Best Served Cold in Building a SciFi/Fantasy Library

Jul 29, 2010 Jamie Collins rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

This is a very nice followup to Abercrombie's amazing First Law trilogy. His writing continues to be excellent and and I look forward to reading his newest book, The Heroes - although probably not any time soon. There's only so much blood, agony and betrayal I can take, and this book more than met my monthly quota. Maybe my yearly quota.

Best Served Cold is even more violent than the trilogy, believe it or not. By the end I was becoming wearied and numbed by all the killing. Possibly the author w ...more

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Dec 24, 2016 Tani rated it liked it

Shelves: dark-fantasy, male-author, sff-2016, 2016-novels

Phew, finally finished. I struggled with this book sooo hard. Considering that I really loved the First Law trilogy, that was very sad for me. But there it is. I actually considered a two star rating quite seriously, and in my head, the three stars that I gave it are really a 2.5.

In retrospect, I think that my struggles with this book were inevitable. Revenge is not a theme that I'm fond of. In fact, I kind of think it goes against my nature pretty strongly. I cannot imagine myself ever trying Phew, finally finished. I struggled with this book sooo hard. Considering that I really loved the First Law trilogy, that was very sad for me. But there it is. I actually considered a two star rating quite seriously, and in my head, the three stars that I gave it are really a 2.5.

In retrospect, I think that my struggles with this book were inevitable. Revenge is not a theme that I'm fond of. In fact, I kind of think it goes against my nature pretty strongly. I cannot imagine myself ever trying to take the kind of revenge that this book centers on. Revenge is centered on the assumption that your loss is the most important thing in the world. More important than the losses that your revenge will inflict on others. And I don't think I have the egoism necessary to make that assumption. So, for me, this book was a failure. Every time another character set out to take revenge for whatever loss they had just suffered, I would roll my eyes a bit and sigh. Not exactly the response that I think was intended. (Although sometimes the writing did make me wonder if that wasn't exactly what Abercrombie wanted from me.) Either way, I didn't particularly enjoy having that reaction, thus my lukewarm response.

I will say, I appreciated Abercrombie's loyalty to his theme. Revenge is seriously what this is all about, and when looked at afterward, there are definitely some interesting lessons to be learned from the book. I tend to think that revenge always ends badly, and for the most part, Best Served Cold reinforces that. We see multiples characters decide that revenge is the only path for them - obviously Monza, but also Shivers, Morveer, Shenkt, Cosca... And yet they each get a slightly different result from their endeavors.

I also liked the unreliability of public perceptions, which was probably the secondary theme here. We start the book thinking that Monza is nothing but a heartless bitch who's done terrible things. We end the book knowing that this is true, but also knowing that there are depths and circumstances that aren't readily apparent unless you really know her history. I liked that, and I'm really glad that she got the ending that she did. I did like her by the end, but it was a long time coming, and I remain disappointed in her, more at her lack of action at times than anything. She is a very human character, to say the least.

I guess another big theme was the subjectiveness of love. It's clear that Monza loved her brother and that she shaped her life around making his better. And yet, from everything we see, it's clear that Benna was a reprehensible human being who probably deserved what happened to him as much as anyone can deserve that kind of thing. I think it was masterfully portrayed, but that it also made it that much harder for me to enjoy the book, because it was so clear to me that Benna wasn't worthy of such an extravagant revenge.

I think that one thing I really wish the book would have addressed is (view spoiler)

Clearly, Best Served Cold gave me a lot of food for thought. I just wish I could have enjoyed it more than I did. ...more

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Jan 10, 2014 Harold Ogle rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, low-fantasy, mercenaries, ensemble, lg-library

Well-written, Best Served Cold kept me engaged despite the one-note revenge plot (it is essentially a fantasy version of "Kill Bill"). Like "Kill Bill," the story unfolds as a series of elaborate assassination scenarios, as the protagonist stops at nothing to wreak vengeance on the cabal of allies & employers who betrayed her. It's written a bit like George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire," except without all the warm fuzzy bits, which isn't surprising when you realize that Abercrombie is Well-written, Best Served Cold kept me engaged despite the one-note revenge plot (it is essentially a fantasy version of "Kill Bill"). Like "Kill Bill," the story unfolds as a series of elaborate assassination scenarios, as the protagonist stops at nothing to wreak vengeance on the cabal of allies & employers who betrayed her. It's written a bit like George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire," except without all the warm fuzzy bits, which isn't surprising when you realize that Abercrombie is from the northern UK, a region known in modern SF and fantasy to produce authors specializing in stories of brutality and hopelessness. A number of times while I read the book, I asked myself "Why am I reading this, when the plot has no redeeming value? Do I really want to steep myself in unforgiving, unrelenting revenge?" Each time, I decided that the writing's quality was worth it. And in the end, a few of the characters do demonstrate some positive qualities.

Aside from the gory descriptions of violence and death in every chapter, I found myself irritated by only one thing: the repeated telling that "vengeance solves nothing," said again and again by different characters in many different ways. That really wasn't necessary at all, given that the story more than adequately shows us this again and again.

But the characters really make the story interesting. Yes, they're broadly drawn, but they're well-realized despite all that. You have the sarcastic assassin, the dumb warrior who's trying to turn a new leaf, the flamboyantly vain poisoner and his vapid apprentice, the charismatic fast-talking mercenary captain, and the laconic ex-con with no moral compass but plenty of OCD, in addition to the main protagonist, who was left for dead and has lost everything...and only the thought of revenge keeps her going. These are all characters we've seen before in books, TV and film, but they still play off of each other well.

Mentioning "A Song of Ice and Fire," this book has even less of the fantastical in it. In fact, for three-fifths of the book, there is nothing supernatural at all, and it could be read as an imagined early Renaissance story of mercenaries, murder and madness. So if you need magic in your fantasy, you're probably going to be disappointed with this one. But, abruptly, more than halfway through, the assassin Shenkt is introduced, as he is hired to hunt down and kill the protagonists. Shenkt is straight out of Logan's Run or "The Continuing Time" series with his time-bending abilities that effectively give him frightening superpowers. He also adds a fair bit of tension, as you know that nothing can stop him (and this is repeatedly demonstrated each time his story continues, as he tracks down the avenging mercenaries) and it's only a matter of time before he catches up to the protagonists and settles their hash. I found Shenkt to be a welcome addition and a needed foil for the protagonists, as by then it was beginning to seem like their revenge was inevitable.

I'm also glad that this is a stand-alone volume, not part of a series. ...more

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Jan 14, 2010 Lorena rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

DAMN IT, Joe Abercrombie is good! The characterizations are just fantastic. The story is impossible to put down. The writing is always tight and compelling, and manages to portray both unrelentingly grim pessimism about human nature, and the hilarious absurdity and persistence of humanity equally.

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Apr 28, 2009 Kristen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

http://fantasycafe.blogspot.com/2009/... ...more

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Jul 22, 2009 Pam rated it it was amazing

I usually don't care for female warrior types, because they're usually types, but I like Monza, maybe because she's a thinking, feeling person rather than a stereotype. I just started this and I'm really enjoying it.

SPOILER FOLLOWS!!!

Edit after finishing the book: I liked Monza less and less, until it was revealed that the brother she idolized was the one who really betrayed her, not Orso. She became a more sympathetic character.

The only part that seemed a bit too contrived was Shivers turning ...more

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Jul 11, 2014 Tracey marked it as to-read

Shelves: e-text, recommended-idm

Jaime gave 4 stars; CS & Bonehand gave 5

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May 28, 2010 Thomas Zimmerman rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy

Not really fantasy at all. No elves, no magic, no dragons. this is a violent, elaborate revenge novel set in a fictional world that resembles Renaissance Italy. Best Served Cold works because Joe Abercrombie writes compelling characters. It could stand to shed about a hundred pages, but in general the novel moved at a good pace, and I like that it is stand alone, rather than part of a series.

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