I absolutely loved this book, so much so that I'd probably consider it my favorite book I've read so far this year. I'm not sure I liked it quite as much as the original First Law Trilogy, but I think that this is my favorite of the standalone books from Joe Abercrombie. I loved the setting inspired classic Westerns, especially since it's in the First Law world with multiple returning characters. Perhaps because of it being a Spaghetti Western Fantasy Adventure Novel, there really isn't anything magical or fantastical in Red Country, other than a very brief cameo from a Wizard that I believe was in one of the previous stories. In fact, this book could probably be placed in the Western section, if it wasn't for the presence of swords instead of bowie knives, cross-bows instead of six-shooters, and the fact that it takes place in a secondary world, not the western United States. This book is instead driven by the wonderful original characters, excellent writing, and the rather simple but heart wrenching powerful story. I really only had two problems with Red Country, the first is just the basic formatting, where for some reason in his books all of the quotes only have one apostrophe instead of the normal two. It really took me awhile to get used to it, and until then the flow of my reading was effected, especially with some of the vernacular using apostrophes and having some of the viewpoint character's thoughts following right after someone else's comment. My other problem with the book isn't exactly a problem as it leads to some of my favorite scenes in the book, but in a fantasy book that's more realistic/gritty, the extreme amount of coincidences that fuel the story and interactions are a bit problematic. I'd say that it almost borders on being driving solely by Fate or Prophecy, even though that doesn't seem to be part of the story/world-building. I just found that the way everything falls perfectly into the place (sometimes horribly) at exactly the right moment to be a little odd, and it occasionally took me a little out of the story, it also made some of the outcomes of the story slightly predictable.If you look solely at Red Country, the world building is very slim. This is great for the long-term reader/fan of Abercrombie's books as there isn't any retread as the author tries to provide an info-dump to attempt to catch every reader up (new and old), but it's also great for a new reader as there really isn't anything they would need to know other than what's outlined at the beginning of the book. Basically, the western part of the continent is starting to be repopulated, partly by settlers looking for a new life, but mostly by people betting their lives on finding gold along with other people waiting to prey on them. Things are further complicated by the presence of savages (Indians) unhappy with the incursion of civilization and the two super-powers of the world (The Union and the Empire) hoping to lay claim on this fertile newish land. There are multiple main characters with interweaving stories, but the main driving storyline is initiated by the rampant kidnapping of children and the murder of anyone else that gets in their way. The child thieves happen to steal the wrong pair of children, as their older sister and step-father (whose pasts are riddled with bloodshed) will stubbornly follow them to the ends of the earth. This part of the story, especially near the beginning, is immensely powerful as they follow the bloody trail of the kidnappers, cleaning up the messes they made by burying all of the bodies they find, praying that the next body they turn around won't be one of their kids. After a bit, they group up with a wagon trail, and the story slows down a bit, but I still really loved the section as it evolved the characters and really increased the Western feel of the story. The other storyline in Red Country focuses on a mercenary company that's been sent by the Union to oust all of hiding rebels and bring the territory under Union control. Sadly, whenever you throw a couple hundred blood thirsty warriors at a problem, it tends to end in bloodshed along with rampant pillaging. The time with the mercenaries was entertaining, but it wasn't as good as the main story, however it does introduce an excellent and completely original viewpoint character in the Merc Company's Lawyer/Jack-of-all-trades. I won't go into any more depth in regards to the story to avoid spoilers, but I will say that I loved it, and while the ending is far from perfect it was still very enjoyable and expertly crafted.The writing in this book is superb, and I really don't have anything to complain about. The flow of the writing is great, with the book being a real page turner, although occasionally an expertly written scene or line would break me out of the flow where I was forced take time to recognize its majesty. There are a few odd choices made with the name of the characters though. I won't describe who exactly I'm talking about as it would be a spoiler, but there are a few returning characters whose true names are never spoken. Some of them are smaller, and this caused me to not exactly remember them, but another is huge, and even when who he is was made abundantly clear, it was odd that his name was never actually said. By the way, for anyone that had previously read Abercrombie's books but wasn't sure about picking up Red Country, the presence of this awesome character is enough by itself to warrant a purchase and read-through of the book. The action here is very well written, but it was a bit odd that none of the main viewpoint characters were really the heroes/fighters in the story; I mean they still take part in the battles but it's usually in more of a secondary capacity. Abercrombie does a really interesting thing every once in a while, where for an important event there will be multiple rotating viewpoints to get different angles/opinions on the unfolding event. It could be a little jarring since for most of the book the reader is riding along with one character per chapter and there aren't many main viewpoints, but I still really enjoyed the change in pace this writing tactic created. Those viewpoint characters are amazingly original and well written, and the only other author that I've seen come close to having such completely different characters (especially if you include Abercrombie's previous books) is George R.R. Martin. The voice really feels completely different between the characters, and to me they have to be so unlike the author that I find it amazing that he can make them so real and believable.So overall, I would strongly recommend this book to anyone that likes to read, whether they're fantasy fans or are new to the genre, whether they've read the previous books from Joe Abercrombie or are new to his masterpieces. I will say that if you've read his previous books, you will get a lot more out of Red Country, but it just improves the reading experience, and I don't think it would harm the quality of the story for a new reader. It may also provide an interesting experience if the reader goes back and starts the First Law Trilogy, as they can see younger versions of some of the characters in action. I simply loved reading this book, so much so that I was kind of sad when I was done, especially since I know it could potentially be awhile before I can read a new book in this world.