What about freezing cold?

Spanish Edition.

Best Served Cold (La mejor venganza) by Joe Abercrombie. 

This was the first book I read of him, didn’t know much about it as I usually don’t like to learn about the plot in detail (what ca I say? I like surprises). And surprised I was, never been shy from dark or disturbing settings, as I was a fan of horror since childhood and I do like charming and fair heroes as everybody does, but I am very fond of the antihero and the question of what makes one or another and why people needs them: an almost inhuman figure of justice and strength, a way to go in confusing times, but people are more complex, and we tend to forget that in that complexity and mud, you can find some big time glory.

We follow this odd bunch of twisted individuals with different approaches to vengeance, but with the same descent in darkness and there are some contradictory feelings about them: some are badass, others plain evil, less likable than most, selfish, naïve or guarded, but they are so human in their intent, that is what got me while reading this book, we use to think that we never do certain things in bad circumstances, that terrible events won’t make us uglier (not talking about the eye, but…) or a bad thing won’t be the one that define us. Do we? Anyway, I am prone to delve in evident questions, maybe because I lack common sense (according to some experts) but I always find it fascinating.

Abercrombie builds a grim world indeed, it feels rough but I find it appropriate, some shock value yes, but it fits too, he has some serious skills with complex settings, plot and characters, it is a delight reading that intricate and gripping story in its own, also was a delight to discover it was book 4 and that it functions like a stand-alone in the series and there was way more story to grab.

I loved Monza and Caul, but I didn’t get why... (spoiler ahead!) Caul was so butthurt about the brother thing, yucky and all, was he just gone emo all the way or something? And somehow it bugs me a little bit, the “it was all about love” trope for Monza, not because it is unrealistic or plausible, just kind of cliché, incest or not… (spoiler end)