The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Abercrombie proves that he's got grimdark DOWN.

This epic fantasy is more an epic battle masquerading as a war, but giving all its heart to these players in the mud. From leaders to grunts to camp followers, we get the dark, dirty reality of any kind of war, not just fantasy.

Horrible, ruthless, banal, and ugly. All the wonders of war.

Of course, there IS a lot of black humor in this, too. I will never get over my new definition of "the smell of heroes".

It makes utter sense tho. Wherever heroes go, they leave behind rotting carnage, filth, and broken dreams. Long live the heroes!

Queue up Springsteen's War.

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