Reviews

Red Country by Joe Abercrombie

straw's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

whoareyouhannah's review against another edition

4.0

Not quite sure how I feel about this one. The first half of the book felt a bit too slow for me and I didn't connect with the characters as well as I did with others in Abercrombie's books. What I found very interesting was that instead of the biting cynism you usually find in the First Law world, this book had a lot of sadness in it. The last third of the book was brilliant and especially the parts where a child is the POV character added a whole new dimension to the story for me. I also loved the contrast between the dragon people and the mercenaries and the way each thought about the other one. Even though he chose quite a different scenario after "The Heroes", Abercrombie continues to explore the dark side of human nature and how far they are willing to go to get what they want. He could have chosen a much easier way to tell his stories, but I'm glad for the thoughtfulness you can feel in every chapter.

emacap_137's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

4.75

maaike_g's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

4.5

chipsandcoffee's review against another edition

4.0

THATS WHY HES THE GOAT. THE GOOOOOOOAT.

ladybaela's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars

I did enjoy this one but not as much as Best Served Cold or The Heroes

rynetry's review against another edition

5.0

What a ride these last three books have been. Abercrombie really is a great fantasy writer - this book (the shortest he's written?) managed to do a good job of showcasing that I think.

tinsica's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

itmegreg's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

While technically a fantasy-western, still very much a First Law novel. Some American Indian parallels don't quite succeed, but overall a fun, emotional read.

•  “Strange, how the best moments of our lives we scarcely notice except in looking back.” 
•  “That's what courage is. Taking your disappointments and your failures, your guilt and your shame, all the wounds received and inflicted, and sinking them in the past. Starting again. Damning yesterday and facing tomorrow with your head held high. Times change. It's those that see it coming, and plan for it, and change themselves to suit that prosper.” 
•  “The trouble with running is wherever you run to, there you are.” 
•  “If there was a God, the world seemed exactly the way it would be if there wasn’t one.” 
•  “Belief without evidence is the very hallmark of the savage.” 

diarmuid's review against another edition

5.0

Wasn't really vibing with the start, but once the plot gets going we're in business. Definitely my least favorite of the three standalones but the competition is two absolute bangers. This didn't seem to have an overarching theme, message, or setting that resonated as strongly as those (although all 3 aspects were still good here!) Reason this took so long was because I couldn't bear to finish the last few chapters and be that bit closer to being done with these audiobooks. Fond memories of walking through the park in summer, saying hello to dogs trying to steal my sandwiches, all while listening to people being brutally murdered on my headphones. What more could you want from an audiobook experience?