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Red Country

(First Law World #6)

Joe Abercrombie

4.30 · Rating details · 36,270 ratings · 2,063 reviews

They burned her home.
They stole her brother and sister.
But vengeance is following.

Shy South hoped to bury her bloody past and ride away smiling, but she’ll have to sharpen up some bad old ways to get her family back, and she’s not a woman to flinch from what needs doing. She sets off in pursuit with only a pair of oxen and her cowardly old step father Lamb for company. But ...more

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Trade Paperback, First Edition, 451 pages

Published October 18th 2012 by Gollancz

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· 36,270 ratings · 2,063 reviews

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Jul 25, 2017 Petrik rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Grimdark & Western fans

Say one thing for Abercrombie, say he knows how to make me love his book even when the setting of the book is Western.

I have to mention one thing about the setting of this book before I start my review, I truly despise Western stories. Doesn’t matter if it’s done in video games, movies, or TV series I just can’t stand them. Here's a few example for famous movies, 3:10 to Yuma? Sucks, Assassination of Jesse James? I got a fever because of how bad it was, Hateful Eight? Fell asleep, and much more ...more

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Aug 30, 2020 Muhtasin Oyshik rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2020, fantasy, audiobook, 4-star, 401-500-pp

Red Country (First Law World,#6)by Joe Abercrombie
description

Darkness, brutality, and tragedy. This book has full of violence, tension, and dark humor as expected by the author. But more than that, it's a good standalone book and much better than the previous standalone book(The Heroes) which I feel the weakest among the author's previous stand-alone books. Enjoyed the tale in this book.

Strange, how the best moments of our lives we scarcely notice except in looking back.

Good story. ...more

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Feb 24, 2015 Robin Hobb rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A somewhat Westernized setting for this fantasy set in Abercrombie's world. Very enjoyable to catch up with some character friends as well. And of whom or what they did, I shall say nothing! Read for yourself.

One of the many things that Joe Abercrombie excels at is the character cameo. A turn of the page and the reader enters the point of view of what might seem a minor character. But in a space of the few paragraphs, the character takes on dimension, flesh, ambitions, a past, and a life. One ca ...more

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Nov 26, 2012 seak rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-review, 2012

Westerns. You couldn't pay me enough money to read one...

...and yet mix it with fantasy and I couldn't be more enthralled. Take King's The Dark Tower series and recently this one, Red Country, and obviously I'm a fan of westerns.

I even try to deny it with my movie choices, but again, some of my all-time favorites are westerns (Tombstone and 310 to Yuma). Why is that? Why do I think I hate them and secretly love them? I even lived in Wyoming for a time. I'm seriously asking this! I must be crazy ...more

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Dec 23, 2014 Evgeny rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Shy South a former highway robber with a golden heart gave up on her violent ways and took up farming. When she came back from a marketplace one of the days, she found her hired hand is killed and her young brother and sister is kidnapped. She went off hoping to catch the raiders, accompanied by her timid stepfather. The joined a band of mostly old geezers called Fellowship and the geezers did what geezers are best at: they babbled. Oops, I accidentally gave away around 75% of the book. Sorry.

T Shy South a former highway robber with a golden heart gave up on her violent ways and took up farming. When she came back from a marketplace one of the days, she found her hired hand is killed and her young brother and sister is kidnapped. She went off hoping to catch the raiders, accompanied by her timid stepfather. The joined a band of mostly old geezers called Fellowship and the geezers did what geezers are best at: they babbled. Oops, I accidentally gave away around 75% of the book. Sorry.

The problem I mentioned is the biggest one: nothing at all happens during first three fourths of the book. There was exactly one event which could be called exciting (and this would be really stretching it) for each hundred of pages. Do not believe me? Let me count (spoilers, obviously): page 100 - (view spoiler), page 200 - (view spoiler), page 300 - (view spoiler). One of my friends mentioned in his review you could easy skip tenths of pages and resume reading without getting lost. I wholeheartedly agree.

To add insult to the injury, Shy as the main character is the most 2-dimensional one ever to grace any Abercrombie's novels. This is from a guy whose main strength is great fleshed out characters.

There is one probably the most awesome character from the original trilogy present. How do you make this person boring? Easy, you make this person old, do not give him/her POV, and do not make him/her use the copyrighted one-liners. Voila, another boring character. This one does not even feel like himself/herself in the first trilogy. The person in question feels right at home in geriatric hospital - I mean Fellowship.
Old Superheroes

I never thought I will say this about any Joe Abercrombie's book, but this one is unbelievably boring. The author himself mentioned he had troubles writing it, and it clearly shows. I am really surprised at high rating the novel has and had to check several times whether I read the same one as the people who gave it 4 or 5 stars. Sorry. ...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Dan Schwent rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, fantasy

When Shy South and her cowardly stepfather Lamb return home to find their farmhand dead and Shy's two siblings missing, they venture into the Far Country to find them. They join a fellowship and head to the mining town of Crease. During their travels, Shy is forced to confront her own checkered past and finds that her stepfather has a past of his own...

On the heels of finishing A Dance with Dragons, my jones for dark fantasy with morally ambiguous characters was not sated so I turned to Red Coun When Shy South and her cowardly stepfather Lamb return home to find their farmhand dead and Shy's two siblings missing, they venture into the Far Country to find them. They join a fellowship and head to the mining town of Crease. During their travels, Shy is forced to confront her own checkered past and finds that her stepfather has a past of his own...

On the heels of finishing A Dance with Dragons, my jones for dark fantasy with morally ambiguous characters was not sated so I turned to Red Country. Red Country is my first Joe Abercrombie book and won't be the last.

Red Country promoted as being a fantasy western and I'd say that's fairly accurate. It's a story of revenge and redemption, two staples of the Western genre, and the trip across the Far Country to Crease has a very western feel to it. Crease has a setup not unlike the town from Fistful of Dollars (or Yojimbo, if you prefer). Lamb and Shy riding out into the unmapped country to find their missing loved ones is straight out of a lot of westerns. Without giving too much away, it also reminds me of Unforgiven quite a bit once Lamb mans up and shows his true colors. It's nice to see fantasy that strays from the rut of medieval pseudo-European quest stories.

The characters are an interesting bunch. Shy is a woman wondering why she managed to escape justice for her dark past. Lamb is a Northern barbarian trying to keep a promise he made to a dead woman. Temple is a lifelong screw up trying to turn things around. Cosca, one of the antagonists, is pretty lovable for a villain. They are far from the average fantasy cast and this is far from an average fantasy tale.

Joe Abercrombie's books are known for being dark and gritty. What people rarely mention is that they have a fair amount of dry humor and clever imagery in them as well. The quotable lines are surprisingly frequent. What I'm trying to say is that Abercrombie's writing was a lot more enjoyable to me than that of a lot of fantasy writers.

Also posted at Shelf Inflicted ...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Felicia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I love me some Abercrombie, his style is so snarky and detailed and dirty. I love how with a few sentences he can fill out a minor character so well that you actually feel sorry when they're killed in passing.

This is NOT really a fantasy book though guys, it's 100% Western. If you've read his other books you'll recognize several characters, but you don't REALLY need to read the others to get into this. If you don't like Westerns move along doggy, but this is worth reading for sure. ...more

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Feb 26, 2014 Sean Barrs rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 3-star-reads, fantasy

Red Country is a spin-off from the fantastic First Law Trilogy, no doubt an intended bridge towards Abercrombie’s eventual reprisal of his best characters. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t quite come together as it should.

The setting is a little odd and out of place with what we have seen before. This series always felt somewhat Norse-like to me with a warrior culture under threat from a more technologically advanced Southern state with some dark fantasy elements and wizards thrown in. And now we Red Country is a spin-off from the fantastic First Law Trilogy, no doubt an intended bridge towards Abercrombie’s eventual reprisal of his best characters. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t quite come together as it should.

The setting is a little odd and out of place with what we have seen before. This series always felt somewhat Norse-like to me with a warrior culture under threat from a more technologically advanced Southern state with some dark fantasy elements and wizards thrown in. And now we had a western setting? This is one big mash up ideas, too many, which make the entire situation difficult to conceptualise: it felt forced.

Although the world building is off centre, the characters are on point as always. Shy South is an extremely hard woman both in body and temperament. She does not take crap form anyone and has her own skewed sense of justice. Her family have been stolen by slavers, so she hunts them down herself: she waits for no man. She is so well written; she is angry, tough and has a plot deserving of her. She’s the sort of woman you want on your side and never to face off against, ever. However, he’s not by herself. She has the unassuming Lamb by her side. I won’t mention any spoilers, though I think it will be very, very, obvious to most readers who this mysterious character is. Shy doesn’t know, but you will. He is even tougher than Shy and can take one hell of a beating. Most men would be dead by now; it’s a miracle he’s still walking.

The key feature that makes me love Abercrombie’s style is the multifaceted nature of his characters; they are realistic and flawed: they are human. There is no evil side per say, everyone exists in a self-serving neutral state and this is a theme he replicates here, though they never seemed to belong together in this story or this setting.

It is entertaining read, it just didn’t have the usual flow of Abercrombie novels. I found it hard to get into because of the lack of suspense that is apparent in his previous books. I remember reading an article (or a blog post) online a while ago that stated how much the author struggled to write this book. It shows.

It’s weird and it’s a bit of a mess. The characters redeemed it somewhat, though I think he should have concluded the story of his main character then gone back and wrote this. I honestly think it would have been a better book for it. ...more

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Aug 13, 2017 Scott Hitchcock rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: abercrombie, grimdark

The best of the First Law Singles. Cosca stole the show and his hysterical swashbuckling humor had me cracking up time and again. The presence of "lamb" also helped a lot. I didn't mind that we knew who he was almost immediately. It was when others realized who he was that made it fun.

This was also the most consistent story of the three singles. Best Served Cold had a great first half and awful second while Heroes was the opposite. I liked this from start to finish. ...more

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Feb 26, 2017 Ivan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, favorites

4.5 stars. Not as good as Heroes or original trilogy but still one hell of a read.

The trouble with running is wherever you run to, there you are.

Wisely said by the man who tends to be realistic about those things and indeed it's one of the main sentiments of both this book and original trilogy. No matter how far we run in the end we are what we are and history will repeat itself more often than not.

“Conscience and the cock-rot are hardly equivalent,’ snapped Lorsen.
‘Indeed,’ said Cosca, signific ...more

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Jun 18, 2013 Amanda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: blog, loaned

This is my first foray into the world of Joe Abercrombie and for those of you who are about to make the mistake of starting with Red Country like I did, my advice would be to go back and start with the First Law books. Red Country is marketed as a standalone novel and one can certainly enjoy it without having read Abercrombie’s other work, but the reason I’m giving it only 4 stars is because I always felt like I was missing out on something--that there was critical, need-to-know information from This is my first foray into the world of Joe Abercrombie and for those of you who are about to make the mistake of starting with Red Country like I did, my advice would be to go back and start with the First Law books. Red Country is marketed as a standalone novel and one can certainly enjoy it without having read Abercrombie’s other work, but the reason I’m giving it only 4 stars is because I always felt like I was missing out on something--that there was critical, need-to-know information from previous books that would have elevated this one to giddy kick ass heights. Reading the reviews and comments of other diehard Abercrombie fans, my suspicions have been proven correct. Without reading the previous books, I was doomed to live in the dark as references and revelations that should have held a “holy-shit-you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me” relevance whizzed right on by. Despite feeling like the kid who decided to start wearing stonewashed denim the day after stonewashed denim became decidedly uncool (as it should forever remain), I still really enjoyed the novel.

Red Country is a western/fantasy, a combination that never fails to hook me. However, this is fantasy in the sense that Game of Thrones is a fantasy: there’s little/no magic (although it hints that it may exist, but in a darker, more sinister form than in lighter fantasies), nary a fantastical creature in sight, and no prophecies or fates to fulfill. This is fantasy in that the world in which the novel is set doesn’t exist; however, it’s written so realistically that it seems like the history of ordinary pioneers whose stories were simply swallowed by time. In fact, it’s possible to go entire chapters while forgetting that it is a fantasy, which at first bothered me. It’s so true to the western genre that I thought, “Why not just write a straight western?” The answer, of course, is that the novel fits into the context of a larger world created by Abercrombie and, if I had been exposed to that world by reading the previous books, such a trivial concern wouldn’t have bothered me. As it stands, Abercrombie’s tale of the main characters’ journey to the Far Country (the equivalent of the The Wild West) is gritty, blood-drenched, and populated by people who see violence as a tool to be wielded by those strong enough to use it when necessary. It’s a world where there aren’t anti-heroes so much as anti-villains—all of the characters have dark pasts shaped by need and want and necessity, carrying the guilt of doing what had to be done while possessing a moral code that leaves them painfully aware of why it shouldn’t have been done. All live with the ghost of regret and hope they have left their more violent selves behind.

Such is the case with Shy South, a young woman trying to raise her younger brother and sister while managing the family farm. Shy is a hard-worker and a ruthless negotiator, much too young to bear the burden of providing for so many and much too young to have to outrun a past that includes murder and theft. Shy’s hell-bent on seeing to it that her siblings don’t have to make such dark choices. However, when Shy returns from town to find her farm in smoldering ruins and her brother and sister kidnapped, her past serves her well in her quest for revenge. With only her passive and cowardly step-father, Lamb (whose past, much to Shy’s surprise, makes him far more equipped for the ensuing violence than she is), to help, Shy goes on a journey that brings her into contact with outlaws, pioneers, savages, mercenaries, and a soggy, hilariously droll lawyer named Temple while attempting to find her siblings and bring them home.

Shy’s tale is the axis around which Red Country revolves, but it’s not her tale alone. The novel follows a large cast of characters; it’s like True Grit meets Lonesome Dove. What makes the novel stand above typical fantasy fare is Abercrombie’s talent as a writer. There are no info dumps, and he’s happy to skip ahead to move the action along (for example, when Temple begins building a store for another character, there are plenty of writers who would have drug us through every damn day, describing every nail and every board). He also writes with humor and wit, refusing to imbue his characters with idealized perfection. They wake up with morning breath, they reek after months on the trail, their lovemaking does not read like sexy-time-porn, and they have physical as well as character flaws. What impressed me the most is how he takes characters that from the outside seem like stone-cold bad asses unfazed by anything and explores their internalized fears, regrets, and worries. Their actions may seem heartless, but his revelation of their motivations often makes them anything but. Theirs is a brutal, hardscrabble life where easy choices are hard to come by and an aversion to violence can place serious limitations on one’s shelf life. As one character is told, "The world out there is a red country, without justice, without meaning" (298). That these characters still go on without the guarantee of justice and meaning gives them a heroic bravery despite some often unheroic choices. And, if you ask me, that's the stuff of life, not fantasy.

Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder ...more

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Nov 14, 2019 Deborah Obida rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, adult

What a tedious read, it actually pains me to say that, this book is my sixth by Abercrombie and the last in this series and it sucks. Reading it was just so hard, everything was unnecessarily long and monotonous when it shouldn't be, the plot was actually a good one but the potrayal was terrible, if that isn't even an understatement.

‘Courage lies in bearing the costs. We all have our regrets, but not all of us can afford to be crippled by them. Sometimes it takes small crimes to prevent bigge ...more

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Feb 20, 2020 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, british, fiction, 21th-century, epic

Red Country (First Law World, #6), Joe Abercrombie

“Each land in the world produces its own men individually bad – and, in time, other bad men who kill them for the general good.” – Emerson Hough

They burned her home. They stole her brother and sister. But vengeance is following.

Shy South hoped to bury her bloody past and ride away smiling, but she’ll have to sharpen up some bad old ways to get her family back, and she’s not a woman to flinch from what needs doing. She sets off in pursuit with onl ...more

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Mar 28, 2016 Phrynne rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book was good. In fact it was very,very good. I loved Abercrombie's The First Law Trilogy so much and it was a delight to see the return of a few of his strongest characters from those books. Plus there were a few new characters who managed to steal the show. Joe Abercrombie is without doubt a very talented author. His characters are always so flawed and yet still so appealing, his stories are full of grossness and violence yet are still so very readable and his handling of the English lang ...more

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Jan 10, 2018 Paul E. Morph rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2018

If I'd known what the concept for this book was going in; a kind of genre mash-up of JRR Tolkien and Sergio Leone; I'd've been more than a little dubious.

As it turns out, however, Abercrombie pulls off this odd little tale with panache. Having now loved every minute of this book, I actually find myself wanting him to write a whole series of Fantasy/Westerns because one book just wasn't enough!

Encore, please, Mr. Author! Encore! ...more

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Aug 30, 2012 David Sven rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, fantasy, audiobooks, dark-fantasy

Ok, I’m going to get this out of the way right at the beginning. YES!!! The Bloody Nine is Back! Nuf said. But you have to realistic about these things so for the sake of those who have no clue who The Bloody Nine is, I’ll continue.

As many a reviewer has pointed out before, including Abercrombie himself, this is a fantasy version of a Western. Red Country returns us to the First Law Universe – or at least to the Far Wild West of it and treats us to a smorgasbord of Western genre tropes and clich Ok, I’m going to get this out of the way right at the beginning. YES!!! The Bloody Nine is Back! Nuf said. But you have to realistic about these things so for the sake of those who have no clue who The Bloody Nine is, I’ll continue.

As many a reviewer has pointed out before, including Abercrombie himself, this is a fantasy version of a Western. Red Country returns us to the First Law Universe – or at least to the Far Wild West of it and treats us to a smorgasbord of Western genre tropes and clichés that will have you boot skootin’ just to keep up. Does it have cowboys – check. – And everyone wears hats too. Injuns? Check. But we call them “Ghosts” and they take ears instead of scalps – owww! Ranch burnt down by bad guys and children kidnapped, by Injuns or whoever...check. And the older sister takes a mean bastard with her to hunt em down? Check. Pilgrims heading west in covered wagons? Check. Mining town den of iniquity Deadwood style? Check. Cavalry massacring the natives...and whoever else? Check. Hot pursuit involving a stagecoach complete with horsemen boarding at full gallop? Check. What about gunfight at high noon? Check – but swords, or fists. No guns. But they do have cannons. And what about the hero heading of into the sunset? Why not – minus the hero of course – this is Abercrombie after all. And I could go on but really, you need to check it out for yourself.

The story starts in the town of Square Deal, where Shy South – a woman with a shady past, is taking care of her two younger siblings on her farm with the help of her defacto step father, Lamb – a nine fingered northman with a bloody past that Abercrombie veterans will be all too familiar with. Lamb has been trying his hand at being a better man – or rather a dead man – and avoiding like the plague any sort of confrontation that might release the devil within. But the dead know, you can’t run from who you are – and when bad men burn down the farm and steal the children, well, we know it’s all going to end in blood and tears.

Unlike the previous books, Red Country starts off slow, as we mosy on down the road to hell in hot but slow pursuit. We get to meet some old friends from the previous books as well as some new ones. The standout POV character here has to be Temple, – a lawyer for the infamous mercenary Nicomo Cosca, who finds himself with a conscience he doesn’t have the courage to follow – at least not all the way through – but shouldn't he get some consideration for a half arsed effort, surely? How about his whole arse? You'll have to read it to figure that one out.

Crease, a mining town we spend a bit of time in, has got to be a salute to Deadwood. The mud gives it away, and it owes its’ existence to a gold rush that has every man and his dog and the fleas on his dog greedily trying to claw a fortune out of the ground. Throw in a couple corrupt, self serving, self appointed leaders who have split the town in half and we have all the ingredients of a brew that’s on the verge of bubbling over with blood and violence on top of the whores and drunks and mud and shite pretending at humanity.

Again, this is a solid entry in the First Law Universe and Steven Pacey’s audio narration was top notch as usual and is in my opinion the best way to experience the Abercrombie books. So far he has tackled a few genre’s all in the same Universe. We had the thriller/Oceans Eleven style in Best Served Cold. Then we had the war genre in The Heroes. And now we have the Western in this book – what next? Maybe Abercrombie will try his hand at fantasy again. Or maybe horror? Wait...there’s a little bit of that in every book. How about Sci fi? The Bloody Nine gets abducted by Aliens and shows the little green men what a probe is really for?

Anyway, I have to say this isn’t my favourite entry in the First Law Universe – but with top notch characterisation and story telling you can’t just expect to get better and better each book. Lets be realistic. But it’s dark, gritty, cynical, and its Abercrombie. And more than making up for the slower pace, it has The Bloody Nine. They say he’s unkillable. They say Death is his friend because of the sheer quantity of souls he’s sent into its hungry maw. Don’t let the name fool you. He’s no Lamb. He has a devil in him that likes killing, and when the blood letting starts, he doesn’t like to stop, and nobody is safe. Not even his friends. Maybe especially not them.

5 stars – and I wept, as well indeed I might, because there were no more Abercrombie worlds to conquer.
...more

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Jan 05, 2019 J.J. rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I gotta say, Joe Abercrombie is one of my new favorite authors. I love his world building but his strengths are his characters and dialogue/storytelling. I can't get enough of Joe Abercrombie world. Keep them novels coming, Joe! ...more

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Apr 09, 2012 Eric rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Anyone who thinks 'gritty fantasy western' sounds like a good mash-up

Shelves: fantasy, western, book-club

How could I not read the return of Logen "The Bloody Nine" Ninefingers, my favorite character from The First Law trilogy?

I wrote that last April when details from Red Country first started appearing on the Internet, and then it was released in the States last November, so why I am just getting around to writing this review now, eight months later? Because I had a tough time getting into this book, and an even tougher time finishing it, for a few reasons:

- The book kept alternating between the ch ...more

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Dec 12, 2016 Algernon (Darth Anyan) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016

I've been saving up this novel for years, hoping I will find myself back in the mood for what has become the 'grimdark' fantasy subgenre. I thought, if I ever go back to this style of ultra-violent, cynical, depressing fantasy, I might as well go to the best writer out there, even if I was slightly disappointed with "The Heroes" and "Best Served Cold". Whatever misgivings I have about the glorification of violence / killers and about gratuitous swearing ( I think of Mr. Abercrombie as the fantas ...more

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Nov 19, 2020 Edward rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, favorites

Aaaaaah! So good! SO. Bloody. Good.

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Oct 18, 2012 Liviu rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-fantasy, 2012_release_read, read_2012, top_25_2012_novels

"Severed heads,’ Cosca was explaining, ‘never go out of fashion. Used sparingly and with artistic sensibility, they can make a point a great deal more eloquently than those
still attached. Make a note of that. Why aren’t you writing?"

Joe A. at his best so far in Red Country which i have been greatly enjoying; while grim on occasion the book is really darkly funny and better than the limited Heroes in so many ways; still only about 100 pages in but tonight should read more and hopefully finish it ...more

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Feb 10, 2018 Nils | nilsreviewsit rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

“‘I didn’t want no trouble,’ said Lamb. ‘It blew in anyway. Trouble got a habit that way.’ He pushed his wet hair out of his face, and his eyes were wide open and bright, bright, mouth open too, breathing fast... and he was smiling.”

What an adventure this book was! Seriously I know I praise Abercrombie with every review I do, but I’m just awed by how much his books draw me in, make me feel ALL the feelings, and most of all entertain me!

I have always favoured Abercrombie’s character’s over the pl “‘I didn’t want no trouble,’ said Lamb. ‘It blew in anyway. Trouble got a habit that way.’ He pushed his wet hair out of his face, and his eyes were wide open and bright, bright, mouth open too, breathing fast... and he was smiling.”

What an adventure this book was! Seriously I know I praise Abercrombie with every review I do, but I’m just awed by how much his books draw me in, make me feel ALL the feelings, and most of all entertain me!

I have always favoured Abercrombie’s character’s over the plot, but this book had a fantastic mix of both. The book certainly had a fantasy Western feel to it, which was refreshing to see from the previous books. The plot focused on a quest to bring back what was stolen, to settle old scores, and to face the past which had been buried. I was immediately hooked by this, especially when a few familiar character’s turned up!

Shy South, the main character, in usual Abercrombie style, was a strong, determined female, with a shady past. What I particularly liked about her though was how she also had so much heart. She didn’t like the violent lifestyle she was now leading, she desperately wanted to be a better person, but in the end her will to do what needed doing was stronger. She was definitely a character to admire.

Lamb. My favourite character! Step-father to Shy, leading a simple honest farm life, until events cause him to take a more darker path. Finding himself more at home with the darker path, made for some awesome action, but also seeing his more affectionate side was pretty heartwarming. I loved every scene he was in!

Temple, oh how I grew to love that slippery bastard! His moral dilemma of wanting to stand up against injustice but also wanting to take the easy route was quite funny to see! I was so pleased to see him grow though, and finally find some courage.

I’m sad that this was my last Abercrombie standalone set in the First Law world, but it was a really satisfying one to end on. I can’t wait for more in 2019! ...more

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Apr 17, 2014 Conor rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, abercrombie

4.5

Shy South, a tough frontierswoman is returning from a trip to get supplies with her stepfather Lamb, a battered old Northman whose size and strength bely his gentleness. Their friendly banter is interrupted by the discovery that their home has been burned, a friend murdered and Shy's young brother and sister kidnapped. Amidst this horror 'Lamb' is strangely calm. Looking down at his scarred, battered hands, hands with only 9 fingers, he reflects that sometimes 'you have to be realistic'...

TH 4.5

Shy South, a tough frontierswoman is returning from a trip to get supplies with her stepfather Lamb, a battered old Northman whose size and strength bely his gentleness. Their friendly banter is interrupted by the discovery that their home has been burned, a friend murdered and Shy's young brother and sister kidnapped. Amidst this horror 'Lamb' is strangely calm. Looking down at his scarred, battered hands, hands with only 9 fingers, he reflects that sometimes 'you have to be realistic'...

THE BLOODY NINE!!! So after blitzing through the first 5 books in this series I had planned to take a break before reading this one. But when I had some time to kill I glanced through this first chapter and... THE BLOODY NINE!!! Logen Nine Fingers has left all he knew behind and started again. He's made himself into the kind of man he always wanted to be, the kind of man he was on the plains, the kind of man his father was. But when you're 'made of death' you don't get to choose what kind of man you are. In the early chapters especially, Logen dominates this book. The struggle between 'Lamb' the good man he wants to be and 'The Bloody Nine' the killer who revels in destruction at the core of his being is gripping.

It's weird that in this book that has 2 characters (Temple and Shy) that monopolise POV chapters more than in any other Abercrombie work so far the book is still dominated by a character without a single POV. While some readers have complained about it, I thought that the decision to not give Logen any POV's was a great one. It creates added tension as we never know what he's going to do next. It was also interesting to view Logen's actions through the eyes of other people. It was especially powerful to see Shy's shock at the brutal actions of her kind,gentle stepfather. Logen's arc of redemption and violence was written beautifully. My only complaint was the ending. (view spoiler)

So there were other characters in this book as well. I think. I don't really remember because.. THE BLOODY NINE! Shy was a pretty cool protagonist and I loved her interactions with Logen. I didn't like her obligatory bloody past (something Abercrombie seems determined to attach to pretty much all of his main characters) as it didn't really affect the story in any meaningful way and it would have been nice to see a 'tough' Abercrombie character who wasn't also a killer. With the exception of Finree, Shy is now my favourite Abercrombie female POV. While her tough, scarred warrior woman personality was similar to both Monza and Ferro, Shy did a better job of keeping my interest and sympathy throughout the story. Temple was a pretty enjoyable character. He seemed dull and listless initially but as the novel progressed he became more interesting. His relationship with Shy was especially well-written and the contrast between the two characters and how they learn from each other was nicely handled. Cosca returns, albeit in a depressing fashion. He's become a complete monster, burning towns and murdering innocents without remorse. (view spoiler) . Friendly also returned but was largely left in the background and we didn't get to see much of his awesome bro-mance with Cosca, which bummed me out. A returning character whose been criminally over-looked is Carlot Dan Eider (ahem* 'The Mayor'). Prior to Finree my favourite Abercrombie female she's still among my favourite secondary characters. Here she's as tough, smart and ruthless as ever.

I'm not really a big fan of Westerns and I didn't really enjoy this setting. It was especially strange to see a Western setting without guns. It just felt... wrong. (view spoiler) However the plot itself made brilliant use of the staple western themes of violence and redemption while Abercrombie's gritty style was reminiscent of the best westerns.

This was an engaging read where new characters mixed smoothly with old favourites, the plot was well-written with plenty of twists and turns and the tone and recurring themes were true to both the Western genre and Abercrombie's trademark style. I'm really excited to read Abercrombie's next instalment in the series.
...more

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Apr 20, 2014 Jokoloyo rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I like western stories, and I like all 5 previous novels of First Law universe series. So it is naturally I read this book for the sake of having fun.

This is the first book of First Law that I gave 4 star (other books I gave 5 star). I like First Law books mainly because the protagonists in First Law are stereotypes that usually taking antagonist role in fiction stories (e.g.: Calden is a coward prince in The Heroes), but then the author can make them into sympathetic characters. In Red Country ...more

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Jan 19, 2017 Nate rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I HEREBY DECLARE JOE ABERCROMBIE AN HONORARY AMERICAN. He understands the themes, tropes, and cliches etc. of the western genre more than any limey has a right to, and deploys them effectively while telling a great story that stands up to any of the other First Law books I’ve read (all of them excepting Best Served Cold and that short story collection thingy that came out recently.) What we have here is a lovely mix of The Searchers and Unforgiven and maybe a bit of Deadwood, but only made bette I HEREBY DECLARE JOE ABERCROMBIE AN HONORARY AMERICAN. He understands the themes, tropes, and cliches etc. of the western genre more than any limey has a right to, and deploys them effectively while telling a great story that stands up to any of the other First Law books I’ve read (all of them excepting Best Served Cold and that short story collection thingy that came out recently.) What we have here is a lovely mix of The Searchers and Unforgiven and maybe a bit of Deadwood, but only made better by the removal of the typical old west technology like steam engines and firearms, replaced with FUCKING SWORDS. I mean, a western bristling with sharp shit like swords, spears, knives, etc. is an instant sell for me. Thankfully the execution lives up to the wonderful concept.

The characters in Abercrombie’s books are always a strength even if they’re not likable, and we have classic new additions in major players like hardass-with-a-dark-past (like there’s not enough of these characters in these books) Shy South and cowardly self-serving lawyer Temple, as well as some returning greats like Nicomo Cosca, Caul Shivers, and (view spoiler) I do have to say that I felt Shivers was criminally underused in this book. He’s one of the more complex and straight-up badass characters Abercrombie has come up with and I fucking swear to Hera I’d be shocked if he didn’t forget about his presence after introducing him and then kind of go “Oh yeah...I better do something with Shivers in the last fucking three pages of this book.” WEAK. Other than that, I had no complaints regarding the characters. They were all at the very least interesting, even the obvious redshirts.

Going back to how much I liked Abercrombie’s hand at the western genre a bit, I have to say that you of course could like this book and not like westerns, but it really is a special treat for those of us who love books/movies featuring this setting. Long treks across the desert, hostile natives, sweat-inducing standoffs that erupt into brutal violence, migrating settlers hoping to make better lives past the frontier, all of this stuff is here and written wonderfully. The dialogue is sturdy and concise and features the musical drawl of the west. You really can tell that Abercrombie did his homework here and didn’t just shit out 500 pages of the usual First Law stuff with a ham-handed coat of western paint and for that I congratulate him.

If you like fantasy and/or westerns and think a mix of the two is a novel idea, you should check this out. It’d do you a world of good to read at least the first three connected books first or you’re gonna miss out on some of the thrills having to do with meeting old characters again, but it certainly can stand on its own. Kinda makes me bummed I only have one more book from this series to read before I’ve run out of non-YA Abercrombie stuff. Listen, I know it sounds petty and closeminded to say that but I have to rely on information from the internet a little bit before I go out and drop like 20 bucks on a book (his stuff is pricey because it’s new and doesn’t show up in used bookstores in town a lot) and when I see that YA tag applied to his stuff I just don’t even wanna fucking bother. I have nothing against YA or those who read it whatsoever, but I just don’t wanna deal with coming-of-age stories and stories and characters dealing with youth. I’m just now shedding the last of that shit myself and don’t feel like revisiting it anytime soon. ...more

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Jun 15, 2012 Mogsy (MMOGC) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: action-adventure, fantasy, western, favorites

Brilliant. To me this is probably the best book Joe Abercrombie's written so far, and I'm talking like I love it even more than the First Law trilogy, which is saying a lot. Until this book came along, I didn't think anything else he wrote would come close; after all, I thought Best Served Cold and The Heroes were meh and even more meh, respectively.

But Red Country simply just blew me away. Okay, so maybe it's because I have a thing for westerns. Though granted this isn't your traditional kind o Brilliant. To me this is probably the best book Joe Abercrombie's written so far, and I'm talking like I love it even more than the First Law trilogy, which is saying a lot. Until this book came along, I didn't think anything else he wrote would come close; after all, I thought Best Served Cold and The Heroes were meh and even more meh, respectively.

But Red Country simply just blew me away. Okay, so maybe it's because I have a thing for westerns. Though granted this isn't your traditional kind of western -- there are no guns or cowboys or anything -- but once you start reading, the author's intentions are unmistakeable. Joe A is totally going for his own version of the wild west, set in his First Law world, and seamlessly couples that with his "gritty, dark fantasy" approach that I've come to love.

Those familiar with the John Wayne Western film "The Searchers" will recognize the story immediately -- our main character Shy South sets off on a journey with her adoptive father to find her little brother and sister who have been abducted by bandits. But Joe A adds his own brand of style to the main conflict. Anyway, as soon as the characters join up with a wagon train and cattle drive with a Fellowship to the "far country", I just knew I was going to love this book.

Two things stood out for me that I enjoyed immensely about Red Country. Firstly, the characters. Before I go on, I'd like to say if you're a fan of Joe Abercrombie's other books, especially the First Law trilogy, you'll be delighted to find the return of some old friends. It's not actually that big a secret, even though the book never mentions a certain someone by name. All I'll say is just look carefully at the cover; if you know what to look for you'll probably be as overjoyed as I was.

There are also many great new characters -- Shy, Temple, Dab Sweet, Savian, etc. All of them are given unique personalities that set them apart and make them memorable, which I think is one of the author's greatest strengths (for example, who can ever forget a character like Sand Dan Glokta?) and is a big reason why I liked this book so much. After all, one of my chief disappointments with The Heroes was that it was pretty much about a whole lot of Northmen who were essentially all just a bunch of rough and gruff guys who did a bunch of rough and gruff fighting. With nobody really standing out for me, I felt Abercrombie's talents just didn't shine through like it did here.

The second thing I enjoyed about Red Country is the dialogue. Admittedly, Abercrombie will at times fudge a bit of the vernacular and break immersion, which I confess jolted me out of at fantasy/western world every once in a while, but I believe he does it for good reason: to make the conversations interesting, clever, and funny. There are so many awesome lines, so much quotable material in this book, and I just adore his wit so much, that well, obviously I was more than happy to let that one fault slide.

Anyway, definitely the best fantasy book I've read in a while. I was intrigued by the plot, amused by the jokes, shocked by the violence, touched by romance (well, the Joe Abercrombie kind of romance...the man certainly has a knack for writing the most hilarious and awkward sex scenes ever), surprised by the twists, impressed by the quality of writing, and most definitely sad when it all ended. ...more

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Aug 23, 2012 Mike (the Paladin) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Well crap. This book should have been an easy 4 and probably a 5. I was REALLY looking forward to this one. I saw the video ad on line thought it sounded great. The plot while obviously not completely original hasn't "really" been done before.. I mean it's a western set in a fantasy world...I mean an overt western. It's got a great lead in, a great set up some great characters and some exceptional scenes, dialogue and story telling.

So, why only 3 stars?

Oh good grief this thing is slow. I mean al Well crap. This book should have been an easy 4 and probably a 5. I was REALLY looking forward to this one. I saw the video ad on line thought it sounded great. The plot while obviously not completely original hasn't "really" been done before.. I mean it's a western set in a fantasy world...I mean an overt western. It's got a great lead in, a great set up some great characters and some exceptional scenes, dialogue and story telling.

So, why only 3 stars?

Oh good grief this thing is slow. I mean all that great story telling, wonderful dialogue, amazing action and detailed characterization is spread out between multiple thousands of superfluous words....thousands and thousands it seems. Dialogue that is apparently supposed to give us insight into the characters and be "interesting" is often simply pointless and time consuming. You could/can skip HUGE portions of this book and miss nothing...and even save a few hours of your life for other things. The problem is that without reading through it you can't know where the superfluous parts are!

You may have noticed...well some of you may have...that this has been on my "currently reading shelf" for a long time. That's because I kept laying it aside and not coming back to it.

Look this book did a great job of what it did but I truly wish Mr. Abercrombie had edited more or possibly turned the book over to a good editor and then listened, taken his/her advice...or something.

This book should have exploded out the starting gate at breakneck speed and never slowed down. With plot points from many of the best examples of western books and movies and an ending scene (view spoiler) the book should have and could have been a thrill ride. It turned out to be a slow boat with intervals of fast fairly satisfying action.

Well, I will live in hope. Joe Abercrombie has written (far) better books. I find it sad that this is such an exceptional possibility that stumbled so badly. Worth reading and parts are exceptional. Try it for yourself. On the whole I think you'll enjoy it. Sadly however it's another "might have been" in a lot of ways.
...more

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Dec 03, 2018 Laura rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: blood-and-gore, read-in-2018

The best of the First Law World singles so far!

And that's mainly because of Lamb! :D Now isn't that an appropriate name for our MC?! :)

I admit I was a little dissapointed to not have Lamb's POV but in the end it turned out better this way. Because of the reaction at the time of the big reveal, a different POV was absolutely worth it!!

The only reason I'm cutting off one star is due to some characters who were brilliant in the first half of the story but developed a sort of clownish attitude towar ...more

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Jan 13, 2021 Bradley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, 2021-shelf

As long as no one is expecting the huge, triumphant return of Ninefingers, this is a very cool novel of grimdark fantasy very much in line with the entire series. Lots of revenge, desperate striving, stolen pleasures, gold, politics, and blood, blood, blood.

In other words, it's pretty damn fun.

But what about Ninefingers!?

Oh, he's here, but he's not the main character. Shy is. Shy is wonderful, complicated, and bruised by life. Her FRIENDSHIP with him is on full display.

But you know what I liked ...more

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Jun 30, 2014 Penny rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi-fantasy-club-2014challenge, fantasy, dark, low-fantasy, scifi-and-fantasy-club-bookshelf, highly-recommended, adventure

I absolutely loved this book! A fun engaging story with a big dose of dark and gritty, fantastic complex characters that you can't help but love or love to hate, twists and turns and never a dull moment, and all of it pulled together by some truly excellent writing.

I was a bit nervous about reading this one with our book club as some people commented that those who haven't read The First Law trilogy didn't seem to enjoy it as much as those who had based on reviews. I've only read the first book ...more

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About Joe Abercrombie

Joe Abercrombie

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Joe Abercrombie was educated at Lancaster Royal Grammar School and Manchester University, where he studied psychology. He moved into television production before taking up a career as a freelance film editor. During a break between jobs he began writing The Blade Itself in 2002, completing it in 2004. It was published by Gollancz in 2006 and was followed by two other books in The First Law trilogy ...more

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“Evil turned out not to be a grand thing. Not sneering Emperors with their world-conquering designs. Not cackling demons plotting in the darkness beyond the world. It was small men with their small acts and their small reasons. It was selfishness and carelessness and waste. It was bad luck, incompetence, and stupidity. It was violence divorced from conscience or consequence. It was high ideals, even, and low methods.” — 120 likes

“Strange, how the best moments of our lives we scarcely notice except in looking back.” — 112 likes

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Red Country

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