Spoiler-free
The Heroes is book 2 in the 'standalone' sequel trilogy set in The First Law world. However, whoever would class this book as a standalone is out of their damn mind. The number of recurring characters and overarching plot lines is insane. Much like Best Served Cold, this is a self-contained story, but the context from the original trilogy is absolutely required to fully understand the overall working of this world and the depth of its characters.
The First Law world is brutal, gritty, and damn right repugnant. Yet returning to it feels like a comforting hug. Each character is firmly rooted into the bleak atmosphere, often juxtaposed by the humour and witticisms Joe Abercrombie weaves into every page. This distinct style of writing makes every character incredibly believable and real. Using the phrase "back to the mud" when referring to death perfectly encapsulates the gritty realism only Lord Grimdark himself could conjure.
"I love you so much I want to shit. Say it. Well, not the part about shit, but the other part." - Gorst.
The surface-level premise of this book is simple. It's a battle between the north set over 3 days. The underlying politics is what makes this instalment so intriguing. Joe Abercrombie masterfully captures the bleak reality of war, being 99% waiting and 1% fighting.
"Wars are hard enough work without people fighting in the middle of them." - Corporal Tunny.
The battle plays out at a steady pace, as we read from the perspectives of just about every major and even minor player on the battlefield. There is a lot of talk about military tactics and positioning, which gave me the vibe of a total war game.
Seeing how all of the different regiments maneuvered was as interesting as it was confusing. When it finally clicked in my head, I was invested in each individual movement. However, oftentimes, I struggled to fully visualise the whole picture. This leads to my first criticism.
There are just too many POV characters. The first half of this book is very overwhelming. There's an abundance of characters, both new and old, all situated in various positions on the battlefield. Perhaps if there were fewer POV characters initially, the scope of focus would have been narrower and more concentrated, leading to heightened engagement and investment from the get-go. (This is a take that could well possibly change on a reread.)
It was an awful lot to keep track of, especially on audio. Luckily, I've been buddy reading this series with Chad, who sent over a character glossary, featured at the start of the book, alongside maps of the battlefield after each day ended. This greatly helped me to visualise and understand the manoeuvring of troops.
Side note – Around the halfway mark, I opted to read 'The Heroes' alongside listening to better understand what was happening. As much as I love audiobooks, seeing the characters' names written down definitely helped to cement their roles and intentions in my mind. I'm a huge Steven Pacey fanboy, and I know the audiobooks for this series are incredibly popular, but for this instalment, it was particularly challenging to fully visualise the battle. Reading alongside listening was the perfect compromise in keeping the excellent narration whilst increasing overall comprehension.
It's hard to talk too much about this series without spoilers, but it's safe to say this installment didn't disappoint. While somewhat saturated and meandering at times, ultimately the ending tied everything together in such a climactic way. I enjoyed The Heroes more than Best Served Cold, for sure!
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 - 4 stars!
On to Spoiler Chat!
Spoiler Chat
I was not expecting so many returning characters! After Best Served Cold, I was definitely expecting to see Shivers again, and to be honest, I can see him making an appearance in all the books.
Bayaz, on the other hand... Wow. I thought for sure he would be tucked away, hidden behind the scenes, at least until the Age of Madness trilogy. I couldn't be happier to be proved wrong. He's such a disgusting, terrifying, malignant old man. Love it. I wonder why he's taken the side of the Dogman in this war with Black Dow. I know that Jazel was friends with Logan and would maybe want revenge, but let's be real... Jazel has no power, and Bayaz will have his own reasons. Is it just to further his control of command? Expand his empire and gain even more power? Or is there some ulterior motive? Say one thing for Bayaz: say that he's always 10 steps ahead.
Gorst is by far the standout star of this book. He's hilarious. I knew that after losing that fencing match to Jazel in The Blade Itself, he'd have a future role to play, especially given Bayaz's apparent interest in him. But never did I think that he'd grow to be a favourite character of mine. Witnessing him hack and slash his way through the Northmen, spraying their innards everywhere, all with a gigantic smile on his face, warmed my heart. His sense of humour is unmatched. I loved how increasingly pissed off he became, sending letters of his observations back to the king.
"While I wait breathlessly for rehabilitation that will never come, I will of course be delighted to consume any shit you might deign to squeeze into my face from the royal buttocks.
I remain your Fuck-Hole’s most betrayed and vilified scapegoat, Bremer dan Gorst, Royal Observer of the Northern Fiasco"
Having this absolute brute of a man speak in such a high-pitched voice is so silly and ridiculous. I loved it.
Calder was an interesting one. He kind of stood out from all of the macho muscle men. I love how we are now following Bethod's sons (and possibly grandchildren soon, with Calder's own child on the way). Other than people constantly calling him 'the clever one', I'm not sure how much evidence there was to back that up. That was until his dealings of peace with Bayaz. I thought that Calder played Bayaz for a fool by forcing Bayaz to wait before making any deals. Turns out, I'm the fool because bbviously Bayaz is OP, and Calder's efforts proved unfruitful, but still... it was a good effort. This is where I started to believe his reputation as 'the clever one' to be true. I do think that by not killing his brother, Scale, he's managed to at least piss Bayaz off, so that's fun. Also, during his duel with Black Dow, Chad had a prediction that Ninefingers would come back and kill Black Dow in the shield circle, as he did with Bethod. As soon as Chad said this, I thought for sure that this would happen because it made sense. Having Shivers be the one to do it was a big surprise! Fair play. He aint no dog.
Shivers is a changed man. I don't know if it's just the time jump, him losing his eye, his failure at becoming a 'better man', or simply having to put up with Monza for so long (hot damn, she was annoying), but he's aged a lot. Considerably more than others. Even his voice in the audiobook sounds much older. On the one hand, I miss the somewhat cocky young Shivers from the original trilogy. On the other hand, I'm appreciating his character arc and seeing his personality and priorities shift as he ages.
Black Dow – Despite his obviously vital role to play in the war, I found Black Dow somewhat less interesting compared to other characters. He's angry a lot, and sure, I get it. The man's got a lot on his plate, but stop shouting all the time. I know that's a dumb take, and he does have some very funny bits of dialogue, but I guess I just didn't connect to him in the same way I did to others.
Such as Beck – Possibly my favourite POV. Beck's storyline is the classic fantasy trope of a farmer boy seeking adventure. Much in the same vein as Bilbo Baggins and Rand al'Thor. The only difference this time is that we're dealing with Lord Grimdark's twisted intentions. The scene at the end with Beck returning home to his family really hit me hard. I can imagine that feeling of thinking you've been gone for years when, in fact, it has only been a few days. Beck decides he's no hero after all and returns to splitting logs. This inversion of the classic fantasy trope is what makes me love Joe Abercrombie's writing. It's grounded in gritty realism. Everything seems to come full circle and not always in a satisfying conclusion, which is a part of what makes this world so believable.
Finree - Bold! Loved how she stood up to Black Dow and was seemingly unbothered by Bayaz. Gotta respect that. Seems like she is on her way to Adua, so it'll be fun to see Gorst pine after her some more. I'm really rooting for him to get the girl, but I can't see it happening. Sorry, bro!
Whirrun - Standard batshit crazy northman. I was sad to see him go. That was probably the fight I was most on edge for. I didn't want either Whirrun or Gorst to go back to the mud, but ultimately, I'm glad Gorst made it through.
Ishri - Still an enigma. Still a delight. Still slithering through the cracks, up to god knows what.
Craw - Meh. He had his role, and he filled it. Didn't like or dislike him.
Wonderful - Wonderful
Scale - It will be interesting how he acts as the king of the North. I'm curious to see if he will follow Calder's advice, follow his father's footsteps, or be his own man.
Strange-Come-Whateverfunnyjoke – how fun to have a real-life giant rocking about. Love the inclusivity.
Tunny - Hot take alert, could've done without him. I think the exclusion of his character could've possibly tightened everything together better.
The Dogman - Mostly behind the scenes, referred to only by name. Unlike the Bloody Nine, he does eventually appear, but nothing too crazy.
Logan Ninefingers - Is he really dead? No, I still don't believe it. I reckon he's a recluse somewhere, maybe in some cave, going senile with the spirits.
This was a much more enjoyable time for me than Best Served Cold. It's interesting to think about all the seeds that have been planted in this book for the future sequel trilogy. Scale being King of the North. Dogman getting his revenge. Bayaz controls parts of the North. Gorst, Fenree and Hal are all going to Adua. All this combined with Monza's origin story in Best Served Cold makes me very curious to see what the future has in store.
As mentioned previously, I've been buddy reading this series with my friend, Chad. I think he had some very interesting takes after finishing this one, so I decided to include his final thoughts in this next section.
Chad's Takes
Few thoughts now that I’ve finished. I preferred this to Best Served Cold, and the only metric I have for saying that is that I read this much quicker. Maybe because it felt more familiar and manageable. Definitely easier to have a stake in this just because we’ve met almost all of these characters before. Best Served Cold was still great, though.
No Logen, but oh well... The book was still strong without him. I am, admittedly, becoming confident that he’s actually dead now. The Dogman using his name alone to scare the shit out of the opposing army is pretty damn smart and powerful. A shame, but who knows what’ll happen and if he’ll turn up later.
A shock for me was that all the main 6 POV characters survived. Speaking of which, the 5 main male POV characters seemed to each be unique types of soldiers. They’ve got elements of archetypes you might expect in a war story of this ilk, but of course with an added twist of complexity.
- Beck seems the most familiar in that he’s a young farm boy who thinks he wants to be a hero and ends up disenfranchised and ultimately happy in himself to just be a farm boy by the end.
- Tunny is some military lifer with no designs on a lustrous career and is happy to be seen as a roguish profiteer just trying to get through each day with as little actual soldiering as possible… Although, he did eventually show a bit of complexity, revealing that he did on some level care for his recruits.
- Craw is your elder “this is all I know” type coming to what he thinks is the end of his shift in the black business. Having his chance to go and find his quiet life and ultimately reneging. He either realised you can’t really leave that life or conceded that this is who he is, and what else would he have to live for?
- Gorst is a funny one in that he’s a “regain my honour” type but also an unhinged champion who absolutely bodies anyone he ends up fighting. And my God, his obsession over Finree was funny, but their last scene together was rather sad.
- Calder is your ambitious coward, planting all his seeds and trying his absolute best to avoid any form of combat, type. I feel like him calling out Black Dow to a 1v1 at the end was mostly a rage-fuelled punt at a stay of execution.
All we have left from that original gang of Named Men from The Blade Itself is the Dogman (now Black Dow is gone). It felt towards the end like Black Dow wasn’t going to make it through this book, and with him then talking about his start as a potter with Craw, it just kind of confirmed it. He’d never been sentimental before, although I never for a moment thought that Calder was going to beat him in the fight. Shivers caving his head in still came as a shock, but also an expected shock.
Both Best Served Cold and The Heroes have ended with people giving the finger to Bayaz one way or another. Monza refusing the backing of Valint and Balk at the end of Best Served Cold, and Calder ultimately crowning Scale instead of himself at the end of this. Even though Bayaz is obviously still at the top of the union and running things… You can’t help feeling slightly that things haven’t been going his way recently. Wondering if Red Country is going to end in a similar way. In both cases he’s sought vengeance on Monza and Calder, as there are brand new conflicts starting both in Styria and the North. By the time we get to Red Country, we’re bound to find out just how these conflicts have been resolved, or if they’re still ongoing...
Very pumped for Red Country. There have to be a greater proportion of new characters, as the West seems like a dodgy, less familiar place, and we only really saw it in Before They Are Hanged. Structurally these standalones have been really fascinating too.
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