, villains to a greater or lesser degree, living in a world where doing the right thing can get you killed and the wrong thing can - well, also get you killed. Though these characters weren't always honorable (nor even mostly honorable) they were tragic heroes. The greatest testament to Abercrombie's ability was the character known as Logen Ninefingers aka the Bloody Nine. Somehow he took a bloodthirsty murderous thug and created a sympathetic man tired of his own legend. My greatest complaint about Best Served Cold is how much weaker the character development was. The standalone novel offered an assortment of characters but none of them were as endearing as the Bloody Nine. Though The Heroes does not match up to the First Law Trilogy in terms of characterization it is a major improvement over Best Served Cold. Abercrombie introduces new faces as well as brings back some familiar faces. Probably my favorite perspective during the course of the battle would be Bremmer dan Gorst, a disgraced member of the King's Guard. Because of an unusually high voice most of Gorst's dialogue is internalized resulting in some of the most humorous parts of the novel. Other characters include Calder, a clever schemer and son of the now deceased King of North, and Curden Craw a straight-edge warrior from the old days. The perspectives truly propel this novel along, a novel that could easily be bogged down with repetitive violence and flat characters.

I've seen some complaints that The Heroes doesn't advance the universe that Abercrombie has built but I believe this couldn't be further from the truth. There are some major power shifts and conditions elsewhere in the world are brought into focus. A certain Magus conducts an experiment on the battlefield that I'm sure will have repercussions in future works. This story doesn't strike me as an attempt to cash in on the popularity of the franchise, Abercrombie could have achieved that with much less effort. On a small note I have to commend the wonderful map of the Valley of Osrung and the troop displacement maps featured at each segment. This is a great read, a true example of sword and sorcery fantasy that adds to Joe Abercrombie's growing repertoire.

I am a huge fan of Joe Abercrombie, and his First Law trilogy was a breath of fresh air in the 'fantasy' genre. The unpredictibility of his plot, characters AND outcomes was a joy to encounter. I remember his characters even now - even their names! - two years after reading the books.

However, his fourth book, a stand-alone novel, Best Served Cold was merely good, but not great. This offering, Heroes, is simply okay. I very much doubt, if Heroes had been my first Abercrombie experience, that I would have bothered to read any of his other books.

Other reviewers have mentioned the rushed character of this piece of writing, the fact that there were too many characters to keep track of, and that many of them were given character tags rather than personalities. I agree with these views, but wonder if maybe the problem lies in this single-book format, rather than any diminishment of Abercrombie's ability to write.

I'm wondering if maybe his publishers are pushing him too hard to produce 'a book a year,' which might not be his chosen format. I would rather wait 10 years for another really cracking trilogy, than watch his enthusiasm and talent die a 'book a year' death.

Some authors need plenty of space to develop their ideas, fully flesh out their characters, and provide enough detail to make their created worlds convincing. They need to be allowed to write trilogies, rather than novels ...which take time. I think maybe Mr Abercrombie is one of them. I do hope his publishers take this on board, and back off a bit. The last thing we want is for Joe Abercrombie to turn into yet another burnt-out bestselling author, churning out a book a year, ad infinitum.

It will be a great shame, if Abercrombie's first offering turns out to be the only one which stands the test of time.