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Joe Abercrombie - A Red Country


Topher

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The big question I have from the sample chapters is why if Cosca is increasingly being regarded as a man way past his prime even by guys that are supposed to be his allies why do Friendly and Temple stick around? This is obviously at least at first probably because they have no where else to go.

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Alright, I freely admit to having read not a word of this thread - I just need to know one thing before deciding whether or not to read this book; Is this another instance of Asshole Gandalf Wins Everything, like the original trilogy and The Heroes, or is it more like Best Served Cold where the forces of Asshole Gandalf actually don't win for a change?

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Hey Raving just because we and loved the first three doesn't make us blind.

I've heard people comparing Mr. Abercrombie to David Gemmel and that really isn't fair to either one.

Gemmell was about telling the epic stories that many times followed a timeline that lastest thousands of years and your Hero weather you called him Druss or Waylander never got much in the way of charecter development. It wasn't until the later books like Hero in the Shadows or Ravenheart that the charecters were able to identified as individuals and not just a troup. Gemmell did this really well in Lord of the Silver Bow it is just sad and unfair that the trilogy was his book because he was really on fire.

Both authors operate along similar ideas bad people trying to die the right thing when it would just be easier to do the bad thing Abercrombie is just better at building the individual charecters and making you want to be in a position where you could share a drink with Nine Fingers, Harding Grim, Three Trees, Flood, Red Beck or even Nicomo Cosca the only problem that I have always had with Abercrombie's writting although to be fair it is mostly a problem with Last Argument of Kings it seems that sometimes charecters behave in a certain way because the plot requires them to so they start behaving in a way contrary to the established pattern of events in this book character X does Y but we just spent two books establishing that he wouldn’t do X. I’m just glad I started with Before they were Hanged because The Blade itself would have burned me out quick.

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Alright, I freely admit to having read not a word of this thread - I just need to know one thing before deciding whether or not to read this book; Is this another instance of Asshole Gandalf Wins Everything, like the original trilogy and The Heroes, or is it more like Best Served Cold where the forces of Asshole Gandalf actually don't win for a change?

You probably want the spoiler thread, not this one.

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the only problem that I have always had with Abercrombie's writting although to be fair it is mostly a problem with Last Argument of Kings it seems that sometimes charecters behave in a certain way because the plot requires them to so they start behaving in a way contrary to the established pattern of events in this book character X does Y but we just spent two books establishing that he wouldn’t do X. I’m just glad I started with Before they were Hanged because The Blade itself would have burned me out quick.

If you didn't read The Blade Itself, then you don't have an argument for the point you've made above as you wouldn't know if they had a set agenda to determine any behavioral patterns, let alone the fact that it is very hard to substantiate any character from Abercrombie that follows what you have stated. The three cental POV characters, Logen, Jezal and Glokta follow literally no set path or structure that would suggest they would behave in a certain way to establish anything, all three are taken on journeys above themselves making it hard for them to determine anything in a concrete way.

What characters are you talking about?

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The big question I have from the sample chapters is why if Cosca is increasingly being regarded as a man way past his prime even by guys that are supposed to be his allies why do Friendly and Temple stick around?

Cosca is 59 years old, at the time of A Red Country. I think it's normal that people consider him past his prime while still respecting him as captain general. He makes them win lots of money with the minimum risk, after all.

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I have missed this question along the way, but what is the timing of this book?

Pretty soon after The Heroes? Pretty long?

For that matter, can anyone refresh me about how far into Jezal's reign we are with each of the stories?

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