Fiction Reviews
The Devils
(2025) Joe Abercrombie, Gollancz, £16.99, trdpbk, 564pp, ISBN 978-1-399-60357-7
Europe stares into the abyss. Plague and famine stalk the land, monsters lurk in every shadow and greedy princes care for nothing but their own ambitions. Only one thing is certain: the elves will come again, and they will eat everyone. Sometimes, only the darkest paths lead towards the light. Paths on which the righteous will not dare to tread… When you’re headed through hell, you need the devils on your side.
It’s Europe, but not as we know it, but like that well-known song by the band, Europe, we are in final countdown mode because the Elves are getting closer and they are hungry, but what can be done about it? Well, Pope Benedicta the First has a cunning plan, but all plans sound good on paper, and pretty easy, as well, until you try and put them into practise. All that needs to be done is to put a thief called Alex on the throne of Troy and unite the church to help make the stand against the elves. Alex might be a thief but she is also Princess, Alexia Pyrrogenetos, the rightful heir to the throne of Troy. So we have the heir, we just have to get her there. Easy, eh? But who could do such a thing? Brother Diaz springs to mind, but he’ll need some help in the form of the Devils. Poor Diaz. He turns up at the Sacred City expecting some praise and maybe a promotion and suddenly finds himself enlisted into the secret part of the Church that do all the cloak and dagger stuff, with the emphasis on dagger. It might be a case of better the devils you know, but Diaz would rather not know this collection of monsters, murderers and…gulp, necromancers, but needs must, and how bad can things get? The dreadful Empress Eudoxia is dead, so that’s one problem out of the way, right? Even though her sons are still out there, with a whole band of awful monsters that their mother created.
And that more or less is it, we have a pretty clueless priest put in charge of his own Dirty Dozen or Kelly’s Heroes, which are made up of a very old vampire, a randy werewolf, a knight who used to be alive, a pirate who used to be, uh, a pirate, an elf that can vanish, and the most narcissistic necromancer ever put on page. That, I suppose is the twist in Abercrombie’s new novel, that, and the alternative European setting which will raise a chuckle of two from the reader – we are a long way from Abercrombie’s First Law universe. These are the twists, and I say that, because, otherwise, this is pretty standard Abercrombie fare, which is no real criticism as that means excellent world-building, some vivid and memorable locations for the action, great battles, coupled with distinctive characterisation, and great character development. This is a ripping yarn, which is also great fun, and it is funny, with a couple of scenes – no spoilers here – that should have the reader laughing out loud.
Abercrombie fans will be delighted to add a few new catch phrases to their collection thanks to the lively banter between this found family, and he has always had a knack of giving his chapters some darkly humorous titles which give us a clue as to who we are going to meet, or what is going to happen next, and those familiar with his writing can expect some here. In fact, Part 1 is entitled “Worst. Princess. Ever”. So chapters called “A Flock of Black Sheep”, “Hold on to Something”, “Prone to Turmoil”, “The Current Set of Enemies”, “Our Latest Last Stand” and “Release the Leftovers”, give more than a hint as to what is to follow.
Sadly, my copy doesn’t have the maps or illustrations that will feature in the published version, but that’s just the icing on the cake. Abercrombie fans are going to devour this book with fanatical glee, after all it has been a three-year gap since his last novel, and those who are new to his work, and have never encountered his First Law world, might find this the perfect place to start their bloody journey in the company of a master storyteller. Recommended, of course.
Ian Hunter
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