I'm just going to get one thing out of the way first. Yes, this book is Abercrombie-level-dark-and-fun, but... If I was presented with The Devils and The Age of Madness books, I would choose the latter. The Devils is trying to be just a bit too funny, for me. It's a hoot, don't get me wrong, but I personally prefer the "serious and gloomy kind of wit wielding Abercrombie" rather than "dishing out punchlines kind of Abercrombie".

The book does have a lot of the items in the grim fantasy reader checklist ticked off, though. No denying. Grim humour? Check. Anti-heroes? Oh, hell yes. A quest in a mixed bag company that would shame a beaten up piñata? Yup. So, absolutely, the wicked and dysfunctional found-family vibe is THE THING in The Devils. It's all about throwing the least likely together and see what happens. The literary version of "fuck around and find out". What's also cool is that everyone will find at least 1 or 2 characters to really root for. The choice is yours, really. It's hard to say who the main character in this story is, they all have a pretty big part to play. I guess Brother Diaz and Alex would be pretty big contenders for the MC spot? Anyway, my favourites were Jakob of Thorn (because broodingly grim and tired of life!) and vampire Baron Rikard (because classy!).

So... Character-wise, this book slaps! Dialogue? Punchy and often very, very naughty/dirty! Especially where werewolf Vigga is included. Ye gods. Plot? Abercrombie-isque mix of mission-driven momentum, religious weaseling, political spasms and a fuck-ton of violence. I do love that The Devils did a gentle nod to European history and that Estonian places like Narva and Parnu (Pärnu) got a mention. That was a really nice moment for this Estonian reader. Mm-mm-mmm.

Ultimately, The Devils is all cool vibes of fun and misery hand in hand. Would I recommend this book as someone's very first Abercrombie book? Mmm, maybe, but likely not. The Devils is Abercrombie testing something slightly different, something lighter. Funnier. Think superhero/villain movies and instead of being all Avengers vibe, it's Deadpool. But I would definitely still recommend the book. It's THE book of 2025 for lots of folks!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I read the first of Abercrombie's First Law books around a decade ago and didn't read another - I found his writing very male and I also rarely read books completely devoid of female characters. However, in the intervening years I have been assured that his writing has improved and that some female representation does now exist in his writing. So I was slightly disappointed for the first page of this novel to include references to prostitutes and female objectification - even though this is part of one of the characters' arcs, it's still frustrating to see that as an opener in what will presumably become a big series.

That aside, I did enjoy the novel most of the time. There were some particularly humourous and touching moments, and most of the other supporting characters (including women, yay!) were more well-rounded. I'm a sucker for found family plots, and this was fairly well-done. I'd read another, though it wouldn't jump to the top of my TBR.

Unfathomably great
—
I really don’t know what else I can say about this except to read it. There have been other new fantasies these past few years but this blows them all out of the water. Essentially it’s like (the DC comics) Suicide Squad and The Lord Of The Rings had a baby, and all during the Inquisition. The characters, the plotting, the cranking of the narrative stakes, and above all the writing are all top notch. Abercrombie is literally at the top of his game: possibly no better epic fantasy this year.

A new staple of the genre, this was an action packed, romantic, energetic adventure that will leave you thinking about it for days on end once it is finished.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for this eARC.

This was my first Joe Abercrombie and I can now confidently say that I will be devouring the rest of his work! If you too have never read anything else by this author, it is a fantastic introduction to his writing style and humour. This book had me genuinely laughing out loud, but at no point was this humour forced or used in place of character development or plot development. The balance of plot, world building and character development was perfect, with a fast pace to the writing and plot, I felt continuously engrossed and engaged. Every single character was fleshed out and surprisingly loveable and made for a fantastic found family. The premise of this novel was unique in its intention and execution but was accomplished beautifully and provided a profound insight into societal perceptions and our established understanding of a “hero” and “villain.”

I enjoyed this book while I was reading it, but I wasn't gravitating towards picking it up. it took nearly 3 weeks to read, usually a 600 page book would take about 1 week.
I had a good time, I'm glad I read it, but it's a typical Abercrombie where the end isn't really the end and people just do stuff.

‘The Devils’ was my last shot with Joe Abercrombie and I can’t tell you how surprised I am that I loved it.

I had read ‘Half a King’ and thought it was fine, then I DNFed ‘The Blade Itself’ and I was so upset about it because I wanted to fall in love with the First Law world. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be and I was worried that maybe Abercrombie’s writing just isn’t for me, but I wanted one last shot with ‘The Devils’. I am so glad I decided to give it a whirl.

Europe stares into the abyss.

Plague and famine stalk the land, monsters lurk in every shadow and greedy princes care for nothing but their own ambitions. Only one thing is certain: the elves will come again, and they will eat everyone.

Sometimes, only the darkest paths lead towards the light. Paths on which the righteous will not dare to tread . . .

And so, buried beneath the sacred splendour of the Celestial Palace, is the secret Chapel of the Holy Expediency. For its congregation of convicted monsters there are no sins that have not been committed, no lines that will not be crossed, and no mission that cannot be turned into a disastrous bloodbath.

Now the hapless Brother Diaz must somehow bind the worst of the worst to a higher cause: to put a thief on the throne of Troy, and unite the sundered church against the coming apocalypse.

When you're headed through hell, you need the devils on your side.

It’s just as dark and fun as it sounds.


Though I will complain that it’s pretty slow and a little tough to get into, but I persisted. At first my persistence was honestly because it fits one of my r/fantasy bingo prompts that I would have struggled with otherwise, but I eventually fell into it fully, even with the slowness.

For me, I think that some of the slowness was in the way that the perspective was constantly moving and changing between the Devils and Alexis through a chapter, from one scene to the next, so I really had to pay close attention to make sure that I wasn’t confused when the scene changed. It’s definitely an interesting style, but it took me a while to get used to it.

I fell in love with the characters easily. The Devils are: Brother Diaz, a priest commissioned by the Pope herself to lead the quest; Jakob, a legendary knight; Baptiste, a jack of all trades with a shady past; Balthazar, one of the top three magicians in the world; Vigga, a Viking werewolf who leaves chaos in her wake; Sunny, an elf who can turn invisible; and Baron, a very old and mysterious vampire.

An ensemble cast is one of my favourite things, especially when they’re a ragtag band thrown together and a found family element makes its way into the story. They’re all delightfully camp and I love the way that they interact with each either, sometimes for the good and sometimes for the very, very bad. I come to love them, especially Baptiste, Sunny and Vigga. They’re all such interesting characters, but these three were the richest for me and I feel like there’s still so much to them and their stories.

I’m so glad I enjoyed ‘The Devils’ and I’m excited to see how everything develops in the next book in the series. I’m especially interested to see if Alexis will still have a starring role or if we move elsewhere with the Devils.

Thank you to Gollancz and NetGalley for the review copy.

Written by Sophie

I should have read this sooner! Seriously, it was so refreshing to read a book from an established author who wants to do something just a little different and manages to nail it. The Devils is dark and doesn't shy away from that, making it such a compelling read since I genuinely could not predict the next page. Who doesn't love a sexy cryptid or an evil but hot villain and when there's so many in this book, you are spoiled for choice! Even though, Abercombie touches on darker themes, I was surprised at how moving the tender moments were. LOVED IT

What a start to a new Joe-Abercrombie saga! This is dark, hilarious and a wonderful fantasy adventure. The Devils is a dark fantasy set in a more traditional space than his Fist Law books, This is an alternative Europe with monsters, waring religions and plenty of nasty people craving power.
The characters bring this to life with their conversations and different attitudes to life. I personally think all characters have their moments and both gray aspects to their personality plus the plotting is a solid mix of action, banterful chats and key events.
This is so good, don't expect a First Law style book here, things are a lot more traditional but it's still top tier Joe!

Grimdark fantasy at it's best: twisty: dark, gripping. Give me more soon
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I loved this very much. It was funny, clever, irreverent, fast paced, twisted, dark and utterly brilliantly written, but most of all it was the characters I loved. The author is a genius in his creation of characters that you think you know, but then he makes those characters evolve, and twist, and change in ways you just didn't see coming. There is no remaining static in this book, everything is moving at breakneck speed and the reader just has to hang on and blumin' well keep up! A triumph of a novel that I very much hope leads to a truly stupendous series.

I've enjoyed all of Joe Abercrombie's previous books, but I think this one is my new favourite. I loved every single minute of it. It is a change of pace for Abercrombie to have an alternate history in which the Carthaginians still have an empire, Troy is still a great city and the papacy is run by women...oh, and there are vampires and werewolves and necromancers and knights who cannot die! Honestly, the characters here are just wonderful and I love the way we change from one point of view to another, allowing us real insight into their motivations. Where some of his earlier books have been a little bit lacking (in my opinion) has been the plot, but here, we have a compelling story that is paced brilliantly with some unexpected twists along the way. Overall, this was an absolute delight from start to finish and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

While this may have not been for me, I can definitely see the appeal--especially for Joe Abercrombie fans and Epic fantasy lovers!

Read this if you love:
-Grimdark fantasy
-Found family
-Huge cast of different creatures
-Elves, Vampires, and Sorcerers

Thank you Gollancz for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review!

If you’re a regular reader of SFFWorld reviews you should know that we are usually HUGE fans of Joe Abercrombie’s fantasy writing. So, any announcement of a new book set in a new world (for Joe, anyway) makes us sit up and take notice.

And this one has been on the cards for a while now.

Whereas Joe’s last trilogy was set in some sort of Industrial Revolutionised Europe, The Devils is set in an oddly alternate mediaeval Europe, at a time of plague and famine. (Personally, I was thinking the Black Death, but it is not clear.) So, Troy, Carthage and Rome are mentioned, but they don’t seem to be like the places we know and would recognise. Even so, it is a time when belief in the Christian church and its enemies – demons, devils and so on – were seen as real. The Church itself is in trouble, as the Eastern Empire and Western churches (presumably think Christian and Islam?) are in schism at a time when they need to be united against their enemies.

Brother Diaz is given is given the position of vicar of the Chapel of the Holy Expediency, a secret group who take on special tasks on behalf of the Pope (who here is a 10-year old girl.)

If you’ve read Joe before, as you might expect in an Abercrombie novel, most of the characters are varied, imaginative and memorable. Jakob of Thorn is a barbarian soldier with a unique ability. His counterpoint is Baptiste, a more subtle female mercenary, reminiscent a little of Monza Murcatto from Best Served Cold. Sunny is an elf, a race despised by humans following a war in the past, the mere mention of whom will cause fear and anger (because after all, elves eat people, you know.). Baron Rikard is an ancient vampire with – well, you know, all those special needs and skills a vampire has (He can go out in daylight, though.) Vigga is a Viking werewolf woman, as dramatic and as violent as that sounds, who tends to act first and think later. Balthazar Sham Ivam Draxi is an ever-complaining necromancer whose ability to use ‘the Black Art’ is often professed by – well, Balthazar, who forever whines about the injustices he has been given.

As this is an ensemble piece, I am sure that you will have favourites amongst the troop by the end of the novel. Think of it as The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen meets Suicide Squad in a Grimdark epic fantasy.

All of these characters are reluctantly enlisted and bound to a purpose none of them want nor can escape from. The task Diaz and his troupe are given is to escort Alex, a street urchin, who is believed to be actually Alexia Pyrogennetus, long-lost heir to the Serpent Throne of Troy. By doing so it is hoped that the religious rift in Europe will be healed.

This will involve Alex being taken to Troy, but as you might expect the journey is not a simple or easy one. Those in power, such as Empress Eudoxia, who would be usurped by Alex’s reemergence, are not happy about this change of events and will do anything to stop Alex reaching her throne. Eudoxia and her four sons – Marcian, Constans, Sabbas, and Arcadius – are determined to kill her before she gets to Troy, and so the journey on land and sea is not easy. This means that the group are given the task of defending her, tethered to the act by the Pope papally binding them to it. As you should expect in an Abercrombie novel there is no guarantee that everybody will survive until the end.

So: lots of positives. Abercrombie does all of this with his customary wit and style, that darkly cynical snarky tone that is a hallmark of his work. There are graphically descriptive battles and memorable characters, combined with that gallows humour and violence, not to mention the coarse language deliberately designed to push buttons that regular readers will know and love. This may be a shock if you are new to Joe’s writing, although fans will recognise it and relish in it.

If there are any negatives, I would say that I did feel that there were times when Joe’s was trying too hard with his use of colourful language and creative descriptions of blood and guts violence and – erm, basic bodily functions. This was particularly felt at the beginning, where the first few pages felt to me a little bit overworked – when almost every sentence feels like a quip or a quotable line, it can be a bit relentless and wearying.

Surprisingly, I also felt this about some of the battle scenes, which are usually one of Joe’s strengths. For example, a sea battle in the middle of the book felt a little bit too much, too relentless, even though it was well done. On the whole though, once the story settled down, we’re back to our normal (or what passes for normal) state of play in Joe’s world.

However, all of the elements come together by the end, and the book really picks up in his last quarter, when the group arrive in Troy. There are some surprising twists that I didn’t see coming and some very exciting developments towards the end of the book, which will be continued in the next book.

In summary, The Devils is a journey-based quest novel, one of those ensemble pieces that are not too uncommon these days. What elevates this one above the majority is that it is imbued with Joe’s trademarks of gallows humour, spicy language and explicit violence. This gives The Devils a style that is unique to Joe; his writing is identifiable because of it.

It is not for everyone, and I do wonder what new readers will make of it at first; but if you like Joe’s unique style and tone, you will love this. I am really looking forward to seeing where these books go.

4.5 of 5 stars
My Five Word TL:DR Review: This book! What a Blast

I will say I had a great time reading The Devils and look forward very much to reading more from this absolutely crazy bunch of characters. Joe Abercrombie has such a fantastic way with words – he actually makes you like the most unlikable people and be positively in their corner and this story is no exception.

The thing is here – I don’t want to give anything away – which does make writing a review a little difficult.

Basically we have a monk, Brother Diaz. He’s about to be receive a holy assignment, aided by a strange band of murderers, magicians and monsters which I won’t elaborate on further because I truly feel that you need to discover them all for yourselves. What I will say is that I definitely had my favourites, and I’m sure there’s someone here for everyone to fall for – but Vigga, she is all that.

This is a story that really does hit the ground running. There is no hand holding. We pretty much make the acquaintance of all the characters in fairly short order and the mission begins almost immediately. Our unlikely group are thrown into all sorts of ridiculously dangerous encounters barely escaping with their lives. There is plenty of tension and action but occasionally a few small asides where we get to spend a bit more quality time with certain characters as the group is separated for a spell.

The story is intriguing and the furious pace keeps you just ‘reading one more chapter’ meaning you’re going to bed at ridiculous o’clock.

What I really enjoyed about this. The dialogue. The humour. The absolute ridiculousness that makes up this strange band of characters and the way they eventually all begin singing from the same sheet in a very satisfying way.

There are surprises and twists along the way. Definitely an inordinate amount of blood is shed and some of the ‘monsters’ are really dire to say the least. I kind of second guessed what was going to occur in the last quarter but even so that didn’t spoil the read for me.

I had a very good time reading this and have no hesitation in recommending.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks.

The above is my own opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this advanced reader's copy and the opportunity to this early. Review has been posted on Waterstones and Goodreads.

Loved the blurb but picked it up because it was written by Joe Abercrombie. I’m so glad I did because The Devils is my favourite Abercrombie book to date. Only downside is I have to wait for the next instalment.

Bored? In search of adventure and excitement? Want to travel to new lands and meet new people?

Well look no further. Join Brother Diaz and his merry bunch of psychopaths on their bloody quest to put a thief on the throne of Troy.

It has thrills, action and plenty of dark humour. In short, The Devils is an absolute corker of a book.

Just try not to get killed along the way…

Fabulously crazy with a cast of misfits that mash together to create a brutal but sometimes hilarious fantasy. I will never think of a pilgrimage the same again! All the best books have an epic journey - but not all this bloody! It is action packed but it's the character relationships and interactions that really take it to the next level.

Joe Abercrombie’s The Devils is a genre-blending fantasy that follows a ragtag group of supernatural misfits - a vampire, a werewolf, a necromancer (and others) - on a perilous mission led by an unlucky monk, set in an alternate medieval Europe on the brink of disaster.
Abercrombie’s signature blend of grimdark grit, razor-sharp wit, and relentless action is on full display, delivering a tale that’s as brutal as it is hilarious.

Lord Grimdark is back with a new book, and it’s a wild ride.

The story follows the Chapel of the Holy Expediency – a secret order of monsters who are sent on a mission to escort a long lost princess back to Troy in order to reclaim the throne and stop the coming apocalypse. There is no line these monsters won’t cross, no sin they won’t commit – what could possibly go wrong?

I completely devoured this book and it is without a doubt going to be my favourite book of 2025. Full of Abercrombie’s trademark humour, I could not put this book down. The story is compelling and cleverly executed – the premise hooked me in straight away and the story was full of action and adventure. There is of course plenty of intense battle scenes and bucketfuls of gruesome, gritty moments.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the story of this book, where The Devils truly shines is the incredible cast of characters. I’ve come to expect exceptional character work from Joe Abercrombie but I think Abercrombie outdid himself in this novel. I completely fell in love with this group of misfits – there’s a magician, a werewolf, a vampire and an elf. I loved the utter chaos the group created as they band together in an attempt to survive this epic journey. This is such a compelling cast of characters and I cannot wait to see where Abercrombie takes them in book two.

The Devils is a wildly addictive, entertaining read. It’s a book that will have you on the edge of your seat, with characters you can’t help but root for. The Devils is a book you absolutely do not want to miss and I am counting down the days until the release of the next instalment.