WARNING: Lots of spoilers in this review! Turn back now if you haven't read Red Country yet!
I have such an odd relationship with the fantasy genre. In general, I guess you could say that I hate it. I've read dozens of fantasy novels—most considered to be good-to-great—and I've disliked nearly all of them. However, there are two writers of fantasy genre that I consider to be among some of my very favorite writers, regardless of genre. One of whom is Joe Abercrombie. This is mostly because he does two things extremely well that most fantasy wholly lacks: Deep, interesting characters, and humor.
The latter is as strong as ever. Abercrombie's humor ranges from biting to dry and kept me reading. However, the characters fall somewhat short—especially compared to his most recent stand-alone, The Heroes. The protagonist, Shy South, and her adoptive father, Lamb, are both memorable and great to read, but the cast surrounding them tends to all fade into one homogenous amalgam of Western cliche. The climax sees a reveal regarding fellowship member Savian, which probably would have been quite the development had I been able to remember who the hell he even was. I was so enured with faceless, insignificant fellowship members that I couldn't even remember the character's gender, let alone who they were.
And that leads into another weakness of the book. The pacing bumps and drags quite a bit through the first half, as Abercrombie seems to struggle with what exactly to tell us as this roving band of nobodies traverses a large, barren landscape for several hundred pages. We're told a bit about some of the characters surrounding Shy and Lamb, but what we're told never seems all that interesting. This is in stark contrast to The Heroes, in which each minor character seems fleshed out enough that I'd gleefully read an entire novel based on them.
It's not an awful book, though. Abercrombie's humor is enough to carry it, and his voice is stronger than ever. Clearly a fan of the Western genre, he deftly blends it with his low fantasy setting to create something unique and worthwhile just by itself. There are also some neat instances of worldbuilding—something that isn't Abercrombie's strength, but is enjoyable to read nonetheless. The climactic scene in which "Legate Sarmis" finally shows up is particularly good as well, as Iosiv Lestek was one of the few minor characters that resonated with me, and was used expertly by Abercrombie. Additionally, his prose has taken a noticeable leap since his initial trilogy.
So, despite this book's great reputation among fans of fantasy, I found it a bit more uneven than the other two stand-alones set in the First Law world. It's Abercrombie's weakest novel since his very first, and I can see why he'd want to take a break from this world after completing it. But it's still worth reading, and it's still got me excited for the upcoming A Little Hatred—Abercrombie's first novel set in the First Law world in seven years.
⭐⭐⭐
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