Author: HCNewton Page 3 of 619

WWW Wednesday—July 8, 2026

On July 8, 2026

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

Getting a couple of days off last week, and spending time in a hospital waiting room (surgery–not mine–went well) on Monday gave me a lot of time to read. I’m a little ahead of schedule now. Better yet, the books I’ve tackled this month have been universally better than I expected.

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?


The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi	True Romance: A Noir Anthology edited by Troy Lambert & Vincent Zandri	Sword & Thistle by S.L. Rowland, read by Eric Jason Martin

Utomi’s novella will be my company for this evening. I’m quite looking forward to that.

I could use a little more romance in Lambert and Zandri’s compilation–but these short stories are intense enough that I’m not complaining.

My library has added some of Rowland’s Tales of Aedrea and I slapped my name on their hold list, I could use a little easy listening. So far, revisiting Sword & Thistle has been more enjoyable than I expected.

What did you recently finish reading?


A Murder Most Fungal by Adrian M Gibson

There’s no sophomore slump to be found in Gibson’s second book. That was something else.

What do you think you’ll read next?


First Mage on the Moon by Cameron Johnston	The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst, read by Soneela Nankani

I cannot tell you how happy I am that I can jump into Johnston’s newest now.

I seem to enjoy Durst’s excursions into other worlds–now let’s see what she’s like on this Earth.

How’re your July reads treating you?

Killer Vibes by Jack Friday: Weird (and Dangerous) Times in a Weird City

By HCNewton

On July 8, 2026

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Killer Vibes

by Jack Friday

DETAILS:
Series: Peter Key Mysteries, #1
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: July 14, 2026
Format: eARC
Length: 352 pg.
Read Date: July 6, 2026

What’s Killer Vibes About?

Peter Key is an aimless, small-time weed dealer in his late 20s trying to live like someone in their late teens/early 20s. And that lifestyle is falling apart for him (to mix genres, think a less put-together, but better read, version of Cameron at the beginning of Remarkably Bright Creatures).

Then in an almost deus ex machina move—a lawyer shows up to tell him that his uncle (who he barely knew) is: 1. dead, 2. left him a house, a car, and some other things, and 3. left him a pile of debt.

All Peter can hear is the house part—as he’s about 20 minutes away from being homeless at that point. The lawyer has a bunch of advice about selling the home, getting rid of the debt, and whatnot. Peter wants to just move in and do so right now.

The house is a pigsty, his uncle was clearly going through a hoarding period in his life, and there are so many real estate brokers and bankers pushing him to sell the place that it feels uncomfortable. Add in some mysterious threats and warnings—and a car or two that seems to be following him everywhere.

Peter starts wondering about all this—including the way his uncle died, and starts playing amateur detective.

It’s not long before he runs into a PI who oddly enough, offers him a job and starts to show him better ways to go about what he’s trying to do.

Things get worse for Peter from there. (But better for the reader.)

Austin

What I know about Austin is so minimal. Tres Nevarre spent some time there and probably formed my initial impressions, I’ve heard about SXSW® (and wish I had an excuse to visit it firsthand), and there’s the whole “Keep Austin weird” thing that you can’t help but hear about. So…yeah, I have very little and very shallow understanding of it.

And I’m not saying that reading one mystery novel has set me straight and I’m as close to a native as you can get.

But I feel like I have a much better—grounded, fuller, and possibly nuanced—idea about it. Assuming Friday wasn’t just blowing smoke about his own city. The mix of poverty and obnoxious wealth so close to each other; a city where super exclusive poker games are regular things for the mega-rich and Beyoncé listening parties are loud and joyfully raucous; and some third thing to really round out this list.

In keeping with the title of the book, I think we’re treated to some good Austin Vibes here. And I found that great. I don’t need another Chicago, NYC, LA, or Boston PI (not that I won’t read them!), I really like getting to know another city.

Why did I pick this up? Why did I keep reading?

I requested this from NetGalley because of the phrase in the blurb: “self-proclaimed ‘laziest private investigator in Texas.'” That was enough. Now, I’m not so sure I see him as all that lazy (yet), but that line was enough to get me interested.

Once I started reading, why did I stick with it? That’s really easy—the mystery was complex without getting convoluted, the writing was crisp and clear, the characters leapt off the page—and while Peter is woefully under-qualified to tackle the things he does in this book, somehow he gets by on instinct. That’s just fun to watch.

What does this book tell us about humanity?

All families are messy. Some families are messier than others. That’s really all it boils down to here.

The first family unit we meet in this book (a couple of brothers, plus the girlfriend of one brother) is messy enough that the prudes in the readership might wonder if they want to keep pushing on (I sure did). And, honestly? It turns out that they’re the healthiest family in the book. By a mile. (however, most will not engage the prude-reflex, I should assure you).

And yet—in some way—for most of them, the family bonds, the family loyalty, the impulse to turn to family, etc. is incredibly strong. Arguably, they are the strongest when it shouldn’t be. There are some who have severed that bond—for good or ill.

But for those who haven’t—this book shows focuses on the trouble that can bring—in multiple ways and levels.

So, what did I think about Killer Vibes?

It has been a good, long, time since I read a book that was so obviously a pilot for the rest of a series. It’s about establishing the character, getting him into a new city and trying to rebuild his life, getting involved with a PI to learn from, and then starting in that career—oh, and getting a dog. And as a pilot, it was great.

I do have high hopes for this series. But I think we’re really going to need book 2 to really get an idea what it’ll be like. This novel is too focused on Peter and his family to really get a sense for what kind of stories this is going to be made up of. We know a couple of the characters we should expect to see—Grady, his receptionist, Peter’s friend…but that’s really it. So we can make a guess or two, but…it’s hard to really know. And I’m okay with that. Killer Vibes was good enough that I’m back.

But let me focus on this as a novel. Boy howdy, this was good. As a person, Peter isn’t someone I want to get to know—I think I’d enjoy knowing them, but the getting acquainted part would be difficult for me. And I kind of felt that way about the character at the beginning, too—I was interested in what was going on with him. I also really wanted to see how he goes from the kind of petty criminal that season 1 Jesse Pinkman would look down on, to a PI by the end of the novel.

But the more time I spent with him and watching him navigate the dangerous situation he found himself in—the more I liked him. Even if you don’t like him as a character—he’s a fun bumbling amateur detective in way over his head. Nevertheless, he’s largely successful at it, too. And who can’t enjoy that?

The mysteries surrounding Peter, his house, and his uncle are rich ground for readers to immerse themselves in*. There’s really not a character that you don’t want a little more of (after chapter 2, anyway)—they’re colorful, they’re multilayered, many of them are witty, and they feel real. The stakes are believable. And Friday knows his way around pacing, plot turns/twists, and how to reveal answers/clues/partial answers in a mystery.

Killer Vibes had it all. Mystery readers are going to want to be sure they make time for this one this summer.

* I know you can’t immerse yourself in ground, but roll with it, will ya?

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for this post which contains my honest opinion—thanks to both for this.

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
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Just A Couple of Thoughts about Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

By HCNewton

On July 7, 2026

In Science Fiction

Artificial Condition

by Martha Wells

DETAILS:
Series: The Muderbot Diaries, #2
Publisher: Tordotcom
Publication Date: May 08, 2018
Format: Hardcover
Length: 158 pg.
Read Date: June 19, 2026

What’s Artificial Condition About?

For the first time in its existence, Murderbot is free to go where it wants (although it needs to be careful about where, so it’s not mistaken for a rogue unit), do what it wants, all for itself.

Somewhat surprisingly—at least that’s how I reacted for half-a-second and then it made total sense—it wants to go back to the mining colony where it killed so many humans to try to understand what happened. And how it relates to the hacking of its governor module.

Along the way, it befriends a transport vessel, and hires on to protect some scientists who are trying to take on a mega-corporation.

So, what did I think about Artificial Condition ?

Okay, so why did I sleep on this for so long? Yes, I should’ve just bought and read the entire series (available at the time) back in 2023 when I read All Systems Red. But I didn’t. Then I bought this one back in February 2025—and still didn’t read it until June.

I promise you, there has been much in the way of self-berating since I started reading this.

The novella is so short, that to give it my usual treatment seems like too much. So let me just cut to the chase:

Not only does Murderbot make a new friend (although the road to friendship was bumpy) with the transport ship it dubbed, ART. But there’s a connection made with another ‘bot, too. There’s a growing network of connections of beings with similar intelligence and interests (especially in episodic media) for our friend, and I’m enjoying it as much as I wonder where Wells is taking us with that notion.

The humans Murderbot tries to help this time aren’t quite at the same level as the PreservationAux crew when it comes to taking care of themselves—or at paying attention Murderbot. But it was good to see it try with others, even as what it learns about itself by interaction with them is a little sad.

On the other hand, watching Muderbot deal with humans who are trying to take advantage of his new group…well, that’s another kind of satisfying.

As much as I enjoyed the first of The Murderbot Diaries, this one really set the hook in . The character development was fantastic—as is watching its increasing self-awareness, and…well all the intangible stuff doing on with the former SecUnit. The narrative voice alone is worth coming back for—but there are a multitude of reasons to do so.

If you—like me—continue to sleep on this series. Quit it. You won’t be sorry.

MUSIC MONDAY: “The Body of an American” by Dropkick Murphys

By HCNewton

On July 6, 2026

In News/Misc.

The Irresponsible Reader's Music Monday logo

Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.

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Dead Men Don’t Play Fetch by David Rosenfelt: Recovery Programs, Dog Shelters, and Murder—It’s Right Up Andy Carpenter’s Alley

By HCNewton

On July 6, 2026

In A-F, Andy Carpenter, David Rosenfelt, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, P-U

Dead Men Don’t Play Fetch

by David Rosenfelt

DETAILS:
Series: Andy Carpenter, #32
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: July 7, 2026
Format: eARC
Length: 288 pg.
Read Date: June 26, 2026

What’s Dead Men Don’t Play Fetch About?

Andy gets called by an old acquaintance—one he feels indebted to. Lou Campanelli runs a rehab center, and one of the homeless gentlemen served there has been arrested for the murder of an eccentric billionaire. He’s in need of a defense attorney.

He’s also in need of someone to care for his dog.

Both of which are Andy Carpenter specialties.

Andy and his team come to a quick conclusion about their client’s innocence. But figuring out a defense for him…well, that’s going to take some work.

Why did I pick this up? Why did I keep reading?

I picked this up because after 31 books in the series, how do I not? Okay, I guess I have abandoned some series in the 20s. But those haven’t kept things as fresh, kept changing things (while not changing too much).

The banter between Andy and the other characters still works. Andy’s changing ideas about his work (earlier in the series he was just trying to do as little as possible, now he’s shifted to trying to retire. It’s a subtle difference, but it’s there). We’re getting to know some of these characters in new ways—even as the cast grows a little.

And the mysteries are still clever and the courtroom material never gets old.

What’s the Same? What’s Different?

As I alluded to above, to keep a series this long-running you have to balance changing things and keeping things the same to satisfy long-time fans without letting them tire of things.

Here’s a quick list of things that came to mind:
Marcus is a little more mysterious and dangerous than he’s been in the last few books. In fact, he might be his most dangerous here. He also makes a huge blunder—I’m not used to seeing that from him. I’m also not sure how it served the story. I need to think on this some more.

Sam and his hacking are reliable as ever—I’m glad that some of Andy’s crew are still uncomfortable with the legality of it, even if some of the others have given up caring.

Andy’s uneasy relationship with both the FBI and various organized crime groups continue—I wonder a little about the lengths he goes to with the latter in this book. How far is too far—and how long will he continue in the good graces of some of these mobsters?

We got very little of Edna this go-around, but the jokes made about her worked. Eddie Dowd was practically a non-entity as well. Which is a shame, he should be around for more than some of the behind-the-scenes legal work.

Not only do we have a good amount of action for the Tara Foundation here—which is always good to see—there’s discussion about the establishment of another dog rescue in town—and this one will be a nationwide chain. Rosenfelt obviously cares a lot for this kind of work, and it’s a pleasure to see him get the chance to dwell on it.

So, what did I think about Dead Men Don’t Play Fetch?

I really enjoyed this one—and really had a hard time stopping when I needed to go back to work after lunch—I’d have been much more content to finish the book then and there. Everything was firing on all cylinders for this book and It was just a pleasure to read.

Well…almost all cylinders were firing. There was a moment semi-early-on when one of the characters says something that didn’t make a lot of sense to me (I’m trying to be obscure here). After going back to check what had been said earlier with what this character said, it really seemed like a misstatement. Maybe Rosenfelt goofed and no editor picked it up. Or maybe because I had an ARC that it would be something to be fixed before the book hit the shelves.

But no. It was a clue. A very intentional thing by Rosenfelt. And boy, I felt sheepish. I really thought I was eagle-eyed by catching that. And, maybe I was. But I was so wrong in my understanding of it. Once I saw it as a clue (and no, I won’t tell you how far I was in the book before I realized that*), I really appreciated the way that Rosenfelt worked it in like he did. Even if the realization that I wasn’t so clever as I thought I was when the character goofed still smarted.

I guess everything was firing on all cylinders, but me.

It’s a clever mystery, perpetrated by believable people, with high stakes for all involved. The characters are fun and engaging. There’s really nothing more to ask for.

If Rosenfelt keeps going like this, I’m in for as many books as he cares to write. This would make a fine jumping-on point for those who like a good legal thriller (on the light side). It also works well for people who read some of the earlier books, but didn’t keep up. You’ll be fine jumping back in.

I encourage you all to do so.

* Very.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for this post which contains my honest opinion—thanks to both for this.

Fantasy with Friends: Should Magic Have a Cost in Fantasy Novels?

By HCNewton

On July 6, 2026

In Books, Fantasy with Friends, News/Misc.

Fantasy with Friends is a weekly meme hosted by the good people over at Pages Unbound. Fantasy with Friends poses questions each Monday about fantasy, either as a genre as a whole or individual works.

This week’s prompt is:

What are some of your favorite magical systems in fantasy? Do you like magic to be explained in detail or to be a bit vague? Do you think magic should have a “cost” or not?

I think the best way for me to tackle these three questions is all at once. But in general–I prefer magic to be at least a bit vague, otherwise it’s “science.” And I don’t know if it “should” have a cost, but most of the time, I enjoy it more when it does.

I really should’ve done more thinking ahead of time before trying to list favorite magic systems, I literally have no idea what I’m going to end up mentioning.

I really enjoy Newtonian magic as seen in The Rivers of London–and its cost to circuit boards and eventual cost to the brains of practitioners due to Thaumaturgical degradation. Although I have frequently been impatient at how long it takes Peter and others to make progress in learning the systems. At the same time, I’m intrigued by some of the other schools of magic that Peter is encountering.

On the other hand, the magic of Abercrombie’s The First Law is described so vaguely that it’s more mystery than system. Which reminds me of Tolkien’s lack of system (and, I believe, Shannara’s). It’s more magical if it can’t be explained by rules–it’s just something that happens in the way the user wants it to. There’s something inherently more interesting about that. (as fun as it is to wrap your brain around something).

I think Butcher gives us a good mix of mystery and rules in The Dresden Files and The Furies of Calderon. I think he’s on the way to giving us something similar in The Cinder Spires. Most of the cost there comes from exhaustion and the mental/physical toll taken in using it (oh, and to tech, too). You can learn a lot about the rules of this type of magic or that–here’s how potion-making work, here’s how fire magic works, etc. And then the Fury-based abilities of Calderon are just cool–even if it’s a little cheapened by everyone (except poor young Tavi) having some.

If there are rules to the magic in what Arcandius Moog does, I can’t see it. Which just makes it a joy to watch.

The clear divisions of magic abilities and classes in Benedict Jacka’s Alex Verus series are really cool to see. There are sort of rules to it all, but Jacka doesn’t give us a lot of info about it (which is just as good as there not being rules). We see how Alex uses his precognition, with a little bit of understanding of some of this allies’ abilities–but just some ideas.

Most of the magic in Jacka’s new series, Inheritance of Magic seems very rule-based, and is hard to describe as magic, it’s much more science-y. Now, I find it fascinating to watch Stephen’s autodidactic stumbling through it, don’t get me wrong. It’s just not as fun as the range-free stuff of others. The cost of this magic is primarily front-loaded, you have to have the right materials to form something–and I like that. Typically when I think of costs to magic, it’s personal cost to use it. But in this case, it’s about having all the stuff that goes into making a sigil.

That reminds me of the magic in Kevin Hearne’s Ink & Sigil books–there it’s about the materials, too. You have to know how to create the sigil, the right kind of inks to use, and then the best paper. The cost is simple–use a sigil and it’s gone. But as long as you have paper, ink, and a good pen–and the time to combine them–you’re good to go.

Then there’s the cost-heavy Seven Kennings trilogy by Hearne. Using magic takes time off of your life, people can age decades in a night if they use enough power. Seeing some people take those chances because they have to adds a lot to the drama of the situation. But it loses a few points for me by everyone having abilities.

Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution has a very set-in-stone (or a precious metal) system. R. F. Kuang does a decent job of setting that up and explaining it to the reader overall. Especially when you consider that the magic system is of so little importance to the book. The cost to that magic is more of a moral and ethical thing than anything else. And that’s maybe a greater cost than some of the others on this list.

One more and then I’ll get off this ramble. M.L. Wang’s Blood Over Bright Haven has a great system to its magic. I was utterly fascinated by it and wanted more and more of it–well, until a certain point in the book where the protagonist, Sciona, really figures out the system for the first time. Then it becomes fascinating and horrifying. And the costs? Unthinkable. But I won’t say more than that. We’re all better off not knowing.

Time prevents me from getting into Raistlin’s magic, or the Kingkiller Chronicles’, or Dark Lord Davi’s magic (as fun as that might be). Or any of the others that might come to mind as I ramble on. But I think this is enough free-associating as I scan my bookshelves (and skip over more books than I want to).

I look forward to seeing what other people writing on this have to say. I expect to be reminded of a handful of things I should’ve remembered for this post, and to get some leads on new-to-me books.

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Saturday Miscellany—7/4/26

By HCNewton

On July 4, 2026

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

It’s a tiny offering for you this week–which works out okay, because how many ‘Muricans are reading this today? (no offense to the handful of you who aren’t celebrating the Semiquincentennial).

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
bullet Readers’ Hit New Books of the Year (So Far)—from Goodreads, so take it with the amount of salt of your choice
bullet The Joy of Novellas—from The British Fantasy Society
bullet Lee Goldberg on His New Series Starter Whodunit, ‘Murder by Design’—a good profile of Goldberg. The first line describes him to a T (at least from what I know of him): “Lee Goldberg doesn’t want to change your life with his books, but he does want to entertain you.”
bullet Book Blogging in 2026: Survey Results—Jo Lindsdell’s most recent results. I thought I submitted my answers. Apparently not. Whoops.
bullet Let’s Not Turn Reading into a Sport—please let’s not do that. If it were a sport, I think by International Treaty or Natural Law I’d instantly be bad at it.

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet Quick Book Reviews with Philippa Hall Ep. 471: M.W. Craven on The Killer’s Mark Plus the Kindle That Saved a Life in Barcelona—I learned a bit more about Craven’s new book than I wanted to know before starting it, but I’m not complaining.
bullet SFF Addicts Ep. 209: Portal Fantasies with Seanan McGuire & Micaiah Johnson (Masterclass Panel)—I’m not quite finished with this episode yet, but it’s just fantastic. These two should be recurring guests.

My favorite sentence/passage/phrase (or two) that I read this week:
“‘The results almost never change.’
‘Almost. I hate when a sentence sounds so reassuring but then there’s that one word that just messes the whole thing up.””—Eyes of Empire by JCM Berne

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
bullet The Quest for Merlin: Magimakía by Rafael Lovato
bullet Let There Be Linda by Rich Leder
bullet Dorothy Must Die (Audiobook) by Danielle Paige, Devon Sorvarititle
bullet And I mentioned the releases of: A Hundred Thousand Worlds by Bob Proehl, Granted, Let There Be Linda by Rich Leder, The Quest for Merlin: Magimakía by Rafael Lovato , and In Twenty Years by Allison Winn Scotch.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet A City Dreaming by Maurice Broaddus—”the third book in [Broaddus’] Astra Black trilogy, which explores the struggles of an empire. Epic in scope and intimate in voice, it follows members of the Muungano Empire—a far-reaching coalition of city-states that stretches from Earth to Titan and beyond—as it faces renewed threats to its progress.” What I’ve seen about this really serves as an advertisement for the first two books, but I’ll take it.
bullet Slop by Jared Leys—Leys goes the extra mile to prove that humans are capable on their own to generate slop, no LLM needed, thank you very much.

image source: https://www.instagram.com/bookstrofficial

Looking Back at June 2026

By HCNewton

On July 3, 2026

In Books, Calendar Items, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

I finished 31 titles (7 up from last month, 9 up from last June). A great month for reading. The writing…eh, not so much. Particularly my review-ish posts. As I was putting this post together, I kept saying, “Self, this explains why you’re feeling behind. You are behind.”

At least I’m aware, eh? 10/10 for accuracy. 4/10 for productivity. But rather than focusing on self-flagellation, why don’t we look at what I did do here.

The Month in Reading

(thanks to Bookmory for the image)

TBR Piles

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read	NetGalley Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies
End of 2025	4	89	112	192	11
1st of the Month	2	92	133	201	8
Added	1	6	9	2	0
Read/ Listened	1	2	12	2	1
Current Total	2	96	130	201	7

My TBR Range

If you actually want to be able to read that, click on the chart for a larger version.
Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 27
Self-/Independent Published: 4

Genre	This Month	Year to Date
Children’s	3 (10%)	17 (11%)
Fantasy	4 (13%)	24 (15%)
General Fiction/ Literature	2 (6%)	16 (10%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	8 (26%)	39 (25%)
Non-Fiction	4 (13%)	14 (9%)
Science Fiction	5 (16%)	17 (11%)
Theology/ Christian Living	4 (13%)	14 (9%)
Urban Fantasy	0 (0%)	13 (8%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western)	1 (3%)	2 (1%)

Review-ish Things Posted
Books of the Month

Other Recommended Reads

Other Things I Posted

Spotlights/Cover Reveals

Music Mondays

WWW Wednesdays

Saturday Miscellanies

Enough about me—how Was Your Month?

Captivating Character of June: Vigga Ullasdottr/Vigga-Wolf

By HCNewton

On July 3, 2026

In Books, Miscellany, News/Misc.

It’s the first Friday of the month, so my Most Captivating Character of the Month post is a week late. For June, I’ve selected a character from Joe Abercrombie’s The Devils. I really could’ve picked just about everyone in that novel, but one character stood out to me. Vigga Ullasdottr, sometimes known as Vigga-Wolf (for reasons I will get into). Not only is she captivating, she’s in the running for my favorite new-to-me character of the year. I didn’t mention her when I posted about The Devils yesterday, because revealing her would be taking something away from one of the first reveals of the book (although to be fair, I really didn’t mention many characters). You’ve been warned–if you read on, it’ll take away a little from that reveal (but it’s not vital to the book).

Vigga grew up in a Norse village with a cruel mother. And she was, at best, a troubled child who tended to create havoc (unintentionally). At some point, she was bitten by a werewolf…and well, things go downhill from there for her. In her wolf form, she’s even more unstable than she is as a human. So much so that the people of her village cover her in tattoos warning others about her.

By the time we meet her, she’s living a dissolute life–or was before being captured by the Church and made part of the Chapel of the Holy Expediency’s congregation.

In battle, when she lets her wolf go, she’s essentially a berserker– her ferocity, her strength, her bloodlust, her savage nature– it’s something to behold.

Sure, you could say that she’s a gender-swapped version of Logen Ninefingers/The Bloody-Nine. And she really is. But also, she’s more–she’s deeper, she’s aware of her shortcomings, and frequently wants to change them. But she’s also easily distracted (think Dory with a homicidal streak) and prone to self-pity, so…it’s hard to say.

“I’d like to see the light,” said Vigga. “Folk keep trying to show it to me.”

But most of all, she’s just fun to read. Her personality (both of them) shines forth and charms the reader. Sure, the Vigga-Wolf is frightening and near-mindless. But in context…it makes sense. But as Vigga, she’s heartbreaking, fun, and inspirational (and someone you can laugh at). All in all, she’s captivating.

What character would you name for last month?

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The Devils by Joe Abercrombie: Sometimes It’s Difficult to Tell Who’s on the Right Side, and Who the Wrong—

By HCNewton

On July 2, 2026

In Fantasy, Fiction

The Devils

by Abercrombie

DETAILS:
Series: The Devils, #1
Publisher: Tor Books
Publication Date: May 13, 2025
Format: Hardcover
Length: 560 pgs.
Read Date: June 3-8, 2026

“The missions assigned to the Chapel of the Holy Expediency are like the members of the congregation–each awful in its own special way.”

What’s The Devils About?

So a monk is called to the Sacred City and is given a new assignment, to serve the Chapel of the Holy Expediency. This particular congregation is given special missions for The Church, typically of the supernatural variety. Oh, I should mention that the congregation is made up of a necromancer, a vampire, an elf, a warrior who is cursed to remain alive, and so on. The monk that “leads” the missions seems to be a rotating door, with few surviving long (Brother Diaz doesn’t really grasp this until he’s been on his first mission for a bit).

This is kind of a Suicide Squad of a congregation–sent to deal with the biggest threats facing The Church and the Western kingdoms. Although it could be argued that Amanda Waller’s penalty for disobedience is kinder–definitely quicker–than the Pope’s. Oh, right–when the members of the congregation are sent on a mission, a binding is placed on them to keep them on-task. The discipline that binding imposes is…disturbing.

The mission that this book centers around is taking a certain street thief to Troy. This thief, it turns out, is a long-lost princess and the rightful Empress of the Eastern Kingdom. The Chapel of the Holy Expediency is to escort her to Troy and get her enthroned safely, in the hopes that she’ll be more amenable to negotiations with the West than others there happen to be. She has several new-to-her family members who want her stopped (permanently) so they can get the crown, so it won’t be easy.

The Alternate History of it All

Ignoring the fact that vampires, elves, necromancers, and so on exist, this is very much our world. With a few differences–Troy won that particular war and is a dominant city in the region (poor Constantinople), Carthage is the dominant Western culture/city (even after its “fall”), and a few other things that I’ll leave you to find.

I (or someone with greater focus and better historical knowledge) could write an entire post or two about the Alternate History that Abercrombie creates here. This is a 1400s (or was it 1300s) Europe that is recognizable—but not. There are so many small, small details that he tweaks that have giant repercussions.

There’s an argument to be made that Abercrombie went too far with his Alternate version of the Church. The Western Church looks very much like our Western Church of the time, as does the Eastern Church. The schism between the two was similar, too. But there are significant differences—God’s Daughter was sent to Earth and was executed on the wheel. In addition to differences about the understanding of the Trinity (the third member of which was never mentioned), there’s a difference in the makeup of the clergy—only male priests or either male and female? Also, the Pope is a female.

And so on—there are other differences between our Church(es) and this book’s—but I’ll leave at that. For me, it became clear that not only is this a Fantasy world that looks a lot like ours, but isn’t. It’s a religion that looks a lot like ours, but really isn’t—in much the same way that the church of The First Law, A Song of Ice and Fire, or The Gentleman Bastards aren’t ours. If you can accept those—you should have no problem with this one.

Why did I pick this up? Why did I keep reading?

I heard an interview or two with Abercrombie around the time this was released last year—before the first interview was over, I was more than ready to buy it. And I did—I just didn’t have time to get to it. And once I learned our Fantasy Book Club was going to be discussing it in June, I stopped trying and just waited.

Why did I stick with it? It was funny, intriguing, engaging…and all the other glowing things I’m probably going to say in the last section. You could ignore all that and just focus on the Alternate History of it all, and would find enough to keep going.

I can’t understand why someone wouldn’t keep going once they picked it up (although I’m sure it’s happened—tastes differ).

What does this book tell us about humanity?

“Tell me… the elves. Are they really as bad as they say?”

“I have come to think . . . that they are no worse than men.” Jakob took a long breath. “So . . . yes.”

Everyone we meet, and I mean everyone–if even for a half-page–is in some ways a monster. Or a devil, if you want to get titular about it. There’s not a single white hat to be found anywhere. Some hats come in shades of gray, with very dark patches–piebald, I guess.

This is a recurrent theme–recurrent seems to be putting it mildly. Think of Spidey’s “With Great Power…”–especially in some of the movie versions. You just get beat over the head with it. By the time we get to that quotation above, Jakob’s line lost a little of its punch because any semi-conscious reader would’ve come to the same conclusion.

But also–and this is the important thing–there’s hope for everyone to tame their monster, to mend their ways, to get their devil to repent. We see examples of that throughout the book–some in small ways, some larger. It’s nice to see that this isn’t completely bleak.

So, what did I think about The Devils?

You can stack your doubts high before. You can polish your regrets up after. But while the fight’s on, your purpose must be pure. Kill the enemy. Don’t die yourself.

It was better than I expected—and I had high expectations. Premise; tone; characters; humor; execution of the premise; fight scenes; setting up the series/sequel; satisfying turns in the story; twists you couldn’t (but arguably should’ve seen coming); twists you sort of expected but still rocked you when they came up; fight scenes; fun twists on fantasy races; cool magic; cool magic in fight scenes…check, check, check, check, and check. (Okay, I left out some checks there, but you get the point).

Abercrombie has well demonstrated his ability to give his readers a good battle scene. Granted, I haven’t read everything he’s written, so I could be disproven here. But I think he went above and beyond his standard. If only for length. I read one review that said the final battle went on for 80 pages. I didn’t go back to check, but that sounds right. And even if that writer was wrong–zowie, the fact that he could write that and be close to right says a lot about the sequence. And it was so, so good.

Abercrombie’s twisted brand of humor is on full display here–there’s plenty of low-brow jokes (the binding the Pope puts on the congregation has, um, intense intestinal feedback for those who attempt to stray from the task), some clever dialogue, some character moments that make you laugh out loud, and…a few other types of humor that I can’t remember.

The book club discussion about this book was one of the more united conversations that I’ve been around for in the meetings:

Person 1: “What did you think about X?”
Person 2: “Oh, X was so great because Y.”
Person 3: “Not only Y, but Z and W!”
Person 2: “Oh….right, W! And the way that W led to V? Come on…”
Person 4: “And then the joke that was there about U?”
[general chuckling]

Repeat that for about an hour. I mean, it’s a generally supportive and non-confrontational group in the first place. But this meeting was a love-fest. There was more picking at bits of beloved Legends and Lattes for crying out loud.

And honestly, I could go on and on along those lines. But no one wants to read that…and I’m not sure when I could get myself to stop. So, I’ll just try to sum it up here: if you’re a fantasy reader who loves a little snark, a good deal of violence, and fantastic characters, you want to read The Devils. End of story.