A review by surdiablo
Red Country by Joe Abercrombie

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.
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