Best Served Cold
Ratings341
Average rating4.1
This book was really fun to read. It doesn't follow the current trends in fantasy literature. This book is fantasy without magic, for the most part, making it more of an alternate universe story set in medieval Europe. I recommend this to anyone interested in a gangster-revenge tale in a fantasy setting. I haven't read Joe's preceeding books, the First Law trilogy, but I am probably going to pick up [b:The Heroes 9300768 The Heroes Joe Abercrombie http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1284418103s/9300768.jpg 12879765], which follows this book.
Two years ago I devoured Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy. It was a gritty sword-and-sorcery yarn, full of blood and guts, a few touches of sorcery, but mostly political intrigue shot through with battles, torture, adventure and dirty deeds. Good stuff. GRRM's Song of Ice and Fire is a pretty good parallel but then again Abercrombie actually finished his tale. Then he came out with this stand-alone tale which borrows a few minor characters from the First Law and takes place in the politically fractured Styrian continent. The main character is one Monza Murcatto, the general of the mercenary force known as the Thousand Swords. After a series of victories she's betrayed by her employer, Duke Orso and left for dead on a mountainside. Then, through 880 pages, she exacts her single-minded revenge on the seven men responsible for her betrayal. Along the way, we get some backstory on the events that led to her betrayal and they shed more and more light on the proceedings yet Monza herself never really feels like a fully-fleshed character. The most colorful character in the book is Nicomo Cosca, erstwhile leader of the Thousand Swords, and one who likes the sound of his own voice. The tale is a bloody, violent betrayal-fest, brutal and dark. And, I thought, far longer than it needed to be. Part of me was enjoying the mayhem, part of me was hoping just to finish so I could move on to something else. There were no major surprises in the plot but a few eyebrow-raising small ones. I'd recommend it only for big fans of Abercrombie's First Law trilogy.
Euh ja, nog een boek van Abercrombie.
Ik ga niet liegen en zeggen dat het beter is dan de First Law-trilogie, maar het is zeker niet slechter. Er zijn stukken en onderdelen waar het nóg een tandje bijsteekt, en er zijn stukken en onderdelen waar hij een paar steken laat vallen — vooral, vind ik, waar hij net iets te veel speelt met de vierde muur.
Maar wat ten allen tijde overeind blijft, zijn de personages. Twee ervan, Nicomo Costa en Caul Shivers, zijn afgriebelijk goed hernomen uit de trilogie hierboven, worden uitgediept dat het geen naam heeft.
Eén is naar mijn goesting maar bij het haar gesleept uit de vorige trilogie. En het hoofdpersonage, Monzcarro “Monza” Murcatto, lijkt op een kruising tussen het Uma Thurman-personage uit Kill Bill en Ash uit A Secret History.
Aangeraden, het boek, dat spreekt.
