4.5 stars

I have so much to say about this that it’s going to be a super looooong review. The tl;dr summary is that I thoroughly enjoyed it and I’d definitely recommend it even if you’re not that big of a fan of war stories. I know that the whole story can be summed up by “The Union army (civilized Southerners) fights a vicious three day battle with the (barbarian) Northmen” but that’s not what it’s really about. The Heroes is really an examination of what exactly a “hero” looks like.



The end result? There is no one standard and no heroic song or tale is capable of capturing the true experience of war or heroism or even cowardice. And damn did I love it.

I know I say this every time I read an Abercrombie book but my rating is three stars for the actual plot and six fucking stars for the characters. Honestly I wasn’t sure that I wanted to read six hundred pages of non-stop battle. I love action as much as the next person but endless brutality just loses its appeal after awhile. However, the ways in which the characters interact and define themselves and their roles based on the way they respond to the brutality of war made this one of the most compelling fantasy stories I’ve read.

As is the case in the other standalone I’ve read ([b:Best Served Cold|2315892|Best Served Cold|Joe Abercrombie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347732723s/2315892.jpg|2322406]), many of the minor characters from other books are fleshed out (some of them a little strangely) and new characters are added. Abercrombie uses many characters who either fit the traditional role of hero or are the complete opposite.

“What kind of a bloody hero don’t wear bloody armour?”
“Armour…” mused Whirrun, licking a finger and scrubbing some speck of dirt from the pommel of his sword, “is part of a state of mind…in which you accept the possibility…of being hit.”
“What the fuck?” Yon tugged hard at the straps and made Brack grunt. “What does that even mean?”

Whirrun of Bligh is the traditional fantasy hero. He’s mysterious and more than a little crazy. He loves battle and people are already singing songs about his glorious deeds while he's alive. He’s got a fabled sword known as “The Father of Swords” and has been told the day and hour of his death so he fears nothing. That should’ve been clue number one that Abercrombie was going to fuck with him but damn did I not see that coming. I mean, I figured he wouldn’t make it to the end but the way he goes…that just broke my heart. He was so damn funny and crazy and perfect. Abercrombie just knows what you expect from a fantasy and always does his best to surprise you, usually in ways that leave a hole in your chest. He was so crazy and so damn funny that I loved all the scenes where I got to see him.



A Northman named Curnden Craw is the leader of a “dozen” men fighting for Black Dow, self-styled Protector and King of the North and is the first of a series of “heroes” who aren’t exactly traditional. Craw is essentially the Dogman of the story. He’s no tough, fearless leader but he cares about his men and is known for always doing “the right thing” regardless of his fear or misgivings. I liked Craw but honestly he just made me miss Dogman. I did like that Craw’s dozen had that battle camaraderie that comes from years of risking your lives together and it felt like they worked really well together.



Calder and Beck were both unusual (and wonderful) in their total reversal of the traditional barbarian Northman hero.

Calder shrank back, all fear and surprise, while on the inside he was a fisherman who feels the tug on his line. Talk was his battlefield, and most of these fools were as useless on it as he was on a real one.

Calder is universally known as a coward and a traitor. He’s the second son of Bethod, the previous king of the North who was killed by the Bloody Nine. He makes no bones about the fact that he hates fighting and is terrible at it. He knows this about himself and plays to his strengths because he isn’t an idiot.

Calder is a lot of things that people don’t generally admire (ruthless and manipulative being the main things) but he’s also very clever, he has balls of steel when it comes to trying to persuade people who really just want him dead and it’s hard not to admire him at least a little.

And poor Beck. Son of Shama Heartless (who was murdered in a duel with the Bloody Nine), he has a lot to live up to and the way that he responds to the horrors of war felt real in a very different way. I’m glad that Abercrombie doesn’t just end the book with those that are just hardened by war. Beck was a great character because of his experience with the terrible side of war and his rejection of that lifestyle.

And finally, one of the nontraditional women. Finree is a nice change from Abercrombie’s usual heroine as she’s no battle hardened mercenary or fighter. She’s the daughter of Lord Marshal Kroy and she’s a politician plain and simple. She’s married to an officer in the Union army and spends most of her energies advancing his career. I loved that she was so damn smart and made no attempt to hide it, even if it meant embarrassing important people. She makes no apologies for who she is or her ambitions and I admired the hell out of her for it. She’s no tender angel of mercy even after the battle and it was nice to see a non-fighting female who didn’t fit the standard mold. Definitely one of the better female characters he’s written.

If I have any disappointments with this book, it’s from two characters: Bremer dan Gorst and Dogman.

Bremer dan Gorst is a major character as well and it was fun to see him as a POV character for once. He’s significantly different from what you see of him in the First Law trilogy and it’s a mixed bag for me. He’s extremely dark and cynical (reminded me somewhat of Glokta in the sarcastic inner monologue sense) but struggles to overcome that girlish voice and the ignominy of his disgrace in Sipani. I actually liked him better as a more selfish, flawed character but the constant harping of him having been betrayed got a little annoying and over the top by the end. And the way he acted at the end felt completely contrary to the Gorst we saw in the First Law books. It just felt wrong even though I liked him as a disgraced hero.

And Dogman...first you don't see enough of him and then I hate the way that it ended. Dogman as governor of a protectorate? That's just so...weird. I mean, I love that he threatened Calder over Forley but I just can't even imagine Dogman as a governor. I love him as leader of a band of warriors but as a politican I feel like he'll be woefully outmatched. Just makes me sad.


This turned out even longer than I expected. But yeah…if you like Abercrombie, if you like flawed, complex characters or even if you just like war stories, I would definitely recommend it. Be prepared to lose people and be prepared for things not to go the way you expect but it’s well worth it.