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surdiablo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Well, it certainly lives up to the name Red Country, as it felt like the darkest entry in the First Law universe so far. It's a brutal fantasy western that takes a while to get into at first but damn.. the payoff for me was certainly worth it! Like the previous standalone novels, this one has new & returning characters who are more than interesting enough, and I daresay their arcs had the perfect conclusions, which probably wouldn't have worked so well without the 'slow' sections in the first half. My favorites were Lamb & Temple , and I disagree with the notion that a returning character's arc was handled terribly ( Come on, Cosca has always been like that! ) . This is one of those books where I can't really explain why I love it without getting into too many spoilers, but it has all the hallmark tropes of a Western which I love, ( may or may not be your cup of tea ), the allusions are great and properly placed, plenty of dark humor and meaningful quotes, and while I think The Heroes was perhaps a better book where my enjoyment was consistent, this book delivered waaaaay more chills down my spine, especially the second half ( last part had me anxious for its entirety ). I felt like Shy was similar to Monza in the sense that they both were the least interesting characters in their own book, but they are still pretty good and I was invested in their fate. My favorite moments which I wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon involve the duel and the last stand in the fort . I can see people having gripes about animal cruelty, the slow journey of fellowship, Dragon people being undercooked, and Cosca's fate , but they didn't bother me personally, and considering the impact it had overall, this book has pushed its way to the 'favorites' shelf of mine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Pedophilia
apiecalypsejen's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is probably my favourite of the stand alone books in the First Law world. I thought when I read the description I would like it the least but it ended up just being such a great story and so well woven together that I ended up loving it and on my subsequent read throughs of the books in this world I am always most pleased to end up at Best Served Cold and Red Country (though, The Heroes is also, tremendous, it doesn't have a woman character I like the way that these other two do.) It sheds more light on a different faction of folks who follow the old-ways of The Master Maker up in the mountains in the far country bordering the Old Empire (which if you read the first 3 books, you would have been somewhat acquainted with already. It also tells, about 10 years down the road, the story of one of the main characters who we never really got closure on from the end of book 3, now, returned in book 6. I will say that I respect the commitment that at no time, does anyone at any point refer to him as Logen, now that he has taken on his new name, Lamb, and he at no time, even when it would serve him very much to do so, does he refer to himself as Logen Nine-Fingers.
It's basically a gold rush story about what might happen if your children got stolen, and you were to discover that the guy who you thought was this sweet old man on your farm was a sleeper cell, and actually, one of the most prolific and famous killers in the world, ten years dormant. I highly recommend it. Especially if you've read the first 3 books.
No need to have read the first two stand alone books to follow this one, unless you are curious about what happened to Shivers eye .
It's basically a gold rush story about what might happen if your children got stolen, and you were to discover that the guy who you thought was this sweet old man on your farm was a sleeper cell, and actually, one of the most prolific and famous killers in the world, ten years dormant. I highly recommend it. Especially if you've read the first 3 books.
No need to have read the first two stand alone books to follow this one, unless you are curious about what happened to
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Drug use, Bullying, Physical abuse, and Drug abuse
Minor: Misogyny, Colonisation, Mental illness, Animal death, Abandonment, Confinement, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Child death, Child abuse, and Death of parent
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