REVIEW: The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie
Facing the horrors of war with a cynical smile and a beleaguered shrug, Joe Abercrombie’s The Heroes is an action-packed, poignant, intricate tale. Abercrombie wields characters and action in a thrilling, enthralling way—the way only a master of the craft can. The Heroes will make you laugh, will make you sweat, and will make your day.
“‘Armour is a part of a state of mind in which you admit the possibility of being hit.”
For me, The Heroes is the book that established Joe Abercrombie as one of the all time greats in fantasy. Each page, each POV, each desperate and frantic fight scene simply excels in this book. The Heroes is set on a worthless hill in the north over a period of just a few days, years after the main events in Last Argument of Kings and many years before A Little Hatred, and everything about it just works. It’s a premier example of lowering the stakes and raising the tension at the same time. While the size of the armies are massive, the world will continue spinning just fine regardless of who wins, but Abercrombie’s skill wraps you in and makes you care anyway.
You can’t talk about Abercrombie without talking about his character work. The world that he’s established lets each character be their own shade of grey. While there aren’t any good guys in The Heroes it’s hard to say there’s truly evil ones either. At the end of the day, even the shittiest person in this narrative feels like a real, solid person who would never consider themselves evil, only doing what is necessary. Each one brings something to the table, whether it be witty banter, philosphising, or just grit and heart, and whenever one goes back to the mud it’s a damn gutpunch.
The Heroes is arguably Abercrombie’s funniest book, and it’s generally in the style of genuine conversations and bickering that reminds me of conversations with my own friends, but there’s something more to it. There’s a realness in the levity. Bremer dan Gorst, for example, and his letters: they’re hilarious, but they also show so much of his character and how he sees the world. It is an absolute masterpiece at finding that sweet spot of humor and nuance.
Now that I’ve gushed about the characters, The Heroes greatest success is inarguably its action. This is the book that places Abercrombie as one of the best to ever do it, and there’s one chapter in particular that is absolutely breath-taking. People who have already read the novel know specifically which one, and if you pick this book up, you will too. The POV-switching, chaos, blood, and bone-crunching action is just magnificent.
The pacing, prose, and setting are all classic Abercrombie. While they do take a back-seat to the characters and the action, they’re polished to a fine shine and deserve a mention as well. The Heroes never lets go once it’s got you in its grip—and the prose and setting are more than strong enough to keep readers happy. They’re dutiful soldiers, doing their job.
“‘Heard Black Dow wants you dead.’
‘Who’d you hear that from?’
‘Black Dow.’
Traditionally, this is where I put my complaints, I have no complaints about The Heroes. There’s no such thing as a flawless book, but I’ve stared at this computer screen for a long time trying to find a hole in it to no avail. The only thing that even came to mind is that since this is a stand-alone, it’s a tad harder to feel the full weight of a character dying due to the amount of time spent with them, or lack there of.
Frankly, if you’re reading this review and haven’t read Abercrombie, you should; he’s Lord Grimdark for a reason. In fact, I’ll go a step further and say this: The Heroes is the book that heralded Abercrombie coming for the throne as the greatest living fantasy author, and The Wisdom of Crowds was the full coronation. If you like military fantasy, grimdarks, dialogue, characters, heart, or just good fucking books in general, The World of First Law is the single series I’ll recommend to anyone and everyone.
Read The Heroes by Joe AbercrombieThe post REVIEW: The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.
