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REVIEW: The Devils by Joe Abercrombie

December 30, 2024 by Seanchalant Leave a Comment

Rating: 10/10

SYNOPSIS

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.

REVIEW

When you’re going through Hell, you need The Devils on your side. And with Devils like these, who needs friends?

Joe Abercrombie, most well known for his First Law Trilogy, is back with a brand new series and this time, while things are still dark, it’s much less grim. The Devils has all the ingredients of a grimdark novel but Abercrombie cleverly subverts them by injecting a fair amount of humor and revealing depths to these devils, showing there’s more to them then the monster on the surface.

Vampires, werewolves, and sorcerers, oh my! The Devils may have the most colorful cast of characters from Abercrombie yet, that I’ve seen. This novel is a true ensemble piece and I don’t know if I can nail down a main character. You’ve got Brother Diaz, who is our introduction to this world, responding to a holy summons to take on an important quest for The Pope. Alex, a street rat who discovers she may have a higher calling. Accompanying them on this quest is a monstrous werewolf who can win every battle, except the one within herself; a sorcerer, I mean wizard, who will do anything to escape; a mysterious woman who seems to have done a little bit of everything; a vampire who is much more than meets the eye; an elf who has a habit of vanishing; and a cursed soldier who only wanted a little getaway, and all he got was Nothing but Trouble (directed by Dan Akroyd).

It is with these characters that Joe Abercrombie truly shines. His character work has always been impeccable, and it’s no different here. With The Devils, he juggles possibly his biggest cast yet and for a majority of the story they’re together on this quest. He seamlessly switches POVs throughout scenes, each having a distinctive voice, as we’ve come to expect from him. Abercrombie continues to use fun “catch-phrases” that speak to the heart of the character which will surely become as iconic as “say one thing for Logen Ninefingers…”, “you have to be realistic about these things” and “why do I do this”.

What makes this novel different from previous Abercrombie outings is the tone. While it’s still gritty, vulgar and violent, The Devils feels more lighthearted than The First Law. It’s weird to say that about a book containing some truly fucked up shit, but there’s always a sense of hope, partially due to the very liberal use of comedy throughout this novel. There’s also a theme of redemption woven through many of the ensemble’s arcs that shows maybe there’s worse things than The Devils in this world.

Speak of, well, you know, the world of The Devils is also another departure from Abercrombie’s norm, taking place not in a fantasy world per se, but instead an alternate version of medieval Europe in which the great classical cities never fell, elves are real and bloodthirsty, and there’s monsters and magic. A knowledge of history is not necessary to read this novel though, as things are changed so much it almost feels like a fantasy world anyway.

Fast-paced, action packed and with enough laughs that I’d call this a comedy, albeit a dark comedy, The Devils is Joe Abercrombie at his best. He is flexing every writing muscle he has with this novel, from his character work and sense of humor, to the nasty, expertly crafted action set-pieces, and perfect pacing. But between the laughs is horror, heart and tragedy, and that’s what brings The Devils to the next level. Keep an eye on this Joe Abercrombie guy, I think he may be going places.

RELEASE DATE: MAY 13, 2025

Filed Under: Action & Adventure, Action Fantasy, Adventure Fantasy, Comic Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Fantasy, Grimdark, Heroic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Horror Fantasy, Reviews, Sword and Sorcery Tagged With: Alternate History, Book Review, Fantasy, Joe Abercrombie, The Devils, The First Law, Tor Books, Vampire, Werewolves, wizard

About Seanchalant

Sean Conley (not Connery) aka Seanchalant is an proud father of three little nerds, AnaMaurin Victoria, Landyn Lawrence, and Raylan Aviendha Mae. He is a stay at home dad while his hardworking and wonderful fiancée,
Gabriella Oropeza brings home the 🥓 and he always has a book on his person. On the autism spectrum, he has a tendency to become an encyclopedia on things he enjoys. Raised on horror films (The Evil Dead series is #1) and Stephen King, his love of fantasy was born from Army of Darkness and Tad Williams; cultivated by John Gwynne and Mark Lawrence. He enjoys everything from epic fantasy to urban fantasy, grimdark to high fantasy. His favorite bands are blink-182, The Beatles, and Wu-Tang Clan.

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