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Rob P (30 KP) rated Best Served Cold in Books

Jan 22, 2019  
Best Served Cold
Best Served Cold
Joe Abercrombie | 2010 | Fiction & Poetry
9
9.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
Morally taxing (2 more)
Satisfying story line
Exploration of side characters from the Abercrombie "First Law" universe
Brutal in places (although I'm fine with that) (1 more)
Not for the fainthearted
Best Served Cold
If you couldn't tell from the title, this is all about the revenge motif. If you've read Abercrombie, the savagery of the opening chapter (and plenty of others) should not bother you by this point, but having said that there were moments in this even I winced at.

This standalone novel takes place in Abercrombie's universe established in the "First Law" trilogy, and much like other offerings (The Heroes, Red Country) it's charms for me lie in the characters that play only a fleeting part in the previous books. Seeing where they are from and how they operate is so satisfying to me as a reader.

The very next facet of this read that made it so excellent for me, is theme of moral bankruptcy. At the start, Murcatto is a leader, betrayed and left so horribly injured that it sets a moral precedent. She sets out to kill the seven men who carried this out (one of which is a despot who looks to name himself King of Styria), and as they fall, one by one, more and more of the moral right she has is chipped away and spent, having to turn her hand to more and more depraved acts, associate with lower and lower people, and be part of more and more hideous scenarios in order to exact her justice.

If you've had the pleasure of reading the First Law trilogy, this is the book to start with next, it then leads brilliantly into the Heroes, and most recently Red Country.

Overall, a savage, visceral, compelling read.

- Rob