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The Devils (The Devils #1) by Joe Abercrombie

“Alex, who was nothing but a thief is found in the streets by her Uncle and is soon proven to be the long lost heir to the Serpent Throne. She’s accompanied on the dangerous trek back to her Kingdom of Troy, by the motley crew of the Chapel of the Holy Expediency whom are all prisoners of the Pope. There’s Balthasar, a Magician, Baron Rickan, a Vampire, Sunny the Elf and Vigga the Werewolf. There's also the grizzled warrior Jakob of Thorn and a jack of all trades, Baptiste. Right from the start there’s trouble as Alex’s many cousins attack in order to stop her from taking the throne.What started out as a fun and brutally bloody supernatural Romp was drawn out for far too long and the book could have easily ended 200 pages earlier." 

⭐️⭐️

Pros: Jakob of Thorn is a sturdy, dependable character/Rickan is very dapper for a Vampire/Sunny is silent but she has a good heart/The motley crew does have its entertaining moments. 

Cons: Though Abercrombie’s irreverent humor was fun at first, halfway through it just felt overdone and the plot became repetitive/The book could have ended 200 pages earlier, it just kept going on and on/Rickan the Vampire always disappeared during the many epic battles, he really didn’t do much in the story and it was a shame because he was a fun character.

Full Review:

Set in a strange but realistic alternate Europe, we find ourselves in the Holy City, along for the ride with Brother Diaz. He's flsutered because he'll underoubtedly be late for his appointment with the Cardinal Rizki. A woman that could very well change his life. The prospect of an audience with a higher link in the Papal Chain, well, it can only mean good things. It seems as if God's plan is to make his trek even more difficult when the roof of his carriage buckles beneath the weight of someone landing atop it. 

That someone is Alex and she's running away from Thugs. She does owe them money but well, she had all plans to pay them back. It turns out they want their money sooner though.. She's saved from an immiment beating by a random, middle-aged man claiming to be her Uncle. 

And that she is the losngl ost heir to the Serpent Throne in her kingdom of Troy. 

Alex know she is NOT a Princess but, if it means warm food and soft furs, well, it's better than getting beaten to a pulp. 

The storylines converge as Brother Diaz suddenly finds himself head of the Chapel of the Holy Expediency. The thirteetnth sancutary and it's home to the stuff of nightmares. There's arrogrant Balthzar, a Magician, third best Necromancer in Europe. A silent Elf, the true enemies of everyone. Then Baron Rikard, the wizened Vampire, and Vigga, the brutal Viking Werewolf. They've all been found guilty in the eyes of the Celestial Court and are doomed to spend the rest of thier unnatural and unholy lives as slaves to the Pope's whims. 

The Pope is also a 10 year old child. Yikes. 

The newest whim of the Pope is that the Chapel of the Holy Expediency shall escort Alex back to her Kingdom of Troy. 

Of course, things go all sorts of sideways on the very first leg of their journey and we're given a chance to see everyone's unique personalities on display. It's certainly a motley crew, these Parishioners of the Chapel of the Holy Expediency as well as their charges, Brother Diaz, their reluctant leader and Alex, the pretend Princess. 

One misadventure follows another and though Abercrombie's irreverent humor worked at times, after awhile it became rather tiresome. I honestly feel that the book could easily have ended 250 pages earlier. It all felt far too drawn out, almost to a DNF point that I honestly scanned the last 50ish pages. 

It had such potential and it started out well but I feel like this book easily could have been shorter. 

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