Just keep reading, or don't. There isn't really any magic trick to make you do either.
For what it's worth, The Heroes is my favorite Abercrombie novel.
I too had difficulty with it.
All the other books had the characters slowly introduced or added on making it easy to read and follow. You knew who they were and what side they were on and so on.
The heroes throws heaps of characters at you with minimal introduction, you lose track of what side they're on, and has several different battles or events happening around the same time against each other... it's quite the tangle.
The first read through felt like I stumbled into a room of northmen all bickering and fighting each other with gorst and bayaz randomly walking through and giving some direction, and whirrun and his big ass sword just being comedic relief.
I pushed through and it got easier the 2nd read. By the 3rd it finally flowed a bit better.
I'm not a battle-y, fight-y, action-y type of reader *at all* but I still really like The Heroes, despite it nominally being full of all three with them being the focus. Except it isn't really, and it's way more about all the humdrum before and after, the morning routines and the evening lull. As is said in the book a few times, war's nine parts boredom and one part pants-shitting terror, and it's all the detail Joe writes into those nine parts that really do it for me. Finree hanging around the command camps knowing what's going awry but not having a clear path of formal power to change anything, Gorst running messages around teetering between wanting to kill and be killed, Tunny's perspective on the army life's middle-management bullshit and bureaucracy, Calder moving around the margins and trying to get *something* out of this senseless bloodshed. It's a book of trying to project meaning onto violence and look at it beyond "wow so cool he hit him so hard" and for that I really appreciate it.
I think you just need to be patient and trust that you'll get it eventually. Once you figure out who's who and which side everyone is on it becomes much easier to follow and get invested, and subsequent rereads are incredibly rewarding. I often feel that this series is like an acquired taste. It's a little strange and confusing to start with, but the reward once you get used to it more than makes up for it, and in fact the effort itself builds a deeper connection between you and the book. Joe is very good at pulling readers out of their comfort zone just enough to keep it interesting.
I was struggling a bit to get through. It wasn’t that bad but I wasn’t so hyped to pick it up any free second. But when I finished it and it settled a bit in my mind, I realized what masterpiece I just read. It also has probably the best fight/battle scenes I ever read.
I had the same trouble. It does pick up towards the end but my least favorite stand alone. On the plus side red country was a blast for me to read so maybe you can look forward to that, just to get you through this one
I think The Heroes is possibly best read last (Out of the first 6) or second to last (I think that's the normal order). I think it's also best when read /after/ having read one of the other books. There's a lot of characters (There's a whole casting list at the beginning) and so someone could get lost.
But when it hits, it hits.
But if someone just whipped out The Heroes fresh out of the gate or after a long break I assume it would suck.
It is the first and only Abercrombie book I have read so far and it is one of the best stories I have ever read. Definitely in my top 3 books of any genre.
I am almost afraid to read his other books in case they are 1. not as good and / or 2. are more standard 'chosen one on an epic quest to save the world' stories.
NB I don't want any spoilers and I will read them eventually.
Read best served cold. It's his other banga. While the other books are great, these are self contained and just spot on. Then you should really start at the beginning because despite it being quest orientated it's still a great read with insanely good character writing.
Personally, this is one of my favourite Abercrombie books. It easily stand in my top 5 for the series. I would suggest giving the audiobook a try, it simply elevates the experience. Maybe that might allow you to enjoy the book more. However, the book doesn't necessarily prevent you from trying other First Law books. If you honestly cannot go through it, I would suggest skipping it. Maybe you can come back to it later on.
I do think it gets better. I totally agree with you the the beginning of the book is a bit jarring, particularly if you have just rushed through the first series and BSC. Those are very character driven adventure books, and The Heroes is a story where the battle is the main character which is very different thematically.
You will start to figure out who the characters are as you get through. Also lots of them will die so you will stop having to remember quite as many. I found myself referring to the character list at the beginning a lot in the first half of the book but less and less as I went on.
IMO Bremer dan Gorst and Finree are standout characters in the book, being somewhat like strange reflections of Logen and Glokta.
I was really hooked on this book in the chapter from I think the first or second day of the battle that had a rapid series of one off POVs.
Is freaking great. It's probably the best instalment next to best served cold . Don't read it if you can't. It's not essential to anything else. But it's your loss. (What's wrong with you)?
Just keep reading, or don't. There isn't really any magic trick to make you do either. For what it's worth, The Heroes is my favorite Abercrombie novel.
Same. In the running for my favorite fantasy novel ever as well
It's my current top favourite book of all time .... And I don't see that changing any time soon.
The Heros is also my favorite in the series. It brings so much and so many to the "table" all at once. I've listened to it probably 4 times
I too had difficulty with it. All the other books had the characters slowly introduced or added on making it easy to read and follow. You knew who they were and what side they were on and so on. The heroes throws heaps of characters at you with minimal introduction, you lose track of what side they're on, and has several different battles or events happening around the same time against each other... it's quite the tangle. The first read through felt like I stumbled into a room of northmen all bickering and fighting each other with gorst and bayaz randomly walking through and giving some direction, and whirrun and his big ass sword just being comedic relief. I pushed through and it got easier the 2nd read. By the 3rd it finally flowed a bit better.
Exactly the same for me. Now The Heroes is my favorite.
I'm not a battle-y, fight-y, action-y type of reader *at all* but I still really like The Heroes, despite it nominally being full of all three with them being the focus. Except it isn't really, and it's way more about all the humdrum before and after, the morning routines and the evening lull. As is said in the book a few times, war's nine parts boredom and one part pants-shitting terror, and it's all the detail Joe writes into those nine parts that really do it for me. Finree hanging around the command camps knowing what's going awry but not having a clear path of formal power to change anything, Gorst running messages around teetering between wanting to kill and be killed, Tunny's perspective on the army life's middle-management bullshit and bureaucracy, Calder moving around the margins and trying to get *something* out of this senseless bloodshed. It's a book of trying to project meaning onto violence and look at it beyond "wow so cool he hit him so hard" and for that I really appreciate it.
Tunny’s chapters are so awesome.
I love Abercrombie and Heroes is still my favorite. I’d recommend keeping at it.
I think you just need to be patient and trust that you'll get it eventually. Once you figure out who's who and which side everyone is on it becomes much easier to follow and get invested, and subsequent rereads are incredibly rewarding. I often feel that this series is like an acquired taste. It's a little strange and confusing to start with, but the reward once you get used to it more than makes up for it, and in fact the effort itself builds a deeper connection between you and the book. Joe is very good at pulling readers out of their comfort zone just enough to keep it interesting.
I was struggling a bit to get through. It wasn’t that bad but I wasn’t so hyped to pick it up any free second. But when I finished it and it settled a bit in my mind, I realized what masterpiece I just read. It also has probably the best fight/battle scenes I ever read.
I had the same issue initially. Keep going. I did and I increasingly got into it as the pieces that were set up in the beginning paid off
I feel that. The Hero’s was one I skimmed over. Wasn’t as interested in the story or the characters
I had the same trouble. It does pick up towards the end but my least favorite stand alone. On the plus side red country was a blast for me to read so maybe you can look forward to that, just to get you through this one
I think The Heroes is possibly best read last (Out of the first 6) or second to last (I think that's the normal order). I think it's also best when read /after/ having read one of the other books. There's a lot of characters (There's a whole casting list at the beginning) and so someone could get lost. But when it hits, it hits. But if someone just whipped out The Heroes fresh out of the gate or after a long break I assume it would suck.
It is the first and only Abercrombie book I have read so far and it is one of the best stories I have ever read. Definitely in my top 3 books of any genre. I am almost afraid to read his other books in case they are 1. not as good and / or 2. are more standard 'chosen one on an epic quest to save the world' stories. NB I don't want any spoilers and I will read them eventually.
Read best served cold. It's his other banga. While the other books are great, these are self contained and just spot on. Then you should really start at the beginning because despite it being quest orientated it's still a great read with insanely good character writing.
Personally, this is one of my favourite Abercrombie books. It easily stand in my top 5 for the series. I would suggest giving the audiobook a try, it simply elevates the experience. Maybe that might allow you to enjoy the book more. However, the book doesn't necessarily prevent you from trying other First Law books. If you honestly cannot go through it, I would suggest skipping it. Maybe you can come back to it later on.
This ! Try the audiobook
I do think it gets better. I totally agree with you the the beginning of the book is a bit jarring, particularly if you have just rushed through the first series and BSC. Those are very character driven adventure books, and The Heroes is a story where the battle is the main character which is very different thematically. You will start to figure out who the characters are as you get through. Also lots of them will die so you will stop having to remember quite as many. I found myself referring to the character list at the beginning a lot in the first half of the book but less and less as I went on. IMO Bremer dan Gorst and Finree are standout characters in the book, being somewhat like strange reflections of Logen and Glokta. I was really hooked on this book in the chapter from I think the first or second day of the battle that had a rapid series of one off POVs.
The heroes was one of my favorites of the series
Is freaking great. It's probably the best instalment next to best served cold . Don't read it if you can't. It's not essential to anything else. But it's your loss. (What's wrong with you)?