The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Heroes is a story of war and the men fighting on both sides of the battlefield.
The Cover: In my opinion, this cover isn’t too bad, but it is by no means great. I get more of a fantasy feeling than I got from the cover of Red Country, but either could be a book on Roman History. It does suggest there will be violence.
The Good Stuff: It didn’t take me long to adapt to Joe’s style, and I love it. This tale is gritty and dark, but it feels so real. There are numerous characters, all with their own problems and flaws. I expected dragons and magic, I got blood and gore, and I was not disappointed. Joe has a way with words that makes everything seem real. His characters are genuine and crass. His action scenes will make you squirm, and his storytelling will keep you reading to the end. I loved this book so much so that I would say it is the best book I have read… ever! I have found my favourite author at last and I hope to have many more hours of enjoyment from the other stories in his collection of titles. Good work Mr Abercrombie.
The Bad Stuff: This was the first of Joe Abercrombie’s books I read (I know, I started out of sync… Why? It just happened that way.) The style threw me at first, sentences with words missing, written as they might be spoken colloquially. Coming in under the fantasy genre, I also expected a little more magic, strange creatures, other races, etc… But I got over the lack of these very quickly.
This is a great book and I was left entirely satisfied. I’m giving this read an amazing 5 out of 5 golden bookmarks, just as soon as I can wipe the blood splatters off my face.
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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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