 I guess it's Lana and I'm here today to talk about Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie. As previously stated in many a video this year, I am rereading all of the first law books in anticipation of the release of the third and final book in the Age of Manus Trilogy, which comes out in September. So in April I read Best Served Cold. This was nearly my third time reading it. I say nearly because I was rereading it last year and I read nearly all of it, but I didn't quite finish it. And now for this reread, I started from the beginning again. So it was like for more than three quarters of it, it was basically my third time through. So that is the perspective from which I will be reviewing it as a person who has read it, loved it, reread it, and still loved it. So Best Served Cold is the first among the stand-alones. So after the first law trilogy, Joe Abercrombie wrote a series of stand-alones that all take place in the world of the first law that have some characters from the trilogy, have some new characters that overall further the plot of the world in terms of like, you know, the political landscape and that sort of thing. So like you do kind of have to read them in order in that way because like chronologically like the world has been affected by the events of these books. So, you know, wars have been fought and lost and, you know, people have been removed from power or have attained power. So like that affects like kind of the game board of the world in that sense, and they are it's like direct sequels to each other other than that. You can start with Best Served Cold. You can read this first and only among his books. It is written in a way where you can understand what's going on if you've never read any first law books at all. I don't recommend it. I think all these books read better if you've read them from start to finish, like from the beginning of the blade itself through chronologically in order of publication because they do kind of build on each other, they do reference each other. The world is fleshed out more if you've read them all. But you can start here if you just want to start here. This is a really like thick heavy edition so I'm gonna put this down. Quick disclaimer. If you regard it as a spoiler to know that a character has survived in order to then be present in Best Served Cold, that is to say like if it's a character from the trilogy and like for them to be in Best Served Cold, they have to have survived the events of the trilogy to be in it. So if you regard like the fact of that as a spoiler, then this video will be mildly spoilery. But that's like the only kind of spoiler that I would say that will be popping up. And again, like nothing specific about what that character does or says in this book or even what that character like where they ended up in the trilogy. Just like the fact that they're alive to be in this, if that's spoilery to you, then FYI. Okay, any hoosies. Yeah, the first time I read Best Served Cold and until I read A Little Hatred, it was my favorite Abercrombie book and I frequently said this is my favorite Abercrombie book. I think it's the best one in the first law. People would always say well can I read that first and I'd be like no. And I do, well I haven't reread the heroes in a read country yet, that's next obviously per the aforementioned plan for the year. I think I would still probably say that it's my favorite of the stand-alones, that it's the best of the stand-alones. But oddly, I feel like Best Served Cold, unlike the trilogy, is not as fun to reread. Like it's still a fantastic book and like I very much enjoyed my time with it and very much enjoy rereading any and all of First Law books because I just like love being in the world of First Law, I love Abercrombie's prose, I love the character development. I maintain that Call Shivers character arc throughout the first law books overall in general, not in any one particular book. His character arc is like one of the best character arcs I've seen in fiction. And Shivers is a prominent character in Best Served Cold and that's kind of like where he really starts to like catch your attention and really starts to shine and really like come into his own as a character. So I love seeing that because I love the character of Call Shivers. There's a lot of Nekomo Kaska in this book and he's again a character that like pops up in the trilogy, but he really gets to shine in Best Served Cold. He's hilarious. He's some of the most quotable quotes, some of the most hilarious one-liners. He's just like this like chaos energy. He's like the Jack Sparrow of the First Law world and you just anytime Kaska pops up you're just like well this is about to be a riot. So there's like there's a lot that I love about Best Served Cold and there are reasons why I enjoy rereading it. With Best Served Cold maybe it's because I loved it so much the first time that maybe I have higher expectations that it's not meeting, but like the trilogy every time I read it it grows on me more. The trilogy every time I reread it I love it more. Each the individual books as well as the arc of the whole trilogy there's just so much to unpack and so much to rediscover or to newly discover in the trilogy. Best Served Cold is going to be worth anything to say. It's kind of better written but it's less fun to reread. So Best Served Cold it's a standalone so like it's not going to be like dragging across a trilogy. The plot starts and ends in one book so there's no like plot like like threads left hanging. There's no like I guess we'll find out in the next book or like where is any of this going. Like it has to be tightly paced because it's a revenge thriller that takes place in one book. So like a lot has to happen and all of it does happen. So it is breakneck and it's paced and it is very tightly plotted but it's very exciting. It's very funny. It's very intense. It's very violent. It's it's a lot of things but for that reason like there isn't so like the trilogy kind of like sneaks up on you with stuff. If that makes sense at the first time you'll know you'll read certain passages or in scenes certain entire books and feel like it was good but you know like I don't know what the point of that was or like I don't know if there was a point to that or like I don't I don't know that I know what's going on with that. Like I don't I don't know why he's telling us about that part kind of stuff like that which like the first time through is a negative part of your reading experience but then when you reread it because now you know where this goes then it's like so much fun to like see those parts and be like oh my god this part that I thought was pointless was actually like low key setting up this later thing. Like lol like now rereading it you know you said they're going like I know something you don't know like it's like a lot of fun to like find these clues and pieces and and find the groundwork now that you know to look for it. Plus like I just you know Glockta. Every book that doesn't have Glockta is some Doctor Star. So there's just like there's a lot of fun to going back and like figuring stuff out and and picking stuff up that you didn't the first time. If I say you're cold you're not missing anything if that makes sense like it's not written in a way where you're like confused or off put like it's written too well. The first time through you pick up on everything that you need to pick up on you catch all the clues you catch all the hints like you like the first time through it's a wild ride and you were with it the entire time you don't have to now go back and be like oh I missed that but for that reason rereading it there's no like added enjoyment to rereading it. Re-reading it is fun because it's a good book and it's it's fun to oh it's always fun to read a good book but it's not like an added layer of enjoyment upon reread because there isn't anything about where the book ends or goes that re like frames or that recontextualizes anything that happens earlier so that a reread would be like oh wow it's so weird reading it you know the second time now that I know etc where this goes or what happens or what this means now the second time through it's like so weird reading it knowing that there's nothing really like that about Bessie of Cold. It doesn't end in a way where you're like mind blown, reframed, reassessed upon reread so rereading it you're just like yeah these are the same amazing plot beats the same amazing moments the same great character beats that are remembered from the first time and they're still great but they're not like different at all there's no there's no different experience upon rereading it's just oh yeah it was a fun ride the first time and it's a fun ride the second time and it's a fun ride the third time. I feel mild disappointment I guess just because like I've been so blown away by how delightful my rereading is of the trilogy where like it just gets better and better every time I read it I pick up more and more and more little details that I just chew through and eat up and Bessie of Cold I'm like sad that it was the exact same great book and the exact same great experience that I had the first time that it's not different so it's still a fantastic book and I still really love it and it is so tightly paced like especially for anyone that complained or complains or is a fearful he will complain that the trilogy is meandering and seems to go nowhere and spends a lot of time kind of like off-roading and you're like where is any of this going and there's a lot of downtime like if you feel the way about the trilogy Bessie of Cold is the book for you because Bessie of Cold is like non-stop break neck it was a lot crowned into this book a lot that has to happen because it's a revenge story so like it's a very clear plot like we know what we're doing here a character has been wronged and they are now seeking revenge and revenge is being taken and like obviously there's you know stuff that goes wrong there's conflicting interests the plans have changed because you know things happen you learn new information about the people who you know revenge is being sought on and you know there's a lot of twists and turns along the way that's not to say there aren't but it's a very clear you know this is what we are doing and this is the plot and this is the these are the beats we have to hit these are the people that have to die and there's fantastic new characters i don't i feel like i'm being hard on this book i still give it five stars and i still would continue to give it five stars and still say it's probably the best of the standalone an amazing character work again shivers because you know him from the trilogy it's amazing to see him really like come into his own in this book and and kaska as well as i already mentioned but like the introduction of uh friendly is like a such a bizarre inclusion and it's like a fun new experiment in terms of character work that Abercrombie's doing and it's like fun to watch him play with the yet another new type of character that we haven't seen before the character of more veer is also really interesting a wildly scheming creature but that is entirely different it doesn't feel like all this is just you know like a rehashing of what we've seen before they're entirely unique individuals as they always are in Abercrombie books each person is a person to themselves they don't feel like oh well you're just like the young version of this or oh you're just the girl version of that or whatever like they're all such unique individuals and such fascinating complicated like motivations and thought processes and their own like the ways they justify themselves to themselves or to each other or the way that they choose not to justify themselves like absolutely fascinating character work as always as usual and it is incredible to see every time that i read it i'm always blown away by it no matter how many times i read it so like it's a fantastic book i don't want to say like i feel like i've made it i've like poo pooed a bit i just feel like it's fantastic the first time through it's not one of these where i'm like you know it's it grows on you over time it's not this thing that you slowly fall deeper and deeper in love with you're gonna be in love with the first time through and then just like maintain love it doesn't there's like nowhere to go up from there like it's it's absolutely fantastic the first time through and remains the same level of fantastic but also the same type of fantastic every time you read it hope that makes sense uh anyway let me know the comments down below if you're a fan of aberrombie if you've read the standalone if you now plan to pick up the standalone if this review was helpful to you at all or if it wasn't um let me know that too i post videos on saturdays other random times as well nothing saturdays so like and subscribe for my patreon if you feel so inclined and i'll see you when i see you bye