The Devils is the newest novel of Joe Abercrombie, kickstarting his eponymous dark fantasy (with historical touches) series, published by Gollancz. I've been a big fan of Abercrombie since his First Law series, and especially after The Age of Madness series, so it's fair to say I was pretty excited about this one, and I can say it didn't disappoint, bringing us an excellent story with a band of misfits having to travel across an alternative version of the dark-ages Europe (and I can't stress enough how much I loved the worldbuilding) to perform what is the Savior's will, putting a street thief in the throne of Troy; an excellent excuse to unravel a fun yet compelling adventure around redemption through acts, found family and the weight of duty.

If there's something you can always expect from Abercrombie is memorable characters, and that's not different in this one, parting from the idea of a sort of Suicide Squad trying to do the unholy work for the Church, searching for redemption; as a result, we have a band of mismatched and picturesque ragtags, who eventually grow into the reader. I can totally see how each person will have their own favourite, but all of them are memorable.
Not only we have the brother Diaz, who could be called a library rat having to confront the real world, forced to leader a group whose members are all but what the Church approves; and Alex, a street thief that apparently is the heir to the throne of Troy (and honestly, her family is not too fond when they discover she's alive), but the rest of the group is totally a motley crew. Baron Rikard, a vampire with a great practical sense and an ability to charm; Sunny, an elf working for those that condemn her; Balthazar, a really fond of himself sorcerer (or magician, depends on who you ask); Jacob, a soldier whose curse makes him unable to die; and Baptiste, that handy friend that has an anecdote and experience with everything (she totally steals the show, it's too good). They will stay in your mind after you close the book, and especially, seeing how the group passes from being against their will to almost becoming a family, friends that will fight for the other is a trope that I always love.

Our adventure across this alternative Europe takes us in a series of smaller episodes (mostly provoked by Alex's relatives) that are the perfect excuse to show how our crew deals with the problems, with plenty of action and not always resorting to the most orthodox methods (at the end, the Chappel of Holy Expediency is an oddity across the Church). Holy missions sometimes require unholy help; and through them, we get to know our band, watching how they grow fond of the others, going further than they need to protect the others (and some unexpected lust also). 

The world of The Devils is another of the highlights for me: not only because features a genderbent version of the Christianity, with interesting theological points, but also getting the most of this alternative dark ages Europe, devastated by plague and famine, and under the threat of the elves. Divided in two by a theological schism, with bells tolling for the end of the world; a chaos that makes the travel an authentic odyssey.
As usual with Abercrombie, the prose is sharp, and you can expect the usual dark humour tied with a dose of cynicism; the pacing is really agile, not letting much time to breathe between events, making this a novel easy to devour.

I don't feel I can do justice to how much I loved The Devils, but if you are into dark fantasy with a world inspired by alt-history and like Suicide Squad like groups, this is a novel for you. I can't wait to continue reading about their adventures while exploring more parts of the world, because we need more holy missions for our group!