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Best Served Cold Audiobook
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(4.00) - 9,813 listener ratings
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Springtime in Styria. And that means war.
There have been nineteen years of blood. The ruthless Grand Duke Orso is locked in a vicious struggle with the squabbling League of Eight, and between them they have bled the land white. While armies march, heads roll and cities burn, and behind the scenes bankers, priests and older, darker powers play a deadly game to choose who will be king.
War may be hell but for Monza Murcatto, the Snake of Talins, the most feared and famous mercenary in Duke Orso's employ, it's a damn good way of making money too. Her victories have made her popular -- a shade too popular for her employer's taste. Betrayed, thrown down a mountain and left for dead, Murcatto's reward is a broken body and a burning hunger for vengeance. Whatever the cost, seven men must die.
Her allies include Styria's least reliable drunkard, Styria's most treacherous poisoner, a mass-murderer obsessed with numbers and a Northman who just wants to do the right thing. Her enemies number the better half of the nation. And that's all before the most dangerous man in the world is dispatched to hunt her down and finish the job Duke Orso started. . .
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"I just finished the Riyria Revelations and started the Riyria Chronicles by Michael J. Sullivan and was looking for a book from the same genre. I utilized the feature "people who liked this book have also read" from the Riyria series and this book came up. It's not quite Michael J. Sullivan but Joe Abercrombie is good. The plot was good and the protagonist(s) are both savage yet moral, in there own way both at the same time."
— Chap (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Highly recommended—a funny, finely-wrought, terrifically energetic work of high fantasy. Seek it out.”
— Joe Hill, Brahm Stoker Award–winning author of Heart Shaped Box -
“Abercrombie is both fiendishly inventive and solidly convincing, especially when sprinkling his appallingly vivid combat scenes with humor so dark that it’s almost ultraviolet.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review) -
The battles are vivid and visceral, the action brutal, the pace headlong, and Abercrombie piles the betrayals, reversals, and plot twists one atop another to keep us guessing how it will all come out. This is his best book yet.
— George R.R. Martin -
Joe Abercrombie takes the grand tradition of high fantasy literature and drags it down into the gutter, in the best possible way. Monza is a beautiful mercenary who has sworn to kill the seven men who tried to kill her. No elves, no wands - just lots of down-and-dirty swordplay.
— Time -
"Abercrombie is both fiendishly inventive and solidly convincing, especially when sprinkling his appallingly vivid combat scenes with humor so dark that it's almost ultraviolet.
— Publishers Weekly
Best Served Cold Listener Reviews
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matan zagag, 8/20/2023
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Glenn Grant, 11/6/2019
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" drug on for a bit if you ask me.. "
— Bionikchickens, 2/17/2014 -
" Two years ago I devoured Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy. It was a gritty sword-and-sorcery yarn, full of blood and guts, a few touches of sorcery, but mostly political intrigue shot through with battles, torture, adventure and dirty deeds. Good stuff. GRRM's Song of Ice and Fire is a pretty good parallel but then again Abercrombie actually finished his tale. Then he came out with this stand-alone tale which borrows a few minor characters from the First Law and takes place in the politically fractured Styrian continent. The main character is one Monza Murcatto, the general of the mercenary force known as the Thousand Swords. After a series of victories she's betrayed by her employer, Duke Orso and left for dead on a mountainside. Then, through 880 pages, she exacts her single-minded revenge on the seven men responsible for her betrayal. Along the way, we get some backstory on the events that led to her betrayal and they shed more and more light on the proceedings yet Monza herself never really feels like a fully-fleshed character. The most colorful character in the book is Nicomo Cosca, erstwhile leader of the Thousand Swords, and one who likes the sound of his own voice. The tale is a bloody, violent betrayal-fest, brutal and dark. And, I thought, far longer than it needed to be. Part of me was enjoying the mayhem, part of me was hoping just to finish so I could move on to something else. There were no major surprises in the plot but a few eyebrow-raising small ones. I'd recommend it only for big fans of Abercrombie's First Law trilogy. "
— Woodge, 1/21/2014 -
" Nice single volume fantasy book. I wish there were more of them. "
— Justus, 1/8/2014 -
" Bloody, blood, blood. "
— Beau, 1/7/2014 -
" Enjoyed this one but not as much as the other Abercrombie books. Got about 3/4 of the way through and had trouble coming back to it. Not sure why. "
— Zack, 12/23/2013 -
" Great stuff more please "
— Jonny, 11/26/2013 -
" Same goodness as the others by JoeA. I like that the first trilogy set the universe and now he's playing in that universe with solid, single volume stories. "
— Hahleq, 10/30/2013 -
" Only got through half the book. I really didnt like it. For me Glokta made the other books. In this book there was not a character to feel the void. Books to me, should have great characters. Best Served cold was lacking. "
— Zack, 10/26/2013 -
" About one hundred pages too long, but still good. Not as good as the trilogy, but that was a high bar. Looking forward to Hereos. "
— Snicks, 8/17/2012 -
" okay. bloody "
— Rick, 5/26/2012 -
" Love Abercrombie's gritty take on traditional fantasy...makes it more real and like something out of our history. "
— Eric, 4/22/2012 -
" Not a children's book. You got to love battle and revenge. I love how Abercrombie's characters have character. "
— Vince, 4/18/2012 -
" Way too grizzly for my tastes. "
— Teddy, 11/27/2011 -
" Bloody good and very bloody, fantasy yarn about a mercenary and her quest for revenge. Entertaining and as quick a read as you'll get for an 800 page book. "
— Mike, 11/12/2011 -
" This was a very good, very adult fantasy. Abercrombie writes in a style mature beyond his years. It feels like a sequel is forthcoming - I wouldn't mind that at all. "
— Christan, 11/4/2011 -
" Loved, LOVED this book!!! However, this book is soo not for the faint of heart. There was a lot of bloody gore, 2 explicit sex scenes, and a fair bit of the 'f' word. I wouldn't say any of it was gratuitous. It was just a violent setting. You have been warned. :D "
— Christina, 6/20/2011 -
" Great story of vengence but long read that can drag. "
— Courtney, 5/18/2011 -
" (I'd give it 3.5 stars if GR would let me.) Less adventure & mystery than the first three books, and much more unpleasant. Also much more visual--is Abercrombie starting to think in screenplays? "
— Heather, 5/15/2011 -
" HOLLY CRAP on a shingle did this book rock,....revenge is so SWEET especially when you higher a psychotic team to help you plan and execute in midevil times. If you have not read this your are brain dead,....someone should hit you on the head with a tack hammer to check if you still alive "
— Oglaigh, 4/10/2011 -
" Not as good as the Blade Itself trilogy but still as solid read. A little heavy handed in places. "
— Jessica, 4/5/2011 -
" This gory, vicious, bloody tale of vengeance sucked me in, chewed me up and tossed me out, happy for the experience. If you're down with fictional violence, dark viewpoints and rage-filled death scenes, this is so your cuppa. I can't wait for more. "
— Caroline, 3/30/2011 -
" A standalone novel set in the world of his trilogy. His writing seems to have just gotten better. Recommended for fans of gritty cynical sword & sorcery. "
— Burgoo, 3/25/2011 -
" Love Abercrombie's gritty take on traditional fantasy...makes it more real and like something out of our history. "
— Eric, 3/20/2011 -
" Very well written, enticing characters, his best yet "
— Johnglen, 3/18/2011 -
" Not to my taste, although I do appreciate the good humor in the writing. I love classic sword and sorcery, but I'm just not a fan of the more extreme and militaristic stuff(e.g., Erikson and Cook, whose books I also abandoned). "
— C.E., 3/18/2011
About Joe Abercrombie
Joe Abercrombie is a British fantasy writer and film editor. He is the author of The First Law trilogy, as well as other fantasy books in the same setting, and a trilogy of young adult novels. His novel Half a King won the 2015 Locus Award for best young adult book. He was born in Lancaster in 1974, spent much of his youth in imaginary worlds, and left school with a good idea of how to make stuff up. After graduating from Manchester University he worked as a television editor, but he never stopped making stuff up.
About Steven Pacey
Steven Pacey is an actor and Earphones Award-winning narrator. He is a highly decorated stage actor, performing often at the West End Theatre. He has appeared in numerous television roles, including Tarrant in Blake’s 7, and has made over three hundred radio broadcasts.