The Devils Books in Order

Joe Abercrombie spent nearly twenty years crafting the muddy, bloody history of the Circle of the World. That is a lifetime in publishing years. With The Devils, he finally steps away from the First Law universe to build something entirely fresh from the ground up. There are no familiar names here, no returning cameos, and no homework required. It is a completely new sandbox, and he seems to be having a ridiculous amount of fun playing in it.

The setup screams high-concept thriller. Imagine a holy institution that holds absolute power, yet finds itself in a desperate bind. They have a job that needs doing—a job so dangerous and morally gray that none of their righteous paladins can touch it. When the church needs to fight fire with fire, they don't call the angels. They call the monsters.

So, they empty the deepest, darkest cells of their dungeons.

Leading this chaotic circus is Brother Diaz, a monk who probably wishes he was back in a quiet library somewhere. Instead, he is essentially forced to act as a darker, unluckier version of a handler. His job is to keep the team focused on the mission and, ideally, keep them from eating the general population. It is not an easy task when your team consists of legendary threats like a vampire with an attitude problem, a werewolf, and a knight laboring under a terrible curse.

The narrative structure leans heavily into the energy of a heist movie or a Cold War spy novel, just with more swords and sorcery. The group is tasked with escorting a high-value target—a young boy with significant importance—across a continent ravaged by the proximity of elves and magic. It is a road trip story at heart, but one where every rest stop involves a life-or-death struggle against magical horrors or rival factions.

Readers accustomed to the sprawling, multi-POV political chess games of his earlier work might be surprised by the pacing here. This series is designed to be tighter and faster. It trades slow-burn geopolitical maneuvering for immediate, punchy action sequences and sharp dialogue.

Ultimately, The Devils captures that specific Abercrombie magic: finding the humanity in the worst people imaginable. It is violent and gritty, certainly, but it is also laugh-out-loud funny. The chemistry between the misfits drives the story, proving that sometimes the only people crazy enough to save the world are the ones who were trying to destroy it.