The Devils is an excellent start to a new trilogy by Joe Abercrombie, and while it doesn't hit the same heights as his more grimdark work, it's a fun romp.

Going in, I thought The Devils would be much darker and grittier, more like The First Law, than it ended up being. This book has tons of gore, fighting, and violence, but above all it's funny. The found-family cast are rich and varied, and each have a distinct voice. They're also witty and quippy, and at several points in the story it can teeter on the very edge of being just a bit too much. But Abercrombie mostly nails the humor.

The first quarter or so of this novel can feel quite derivative. I thought to myself, "Abercrombie's really doing a 'street urchin is actually a royal' story? With some monsters thrown in, sure, but even those were archetypal - a vampire, a werewolf, a necromancer. But stick with it, and like with all of Abercrombie's work it'll pay off. This story isn't groundbreaking, but it has some interesting twists and some really good characters and is proof that Abercrombie can write outside of the grimdark subgenre.

A very nice first entry with an ending that leaves plenty of room to expand the world.