Although it's a big tough book about a big tough battle that's, if not exactly pointless, certainly difficult for all but a few to fathom, The Heroes is actually slightly less cynical than the First Law Trilogy and somewhat less unpleasant than Best Served Cold, which I found unbearably horrible, albeit in that way that only extremely good books can be. Having said that, being slightly less cynical and somewhat less unpleasant in the ouevre of Joe Abercrombie leaves ample scope for both.

The Heroes paints a denser picture on a smaller canvas. The Southern Union has marched North, trying to engage Black Dow. Now he finally turns and fights in the Valley of Osrung, and the next three days will determine the fate of... well, mostly it will the determine the fates of the people who spend the next three days fighting each other. A range of characters on both sides prepare for the fight in assorted different ways. The book describes the build-up, the fight, and then the aftermath, a classic fantasy battle put through the modern wringer, removing all broader notions of right and wrong, heroism and villainy, bravery and cowardice and replacing it with something messy and complicated and sad. Because this book really does have more of a heart than Abercrombie's others. many of the characters are quite relatable, if not always admirable, and the amazing thing is after all the horror and the slaughter, he rounds up a few endings that are moving and perhaps even happy.

The weakest part of the book is mostly the sections with Bremer Dan Gorst, an otherwise brilliant and interesting character who, like the torturer Gorka(?) in the First Law books intersperses every conversation, observation or even personal narration with cynical thoughts made even cynicaler by being put in italics. It was overdone in The First Law and it was overdone a bit here, like having a director's commentary running that does nothing but state the bleedin' obvious.

Anyway, Abercrombie is the perfect writer for fantasy fans who like violence and dramatic irony. The Heroes is also tightly plotted, exciting, and self-contained, for those sick of waiting for the next volume of Song Of Whateverit'scalledagain, though it does use minor and even major characters from the other books. It's not exactly All Quiet On The Northern Front, but it's definitely nodding in that direction, a fun It's Grim Fighting Up North novel, that manages to not be as utterly irredeemably grim as it could be.