And yet, he is hilarious.
In the Age of Madness trilogy, we get Prince Orso. At first glance, he seems like Jezal 2.0—a lazy, womanizing, cynical prince who makes jokes during his father’s funeral. But Orso has a hidden depth: he is genuinely kind. He treats servants well. He hates violence. And because he is kind in a world of wolves, he suffers more than any other character. Orso’s final speech is perhaps the most heartbreaking moment Abercrombie has ever written, proving that being a "good man" is the surest way to lose the game of thrones. No article on Abercrombie characters is complete without mentioning the darkly comic duo of Glokta’s "practicals." Frost, a massive, silent man with a cleft palate who speaks in grunts and loves to carve flesh. Severard, a thin, sly bird-keeper who wears a mask of flayed skin. joe abercrombie characters
As Logen Ninefingers would say: "Once you've got a task to do, it's better to do it than live with the fear of it." And reading an Abercrombie character is doing exactly that—staring into the fear, the folly, and the dark humor of being alive. And yet, he is hilarious
But plot twists and gritty battle scenes are not what keep readers coming back. It is the characters. Abercrombie writes people who feel alarmingly, uncomfortably real. They are liars, torturers, cripples, cowards, and narcissists. They fail constantly. They relapse into bad habits. And yet, by the final page, you might just love them. But Orso has a hidden depth: he is genuinely kind
In the sprawling landscape of modern fantasy, few authors have earned a reputation as sharply earned as Joe Abercrombie. Dubbed "Lord Grimdark" by his fans, Abercrombie is famous for subverting tropes, deconstructing heroism, and bathing his worlds in a cynical, muddy grey.
On the surface, Logen is the wise, weary barbarian trying to be a better man. He repeats a mantra: "You have to be realistic about these things." He is kind to children, loyal to his friends, and just wants to go home.
Once a dashing, arrogant military hero, Glokta was captured and tortured for years by the Gurkish Empire. Now, he is a crippled Inquisitor for the Union’s Inquisition. He limps through the streets of Adua using two canes, his face a ruin of missing teeth and scar tissue. He is a torturer. He is a monster.