There are no heroes in this book; each protagonist is a villain from the opponent’s perspective and vice versa. Although The Heroes can be read as a standalone, and it indeed has a self-contained story, I strongly suggest that you read The First Law trilogy and Best Served Cold first. This is crucial; many side characters from the first trilogy and Best Served Cold played a bigger role this time. Bremer dan Gorst, for example, has become one of the main POV characters in this book. There’s a huge cast of characters in The Heroes, and Abercrombie made sure to introduce the characters to the readers first. Readers need to feel invested in the characters first, and this, I feel, has been successfully delivered. As expected, Abercrombie’s characterizations towards his variety of characters—both returning and new characters—were incredible. The character development of the six main POV characters was outstanding; whether physically or mentally, almost every character in the novel ended up being changed by the three days of mayhem. There is no exception; war changes you. My other favourite character was Curnden Craw. Craw was a really atypical Abercrombie protagonist: an honourable man in a world without honour. His interactions with his 'dozen' were a really cool study in the camaraderie and trust that develops between soldiers in war and was one of my favourite parts of the book. It also reminded me of the Northman crew in the original trilogy. (I loved those guys and was super bummed about how the trilogy ended for them). 'Red' Bek provided interesting parallels to the typical Abercrombie characters with bloody pasts. His desire to be a warrior followed by his experiences of the horrors of war provided a nice contrast to the cynicism and experience of the hardened warriors who comprise the main cast. As a sidenote I didn't understand the point of Corporal Tunny. He didn't interact with any of the other main characters and didn't have any real effect on the battle. Brittle weren’t sure whether to be pleased or not as Feathers’ corpse flopped over and over into the water. On the sunny side it looked like he was at the front of Golden’s whole crew now. On the shady, there was a strange-looking bastard bearing down on him, well armoured and well horsed, short sword and the reins in one hand, long sword ready in the other, catching the sun and glistening with Feathers’ blood. He had a plain round helmet with a slot in the front to see through and nothing but a big mouthful of gritted teeth showing below it. Riding at Golden’s cavalry all on his own while the rest of the Union fled the other way. On coming to after the war I found myself stumbling on lines I had already read in before the war. Was this laziness on the authors part? Or was he saying this is just an endless cycle. Is before and after the war the same thing as after one war at some point becomes before another war?

As it is war, so there are tons of characters and with them lay the beauty of the book. its the story of famous names, fallen and new names. its the story of people who are strong headed, cruel, ambitious, self-centered, vicious and people who knows how to survive a war. And Abercrombie has done a wonderful job of doing justice to every character in this book.

From all Abercrombie's books that I've read, this book is by far my favourite, its a military fantasy with a dash of politics, this book is in five parts, Before the battle, day one to three of battles then after the battle, the whole book is filled with gruesome explicit battle, it was awesome, the detailing is what I love most. Do not even get me started on the characters, almost all of them are morally ambiguous, I can count on one hand the number of actual good people in this book. En cuanto un hombre está bajo tierra, ya sólo es barro. Barro e historias. Y las historias y los hombres de las que éstas surgen no suelen tener mucho en común" It's a dark book, with rough characters and some pretty gorey deaths. Ambercrombie does a great job with his battle scenes, showing the confusion of war and the costs of being a hero. Abercrombie nació para esto, tiene un don para escribir y regalarnos joyas así. No solo a nivel narrativo es muy bueno, lo que escribe por muy enrevesado, detallado o complicado que pueda llegar a ser, él consigue que el lector lo lea de forma ágil y fluida. After the fighting subsides, the two sides do agree to peace-talks. Dow uncovers Calder's plotting, but is goaded into a trial by combat. Stepping into the circle, Dow doesn't even break a sweat against Calder, but insults his enforcer, Caul Shivers, one too many times. Shivers splits Dow’s skull with his own sword, and Calder is unexpectedly declared the winner. In the peace-talks, the cunning Calder plans to deliberately stall, knowing the Union’s impatience to deal with other enemies will get him better terms. Unfortunately, that night, he is abducted by Bayaz, who explains his ulterior motives for the entire war and all the lives lost; to rearrange the leadership in the North. With Dow out of the way, Calder will serve as his puppet King of the Northmen.

Lasmark sprang at the shield with the bridge, for some reason barely taking note of the man behind it. Perhaps he wanted to pretend there was no man behind it. His sword instructor would have been livid with him. Before he got there a spear caught his breastplate, sent him stumbling. The point scraped past and he swung at the man who thrust it, an ugly-looking fellow with a badly broken nose. The sword split his skull open and brains flew out. It was surprisingly easy to do. Swords are heavy and sharp, he supposed, even cheap ones.The year is now 584 AU, it’s been four years after the events in Best Served Cold. The entire setting of The Heroes takes place in The Valley of Osrung in the North, located between Uffrith and Carleon. The story revolves around the three bloody days of the climactic battle between the Union and the North. That’s it; this is the main plot of the book. The Heroes is thoroughly a military grimdark fantasy; Abercrombie doesn’t shy away from displaying the horror of war, both physically and mentally, to the participants of the battles. The preparation, the wars, plus the aftermath of each battle were written magnificently. It was utterly impressive how gradual the flow of the book felt; the intensity of the war became more palpable with each passing day. In the next novel, "The Flavor of Vengeance" he tells a classic story of revenge but with a decidedly unpleasant and hard to digest protagonist. Then "The Heroes" arrives and the applause starts again. Los héroes es la novela más densa que he leído por el momento de La primera ley. Además, si yo pensaba que en la primera trilogía bien no sucedía nada a lo largo de las páginas, esta novela se lleva la guinda del pastel. Estás advertido. He rolled stiffly over, groaning. His sword was gone, his right hand red raw. Twisted from his grip as he fell. The blade his father had given him the day he received his commission in the King’s Own. So proud. He wondered if his father would have been proud now. He was in among trees. The orchard? He had abandoned his regiment. Or had they abandoned him? The rules of military behaviour, so unshakeable a foundation until a few moments ago, had vanished like smoke in a breeze. It had happened so fast.

Wetterlant simply turned away. ‘We stand! We stand and fight!’ He was a proud man of a proud family, and he would stand. He would stand until the bitter end, if necessary, and die fighting with sword in hand, as his grandfather was said to have done. He would die under the regimental colours. Well, he wouldn’t, in fact, because that boy he ran through had torn them from the pole when he fell. But Wetterlant would stand, there was no question. He had often told himself so. Usually while admiring his reflection in the mirror after dressing for one official function or another. Straightening his sash.I bloody know,’ gasped Lasmark, no breath to spare for moaning now, ‘I can’t hear a word he’s … oh.’