Best Served Cold

Joe Abercrombie

Jul 2009 · Sold by Orbit

About this ebook

Springtime in Styria. And that means war.

There have been nineteen years of blood. The ruthless Grand Duke Orso is locked in a vicious struggle with the squabbling League of Eight, and between them they have bled the land white. While armies march, heads roll and cities burn, and behind the scenes bankers, priests and older, darker powers play a deadly game to choose who will be king.

War may be hell but for Monza Murcatto, the Snake of Talins, the most feared and famous mercenary in Duke Orso's employ, it's a damn good way of making money too. Her victories have made her popular -- a shade too popular for her employer's taste. Betrayed, thrown down a mountain and left for dead, Murcatto's reward is a broken body and a burning hunger for vengeance. Whatever the cost, seven men must die.

Her allies include Styria's least reliable drunkard, Styria's most treacherous poisoner, a mass-murderer obsessed with numbers and a Northman who just wants to do the right thing. Her enemies number the better half of the nation. And that's all before the most dangerous man in the world is dispatched to hunt her down and finish the job Duke Orso started. . .

Ratings and reviews

An impressive follow up to his First Law Trilogy. While this is a stand alone novel, readers of the First Law Trilogy will be excited when familiar faces appear and names are dropped. This takes place approximately 5 years after "Last Argument of Kings". The way this book is structured is awesome, the heroine recruits different party members and they travel city to city with their sights on killing the next person on her revenge list. A simple concept, but wonderfully executed with various viewpoints from a very entertaining cast of characters. Not to mention a talented writer.

One of the top five fantasy writers living and maybe of all time. His books aren't for everyone who likes happy endings, but for those who love a brilliantly written no holds barred book about how the world is through his looking glass of gritty characters who all have faults and blessings, it is a breath of fresh air.

Excellent writing and characterization. But I found it over all depressing. Blood and mayhem as in KILL BILL 1 & 2. Violence is glorified and villainy is celebrated. The main characters showed few if any redeeming qualities. And most of those were removed by death or misadventure from the story. The first 5 chapters and the last 4 chapters were the best parts and would recommend reading them first. This is definitely not THE MAGNIFICENT 7!

About the author

Joe Abercrombie is the New York Times bestselling author of Red Country and the First Law trilogy: The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, and Last Argument of Kings. He is a full-time writer and occasional freelance film editor who lives in Bath, England with his wife and three children.