Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them. For this week’s Waiting on Wednesday, I am jumping ahead to 2025 to highlight a book I am particularly excited for with The Devils by Joe Abercrombie.
There are few modern authors more influential in the field of fantasy fiction than the exceptional Joe Abercrombie. Known for his outstanding dark fantasy novel, Abercrombie has been one of the top authors in the genre for years, especially when wowing readers with his iconic The First Law series. Currently sitting at nine books, including his original First Law trilogy, his three standalone novels (Best Served Cold, The Heroes and Red Country), and his latest Age of Madness trilogy. The last of these, the Age of Madness books, are particularly well represented on this blog as they proved to be exceptional books for each of the years they were released. All three of them, A Little Hatred (one of my favourite books of 2019), The Trouble With Peace (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020) and The Wisdom of Crowds (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021), were very highly rated by me and I could not get enough of this series.
Due to how much I have enjoyed Abercrombie’s work in the past I have been eagerly awaiting some new book for him for years. As such, I was very excited when I found out that he had a novel coming out early next year with The Devils. Set for release in May 2025, The Devils will take readers to an alternate version of medieval Europe where all manner of dark creatures roam and even darker deeds are committed. While it isn’t part of the First Law universe, this new book sounds extremely cool, and it really has a lot of potential.
Plot Synopsises:
A brand-new epic fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Joe Abercrombie, featuring a notorious band of anti-heroes on a delightfully bloody and raucous journey.
Holy work sometimes requires unholy deeds.
Brother Diaz has been summoned to the Sacred City, where he is certain a commendation and grand holy assignment awaits him. But his new flock is made up of unrepentant murderers, practitioners of ghastly magic, and outright monsters, and the mission he is tasked with will require bloody measures from them all in order to achieve its righteous ends.
Elves lurk at our borders and hunger for our flesh, while greedy princes care for nothing but their own ambitions and comfort. With a hellish journey before him, it’s a good thing Brother Diaz has the devils on his side.
Or
Europe stares into the abyss.
Plague and famine stalk the land, monsters lurk in every shadow and greedy princes care for nothing but their own ambitions. Only one thing is certain: the elves will come again, and they will eat everyone.
Sometimes, the darkest paths lead towards the light. Paths on which the righteous will not dare to tread…
And so, buried beneath the sacred splendour of the Celestial Palace, is the secret Chapel of the Holy Expediency. For its congregation of convicted monsters there are no sins that have not been committed, no lines that will not be crossed, and no mission that cannot be turned into a disastrous bloodbath.
Now the hapless Brother Diaz must somehow bind the worst of the worst to a higher cause: to put a thief on the throne of Troy, and unite the sundered church against the coming apocalypse.
When you’re headed through hell, you need the devils on your side.
Well now, this sounds pretty damn awesome. I honestly never knew that I needed a Joe Abercrombie dark alternate history book where a priest must lead a band of literal monsters to save the world from elves, but now that I know that it exists and is on its way, I cannot wait to read it. The Devils sounds like such an outrageous novel, and I am getting some very fun The Dirty Dozen vibes from it, which is always great. I also cannot wait to see Abercrombie’s take on a riven, dark alternate Europe, and I am curious what horrors and unique occurrences his imagine can envision for this landscape. This setup, combined with an amazing setting and Abercrombie’s brilliant take on human nature and dark fantasy, easily ensures this is going to be an incredible novel.
Look, if I was purely seeing the plot synopsis for The Devils on its own, I would be very interested and would make it a priority to read this awesome upcoming book. But the fact that it is written by Joe Abercrombie, who is easily one of my favourite authors, there is no way in hell that I am missing out on this book next year. I have no doubt what-so-ever that The Devils is going to be an exceptional book and I will probably end up loving every single second that I spend reading it. As far as I’m concerned, the number one contender for best fantasy book of 2025 has just been announced, and if I could walk through time to get a copy of The Devils sooner I would.
The Unseen Library 