Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie is ultimately a story of revenge. Monzcarro Murcatto is betrayed by the man she has spent years elevating to a position of power. Strangled, stabbed, beaten and thrown down a mountain side clinging to life by a thread. All those involved will come to wish they had done the job right.
The Cover: Though not what I would consider a traditional fantasy cover, it is appropriate for the story and its genre. There is also a hint at the blood and gore between the pages.
The Bad Stuff: Not for the faint hearted, there is blood, gore and treachery. A bad point if you don’t like these things.
The Good Stuff: There is blood, gore and treachery – and so much of it. Abercrombie’s style is so raw, so tough, so gritty, that for me it’s like a fine blue cheese – filled with everything rotten, but tastes so good and leaves you wanting more. The characters, as always, are so mean and so bad arse, yet so well developed that you can’t help but love them. If you’ve read Joe’s other books, there’s reference to characters like ‘The Bloody Nine’, ‘The Cripple’ and others, that make the memories come rushing back and have you thinking “Oh yeah, I remember that” or “Yep, that sounds like something they would say/do,”. I loved this book as much as his others and even though it follows the story of new and less explored characters, they became my new best friends.
Wow! How does Joe do it? How does he make you love such despicable characters? Set in the same world as the First Law Trilogy this book continues the story of some of the characters I have come to love, building on their characters and giving insights into how they became who they are.
This one gets a bone crunching, skull smashing 5 out of 5 golden bookmarks with a splash of blood for good measure.
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Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in libraries.
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