Needless to say, I was giddy at the thought of getting an early read of Joe Abercrombie's newest novel months before its pub date. The Age of Madness trilogy was pretty bleak, even by the author's standards. Lord Grimdark is not known for his romantasy or cozy fantasy works and it's safe to say that his last series truly delivered on the grimdark front. From the blurb, it appeared that Abercrombie went for a more humorous style and tone for this new one and I for one was looking forward to that. As mentioned in my review of The Wisdom of Crowds, I felt that it was a bit too high-handed with the social commentary and a bit overdone with Judge's cruelty and the Great Change in general.
The Devils is indeed a more fun and entertaining novel. Not a light read per se, but lighter than what Abercrombie has accustomed to with the First Law books. Sure, the narrative is snarky and filled with jokes and hilarious scenes, but à la Abercrombie there is nevertheless plenty of blood and gore to go along with the "lighter" elements of the tale. I doubt that
The Devils will end up on the ballot for the World Fantasy Award, yet I can assure you that it's the most fun you'll have reading SFF in 2025!
Here's the blurb:
A brand-new epic fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Joe Abercrombie, featuring a notorious band of anti-heroes on a delightfully bloody and raucous journey.
Holy work sometimes requires unholy deeds.
Brother Diaz has been summoned to the Sacred City, where he is certain a commendation and grand holy assignment awaits him. But his new flock is made up of unrepentant murderers, practitioners of ghastly magic, and outright monsters. The mission he is tasked with will require bloody measures from them all in order to achieve its righteous ends.
Elves lurk at our borders and hunger for our flesh, while greedy princes care for nothing but their own ambitions and comfort. With a hellish journey before him, it's a good thing Brother Diaz has the devils on his side.
It's difficult to judge how good/bad the worldbuilding is. As was the case with
The Blade Itself, Abercrombie doesn't reveal a whole lot about this alternate Europe and the rest of the world. Perhaps subsequent installments will flesh out the world a bit more, as was the case with the First Law trilogy. But that remains to be seen. The author keeps his cards rather close to his chest in this first volume and only provides enough information so that readers can follow what's going on.
The Devils is set in a universe where the great Roman Empire, the one that ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa, never came to be. Rome was conquered by Carthage and became part of its empire, until Carthage was swalloed by the opening of a gate to Hell that went terribly wrong. There is a schism between the Church of the West, which is matriarchal and follows the Saviour (who was a woman), and the Church of the East, which patriarchal and follows the Father of the Saviour. There is no Muslim/Islam analog, for some reason. The Holy Land is occupied by elves, against whom the Crusades were fought. Prophecies seem to indicate that the elves will return once more to destroy the world, which is why something must be done to reconcile the Church under one creed so that the elven menace can be faced by a united front.
Brother Diaz, a craven monk with little to recommend him, is summoned to the Holy City, where he's press-ganged into becoming the head of the Chapel of the Holy Expediency. Though it goes against its precepts, the Church understands that sometimes one must fight fire with fire. As stated in the cover blurb, holy work sometimes requires unholy deeds. The Chapel of the Holy Expediency is comprised of evil elements that should have been put to death. Instead of being burned at the stake, they were given the opportunity to atone for their crimes by serving Her Holiness. A lost scion of the royal family of Troy has been found. Brother Diaz and his flock must return her to the fabled city of splendors so she can ascend the Serpent Throne, and in so doing perhaps heal the rift and reunite the Eastern and the Western branches of the Church. The problem is that everyone with a claim to the crown will stop at nothing to kill the girl and ascend the Serpent Throne. And Troy is a long way from Rome. To make matters worse, all Brother Diaz has to rely on are the street urchin who is to somehow become empress, a cursed Knight Templar, a geriatric vampire, a jack-of-all-trades woman who's seen it all, a supposedly flesh-eating elf, a self-important necromancer, and a sex-crazed Norse female werewolf. What can possibly go wrong along the way? Why everything, of course!
It's obvious that Abercrombie decided that he was going to have fun writing this one, so buckle up because this is going to be one heck of a ride. Forget about the dark and dismal atmosphere of the Age of Madness,
The Devils will have you chuckling and then laughing out loud in basically every single chapter. As is the author's wont, characterization remains this novel's best facet. Everyone gets a POV other than Baptiste, which makes me wonder why. This is another character-driven effort and Abercrombie sure came up with a motley crew of flawed men and women. Understandably, Alex, would-be Empress of the East if they can somehow survive this shit show and reach Troy and put her on the throne, is sort of the main protagonist. I say sort of because there is a nice balance between most of the perspectives and everyone shares the limelight. And though I've more or less enjoyed everyone's POV, with the exception of Vigga who was always a bit over-the-top for my liking, I have to admit that Balthazar Sham Ivam Draxi is probably my favorite Abercrombie protagonist other than the inimitable Sand dan Glokta. True, these characters are not always the sharpest tools in the shed, but they each get their moment to shine and it's nice to see that each dog has its day. In true Abercrombie fashion, the author plays with our expectations and pulls the rug from under our feet a number of times. Even with a more humorous style and tone, Joe Abercrombie will always be Joe Abercrombie.
Having said that, I do believe that he went a bit overboard with the jokes and the snarky bits. And yet, to be honest,
The Devils is that kind of work. It's meant to be a fun and thrilling ride and this is exactly what it is. Some sequences move more fluidly than others, yet pace is never really an issue. Some scenes only seem to exist for comedic purposes and don't necessarily add much to the story itself, true. But who cares in the end? You're having a good time from the first to the very last page.
Mark your calendar.
The Devils is sure to be a hit next spring!
The final verdict: 8/10
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