Red Country
A First Law Novel
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4.6 • 162 Ratings
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
'Joe Abercrombie is doing some terrific work' George R. R. Martin, author of GAME OF THRONES.
They burned her home.
They stole her brother and sister.
But vengeance is following.
Shy South hoped to bury her bloody past and ride away smiling, but she'll have to sharpen up some bad old ways to get her family back, and she's not a woman to flinch from what needs doing. She sets off in pursuit with only a pair of oxen and her cowardly old stepfather Lamb for company. But it turns out Lamb's buried a bloody past of his own, and out in the lawless Far Country, the past never stays buried.
Their journey will take them across the barren plains to a frontier town gripped by gold fever, through feud, duel and massacre, high into the unmapped mountains to a reckoning with the Ghosts. Even worse, it will force them into alliance with Nicomo Cosca, infamous soldier of fortune, and his feckless lawyer Temple, two men no one should ever have to trust...
The past never stays buried...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Abercrombie continues expanding the world of his First Law trilogy with this gripping and violent stand-alone military fantasy, which loosely follows The Heroes. Shy South returns home from a trip to town to find her younger brother and sister have been kidnapped and her farm razed. Shy and her stepfather, Lamb, who both have some shady spots in their past, begin to track a cold-blooded killer who's rounding up children and herding them to the far north. Along the way, they encounter numerous impediments, including trophy-taking natives, raging rivers, and run-ins with both Union soldiers and Northmen. Meanwhile, Gen. Cosca of the Company of the Gracious Hand illegally marches his mercenaries over the northern border in search of rebels, real or imagined, stirring up mayhem and ill will as he goes. Terrific fight scenes, compelling characters (some familiar, some new), and sardonic, vivid prose show Abercrombie at the top of his game.
Customer Reviews
Abercrombie's best yet
I have become slightly obsessed with Joe Abercrombie's books and have just finished "Red Country", his most recent. I am not generally a reader of fantasy fiction, but these books have gripped me from first to last.
Abercrombie's books are so much more than sword and sorcery; the author is concerned with the malleability of character. Some of them are struggling to be better people under the most difficult circumstances and it is the outcome of these struggles that is most rewarding. The dialogue is laconic, reminding me of Cormac McCarthy's writing, except Abercrombie's characters are, at the same time, very funny.
Another review
A bit of a silly Western ending but who doesn't love the Bloody Nine?
Great read
I've read all his books, really enjoyed them all.