Best Served Cold Joe Abercrombie

It's the 4th book in the First Law Series by Lord of Grim-dark stories, Mr. Joe Abercrombie. This is the first book out of the 3 stand alone books that came out after the first triology. It primarily follows the story of Monza Murcatto's revenge against Grand Duke Orso after Orso kills Monza's brother. We also get to follow stories of Caul Shivers and Nicomo Cosca from where they left of at the end of the first triology. 

2) Grey characters and the unexpectedness that it brought to the story.

3) Friendly (One of the fascinating character)

2) Low Stakes or rather stakes that didn't bother me

Adwait Kulkarni

It's the 4th book in the First Law Series by Lord of Grim-dark stories, Mr. Joe Abercrombie. This is the first book out of the 3 stand alone books that came out after the first triology. It primarily follows the story of Monza Murcatto's revenge against Grand Duke Orso after Orso kills Monza's brother. We also get to follow stories of Caul Shivers and Nicomo Cosca from where they left of at the end of the first triology. 

What I Liked:
1) Author's writing style
2) Grey characters and the unexpectedness that it brought to the story.
3) Friendly (One of the fascinating character)
4) Steven Pacy's narration

What I Didn't Like:
1) Weak/disappointing protagonist
2) Low Stakes or rather stakes that didn't bother me
3) Not a single character to root for

Michael Springer

Filter the retro feel and the Tarantino dialogue from "Kill Bill Volume 1." Take what's left and mix in one random barbarian from Abercrombie's earlier trilogy, then pour into a pan with a good dollop of the late Middle Ages. Fry for 880 pages, dropping in one new badguy every 110. By the end of the process, it should look something like "The Unforgiven". . . It won't taste nearly as good, though.

I'm surprised about all the glowing reviews this book has gotten considering how little new ground this one breaks. Abercrombie, as always, goes against some of our genre stereotypes, but. . . well, so what? 

Here's the plot: Monza Murcatto is a heartless badass who leads a group of mercenaries called the Thousand Swords, and her brother is her advisor and right hand man. She's recently worked for a man who wants to conquer a bunch of countries, and when she meets him in his castle, he has both of them stabbed and thrown over the balcony, where they fall far, far down, and land in a forest. 

Monza survives, and begins her quest to kill all seven of the guys who were in the room when she was betrayed and her brother killed. Think "The Crow." Think "Payback." Think "The Machine Girl" and ninety-seven-thousand other movies. 

So, Abercrombie's first mistake was making it seven badguys. Four, or maybe five, were necessary to make his story work, because character and plot development happens during that many episodes. Did I mention they feel like episodes? They do. 

Throughout the book, we increasingly learn that this apparently straight-up revenge story has some darker, murkier undertones, and even what we thought we knew about the larger conflict is vastly skewed because of whose vantage point we're seeing these events from. I like this approach to fantasy, but unless you're new to Abercrombie, it's not much of a surprise. 

Why three stars? Well, I enjoyed this book, despite its flaws. This is probably one of those I-love-you-so-I'm-hard-on-you kinda things, because I couldn't believe Abercrombie had the balls to end his First Law Trilogy the way he did. It was fucking awesome. But Abercrombie pulls most of the same tricks here, and we end up with no greater understanding of the genre, or of Abercrombie's take on heroes, than we had at the end of the First Law Trilogy. For many fantasy readers, this is exactly what they're looking for; but the sameness of most fantasy bores the shit out of me. 

Abercrombie has a new and unusual take on the fantasy genre, and turns the common tropes of fantasy on their head in certain ways. Unless he finds new ways to do this, though, he's going to create his own standard fantasy formula that can be repeated by nine thousand hack authors who will make it just another kind of stereotypical fantasy: 'Medieval Noir." 

I'm in a grumpy mood and can apparently not focus on the positive, so let me try again: this book is funny, action packed, full of amusing stereotypes that are sometimes almost real characters. Shit, there I go again. . . I give up. I'm going to write an Ann Coulter review.

Celeste Richardson

Actual rating: 4.5 stars.

Grimdark isn’t my thing. I prefer my fiction hopeful, with good at its heart even when bad things happen. That being said, I’ll give anything a shot if it’s well crafted, and I’ve read some pretty incredible fantasy novels that throw hope out the window and bask in their darkness. The best in the grimdark business has to be Joe Abercrombie, hands down. He has a way of creating characters and plots that really shouldn’t work for me, but that shine in spite of their dark cores. I loved the First Law trilogy enough that I was actually hesitant to read the standalones set in the same world, because I didn’t see how Abercrombie could possibly top or even match the greatness he achieved with that original plot and cast of characters. I needn’t have doubted him. In Best Served Cold, Abercrombie not only gives us a compelling plot but a wonderfully engaging cast of new and returning characters.
“Good steel bends, but never breaks. Good steel stays always sharp and ready. Good steel feels no pain, no pity, and above all, no remorse.”
Monza Murcatto is out for vengeance, both for her nearly-murdered self and her completely murdered brother. She was at the top of her career as a mercenary general when she was betrayed, and she won’t stop until all seven of the men in attendance during said betrayal are dead and back in the mud. Monza is a badass but she is far from perfect. In a way, she reminded me of a female Glotka who was able to keep her looks despite her scars. She’s relentless, even when it’s to her own detriment. She’s halfheartedly battling addiction which leads to making poor choices and trusting the wrong people. And they come back to haunt her.
“You were a hero round these parts. That's what they call you when you kill so many people the word murderer falls short.”
The return of so many familiar side characters from the original trilogy made me really happy. I won’t list names because the very fact that they survived Last Argument of Kings could be a spoiler. But every time a familiar face was presented it brought a smile to my face. While I loved the returning characters and Monza, a new addition to the fray really won my heart. And his name is Friendly. I would happily read a dozen books about Friendly. He was just precious. In a dark way, of course; the man has no problem killing people. Still, I found him incredibly unique and charming. He’s number one in my book.
“That was the difference between a hero and a villain, a soldier and a murderer, a victory and a crime. Which side of a river you called home.”
Abercrombie is truly a master of characterization. None of these characters were in any way truly good at their core. They’re morally varying shades of gray, with some edging scandalously close to black. And yet I still found myself rooting for them. As I stated earlier, I prefer stories and characters that are at least tinted with goodness, if not permeated by it. However, I’ve come to the conclusion that I am perfectly willing to abandon fictional morality so long as Abercrombie is at the helm. The man can make even the vilest of villains somehow sympathetic, and I truly care what happens to each and every one of them. 
“Sometimes men change for the better. Sometimes men change for the worse. And often, very often, given time and opportunity . . . They change back.”
Plot wise, this story is much smaller scale than that of the original trilogy. It’s about revenge, pure and simple. And yet, through this smaller scale plot we see so many strands of that original, huge and overarching plot come into play and tie into this new story in various ways. I love how Abercrombie was able to bring so many of those elements together while still maintaining this novel’s own plot, and ensuring that said plot line always stayed in the spotlight.
“One cannot grow without pain. One cannot improve without it. Suffering drives us to achieve great things.”
While Abercrombie is highly (and deservedly) praised for his characterizations, I feel that his actual craftsmanship is oft overlooked. The man can seriously write. There are dozens upon dozens of tiny and thoughtful writing decisions that really made the book for me. It can be something as simple as the repetition of sounds, like slap-slapping during sex or how different shoes click-clicked or squeak-squeaked down a hallway. For some reason, those little choices really stood out to me. Also, Abercrombie is the king of the entertaining segue. I love how so often, either a line of dialogue or internal monologue is both the last bit of one character’s perspective and the first line of the next. What this did was ensure that the segues not only didn’t detract from the story, but actually added to it. There are so many small but intentional additions to the prose that elevates this book from merely a good story to a beautifully crafted piece of fiction.
“The dead can forgive. The dead can be forgiven. The rest of us have better things to do.”
I honestly have so much respect for Abercrombie as an author, and for the world that he has created. While it’s bloodier and more political and a lot more gray than what I generally gravitate towards in my fictional forays, I can see Abercrombie and his First Law World gaining a place among my favorites. In this novel, he showed the truth of the title; revenge truly is a dish best served cold. I’ve now come to the conclusion that, if Abercrombie wrote it, I really need to read it. And I’m going to get right on that.

You can find  this review and more at Novel Notions.

Simon Harrison

I'm burning thru these - binge reading, with the wonderful audio versions helping on a regular 250 mile round trip. This one was fun, without ever quite reaching the heights - the mission and outcome were pretty predicable and the most interesting elements feel like the links back to the original trilogy.

Onto the next, let's see if it takes more than four days to get through that one

Ben Nathan

Great continuation of the First Law world. Abercrombie is a fantastic writer and his shades of grey characters are fascinating.

Anyaconda

Another fabulous dark-grim gritty tale by Joe Abercrombie.

**Re-read via audiobook 27/01/2021 **
Shivers and Nicomo Cosca, more favorite characters.
However I'm going to skip the other books as they weren't favorites. Instead I'll re-listen to the new trilogy before the last one comes out this year September.