The Devils
#1084.20 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Ongoing 2025–present Reading commitment Low Joe Abercrombie Last reviewed 2026-08-19
Overview
The Devils is Joe Abercrombie's third universe, separate from The First Law and Shattered Sea. It is a grimdark fantasy series opening with a 2025 novel of the same name, following a band of misfits (including a vampire, a werewolf, and a necromancer) sent on a mission by the Church. Only the first book has been published so far. Brother Diaz, a monk newly appointed to lead a secret taskforce of supernatural operatives for the church, must escort Alex, a street orphan believed to be the rightful heir to a fractured throne, across a war-torn medieval European landscape while holding his volatile team together. The ensemble draws openly on classic horror archetypes -- an immortal, an elf, a werewolf, a vampire baron, a rogue, and a necromancer among them -- filtered through Abercrombie's established taste for morally compromised anti-heroes and brutal action set-pieces. Reviewers responded largely positively to the colorful cast and violent action, though some found the pacing uneven through a slower middle stretch and the tone more knowingly "popcorn" than the grim intensity of Abercrombie's earlier First Law work.
Grimdark · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
The Devils Joe Abercrombie
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Devils | 2025 | 1 | core | 4.20 (86,091 ratings) |
Only the first book of a planned series has been published; further volumes are not yet recorded.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Devils? The Devils's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is The Devils finished? Ongoing (2025–present).
- How much reading does The Devils take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book · ~547 pages).
- How is The Devils ranked? #108 in this site's official ranking, based on 86,091 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #108?
Ranked #108 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.20 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (86,091 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #107, The Phantom Tollbooth (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
- A single standalone novel: ranked on that one book alone.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 1 book · Ongoing · 86k ratings · Ranks #108 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment grimdark fantasy universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what The Devils and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- The Blacktongue Thief Grimdark / Sword & sorcery · Ongoing · Low commitment · 4.19
- First Law World Grimdark · Complete · High commitment · 4.33
- Ash and Sand Grimdark / Epic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.30
- The Nevernight Chronicle Dark fantasy / Grimdark · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.29
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.20 across 86,091 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit The Devils (Joe Abercrombie) accepted 2026-08-19
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia entry: The Devils (Abercrombie novel) Tier 3
- Rating-platform listing: The Devils Tier 3
- https://bibliosanctum.com/2025/05/20/book-review-the-devils-by-joe-abercrombie/
Last reviewed: 2026-08-20
Rule: Registered as a single-author sequence, Core Canon. Only the published first book is recorded.