Red Country

By: Joe Abercrombie

Narrated by: Steven Pacey

Length: 19 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

A New York Times best seller!

They burned her home.

They stole her brother and sister.

But vengeance is following.

Shy South hoped to bury her bloody past and ride away smiling, but she'll have to sharpen up some bad old ways to get her family back, and she's not a woman to flinch from what needs doing. She sets off in pursuit with only a pair of oxen and her cowardly old step father Lamb for company. But it turns out Lamb's buried a bloody past of his own. And out in the lawless Far Country the past never stays buried.

Their journey will take them across the barren plains to a frontier town gripped by gold fever, through feud, duel and massacre, high into the unmapped mountains to a reckoning with the Ghosts. Even worse, it will force them into an alliance with Nicomo Cosca, infamous soldier of fortune, and his feckless lawyer Temple, two men no one should ever have to trust....

Red Country takes place in the same world as the First Law trilogy, Best Served Cold, and The Heroes. This novel also represents the return of Logen Ninefingers, one of Abercrombie's most beloved characters.

©2012 Joe Abercrombie (P)2012 Hachette Audio

Another great one from Abercrombie!

What did you love best about Red Country?

As in his other books, Abercrombie gives you a story that really draws you in. It's great to see strong female characters that knows how to hold their own .

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly...with swords

I'm a newcomer to the world of The First Law trilogy , but I've been reading Sci-Fi & Fantasy all my life. From Asimov to Zelazny ; Moorcock to Martin. Abercrombie is in a league of his own. I've had authors make me root for villains before,(looking at you George R.R. Martin), but I'm not sure I've seen a collection of scoundrels and villains imbued with such fascinating and flawed humanity until now. Maybe in Donaldson's Gap Cycle.
The biggest twist in The First Law trilogy, for me(SPOILER SPOILER if you haven't read it, stop now!!) was the revelation that Logen Ninefingers, the most likeable character, was...shall we say remembering his own history a lot more charitably than he deserved. And isn't that what real people do? And doesn't even a monster like "The Bloody Nine" deserve a shot at redemption, if the desire for change is real? That resonated with me, even as I've cringed at the things he's capable of. It's a question very reminiscent of Is Bruce Banner really responsible for what the Hulk does? Because it very much seems to be a dissociative identity disorder situation.
Which brings me to this book: Incredible. I've never seen the genre of Westerns so well translated into Fantasy before. Spaghetti Westerns, spliced with True Grit and a dash of Shane, that is. I could damn near hear that famous whistling theme song in places. The return of Nicomo Cosca was also a welcome, if bittersweet turn. And if you've enjoyed the narration on the previous books,(I have), it's unchanged. This one's a winner.

Best one yet!!

I personally loved this book!! I feel like it was a great way to say goodbye to “Lamb” and had a gripping g plot!

Another Great Read

Joe Abercrombie is a master of the genre. And, I've thoroughly enjoyed this whole series. Steven Pacey is, as usual, superb. This work and series,, in my view, is fantasy writing at its very best. I've praised other books in this series as well as the writer and the reader. This book is just as well written and read as the others. I think it would probably benefit the reader who has never read Joe Abercrombie, before,to begin with "The Blade, Itself".
I would love to see this series go on for a long while.

A bit slower than others

At the end of this book I walked away actually liking the story. This was the first time I felt like a joe ambercrombie book was moving to slow. It did tend to drag for me for the first 1/3 of the book with a lot developing later. Character development as always was great. Voice actor was amazing as he always is. Though the first half of the book sounded like it was recorded in a closet which was annoying.

Abercrombie at the height of his powers.

Abercrombie returns to the world of his First Law trilogy, and while there are familiar faces, we see them all from the points of view of a new set of characters, all well-drawn. He trades some of the high fantasy theming in favor of a deconstruction of the traditional western, and yet it all still feels distinctly of the Circle of the World. He tempers some of the relentless cynism of his earlier work with the knowledge that people do still live their lives in the face of all the evils his work confronts, and sometimes, despite the inevitable costs, good things manage to happen. My favorite of the First Law world books (mostly on account of how perfectly Nicoma Cosca is rendered), though I highly recommend reading the others first.

When hankering for Abercrombie grit ...

This is a great follow-up to the First Law series. There is just enough familiarity with the characters to feel endeared to them from the start, and the grit and humor you have come to know, love, and pine for from Abercrombie are present in spades.

For the record, this is not a direct continuation of the First Law series. And I think anyone expect the depth of the First Law series (that came in 3 books!!) will be disappointed in this single installment. But reading this did make me go back and re-read the entire First Law trilogy because I realized how much I had missed Abercrombie's wit and raw narratives, and I just wasn't ready to stop listening to Steven Pacey after a single novel.

The characters are well-written, well-developed, and as entertaining as any Abercrombie has written. It's hard to say much more without spoiling the book ... I simply felt immersed in the story from the outset. I couldn't put the book down and found myself stealing away to listen to just a few minutes at every opportunity. It is action-packed, but the characters have heart and soul that drives the action powerfully.

Abercrombie didn't excite me with his new "Half" trilogy ... but this made up for it and has me yearning for his next "full-grown" novel once he's done with his foray into young adult fiction.

What a Story

Such a nice way to end this series - surprises and some of the expected. I enjoyed this book and the five previous books more than I could have imagined. The reader is phenomenal.

LOVE THESE BOOKS!!! LOVE STEVEN PACEY!!!!

Need more NOW, NOW, NOW!!! But you've gotta be realistic about these things right? LOVE!

Great Narrator

Excellent book, excellent narrator! Love the twists and turns and the characters are very very entertaining!!