![]() ![]() Plagued by several decades of conflict, everyone has their price in Styria, and there’s plenty of buying and selling going on. Styria is a country not unlike Machiavelli’s 15th and 16th century Italy, dominated by warring city-states. Along with her brother, General Murcatto has risen to the top of the mercenary world she leads the Thousand Swords and has led the mercenary band’s employer, Grand Duke Orso of Talins, to the brink of taking over most of the country the book is set in, Styria. The first, Monzcarro Murcatto, is one of those rare beasts a female mercenary, and a good one. There are two lead characters in Best Served Cold, although at various times the reader follows the viewpoint of a minor lead. Set in the world of Abercrombie’s previous The First Law Trilogy, and with links here and there to it, Best Served Cold can nevertheless be read as a pure stand-alone novel. ![]() Martin fans, who will find the cruel hoops that Abercrombie’s characters are forced through, and the chapter by chapter pacing, reminiscent of the fantasy master’s epic A Song of Ice and Fire. ![]() The book’s clever pacing, frequent plot twists and likeable (or hilariously despicable) characters will leave many readers unable to put it down. Review Joe Abercrombie’s new stand-alone novel Best Served Cold is a light-on-magic and heavy-on-swords blood-soaked revenge quest that will highly satisfy fantasy fans with a black sense of humour and a taste for gritty and violent prose. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |