The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie
I've always loved Joe Abercrombie's work, and each time I add something of his to my read pile (rhymes with dead, not bead) he clambers up my Ladder of Respect.
I recently had a chat with someone about him, and their 'beef' was his plots - while his writing and characters are excellent, the story content of his books isn't as good as other authors. While I'd agree (The First Law seemed to meander for 2 books, but then the conclusion in the last half of the Last Argument of Kings is worth it all), it also made me think that perhaps 'story' is different from 'plot'.
I think how you tell the plot is what makes the story, and so while there might be many books out there with tighter plots than Mr. Abercrombie's, for me the way he tells it, with direct clear prose and exceptional characters, more than cover for it. In fact, I think they carry his work higher than books with a 'better' plot, but with worse writing.
Read it if you like:
action, war, grimdark, character character character, effective prose, tight worldbuilding, novel approaches to story-telling, food for thought
What I learned:
Story is about how you tell a plot as well as the plot itself.
Keep that author’s hand hidden, especially when conveying themes.
Humour is crucial to filling out characters.
Keep going hard on atmosphere.
They say Black Dow's killed more men than winter, and clawed his way to the throne of the North up a hill of skulls. The King of the Union, ever a jealous neighbor, is not about to stand smiling by while he claws his way any higher. The orders have been given and the armies are toiling through the northern mud. Thousands of men are converging on a forgotten ring of stones, on a worthless hill, in an unimportant valley, and they've brought a lot of sharpened metal with them.
Plot
On the topic of plot: set over a single three-day battle from multiple points of view, the scale is epic while managing to capture fine-grain detail and feeling. While there were some elements that I think fizzled or didn't come to full fruition, overall I think he managed to capture the chaos, the confusion and the random events that made the battle seem real and plausible.
I've read a lot of military history, and one concurrent thread is how things never turn out as planned, how seemingly small random events often turn the tide. So, while maybe not as polished as some plots out there, it kept me riveted and even when there were those small let-downs, they were soon redeemed with something surprising. This was a good reminder that the main thing is for the story to be told well, rather than having a perfectly outlined plot.
The pacing is also spot-on, with a great balance between action-introspection and negative-positive outcomes that just keeps you needing to know what happens next.
Characters
He’s a damn ventriloquist
Where I think Mr. Abercrombie shines, and this will be no surprise, is his characters. They seem so complete and fleshed out that each chapter really puts you in their shoes. His ability to project a unique voice onto characters makes him a ventriloquist of fiction. One thing I really love is how most chapters start without any clear indication to the point-of-view. However, the characters are so solid that within a few lines you can figure it out, based on what they notice, feel, say, or do. Exceptional.
Empathetic writing
Beyond just strong character voices, they are all so varied. He gets you right in the head of an extremely wide cast, from cowards to murderers to idiot generals to conniving politicians. While many call his work grimdark, it's some of the most empathetic writing I've come across, and all done without seeing the author's hand.
Humour
Something that I really took from The Heroes was a sense of humour. Not necessarily laugh-out-loud stuff, although I did chuckle a few times, but rather the inclusion of what each characters finds funny (or not). This fills them out fully, and I think is one thing most characters from other authors lack. It's something I'm going to be including as much as I can in my writing from now on.
Writing
Atmosphere
One thing I really look for in fantasy, and one thing I really try and capture when writing, is a sense of atmosphere. Beyond the descriptions of a place or character, can you get their 'vibe' or the feel of the place? R Scott Bakker is my king of atmosphere, but Mr. Abercrombie definitely sets it up, especially in his use of lighting and weather to pitch a mood.
Effective Style
His prose is tight without being indulgent or flowery - like a well-made machine, it's beauty lays in getting the job done, which is exactly what I aspire to. However, the writing is so entwined with character voice, that it goes from efficient to excellent. I sometimes think there is a little repetition to hammer points home, and a few rambling lines, but the world, characters, and action are so well captured I just keep reading.
Action
On that note, the action has been nailed in this one, managing to capture the grit, terror, and adrenaline of face-to-face combat while also clearly conveying the movements of whole armies across multiple battlefronts.
Themes
Another thing I really admire in Mr. Abercrombie’s work is how he conveys ideas through the mouths of his characters - they never seem ham-fisted or preachy. Again, as always, this is tied in with his strength of writing characters. Even though their philosophies and world-views add to their unique voices, I often pick up little pieces of useful advice.
Some themes I thought came through:
Violence sucks - the people that are good at it, the ‘heroes’ in most war stories, are often nasty, lonely bastards who live short, paranoid and brutal lives.
What really makes a hero? The gallant officer who sacrifices himself? The one who’s best at killing? The one who has the most to fight for?
Everyone has strengths (and weaknesses). It doesn’t matter what they are, so long as you know how to use them.
Power is always at play - there are forces and players moving behind the scenes.
Something else
My final point is one I loved but am also somewhat salty about. In a handful of chapters the perspective jumps character to character, paragraph by paragraph. One segment goes from Combatant A to Combatant B who killed A, to Combatant C who killed B, on so forth. Another follows the path of a single letter as it passes hands. It's so COOL, and you get a bigger taste of the different people involved in the battle and briefly see it from new perspectives. Again, a character masterclass.
The reason I'm salty is that I had this idea years ago. I wanted to write a murder-mystery set in a tavern stuck in a blizzard (damn, that sounds a lot like Hateful Eight too). As chaos broke out, each chapter changed perspective to the person who had last seen the now-dead protagonist. Ah well, guess there are no truly new ideas.
Recommendation
Whether a reader or a writer, get into it!
