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A review by ambarbaq
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
4.0
Okay now this is the first review I'm fully writing immediately after finishing a book, excel open on the other half of the monitor but shhhh. Thank you Kimmy for inspiring me to get back on this, we'll see how long this motivation lasts...Anyway, the review:
4.5/5 Okay I know I said this about The Last Argument of Kings, but wow, Best Served Cold is the best book in the series so far. It really benefits from being a stand alone adventure rather than being tied to the overall plot (but let't not kid ourselves, I don't think you could jump from TLAOK to the first book in The Age of Madness without reading the stand alone books... I'll talk about that later maybe).
Best Served Cold has a simple set up. Famed mercenary general Monzcarro "Monza" Murcatto is crossed and spends a year seeking her revenge, killing the seven men who betrayed her. It hits all the tropes, putting a team together, executing heist-like assassinations, but as is tradition in this series it is all enveloped in this always intriguing political drama. No kill goes by without consequences and political ramifications. Monza doesn't come out of it unscathed, and between her character arc and Shivers' this book really put a dour view of the world in my brain. So grim, so tragic. Nothing that hasn't been said or explored before, the cycle of violence, is mercy cowardice, does revenge accomplish anything really? But it is the way these themes are explored, the way each of these characters deals with the hand they are dealt and how they come out in the end that makes this book so special to me. Again Abercrombie makes earth shattering changes to the political make up of a region, but zoomed out it feels so small scale yet so impactful. It helps that this is the best world building he has done thus far. Each of the different regions of Styria feel fully realized, yet he didn't need 1300 pages to flesh it out cough Stormlight Archive cough.
A deliciously devilish, decidedly despicable, and delectably devious cast of charcters. I don't think I've loved and hated a ragtag band opf misfits more than Monza's crew. It is crazy, when some of them were introduced I did not expect to actually end up caring for them, I thought of them as expendable in a "Suicide Squad" type of way, but they all get their time in the spotlight. Other than Monza and Shivers, arguably the protagonists, my favorites were Friendly and Day. Friendly was such a delightful representation of a neurodivergent adult. Friendly is part of the muscle of the group, but is clearly on the autism spectrum. This is never played for a joke or a negative. He is presented as a fully fledged human. Sometimes his personality is at odds with his goals and sometimes it is a boon for the group. Obsessed with dice and counting people Friendly absolutely stole my heart. Day was a relatively minor characted but by god she was hilarious. An apprentice poisoner, but she loves to eat and has a sharp tongue. She actually had me cracking up, especially whenever I would listen to the audiobook (I bounce between audio and kindle these days since they track each other), Steven Pacey's voice for Day was perfect.
I will end this review by saying this book might be described as a stand alone in the First Law world, but it is not lmao. It definitely continues the story of the first three books, in an indirect way but still, many returning characters and many mentions of what has happened with The Union and the North after the end of the trilogy.
I am shelving this series for a bit to read something more upbeat. I am open to recommendations
4.5/5 Okay I know I said this about The Last Argument of Kings, but wow, Best Served Cold is the best book in the series so far. It really benefits from being a stand alone adventure rather than being tied to the overall plot (but let't not kid ourselves, I don't think you could jump from TLAOK to the first book in The Age of Madness without reading the stand alone books... I'll talk about that later maybe).
Best Served Cold has a simple set up. Famed mercenary general Monzcarro "Monza" Murcatto is crossed and spends a year seeking her revenge, killing the seven men who betrayed her. It hits all the tropes, putting a team together, executing heist-like assassinations, but as is tradition in this series it is all enveloped in this always intriguing political drama. No kill goes by without consequences and political ramifications. Monza doesn't come out of it unscathed, and between her character arc and Shivers' this book really put a dour view of the world in my brain. So grim, so tragic. Nothing that hasn't been said or explored before, the cycle of violence, is mercy cowardice, does revenge accomplish anything really? But it is the way these themes are explored, the way each of these characters deals with the hand they are dealt and how they come out in the end that makes this book so special to me. Again Abercrombie makes earth shattering changes to the political make up of a region, but zoomed out it feels so small scale yet so impactful. It helps that this is the best world building he has done thus far. Each of the different regions of Styria feel fully realized, yet he didn't need 1300 pages to flesh it out cough Stormlight Archive cough.
A deliciously devilish, decidedly despicable, and delectably devious cast of charcters. I don't think I've loved and hated a ragtag band opf misfits more than Monza's crew. It is crazy, when some of them were introduced I did not expect to actually end up caring for them, I thought of them as expendable in a "Suicide Squad" type of way, but they all get their time in the spotlight. Other than Monza and Shivers, arguably the protagonists, my favorites were Friendly and Day. Friendly was such a delightful representation of a neurodivergent adult. Friendly is part of the muscle of the group, but is clearly on the autism spectrum. This is never played for a joke or a negative. He is presented as a fully fledged human. Sometimes his personality is at odds with his goals and sometimes it is a boon for the group. Obsessed with dice and counting people Friendly absolutely stole my heart. Day was a relatively minor characted but by god she was hilarious. An apprentice poisoner, but she loves to eat and has a sharp tongue. She actually had me cracking up, especially whenever I would listen to the audiobook (I bounce between audio and kindle these days since they track each other), Steven Pacey's voice for Day was perfect.
I will end this review by saying this book might be described as a stand alone in the First Law world, but it is not lmao. It definitely continues the story of the first three books, in an indirect way but still, many returning characters and many mentions of what has happened with The Union and the North after the end of the trilogy.
I am shelving this series for a bit to read something more upbeat. I am open to recommendations