The Bookworm's Feast

I’ve had this review sitting here since I read this book in December – reading the entire trilogy last year. I adored this sotry and I can’t wait to pick up the standalones this year, and finally start A Little Hatred which I’ve had since it released (of course).

Proof is boring. Proof is tiresome. Proof is an irrelevance. People would far rather be handed an easy lie than search for a difficult truth, especially if it suits their own purposes.

I can see why Abercrombie is referred to as Lord Grimdark – a fitting title. This tale is grim. It’s dark. And it is wonderous.

There are no true heroes here. No maidens saved by the handsome prince. Just buckets of treachery, blood, and a truer to life version of “to the victor go the spoils”.

Trust. It was a word that only liars used. A word the truthful had no need of.

The tale feels almost cyclic in nature – our characters seeming to revert back a-ways to the people we first met in The Blade Itself. Gone is the feeling of camaraderie formed within the pages of Before They Are Hanged. Gone are some of the characters I’ve grown to love. The world is changed, but also in many ways the same as it always was.

With how the tale is woven, I won’t talk about characters I loved – I think it could be seen as spoilers to talk about a few; be it that they’re still here, or that they’re not. But I will say that even those I didn’t particularly like, I was still enthralled during their segments. Everything is so masterfully written and developed – I really must pick up more of Abercrombie’s work. I’m definitely eager to start A Little Hatred, which I understand to feature the children of our protagonists here.

★★★★★