THE HEROES by Joe Abercrombie

THE HEROES by Joe Abercrombie

Narrated by Stephen Pacey

Old Friends—New Narration—Fantastic

This is now my favorite of The First Law World series of books; the follow-up to The First Law Trilogy. Strangely though, after my first listen I was less than impressed. (I have copied my earlier review below.) In fact, the nearly constant barbarism and crude characters had begun to grate on me to the point that I became a hostile listener. So after finishing I did not have much desire to repeat the experience, but the books lingered on in my memory, burrowing in for a long hibernation. Somehow during this gestation period, I began to appreciate Abercrombie’s sense of humor. A few years later, and the release of The Heroes and Best Served Cold with a different narrator prompted me to give it another go. And, just to be fair, I decided to listen to both the new version narrated by Stephen Pacey and the older version narrated by Michael Page; the version that I did not like very much earlier. (Sorry for those wishing to do a head-to-head comparison: with the new release, I don’t think the Michael Page version is available in this market any longer.) Both versions have much to offer and the voice actors are very well matched. At times I could swear they were the same person using different approaches to the material. As I learned some time ago when surveying the novel Dracula as read by several different people, each performer brings out something different in the novel. On this go-round, I found both Page and Pacey to be excellent.

Although this is a sequel to Best Served Cold, it seems that the narrators, too, were undergoing a reëvaluation of the text. One example will suffice: In The Heroes the character Shivers is transformed. In Best Served Cold he is a killer trying to be a better man. His transformation begins when he loses his eye and he comes to realize that he is a killer. In that novel his voice is quite normal with only the merest hint of the malice that is to come. And now in The Heroes he has become a larger than life menacing figure fully embracing his personal reality.  His voice in the mouth of Pacey and Page becomes an eerie stage whisper that pierces deeper than any scream. I really like the Shivers in The Heroes. His character is but one of many that seem to take on new life in this book.

Stephen Pacey is my favorite for the narration of this book. I am glad to have had the opportunity to have heard Michael Page (again) but you now have the opportunity to hear Pacey at his absolute best.

Original Review:

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