Book Review: The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie

The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

War! What it is good for? To everyone there is a different answer and when all those people populate the same battlefield it adds another layer to the fight. The Heroes is the fifth book and second standalone set in Joe Abercrombie’s First Law world as old foes locked in a new war that suddenly comes down to a devastating battle for all involved.

Eight years after the end of the original trilogy, The Union and The North are at war once again, but impatience is growing on both sides. Prodded by the ancient Magi Bayaz the Union army under commander-in-chief Lord Marshal Kroy with his ally The Dogman advance towards the town of Osrung that is situated next to a Stonehenge-like structure on a hilltop named The Heroes which is on the road to the capital of the North that Protector of the North Black Dow had slowly retreated towards. Seeing the sudden change of plans of the Union, Black Dow rallies his forces that are feed up with his fighting retreat strategy. Over the course of a little more than a week as the opposing forces head towards the battlefield, fight for three days, and aftermath which results in peace are seen by six characters: Curnden Craw, the aging chief of a crew of Named Men, known to all as a real straight edge; Prince Calder, Bethod's younger son, an infamous charmer and schemer among the straightforward Northmen; Bremer dan Gorst, King Jezal's disgraced former bodyguard, and a near unstoppable one-man-army; Finree dan Brock, the venomously ambitious daughter of Lord Marshal Kroy; Corporal Tunny, a long-serving veteran and cynical profiteer, who also does his best to keep his misfit rookies alive; and finally, Beck, a young farm-lad craving to follow in his famous father’s footsteps, until his first taste of the atrocious waste of human life. By the end of the book, the Union sets up a protectorate under The Dogman while transferring its army to Styria to fight the Snake of Talon while the North regroups under the rule of King Scale as his brother Calder begins manipulating things behind the throne.

Once again Abercrombie writings a compelling narrative with very questionably moral characters, though as his arc goes throughout the book Beck appears to be the most morale character by the end which is saying something. Though not directly connected, the effects of Monza’s vengeance tour through Styria have had ramifications in the North as the two supernatural powers of the world have to contend with this third player on the game board and that effects decisions on both sides of the battle. This is seen from the beginning when Bayaz joins the Union army looking to test new weapons while getting out of a needless war in the North but with a complaint King of the North who will not go along with his rival’s plans to spread Union forces on various fronts. For those following Black Dow, the long stretches of campaigning are tiring and frankly privately agree with Calder that the North needs to rebuild again but cannot come out and say it. Added to the mix are those looking for personal glory or advancement that themselves impact the broader battle and thus effect the politics on both sides for good or ill. Over the course of 541 pages that covers roughly seven days in which three are flowing with blood these interactions as well as in the heat of battle events shape not only the battle but the world in unexpected ways.

The Heroes might focus on one battle, but Joe Abercrombie packs so much into this battle that the reader realizes that so much more is going on that they’ll want to see what the fall out years down the road will be.

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