The Devils is the latest offering by Joe Abercrombie. Mr. Grimdark himself! Abercrombie is the only writer were I’ve read absolutely every single book he’s put out. Started with the First Law trilogy a decade and a half ago. So of course my preferences really align well with his offerings.

As per usual, things like characters, fight scenes, and witty dialogue are the strengths here. It’s the house style, and if you like those, you are in for a ride. In my opinion he knows how to write compelling and quirky characters the best. Give them a voice and interesting features. Probably if you have every played a Dungeons & Dragons game before, you will feel right at home here. Since we get the party or entourage set up right from the beginning of the book.

The best way I could describe this book is a mix of Suicide Squad and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but with a lot of profane language and mature imagery. The plot also follows a very clear and telegraphed structure, given there is a clear Quest, and several road blocks on the way.

It wasn’t a home run though.

There are a lot of new characters to be introduced and get familiar with. And even though dialogue flows, too many points of view means we are jumping back and forth (too) often. I would have preferred to leave some of the characters even more on the sidelines, and introduce their points-of-view later in the series.

It also felt like this was written with a film or TV adaptation in mind. The plot was too predictable at places. The gimmicky section of splitting the group. Some of the dialogue. Who knows, perhaps that was already in the works.

Also, world building is not one of Abercrombie’s strength by any means. This time around, he uses a parallel or alternate reality of our own world, which I think works really well. It gets out of the way quickly, but is still fresh and interesting enough for me.

But despite those quibbles, it’s Abercrombie. For me great entertainment, and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.