THE HEROES | Non-Spoiler Review 

Darn it, it is my favorite First Law book. Absolutely loved all the themes, the characters, the twists, the situations and consequences for all the characters. And especially the end for Curnden Craw vs Beck, it was just so powerful. And never ever thought it was plotless, strange.

I love Bremer but Whirrun takes the cake. Shallow and Deep were dope as well.

I love “The Heroes”! Easily one of my favorites.

Glad you enjoyed it more! It's one of my favourite First Law books but I am kind of a sucker for war films! Shivers is also one of my faves and I found it really interesting to learn more about Gorst. I love the way Abercrombie writes battle scenes

It's like a war vlog 😂😂 but this is so helpful! I've been meaning to get to this one soon and this helped me know what it's actually about! Thank you 😊

I went in knowing nothing but STILL loved it! It was awesome meeting characters for “two seconds” lol! I’d probably never re-read Red County though...

Love the series, Read the heroes twice, And lawd Jesus!!!! The Audible edition is friggin ' amazing!!!!

Never understood people saying that either this was a surprise or that it has no plot. The tag line literally says “one battle. 3 days. To change the fate of the north”, or words to that effect. Bayaz plans and executed a regime change in plain sight in front of everyone without them realising it while kahul desperately executes a holding action. Everything is very different afterwards (despite everyone pulling in their own directions following their own motivations). And who didn’t get chills at red hat’s subterfuge!

the moment Shivers and Gorst met (again) was amazing

I go back and read them again sometimes, too.

Just finished this and loved it. Loved it because it subverted my own expectations that this would be a book to glamourize war. I imagined a group of men swaying the battle with heroism and bravery, and both sides had these men, and women, but it was all for naught. The plot to me was about, or rather the theme and not the plot, how pointless it all was, a proxy war in the ongoing larger conflict between Bayaz and Khalul, countless men dead over a hill, a bridge and a river. How it could have been stopped on Day Two but those in power said no, one more day of senseless death. In fact the whole thing brought to pass so Bayaz could test some new tech. I guess it being so anti-war for a war book is what tickled me the most. My fear was it was going to be a pro-war book and I was not looking forward to it, but now, might be my favourite of the standalones so far. I loved that the word Hero was bandied about so much, took the sting out of it, deconstructing it, robbing it of allure, in the end it's just a bunch of rocks on a hill. Also the characters were great too but, well, you expect that from Abercrombie. Onto Red Country I go :D

Casualties is a gnarly chapter. Honestly one of my favourite chapters Joe Abercrombie has written, especially in the ways of battle sequences.

Too many battles tend to bore me to tears, but Abercrombie does it in a way that had me hooked.

If I had to choose my favourite aspect of The Heroes it would have to be the dozen. Craw and the dozen were a pleasure to follow cause it felt like I've known this group for years despite only just meeting them, their humour and witty banter was executed so well. But to watch as the band crumbles was painful to read. All in all I think the heroes tries to have mirrors of both sides but the union lacked the lovable band of warriors that the north often has.

I can 100% see where you're coming from with this review. I enjoyed The Heroes as I did all First Law books, but if I was ranking them, I would only put Red Country lower than The Heroes. (Not including Sharp Ends as it's short stories).

I'm slowly making my way through your Abercrombie stuff as a diehard of the First Law universe and I thought this video was particularly interesting. The Heroes is my favorite of the First Law books, but you're totally right. There is no real plot. The book is a mood, and for me it's a mood about camaraderie, ugliness, heroics, worship of violence, expectations versus reality, and a whole lot more. I've read it 20 or so times, and when I'm reading the pages, I'm transported to some kind of vibe that makes me feel oddly cozy, despite all the blood and mud. Thank you for your explanation! It helped me understand all the more what I love about it, and where it admittedly can feel like it falls short.

Expectations can make or break a book for you. I guess we all need to research a bit more before reading.

A Thor: Ragnarock-esque take on Shawshank Redemption would be a dope story. But I don't have much to say since I'm only halfway into Best Served Cold still (I'm at the part where Shivers had his unfortunate encounter beneath a palace). I guess all I can add is I really like this project Abercrombie took with these stand alones.

Heroes is the next book that I will be reading just finished best served cold so far it's my favorite book from Abercrombie I really love the character monza in that book 🤔☺️🙂😀😁💝💖

This was kinda my favourite (before The Trouble With Peace that is). I get the criticism of it but I'm a sucker for a good battle and this book dispels the myth that a battle is one prolonged skirmish. There's tactics & withdrawals. Then there's THAT chapter (can't really describe it, too spoilery). Not many authors can pull off a whole novel about one battle, Abercrombie nailed it

Sorry, but I read this book twice and loved it both times. Black Dow was terrifyingly terrific, Craw was a refreshing P.O.V. of an aged warrior, and Abercrombie even made me root for Calder of all people. But my favorite scene in the whole book was when Abercrombie switched from P.O.V.'s to different characters like thirteen times (you know the one I mean), to show the pointless slaughter of warfare. It was beautiful! Plus, I loved the deconstruction if the great warrior's battle between Gorst and Wyren of Bly, so anticlimactic and so hilarious! The Red Beck was kinda slow and forgettable for me but I ended up becoming so proud of that kid by the end. I also love how so antiwar the whole book is and plays with so many of the characters and OUR expectations of battle. 8/10, Would definitely re-read a third time in the future 🤓

First Law content makes me happy

Love the way you say cinema :)

I had the same experience. The only thing I remember about it is that I didn't like it. That is unusual for Joe. Normally his books are unforgettable.

This book was absolutely brilliant. If you don’t like battles or military history you will not like this book as much. Just a matter of taste.

Interesting. I'm not sure if I'll like those, because I really didn't like The Blade Itself because the plot was slow as heck. But now that I know more about the world, I might like all the political intrigue and all that stuff from this book.

OK, late to the party, just heard you say TH was your least fave first law book! Different strokes etc. I thought TH was possibly the best book I've ever read (yep, really, closely followed by Chickenhawk) and was just thinking of rereading it oddly enough. Maybe I'll find it awful second time around, I hope not.

I liked Whirrun of Blight best in this one. He’s such a doofus and his story ends perfectly. And Bremer dan Gorst’s internal voice is dark/hilarious.

Your voice is by no means pretentious. Your hair, on the other hand....