An entertaining revenge story that is not quite as good as the books of the original trilogyThis is the first standalone First Law book, and we are visiting a continent that has thus far in the series only been mentioned. I am no a big fan of standalone fantasy books, but I did enjoy myself significantly more than I usually do. Unfortunately, this book just doesn't shine as much as the other books in the series for multiple reasons.Before I explain what those reasons are, I do want to emphasize

What is best served hot?> Flesh> Blood> Slaughter> Desire> Revenge**also delicious served coldBest Served Cold delivers all of the above in a warm-blooded fashion. this is a sweaty, fully engorged adventure novel that follows a diverse cast as they move through various locales on their own sort of anti-quest. although it spends much time examining the psychological make-up of its characters, is heavily reliant on the kinds of details usually found in military fantasy, and is not shy of graphic s...

Best Served Cold(First Law World,#4) by Joe AbercrombieGritty, real, and bloody.If you want cheery and uplifting, this book probably not for you. It isn't brilliant literature by any means, but it's an awful lot of fun for an adult. The highest quality of narration by Steven Pacey made this story amazing. Such an actorish narrator he is!!! You should laugh every moment you live, for you'll find it decidedly difficult afterwards. Impressive.

This Review ✍️ Blog 📖 Twitter 🐦 Instagram 📷 Support me ☕Actual Rating: 4.5 Stars “That was the difference between a hero and a villain, a soldier and a murderer, a victory and a crime. Which side of a river you called home.” I was hesitant to start this book because in general, I am not a big fan of companion novels. I enjoyed The First Law trilogy last year and did not know what the author could add to the world. I was so wrong! And I just picked this on a whim without even reading th...

I have a Booktube channel now! Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/petrikleo4.5/5 starsA magnificent tale of vengeance filled with bloody actions, betrayal, and humor.“One cannot grow without pain. One cannot improve without it. Suffering drives us to achieve great things.”I’ve postponed starting Best Served Cold, the first book in The First Law standalone trilogy by Joe Abercrombie, for almost a year now due to the reason that I thought it will pale in comparison to the first trilogy. I sho...

In this standalone we visit the area which was only mentioned in the original trilogy: Styria. The favorite pastime of the local people is to make war; local nobility that is: the peasants suffer or get killed when an army marches through their land. Monza Murcatto was the leader of a very successful mercenary band under Duke Orso employ. In fact she was so popular among Duke's subjects that he decided it was time to do something about it.During one of the meetings with the Duke her brother was

It was good but it wasn't great like the trilogy. The character interactions were what made the book. The plot was lacking and his writing style has never been smooth. It entertaining from an action point of view and you don't have to wait for it. From the prologue on it's battle, guts and assassinations. A killing smorgasbord.

If you are going to say one thing for Abercrombie, say he’s got catchy sayings because, after all, you have to be realistic about these things!Did you see what I did there? Well anyway I was about fifteen pages in and was thinking, “this book seems unusually slow” then the blood started spraying in the usual Abercrombie style about half a paragraph later. I knew from then that this was going to be as good as what came before it. The Snake of Talins, the self-made mercenary with no regret, is at

UPDATE: $3.99 Kindle US today 9/25/20

Can I give it 6?!

The most interesting part of the plot in this was that one guy with the piss kink2.5 stars regrettably

AKA "Abercrombie and the Ultimate Anti-Heroes." Here's the short review: reading Best Served Cold is like being a guest judge on 'Iron Chef America: Sardines.' Sure, there's some incredible stuff happening--but still... it's sardines. And would you really want to eat like that every day?The long review: What's good? The writing, the world, the character description, the brilliant way Abercrombie links and weaves so many plots together, both large and small, and the tension he is able to build t...

I'm gonna have to do it. I'm going to give a Joe Abercrombie book a 3 star. Calm down. I almost gave it a 2. As to why? The good first. The characters. Monza is completely bad ass, but I never felt that connection with her. She wants revenge for her brothers death, I get that..but give me some anger..give me some emotions..give me something! Her band of misfits, you have a drunk, a torturer, a master poisoner and his assistant (who eats constantly), a killer who has OCD, and a man fr...

I can’t believe I’m only just now reading this series.I had my doubts when people told me the books after the initial trilogy were just as good, but if all the others are anywhere as amazing as Best Served Cold then I’m in for a fantastic year of reading. I would be hard-pressed to name anything I didn’t like about it.I’ve heard mention that BSC is essentially a Count of Monte Cristo type story, and as I’ve made a habit of avoiding classics like the plague since grade school, I can only take the...

Best Served Cold (First Law World #4), Joe AbercrombieBest Served Cold is Joe Abercrombie's fourth novel of First Law World series, and it was first published in June 2009. Springtime in Styria. And that means war. Springtime in Styria. And that means revenge. 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, behi...

*Re-read. A great book, one I enjoyed more so this time around. Monza is a bit of a rollercoaster, I love Shivers and Friendly, and Cosca is delivered perfectly. Onto THE HEROES!*Best Served Cold is the first entry of three standalones set after the fantastic First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. It has dark humour, a vile cast and action so bloody and grim you can practically see the spouts of shooting blood on the pages. What’s not to love? “What do the dice say?"Dice say nothing. They are dic...

Vengeance first, questions later.A terrific, action packed romp with a vengeance.This book is all about revenge. It follows Monza as she is betrayed very badly and then plots her course to get revenge on all those present at the time of the betrayal. Set in the same world as the great First Law trilogy, the back drop is the region of Styria. Springtime in Styria. And that means war. Springtime in Styria. And that means revenge.It deals with revenge, what it means and what it feels like when you

TLDR: A MUST READ for fans of Nicomo Cosca. Cosca to the rescue!Now the review:Continuation after First Law Trilogy, telling about epic bloody revenge story. Compared with the trilogy, this novel has significantly lower magical content. I believe people don't read FL series due to magic system but because loved the characterization of FL. Fortunately, the author knew this and delivered another excellent story. As expected with only one-novel-length, I felt the pace of this book is faster and sim...

Actual rating: 4.5 stars.Grimdark isn’t my thing. I prefer my fiction hopeful, with good at its heart even when bad things happen. That being said, I’ll give anything a shot if it’s well crafted, and I’ve read some pretty incredible fantasy novels that throw hope out the window and bask in their darkness. The best in the grimdark business has to be Joe Abercrombie, hands down. He has a way of creating characters and plots that really shouldn’t work for me, but that shine in spite of their dark c...

“You were a hero round these parts. That's what they call you when you kill so many people the word murderer falls short.”I was left slightly depressed after finishing Last Argument of Kings, so I had to read Best Served Cold swiftly afterwards. This series is just too good to stop. So I was ready to be subjected to more emotional manipulation as characters I love became victim to the most terrible of things, as I was most certain would happen in Best Served Cold. I've learnt to accept the inevi...