Its rare that you find a book where you never know who the bad guy is, who the good guy should be, where your loyalties lie or who you hate or who you love and when you think you've finally got a grip on who is bad and who is good, the characters do something contrary to your previous beliefs. This is Abercrombie's world and its best if you bring your spare knife with you ;-)
After reading Abercrombie's debut trilogy, The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, and the final installment, Last Argument of Kings, I knew I was going to have to read more of his work. That's why I had a friend of mine pick it up in the States while she was visiting home and bring it back to Brno for me (BTW: books are much cheaper in the States then in the CZ)
Best Served Cold is different in that it's a stand alone novel but the great thing is that you see (? :P) so many of your favorites from the previous books. Nicomo Cosca is among my favorites. Vitari, Shivers, Mauthis and a few more make brief appearances.
Ive probably skipped too far ahead. I havent even mentioned the 'main' character, Monza. A woman! I love books with women protagonists (antagonists in the case of Abercrombie)...So, it starts off with Monza getting the shaft from her employer, the infamously bad guy Duke Orso (go figure!). Orso had her brother killed and attempted to kill her. There were 7 people there when it happened. Now she seeks
revenge for the wrong done to her. She hires 6 people to help her with this task. Thats where the cast of characters comes from. (that really is the long and short of the book)
There's Friendly- the OCD exconvict, Morveer- the egotistical master poisoner and Day, his bubbly glutton of an assistent, Vitari- the torturer/mom, Cosca- the mercenary, and Shivers- hired killer/lover.
Speaking of Shivers. My favorite thing from the first 3 novels was the way that Abercrombie made the characters from the north sound when you read them. Their voice reminded me of a southern American accent or dialect. Whichever you wanna call it. But unfortunately in this novel, that voice is gone. The only Northman in the book is Shivers and maybe thats why it wasnt so prevelant.
Shivers plays a major role as the optimist turned cold hearted killer :(...I originally really enjoyed Shivers as a character for his uplifting spirit but in what seems to be the Abercrombie M.O., no character is ever finished growing and a good character can easily become a villian. (Which in the case of Shivers, by the end of the book I really didnt like him and I dont think he will ever be the same in future books. He went over a precipice, literally and figuratively, that his character wont be able to recover from.)
Cosca!!! Oh how I love your witty banter, drunken stupors and funny exterior! The mercenary is back and plays an even bigger role in Best Served Cold. As the mentor of Monza's childhood, he makes a comeback in her life when she finds herself needing a few good men. I think Cosca may be the only character that you know isnt being false. He isnt good or bad. He's a mercenary! He goes for the side that can pay the most! ;) Abercrombie really has worked really hard on his character. If I had time I would find some passages of dialog from Cosca because its amazingly witty.
In conclusion, Abercrombie is a new favorite of mine. The wit, the blood, the intrigue...all make for an exciting read. I highly recommend reading any one of his novels that he has written to date.
Check out his next book
The Heroes
The author's website- Joe Abercrombie
Amazon UK
While reading this book Ive gone from 'quiting smoking' to 'smoking'. Im in a phase of quiting but the outcome is yet to be determined. My favorite thing to do in uni was to sit in my armchair with a pack of smokes and a good book. Read and smoke and forget everything else in the world. It would seem though that you cant smoke forever though.
