THE HEROES by Joe Abercrombie

Narrated by Michael Page

      Variations on a Gratuitous Violent Theme

 I found this follow-up to Best Served Cold to have a more straight-forward plot and action scenes that were easier to follow that Best Served Cold. There are some shared characters, Black Dow, Shivers, but they seem somehow recast in this tale, having altered roles to play.  Shivers, for instance, has become a sort of nightmare scarecrow of a man, with a whisper of a voice and a personality no one can get close to. This novel has the same overall feel as its predecessors but with slight variations on the theme. Again the characters are well presented and here the plot has more continuity than Best Served Cold.  The problem is that the story has no direction, no goal, no quest. There is just not enough attraction in following a group of amoral mercenaries as they fumble about in a medieval-style war. Unlike the First Law trilogy—which shows interesting character development and logical story unfolding—this follow-up novel seems aimless.  In the end, listening to the whole book left me unfulfilled and lamenting the paucity of story-tellers available for  modern listeners. What I really want is some great Sci-Fi. This foray into contemporary fantasy is an experiment on myself. Most of which has been unfruitful for this listener.

Michael Page narrates and he is acceptable, but a narrator with a wider range is needed to portray the many different characters with distinct voices.

P.S. — Several Joe Abercrombie books have been reissued by a new publisher and the reviews for the older versions are no longer available unless you already own the title. There are literally thousands of ratings and hundreds of fine reviews on the original audio versions of Joe Abercrobmie’s First Law trilogy. If you are new to his writings, these are now inaccessible to you. This is unfortunate, since it was the opinions of my fellow reviewers that convinced me to try Abercrombie’s books in the first place. If you wish to know what I thought about Joe Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy, and Best Served Cold, you can find them on my reviews page.