A review by filberthoneysac
The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie

5.0

5 // 5

Gorst bared his teeth, raised his fist and started punching the man in the face, his gauntlet crunching against one side of the golden helmet. Up and down, up and down, his fast was a hammer and gradually it marked, then dented, then twisted the helmet out of shape until one side of it dug into the man's face. Even better than the sword. Crunch, crunch, and it bent further, cutting into the cheek. More personal. No need for discussion or justification, for introductions or etiquette, for guilt or excuses. Only the incredible release of violence. So powerful that he felt this golden-armoured man must be his best friend in all the world. I love you. I love you, and that is why I must smash your head apart. He was laughing as he pounded his gauntleted knuckles into the man's bloody-blond moustache again. Laughing and crying at once.



I will always adore how Abercrombie handles dialogue. Clever, witty, funny, and sometimes downright scary. That is not what I imagined Gorst's inner voice to be like, but I absolutely love it. His fights with Scale and Whirrun were amazing.

An immediate glimpse into the competence on display for both sides of this war. They're both going to try to hold a rock formation known as The Heroes, and it will evidently be the last, or first, true battle of the war between The North under Black Dow and The Union.

The chapter 'Casualties' was absolutely phenomenal. I was confused at first, wondering if I had accidentally skipped a chapter introducing new characters. But I quickly understood the intention: swapping PoVs between the two sides of the battle after a character gets killed. Flawless execution on a brilliant idea.

War is a shit show. This book is the epitome of that. Extremely well written and wonderfully paced. I loved and hated so many characters at the same time.