Hugonauts: The Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time The Devils by Joe Abercrombie - Monsters, the Pope, and a hell of a lot of good jokes!
May 5, 2026
A rollicking dive into a supernatural alternate-history heist where the Vatican recruits a werewolf, a vampire, and a deathless soldier. Conversation hits the book's shift from grim to comic, the motley crew's dynamics, and the sharp, recurring refrains that make the humor land. They also compare action scenes to earlier work and mull over religion, power, and which readers will love this fun, violent romp.
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Meet The Motley Monster Crew
- The core team includes a Viking werewolf Viga, vampire Baron Ricard, corpse magician Balthazar, and undying soldier Jakob, led by naive Brother Diaz.
- Brent lists these characters to show the book's monsters-vs-monsters heist setup and its comic tone.
Action As Character Revealer
- Abercrombie's fight scenes work because they inhabit a single POV and use action to reveal character, not just choreography.
- Cody notes fights follow an emotional arc: tension, seeming success, collapse, then pulling victory from defeat, making each set piece satisfying.
Try One Fight Before Dismissing Prose Action
- If you dislike action in prose, still try Abercrombie because his POV-driven scenes can change your mind.
- Cody recommends readers who usually avoid action give the first big fight a chance; it hooked him into staying up late to read.
