Book Review | The Devils

The Devils by Joe Abercrombie marks a significant departure from his previous works. Yes, the trademark witty banter is still there. However, this one feels more like a comedic romp than a grimdark fantasy, which I feel readers will either hate or adore.

Unfortunately, I belong to the former camp.

At first glance, the idea of an alternate history Europe with magic sounded cool. However, the type of humor in this book was just not my cup of tea. The story devolved into a lot of poop and fart jokes that killed any sense of stakes or danger.

Ultimately, I found myself not caring what happened to the characters. They felt like they were more of a running gag than a complex, compelling character. We’re told over and over again that this is ragtag bunch of [insert joke about a geriatric vampire, a cutpurse princess, and a pompous magician here] that it becomes stale. This is such a shame since Abercrombie has created such interesting morally gray (or not-so-gray) characters before like in his The Age of Madness Trilogy.

All and all, this turned out to be a much different book than I was expecting. I'm sure some readers out there will enjoy this book and think it’s a fun read, but I wasn't one of them.

Thank you, Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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