The Wisdom of Crowds

We rejoin our assorted cast of heroes and heroines immediately following the catastrophic defeat that Leo and Savine suffered at the still astounded hands of Orso, a defeat that coincided with the full-blown revolt led by the Breakers and Burners. Everything is change in this book, with the old system being torn down and a bunch of rabid mad men and women trying to build something new in its place.

Now, for anyone who is a history nerd (like myself), what we have here is a parody of the French revolution, only without the guillotines. Don’t worry, they come up with their own inventive and equally memorable method of dispatching all those who the new authority deems to be traitors, and I have to give Abercrombie props for originality. He puts some great twists on the revolution narrative, which forms an intense and gruelling backdrop for what Abercrombie does best: character development. I won’t go into to main details for fear of spilling some spoilers, but what I will say is that Leo’s character arch in particular is brilliant, and not necessarily in a positive manner for the person he once was. We also see a mountain of truly despicable actions perpetrated by the self-righteous revolutionaries, most of which are simply using the chaos of the revolution to snatch any kind of power that they can. I have listened to a few fantasy novels that use the French revolution parody, so the concept, direction, and likely outcomes we see in the book were nothing too new, but what Abercrombie does masterfully is use the blood-soaked canvas of the revolution as a tool for highlighting the very worst and occasionally best aspects of humanity. This storyline does, however, get a little slow at times. It’s a lot of talking and a lot of unpleasantness, but rarely does the pacing get up to that blood-pumping speed that I personally love so much. However, where the main(ish) storyline lacks a little, the secondary storyline of Rika and Clover in the North more than makes up for it. We left the last book with Rika having taken power in the North and now we watch her trying desperately to secure it against the vengeance of Black Calder. If the novel didn’t have Rika and Clover’s storyline, I’ll have to admit that it would at times drag its heels more than a little for my personal tastes. Luckily it does have Rika and Clover, and because that, every time things seem to be slowing down just a bit too much back in the Union, Abercrombie slaps us with a good dollop of Northern brutality to keep us on our toes.

There are two things that Abercrombie does fantastically, and those are truly fallible, human characters and wonderful language. With regards to the first, he is fantastic across the board in this novel. All of his leads are brilliant, and this book is just another example of Abercrombie showing us that there are no real heroes or villains, just people with their own aims and agendas and different levels of commitment to see them through. As for the language, the Union storyline is top tier, both in spoken and descriptive, but it’s the Northern storyline where Abercrombie’s use of language soars to the staggeringly wonderful hights that we have come to expect. Whether it’s clever turns of phrase, hilariously blunt observations, or simply the way he can invent new methods of insulting people in some of the most imaginative manners possible, the man makes the Northern vernacular stand out as one of my all-time favourites. That’s not to say that all of the linguistic magic is hoarded by the Northerns. King Orso’s happy-go-lucky blasé commentaries on the kingdom collapsing around him are some of the book’s highlights. I think all of us could use a bit of his constant bright-side disposition in our lives, and even more of the hilarity he spouts as he cuts through all the insanity and falsehoods people drape about themselves as they try to appear important in an uncertain and dangerously delicate new world.  

All in all, the novel was great. I never got bored, although there was a time or two when that spectre did begin to rear its tedious head. Still, every time it did appear, Abercrombie was able to swiftly dispatch it with a healthy does of action or fast-paced intrigue that always succeeded in blasting away the cobwebs. The story was great, the language was amazing, and the characters were phenomenal. It may not be the best book he’s ever written, but it still stands head and shoulder above a lot of fantasy novels out there.

As for narration, Steven Pacy is once again on top form. There is only so much that can be done by the writer themselves when it comes to audiobooks. Sometimes you just need a true expert to deliver those wonderful prose and turn them into something astounding, as was done here.

Score: 4.5 stars

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