Heroes

Heroes is an amazingly deep and detailed exploration of a battle that takes place over a period of three days and what was so impressive was that Joe manages to be completely epic in scale whilst also shining a light into some of the darkest corners and most intimate moments of a war. I’ve not read anything else by Joe Abercrombie, excepting Half a King, so I know nothing of the Bloody Nine and the relationships between characters that have been previously established. I still loved the book and don’t think my reading suffered because of it and now just want to read those first three even more. At it’s most basic this is a fight between two sides over a mound of dirt. It has been decided, by those that make the decisions but don’t necessarily participate in the fighting, that this hill and its ring of rocks, known as ‘The Heroes’ is of vital strategic value and whoever holds it will be the eventual winner. We are introduced to a massive cast of characters straight away and the line up in the prologue is greatly appreciated as we follow both sides and all manner of different viewpoints. Firstly we meet Craw who represents the North, an older, very relatable and familiar warrior, leading what was once an even dozen of named men up to the top of the Heroes. Craw does not want to be fighting, does not want to risk losing his men and is fearful that he no longer has what it takes to make it through the carnage he knows is coming. His strength comes from leading his men though the hard times and smothering all fears by reminding himself and his men of their duty. He also has a pretty bad ass group of fighters with him which makes life easier including Wonderful, his long suffering second and a bit of a mother figure/she who will slap you down and Whirrun of Bligh who is a famous hero who wields a blade called the Father of Swords, and who speaks constantly about his pre ordained day of death and seems to walk out of most fights without even a scratch. This opening scene reminded me of the movie Predator in that Joe crafted each their own entrance and a chance to make an impact on the reader. Also on the side of the North we have Calder, the youngest son of the former king Bethod and widely considered worthy of assassination, who pushes for peace and discussion in a time when every man around is screaming for blood. Neither brave nor skilled on the battlefield, his push for peace is as much about self-preservation as anything else. On the other side of things we have Lord Marshal Kroy who is leading the Union. The main representative for this side is the disgraced first sword rendered observer Gorst. Despite being a skilled and deadly fighter he is disrespected for a previous indiscretion and for having a high pitched tinny voice. He is in love with another mans wife and itching to die or redeem himself in battle. He gives us a perspective that allows us to see the positives, negatives and motivation behind each character and we cant help but cheer for the man we think he is. Apart from the major characters we have some amazing side stories that are allowed to run their course and given their own importance. A young lad named Beck, going off to do his duty wearing his mothers’ nicest cloak, a Corporal named Tunny who is master of staying out or trouble but is always given fresh recruits who are masters of getting into it. One of the things that set the tone for me on this whole book and Joe Abercrombie as an author was the first death. It happens off page which just immediately threw me off guard, had me checking if I missed a page, then had me realising the rules were not going to be followed. Death is often glorified in books, it is the first action scene, the first chance to lose someone, and it gets the blood pumping. When the first death of one the core characters in the book is not even mentioned it sets a tone and makes a statement. This is war, people die and death is not worth glorifying. He then goes on to write some amazing battlefield scenes that are incredibly exciting but at no stage do we see someone dying ‘gloriously’, every death feels a bit like a waste. That being said several times in the book I lost my shit because characters I cared about and wanted to win were getting closer and closer to each other on the battlefield. I know have to go back and read and discover the awesomeness of the The First Blade Series. See you in a few months ☺ Follow Joe on twitter @lordgrimdark and buy lots of copies of his books. I have three copies of Half a King. What's your excuse? “If a person is worthy of contempt, they’ll bury themselves without help soon enough” I am also giving away a UK signed first edition of Half a King to some random. Check out the giveaway section ofwww.areadingmachine.com to enter