I just finished this and literally don’t have the words. This might be my favorite read of the year.
The Devils tell us the story of the ultimate (and reluctant) found family, The Devils of The Chapel of the Holy Expediency, as they attempt to navigate an alternate timeline Europe by orders of the Church to put a young girl named Alex on the Serpent Throne of Troy.

The Devils, made up of :
-the reluctant and occasional devout Monk, Brother Diaz
—a heretic elf, an enemy of the church…. aptly named Sunny
-the gloriously wild Viking Vigga (who easily became my favorite character)
-a woman of many hats (and great hair), Baptiste
-the (third) greatest magician in Europe, Balthazar Sham Ivam Draxi
-The Baron Rikard, a vampire with truly mesmerizing stories
And finally
-Jakob of Thorn, the well worn warrior who seemingly holds the group together.

whew.

Little did I know when I started this book that I would become invested in every single character of the group. Like every single one. This “ragtag band of convicted heretics” were each so well thought out and so different and they all squabbled so perfectly together that I found myself laughing out loud at them. And then crying at the tender, beautiful moments.

Joe Abercrombie is the king of battle scenes. He’s up there for me alongside David Gemmell on writing such realistic moments that you can literally see in front of you as you are reading. It was all so visceral and graphic and at times disgusting and I loved it.

This was such a a refreshing story, a genre-bending historical feat that had me hooked from the first chapter.

I need a million more stories about The Devils….. and some dumplings.

I really didn’t have much in the way of expectations for The Devils, other than ‘it’s going to be awesome’ because everything I’ve read by Joe Abercrombie has been within the First Law universe. I think it’s safe to say I truly wasn’t expecting a historical fantasy set during what I interpreted to be the time between the second and third crusades, and even more unexpectedly, the enemy is a horde of man-eating elves. Honestly, the entire plot is delightfully surprising because the synopsis gives so very little away. All the reader truly knows is there is an assignment, a group of monsters, magicians, and/or murderers, and a monk who’s most definitely in over his head.
Brother Diaz believes he’s about to make his lucky break when he’s called to the Sacred City, but instead of fancy robes and a promotion, he’s assigned to a secret organization within the church designed exclusively to do dirty work. His new compatriots consist of a knight who can’t die, a woman whose resume is probably longer than she is tall, a necromancer, a werewolf, a vampire, and an elf. Truly the dregs and not the promotion Brother Diaz had pinned his hopes on! Now the assignment itself is quite exciting and most certainly dangerous - this group of devils must escort the long lost princess, Alexia Pyrrogenetos, to Troy where she will be crowned empress.
As one would expect from Joe Abercrombie, this group of miscreants turn out to be a surprisingly likable bunch, as long as they’re on your side. Sure, they’re not perfect and the werewolf is as likely to eat you as she is to save you and the necromancer has been trying his damndest to break the seemingly unbreakable magical bond that holds him to the mission, but they really do grow on you. Alex, our scrappy missing princess, fits in well with this group thanks to a lifetime on the streets and you know, the fact that they’re the only thing between her and hordes of soldiers, assassins, and um, man-beast hybrids. This book really has a little bit of everything and it throws it at you chapter after chapter, thus keeping the reader on their proverbial toes.
There’s plenty of battle action to go around, but there are some truly emotional moments with several of the characters. These are usually either interrupted or immediately followed by something irreverent or life-threatening, so don’t worry - you won’t be shedding any tears. And while Abercrombie was infamous for awkward sex scenes in the First Law books, I can safely say that the sex scenes were much less awkward and more vaguely detailed here which I personally appreciated. Also, before wrapping things up, let me just say that there are plenty of moments of delightfully dark humor so you’re really getting the whole package with this book. I wholeheartedly recommend this and though it doesn’t release until May 2025, this does give you plenty of time to add it to your Christmas list or pre-order it for yourself. I may very well re-read upon release in the audiobook format because Steven Pacey will be narrating and he really takes the story to a whole new level with his performances!

This was my first book by the author, and it absolutely delivered! The mystery, suspense, premise, and slow unraveling of everything that happened were so well done. Plus, all of the annotation-worthy quotes! I wanted to annotate entire pages.

This was my first Joe Abercrombie book, and while I know he writes a lot of fantasy, this was definitely dark fantasy/ horror, and I absolutely loved it. One thing that stood out was his use of humor, which was awesome! Going into a dark fantasy/ horror novel, that was the last thing I expected, but it was absolutely appreciated. Brother Diaz receives an assignment in which he has to take a motley crew to secure their borders from literal monsters; basically, monsters fighting monsters with Brother Diaz. The battles were epic and the character development was phenomenal. Looks like I will be reading a lot more From Joe Abercrombie in the future!

I was lucky enough to be able to read an ARC of The Devils and have very mixed thoughts. I received a publisher arc AND netgallery so this is from my publisher arc

The Devils centers around Alex, a young thief who was found to be a lost princess who must be returned home to be crowned empress. In order to get there there safely, the young pope summons and binds a ragtag group of monsters and murderers. A vampire, A sorcerer, a werwolf, a man who can't die, a warrior, an elf, and an anxious monk travel together with one goal: get Alex on the throne at any cost.

This book is heavily unlike anything i've seen Abercrombie do, with maybe the best comparison being The Heroes. Its heavily focused on comedy and light hearted action sequences which are (in Lord Grimdark fashion) extremely well written. If you don't like comedic fantasy, you will absolutely struggle with this one.

While The First Law is heavily invested in character study, The Devils provides almost no character background and minimal expanded character lore. These characters all interact with each other and you do get a lot of them, but only two of them really have a strong enough backstory to consider notable, everyone else is sort of "what you see is what you get"- which is mostly cool powers connected with fun and often hilarious fight scenes.

The Devils is also a little less centered on character arcs, with most of the characters being morally decent or scamps who like to get away with a little murder. Most of them have a minor issue they need to work through that isn;t connected to a full character arc, but it is something that they may find while traveling with their companions and cutting down monsters. The morally grey studies of The First Law are not present in this book, and honestly most of these characters are shockingly likable. Alex absolutely sees some growth through the story, but most of her companions are quite static.

Each character sort of has their niche and simple traits. Balthazar the sorcerer is arrogant, Brother Diaz is awkward, Vigga is a horny and chaotic werewolf, and so on. Their personality traits usually line up with their powers and color their adventures in short stint POV chapters. This is probably the least character book Abercrombie has written.

I think to a few years back where Abercrombie said he wanted to write books that represented more than just men, and The Devils is a good example to how far hes come- featuring quite a few women and queer characters. The Devils has some really wonderful queer rep, and the queer couple is easily the best and most developed character interaction in the series. There is a shocking amount of sex and romance in this book, though a lot of post foreplay is fade to black. The scenes are classic Abercrombie, very messy and typically involving awkward men and terrifying women having femdom sex. The man is obsessed with femdom (as he should be) and simply refuses to acknowledge it.

This is a bit of a "no plot just vibes" book, as the group mostly encounters new fights on their way to crown Alex. Fighting on the roads, fighting in a ship- I can not express enough how much you need to LOVE action scenes for this book to be worth it to you. It is a tremendously fast burn where a lot of crazy unhinged shit is thrown at you really fast. Ive seen some hopefuls want to compare it to a Souls game, but its a little too unserious for that. I would actually say a better comparison is a medieval version of a Far Cry game.

As someone who doesn't particularly care for fight scenes and prefers slower, more political fantasy, this element of the book was a struggle, especially walking in expecting something from the book due to the author's previous work. There are absolutely no political elements at all and it is not what I would consider a grimdark fantasy- its actually quite hopeful at times.

The Devils will likely delight fans of The Blacktongue Thief, which is the best book comp I can think of. It's a bit of an odd duck of a book, but if Abercrombies signature dry style of humor works for you and you like the idea of fighting countless chimeras, werwolves ripping people apart, and a small dash of bizarrely wholesome queer romance, this one is for you.

For me, The Devils lacks the things I love about Joe Abercrombie's storytelling, but for many others it is jam packed with so many things that define his writing style and this book will be a welcomed fun departure from the darkness of his most famous world.

I was lucky enough to score an ARC of this book and am about halfway done with it.


I'm really not sure what to say. It's like Abercrombie watched Suicide Squad and decided to write a book.

The book really is just Suicide Squad if it took place in an alternative version of Earth's Middle Ages where magic, elves, vampires, werewolves, etc... were real and Jesus was female and killed on a circle instead of a cross.

It's cliche and tropey as hell.

We've got the street urchin/thief turned princess.
The old soldier who can't die and is gruff but really does care about everyone.
The selfish priest
Elves are supposed to be bloodthirsty savages who eat humans but "our" elf can turn invisible and is nice and is always secretly doing nice things for everyone
and the werewolf who is pretty much just Harley Quinn with a sex drive turned up to 1000.

Oh, I forgot. We've also got a 10-year-old Pope who just happens to be the strongest magic user in the world.

The book started out strong but then dove straight into cliches and tropes.

Not sure I'm going to finish this one.

Joe Abercrombie is back, folks, with his highly anticipated historical fantasy horror romp, The Devils— his most action-packed novel to date and the first in a brand new series.

Cover Image of The DevilsEurope is in turmoil: the Eastern and Western Churches are in schism and the usurper Empress Eudoxia is dead. Only one thing is certain: the elves are coming and they will eat everyone.

In a bid to consolidate power in the East, Her Holiness, Pope Benedicta the First, commands the hapless Brother Diaz to lead a ragtag bunch of ne’er do wells to install a thief upon the Serpent Throne of Troy. Comprised of a self-important necromancer, a geriatric vampire, an undead knight, an ex-pirate, an oversexed werewolf, and a vanishing elf, the Church of Holy Expediency makes haste towards its destination. But Eudoxia’s sons are closing in, and they have their mother’s hideous experiments in tow. To fight devils, one must be prepared to use devils…

Clocking in at well over 500 pages, The Devils makes for a fine bludgeoning weapon in-hand, but whips along at a rapid, raucous pace that had this reviewer devouring it in the space of just 48 hours. Veteran fans will be no strangers to Joe Abercrombie’s beautifully crafted battle scenes and cinematic set-pieces, and I’m pleased to report they feature in abundance here. From a creepy haunted house to the swashbuckling high seas, to a battlefield atop an ancient tomb filled with decaying corpses, the Church of Holy Expediency give us a whistle-stop tour around an absolutely bonkers alternative medieval Europe sure to have the history buffs chuckling knowingly and laughing at an in-joke or two.

At times the fast-paced action sequences and abrupt location changes feel a little too whirlwind—in fact, combined with an ensemble cast and an abundance of new world-building information to absorb, it often feels downright chaotic. However, overall, The Devils’ chaos is enormous fun, and although the break-neck pace may come as something of a disappointment to those who adore the slower, deeper political machinations and character work present in Joe’s The First Law series, it simply cannot be denied that no one writes action as beautifully and as viscerally as Joe:

“He came open like an old coat, insides sliding out in a red-black slurry.”

Pure poetry.

Speaking of character work, Joe’s, as always, is unmatched. In the case of The Devils, it’s the glue holding all the aforementioned chaos together. Although he doesn’t quite plumb the deep dark depths of the human condition as much as he’s done in the past, it’s no small feat that every single one of The Devils’ characters has their own highly distinctive, unique voice—even those who turn up for a chapter or two only to then immediately die (often horribly).

The titular Devils themselves are of course the crowning glory, each of them riffing on a different classic horror monster such as the Wolfman, Dracula, the Invisible Man and many more (there’s even a whiff of the Island of Dr Moreau around some of Eudoxia’s sons’ henchmen). Whilst I’m certain many Grimdark Magazine readers will absolutely love the ridiculously crass and hyper-violent werewolf, Vigga, it’s the necromantic sorcerer—sorry, magician—Balthazar who takes the cake for my personal favourite. His too-high opinion of himself combined with his increasingly desperate, hilarious attempts to remove Benedicta’s papal binding are an absolute joy to read, and a scene in which a Duke is summoned from the depths of Hell legitimately had me laughing out loud for several minutes.

Overall The Devils is fast, furious, and an absolutely rollicking good time. The cast is wonderful, the plot fast-paced and action-packed, and it’s easily Joe’s funniest work to date. It marks Lord Grimdark’s triumphant return to the fantasy genre, and here at Grimdark Magazine, we’re already clawing at the bars and slathering for the sequel.

This was AMAZING! Loved the characters, loved the fast paced plot, loved the humor and loved the writing. Joe Abercrombie has started something new and brilliant and I can't wait to see what comes next!

“Holy work sometimes requires unholy deeds.”

This is like the fantasy version of the Suicide Squad. The Church has imprisoned a group of murderers, monsters, and magicians. And when they need a little bit of work done and can’t soil their hands, who you gonna call? The Chapel of Holy Expediency, that’s who.

It's bad guys working towards good ends, and it’s a great story – more humorous than the First Law books, but the same fantastic writing. Abercrombie is an amazing character writer, and you absolutely end this book on the side of the Devils. But don’t be worried about the humorous part, if you want your typical Abercrombie brutality. There’s plenty of combat and carnage to go around.

It’s set in an alternate history Europe where magic and monsters are real, Troy never fell, and it seems Carthage destroyed Rome instead of the other way around, so that’s the seat of the Church. The worldbuilding is impeccable, the writing is exquisite, but the characters! I love them all, and we get POVs from many of them. The dialogue was often laugh-out-loud funny, and you know how much I love witty banter. I can’t tell you how THRILLED I am that this is a series and not a stand alone, because I can tell you right now this little found family of misfits is going to become one of my favorite fantasy groups. A shy elf who spends most of her time invisible, a decrepit old vampire that’s full of charm, a self-obsessed necromancer, a scrawny orphan thief, a super thirsty werewolf, the cursed knight, a saucy pirate, and the poor beleaguered monk who’s trying to keep them all in line. What’s not to love?

This book isn’t out until May, but trust me when I say you want to put this on your TBR right now. It’s an absolutely brilliant and darkly funny book, full of action, intrigue, magic and redemption.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for the ARC of this in exchange for my honest review!

Joe Abercrombie is back with a darkly fun, historical fantasy novel that is the first installment in a brand new series. It has all the trappings of an Abercrombie novel that we have come to know and love—fast-paced action sequences, deliciously dark humor, and top notch character work.

In a fantasy version of medieval Europe, the western and eastern churches have split over matters of theology, famine and plague haunt the land and the false Empress has recently died, leaving a power vacuum that her four sons are competing to fill by whatever ruthless means necessary. Oh, and the flesh-eating elves are waiting just beyond the borders to devour the humans. Pope Benedicta, in an attempt to combat the coming apocalypse and establish her puppet empress in Troy, commissions Brother Diaz to lead a motley crew of monsters to see a thief turned princess safely ensconced on the throne. Brother Diaz's "congregation" consists of a vampire, an elf, a werewolf, a knight, a pirate, and a sorcerer--er, magician of the dark arts. As they embark on their journey across the continent, monsters of a different sort pursue The Devils and chaos and mayhem ensue. The Devils might be Abercrombie's most plot heavy book to date--spanning four total parts and approximately 560 pages--he really packs in a lot of action. The action sequences are the exquisite bloodbaths that you would expect from Joe--and he gives you just enough time to catch your breath before we're whisked to a new location, with new enemies and more death and gore. At times, this can be a bit jarring as a reader, but it's oh so much fun, and as a result, easily overlooked.

When it comes to character work, Abercrombie once again proves why he is one of the best. While he doesn't give us quite the character depth that we are accustomed to from his series set in the First Law universe, every character still has a remarkably unique voice. Even the most minor characters leave a lasting impression. One thing I found interesting, and was even a little disappointed by, was the fact that we don't get a POV from every member of the Church of the Holy Expediency--a couple of characters are noticeably left out in this regard. There is one in particular I would have loved to get inside their head--as terrifying as that might have been.One of the overarching themes in the novel is that of redemption—is it possible to overcome previous bad deeds by trying to do the right thing or will the terrible things you’ve done always define you? And while all the characters are the morally gray, self-serving kind we should expect from Joe, many do attempt to do “the right thing” even if it doesn’t always work out. And let’s be honest, this is a typical Joe novel, so characters trying to do the right thing rarely works out. While every member of The Devils congregation has their endearing qualities, far and away my favorite was practitioner of the dark arts, Balthazar Sham Ivam Draxi, one of the top three necromancers in all of Europe (self-proclaimed). I eagerly anticipated each of his POVs—his disdain for the rest of the group gave me life. Speaking of the group, another theme explored in The Devils is that of the found family and sense of belonging. At times, these themes were expressed in the most poignant of moments, leaving me deep in my emotions.

Overall, I found The Devils to be a darkly funny, wildly fast, and furiously action-packed ride. The character work from Joe does not disappoint and is the nexus linking all the elements of the novel. If you are a fan of the First Law series, this new book will not disappoint. I look forward to the next installment in this series. Please leave me a comment below and let me know if you plan on reading this book when it comes out next year.

Thank you to Tor Publishing Group for sending me an arc of The Devils in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Joe Abercrombie book, and it definitely won't be my last! The story had lots of action, witty dialogue, and an interesting cast of "devils" that you can't help but love!