Simone and Her Books

Have you ever read a book that’s simultaneously the longest book in the world (in feel, not by actual length) and also a pretty good intro into Joe Abercromebie? That’s what I got from Joe Abercrombie’s latest offering.

The Devils follows a rag-tag team of monsters who are forced to escort the recently found princess (former thief) across the country to take up the throne she’s been destined for since birth. In terms of plot, that’s it. The crew featuring a vampire, a werewolf, an elf, a magician, an immortal soldier, and a reluctant monk all travel across the country to escort a princess coming across various villains that try their best to keep them from their destination. But this book is much more about the journey than it is about the destination.

Let me preface my review by saying that while I was pretty engaged in the book and laughed at Joe Abercrombie’s trademark humor, I struggled to get to the end. Not because it’s hard to read. Not because it’s a complex world like the one he wrote for The First Law, but because the book is incredibly dense, the pacing is slow, and much too long.

For the most part, I absolutely loved it. Despite my belly aching over the pace of the book, I absolutely fell to pieces for the characters and the individual stories. I loved the banter, the massive levels of growth, and the overall way this crew came to work with each other and root for each other. It’s most definitely the bread and butter of this story.

Another good trait about this book is the level of detail Joe Abercrombie goes into. Yes, the pacing is slow, but the descriptions are rich. You can visualize the battles and the moments that these characters have. I found myself gagging over more than one fight scene with the weird animal/human hybrid monsters. You learn the backstory of each character and they are pretty well formed creating a specific personality for each that made it so much more fun to root for them.

And finally, let’s talk about the humor. It’s fucking funny and in a dark fantasy book like this one, a little satirical levity brightens the entire feel of the book. It becomes more accessible especially if you’ve ever read anything else by Joe Abercrombie. I found myself chuckling throughout the book and marking the jokes that made me laugh. No author has made me giggle as much as he has in this book.

Overall, it’s a good fantasy book. If you’ve never read Joe Abercrombie and wanted to be acquainted with his writing, then this might be a good one to start with. But if you want to jump right off the deep end and read a super complex high fantasy series, then check out The First Law.

Thanks to Tor Books for the gifted copy of this book.