11-30-2025, 03:07 PM
The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
I've waiting for this book since it first came out in March. My jealousy that the Yeti read and advanced copy drove me insane. Many was the time I almost gave in and bought the book. I wish it lived up to all my expectations. Alas, it did not.
The Empire of the East, set in Troy, needs a new empress. Turns out she exists and is currently a deeply in debt thief in Rome. Now a group of Creature Commandos, a suicide squad of monsters must make the perilous journey from Rome to Troy fighting all sorts of monsters and claimants to the throne along the way. The problems only get worse once she is in Troy.
The world building is kind of clever. It's an Earth alternate where the scions of Rome and the savior are all women. The Church in the East is based in Troy rather than Constantinople because the Trojans never lost the war to the Mycenae. And the Roman church has a group of monsters it uses for the really bad jobs, fighting devils with devils. Yes, I did keep tripping up on the fact this was just an episode of Creature Commandos.
Abercrombie does write great action sequences and this book had a bunch of them, but it all felt really familiar. I kind of guessed every twist because they were kind of blatant. And it wasn't as nihilistic as Abercrombie usually writes or maybe politically expedient. The one person who did embody this was Cardinal Ziska but she was barely onscreen for most of the book. I did appreciate the completely unhinged Vigga-Wolf, a Norwegian werewolf.
Yes, I know, Dr. Yeti. I do not like fun.
I've waiting for this book since it first came out in March. My jealousy that the Yeti read and advanced copy drove me insane. Many was the time I almost gave in and bought the book. I wish it lived up to all my expectations. Alas, it did not.
The Empire of the East, set in Troy, needs a new empress. Turns out she exists and is currently a deeply in debt thief in Rome. Now a group of Creature Commandos, a suicide squad of monsters must make the perilous journey from Rome to Troy fighting all sorts of monsters and claimants to the throne along the way. The problems only get worse once she is in Troy.
The world building is kind of clever. It's an Earth alternate where the scions of Rome and the savior are all women. The Church in the East is based in Troy rather than Constantinople because the Trojans never lost the war to the Mycenae. And the Roman church has a group of monsters it uses for the really bad jobs, fighting devils with devils. Yes, I did keep tripping up on the fact this was just an episode of Creature Commandos.
Abercrombie does write great action sequences and this book had a bunch of them, but it all felt really familiar. I kind of guessed every twist because they were kind of blatant. And it wasn't as nihilistic as Abercrombie usually writes or maybe politically expedient. The one person who did embody this was Cardinal Ziska but she was barely onscreen for most of the book. I did appreciate the completely unhinged Vigga-Wolf, a Norwegian werewolf.
Yes, I know, Dr. Yeti. I do not like fun.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm