Red Country - spoiler thread.

[BigFatCoward]

fucking loved it. really fucking loved it a lot. just behind the heroes, but just ahead of BSC of the stand alone novels. he writes amazing dialogue. only disappointment was how far cosca had sunk. cant wait for whatever he has planned next. i assume its going to be another trilogy to wrap up the whole union vs the gurkish thing.

[jurble]

So Zacharus or whatever, is getting involved in world politics once more? In the first trilogy, Bayaz just ignored him, because he was dicking around in the Old Empire, but it seems he's supporting the rebels in Starikland. I can see whatshisface in Styria, and Khalul maybe allying to take down Bayaz, since they both think Bayaz is a dick. But what's with Zacharus and the Starikland rebels? If Calder can get himself a magical ally up North, Bayaz might actually be screwed.

Still, the Union is the only country with cannons and apparently shells, afaik. I'm sure the next trilogy will have a dramatic moment where someone pulls out a pistol to shoot a magic user in the face - seems like something Mr. Abercrombie would do. I'd hope it'd be Glokta -> Bayaz's face, but who knows. Bayaz' pride forgoes Eating himself, I imagine, so a bullet in the head ought to kill him, right?

[Axiomatic]

I strongly suspect the Empire can figure out cannons on its own.

[Miw]

Aw, Red Country was awesome. Abercrombie's craftsmanship improves with each subsequent novel. Between the ruggedly woven plot, characters you can practically smell the dust and booze on, pretty good jokes (some lovely banter between Temple and Shy) , good swearing and cracking action scenes, it is a thoroughly impressive experience to read.

Carlot dan Eider was wonderful, classier than ever, and would have got the prize for Best Returning Character if not for Cosca prancing about marvelously all over the place, stealing every scene he was in. I couldn't quite despise him- even when he was giving his thugs the ok to burn that carved tree, even when he had come back all scabby and was holding kiddies to ransom, though I was surprised and a bit sad to hear him saying such bitter things now and then. That good old awful Cosca. He had a good innings.

The two leads were fun, likeable, great banter and so on, but even more memorable among the new faces were Dab Sweet and taciturn, tough-as-boots Crying Rock. They're a pair I would be dead keen on reading a short story about. Another very memorable character who surprised me with how much will and bravery and agency she had was Ro. I had thought that Shy's little siblings would be macguffins, rescue objects, a good excuse for Shy and Lamb to go on their road trip- but Ro was a pretty awesome and realistic kid.

I would have liked to have learned a bit more about the Dragon People, and that broken clockwork dragon they had too. I am hoping that is some setup for something that happens or turns up in a later book, and that it wasn't just a "Look! They have such awesome pretty things in here! You better be dead cross at Cosca for coming along and trashing all their lovely, irreplaceable, culturally significant artworks! Even if they weren't all in working order in the first place!" I would have liked to have known a bit more about Corlin and Savian and the rebels too. And I would have enjoyed a bit more Zacharus and magi politics stuff as well. But all this crying for more is just because there was so much interesting stuff- it's all greed not need.

I loved it that there seemed to be more or less equal numbers of male and female characters and male and female extras too. I didn't count, and there's no handy character list in the front, but I got the impression that neither sex was a rare species. It seems like an odd compliment, but you'd be surprised at how many books, tv shows etc have over 70% of their characters male. Abercrombie always seems to put in a lot of effort when it comes to crafting female characters- it shows, and it is appreciated.

Top three moments, off the top of my head:

-Temple saving the town at the end, and Iosev's best ever performance.

-"Best be careful when you pull that mask off, fucker, you might not like what's under there!"

-Cosca's wonderfully hammy speech to his Company from the wagon parapet.

-Temple driving the wagon full of gold, while Shy fights baddies in the back.

[Thaune]

Just finished it, and like the rest of Joe's work, absolutely loved it.

I was sorta hoping for more Shivers and maybe him and Logen go away into the sunset, being basically two damaged, kindred spirits...

But hey. You can't have it all.

Loved the characters, loved the writing style, loved the fantasy/western setting.

Brilliant book. Can't wait for his next work.

[john]

Abercrombie's gone soft. Several sympathetic characters. One entirely likeable character (Curnsbick or whatever he was called), with absolutely no revelations to take away the sheen. And a happy ending, with the added cheek of adding a in-world apology for having a happy ending!

[mjgambino]

Finished it. Loved it.

So... when's his next book coming out?

[Gaston de Foix]

I'm confused about the politics of it all.

First, where's Starikland and Rostov? I vaguely remember reading about them but I thought the Union was made up of Angland, Midderland and something else. Is that Starikland? Why was there a rebellion there?

Second, it seemed like the politics of it was going to result in a new coalition arising despite the might of the Union- plucky settlers forge independent nation, playing the Union and the Old Empire against each other with Temple and Shy taking the lead. I liked the fact that the Radagast the Brown character (Zacharius) makes an appearance, but there isn't ever really a fusion between the Mayor's ambitions, Zacharus' knowledge and history, and the bad-ass escaped rebels led by Conthus.

the Dragon People are the least well developed of all. I was dying to learn more about the (1) the secret plans of the Maker - where the hell is Jaremias? (2) I would have preferred some more description of the awesomeness of the dragon and how it was being built. As far as I recall (and to be fair, I read the book very fast) there was very little that was greatly descriptive there.

All in all, The First Law> The Heroes > Best Served Cold> A Red Country. Strong offering, probably the best work of fantasy I have read all year, but I expected more.

[Crazydog7]

Bayaz needs to die. The most evil people in literature I find are the ones that think they are actually doing good in the long run. I kinda halfway hope that this is all just a long con being played by Jizzal and sand dan glokta.

[SeanF]

I'm confused about the politics of it all.

First, where's Starikland and Rostov? I vaguely remember reading about them but I thought the Union was made up of Angland, Midderland and something else. Is that Starikland? Why was there a rebellion there?

Starikland is on the same Continent as the Old Empire. It's on the East of the Continent, across the Sea from Midderland. Midderland seems to an island, which forms the heart of the Union. The Union then controls large territories in the North (Angland) and West (Starikland) and city of Westport in Styria.

The fact that the Union is surrounded by powerful rivals seems to ensure that it is always at war.

[SeanF]

Bayaz needs to die. The most evil people in literature I find are the ones that think they are actually doing good in the long run. I kinda halfway hope that this is all just a long con being played by Jizzal and sand dan glokta.

I don't think Bayaz does even believe that. He's just completely single-minded, in pursuit of his feud with Khalul. In order to win that feud, he doesn't care whether he kills thousands of people. Worse, he jeapordised the whole future of the World by using the Seed, as the Tellers of Secrets very nearly broke through into the world.

[The Iceman of the North]

I bought the book a week ago at one of Joe's signings in Sweden. He was very nice and polite.

So Joe is hiring people to do his signings for him?

Loved the western theme and how it was incorporated, the attack on the diligence, the stand off in the empty street (although it was lacking that ticking clock, and Morricone playing in the background), the savage red-skins attacking the settlers hiding behind a wagon fort...

[Punkhazard]

So who rules in the North currently? Golden talks about Black Calder, does that mean Scale was deposed?

[Mexal]

I liked it but like most of his books, I tend to find a lack of character growth. Characters always seem to revert back to what they were at the beginning of the book. Maybe Temple grew?

I would have preferred a happier ending for Logen. Him riding off was bittersweet in a way that didn't need to be. I felt the whole Shivers bit was contrived to make Logen come to that decision and I really wish it hadn't been.

Did really like the Carlot appearance.

Anyway, enjoyable, quick, fun read but I can't help but be disappointed at the end. After reading 5 stories with similar types of endings (though this slightly more happy I guess because not everyone were bastards to start with), just feel I've read it before.

[jurble]

So who rules in the North currently? Golden talks about Black Calder, does that mean Scale was deposed?

I assume it means the samething as when people in the Union think it's Bayaz or Glokta actually running the country.

[Maltaran]

So who rules in the North currently? Golden talks about Black Calder, does that mean Scale was deposed?

I assume it means the samething as when people in the Union think it's Bayaz or Glokta actually running the country.

Yep, I got the feeling at the end of the Heroes that Calder was going to be the power behind the throne.

[Garlan the Gallant]

Is this book going to have an audiobook? So far I see nothing about an audiobook on Amazon or iTunes...what gives?

[Lothar Imbel]

I thought The Mayor was Cawneil haha, shows what I know...

[buff daddy]

It's hilarious how whenever she shows up in a book that Carlot Dan Eider rubs everyone the wrong way and every other character hates her guts.

[Calibandar]

Is this book going to have an audiobook? So far I see nothing about an audiobook on Amazon or iTunes...what gives?

http://www.audible.co.uk/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B009OHREJU&qid=1351378569&sr=1-1