Joe Abercrombie describes his work as “unheroic fantasy”, a beautifully turned phrase which it’s hard to better if you need to quickly sum up Best Served Cold. Put simply, there are no gallant, selfless or likeable characters in Abercombie’s first standalone novel – yet somehow, you find yourself rooting for many of them. The basic plot, as the title clearly suggests, is a classic quest for revenge, but it’s in the execution, with a gleeful disregard for the ever-growing body count, and in the flawed characters, that Abercrombie’s talent shines.
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Riam Dean has a prosthetic arm that attaches at the elbow, and she typically wears a sweater to cover the prosthetic. While A&F employees are required to wear jeans and a polo shirt, she was given permission to wear a white cardigan while working on the floor. But only a few days after she started work, the store was paid a visit by the “visual team.” This group’s purpose is to sure the shop and its staff look up to code. One of the members of the team demanded she take off the cardigan, but she insisted she had permission to wear it. Nevertheless, she was asked by management to continue her employment in the stockroom, far out of the public eye. Management claimed that she “violated the ‘Look Policy,” which is an imperative part of working for such a prestigious clothing outlet. As if she could help the fact that she is, unfortunately, missing an arm. Totally her fault, I suppose. The nerve. Pssh.
A&F has never been a stranger to discrimination suits; one was recently settled in the US for discrimination during the hiring process in that they would allegedly only hire “young and beautiful” men and women to work in their stores.
Abercrombie and Fitch recently announced it will pull the plug on its RUEHL chain, a concept with 29 stores in high-profile malls across the country that targeted well-heeled consumers in their 20s. Abercrombie blamed “the severe economic downturn” for sinking the stores, which launched in 2004, generating an operating loss of $58 million during the company’s prior fiscal year.
But maybe it’s not just the economy’s fault in this case. REUHL is just another example long line of concepts rolled out by established chains over the last few years that were either closed or abandoned. The lesson here is that some of these retailers might be better off sticking to their core concepts instead of pushing ever more demographic-specific options out to the consumer.
Shivers is the only character in Best Served Cold making a conscious effort to be a better person. The trouble, as he discovers, is that death follows Monza Murcatto around like a faithful companion – and one revenge scheme after another comes to define the word ‘overkill’. Along the way, there are plenty of double-crosses and revelations that give us opportunities to re-evaluate our initial impressions of the characters, not least Monza’s deceased brother, and the action shifts from one city to another, all in the midst of the ongoing civil war in which Monza made her name as a mercenary.
Best Served Cold exhibits abercrombie’s trademark black humour in spades, and the standalone novel form provides him with ample opportunity to show off his plotting skills – but don’t let the glibness fool you, the author and his characters do recognise the terrible nature of the violence being described, and don’t try to downplay the human cost. It’s a testament to Abercrombie’s skill as a storyteller that he can, over the course of your acquaintance with them, make you care about generals, assassins, cut-throats, barbarians, poisoners and (worst of all?) politicians so much, and in spite of their dubious deeds. Best Served cold is definitely this author’s best work to date, and I would be very happy to see him continue in this vein when he returns to the wonderful world he has created.
Abercrombie Mens
Abercrombie Womens
