Previous SFF Author: Chelsea Abdullah
Joe Abercrombie (born 1974) was educated at the all-boy Lancaster Royal Grammar School, where he spent much of his time playing computer games, rolling dice, and drawing maps of places that don’t exist. He studied psychology at Manchester University and became a freelance film editor. After writing his first fantasy novel, The Blade Itself, Joe became a finalist for the John W. Campbell award for best new writer. He lives in Bath with his wife and daughters. Here’s Joe Abercrombie’s website.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE STORIES BY JOE ABERCROMBIE.
Today I’d like to welcome Joe Abercrombie to Fantasy Literature. Joe is the author of The First Law Trilogy (The Blade Itself, Before They are Hanged, and The Last Argument of Kings) and the stand alone work Best Served Cold. His next book is titled The Heroes and is set to release the first quarter of 2011. All of his work has been popular and highly regarded,
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
By setting The Blade Itself (2006), the first book of his FIRST LAW series, in a well-built world and filling it with interesting, “gritty” characters, Joe Abercrombie creates a good balance of stage-setting and story-telling.
The story is told from the perspective of five major characters who are gradually drawn together and whose collected experiences create an engrossing tale. There is the mage, the apprentice, the barbarian, the gifted young noble, the crippled anti-hero… and so forth. Abercrombie writes engaging characters — perfect for my personal tastes.
John Hulet, Kat Hooper, Rob Rhodes and Greg Hersom´s rating: 4 | Joe Abercrombie | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Before They are Hanged (2007) begins just where The Blade Itself left off and continues the stories of Logen, West, Jezal, Ferro, Bayaz, Glokta, and company. Expect more of the same in this novel: brutal fighting, sickening torture, nasty politics, ruthless characters, and barbarian grammar.
This recipe mostly works — the plot is interesting, the pace is fast, there’s a bit of humor, and the characters are well-developed and continue to grow. I certainly enjoyed the story. There were a few things,
Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Joe Abercrombie | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie
Say one thing for Kat Hooper, say she’s a weak-minded sucker.
She really enjoyed the first two books of Joe Abercrombie’s THE FIRST LAW trilogy. This story was original, had a unique style, fascinating characters, and a darkly cynical vibe. She liked it. It was fresh. But she was kind of hoping, even daring to expect, that the last book, Last Argument of Kings (2007), might have an ending that was, if not perhaps exactly happy, at least somewhat satisfying.
Kat Hooper and Greg Hersom | Joe Abercrombie | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
Joe Abercrombie is the new master of dark, gritty, realistic fantasy, and Best Served Cold might well be the masterpiece that represents that subgenre. Monza Murcatto is a renowned and very successful mercenary … or was until she was stabbed, beaten, and thrown from a mountainside by her employer. Monza wants revenge, so she contracts a party of unsavory characters to aid her. Monza’s story goes from dark to black to “a wet match in the bottom of a dark cave” — everyone suffers,
Justin Blazier, Greg Hersom, Kat Hooper and Terry Weyna´s rating: 5 | Joe Abercrombie | SFF Reviews | 15 comments |
The Heroes is another story set in the same world as Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy. Veteran readers will be happy to be reacquainted with several characters from earlier books: the wizard Bayaz; the dishonored warrior Bremer dan Gorst; Finree dan Brock, Union Commander Marshal Kroy’s ambitious daughter; Black Dow, the ruthless leader of the Northmen. But if you haven’t read any of Abercrombie’s books yet, don’t worry — you don’t need to have read them in order to fully enjoy The Heroes.
John Hulet, Justin Blazier, Greg Hersom and Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3, 5 | Joe Abercrombie | Audio | SFF Reviews | 10 comments |
Red Country by Joe Abercrombie
As a fan of Joe Abercrombie’s other books, such as The Heroes, Red Country was a must-read for me. Even though I had no idea what Red Country was about, or how it might be related to his previous stories, it didn’t really matter because I was certain that Joe Abercrombie would entertain me.
Red Country feels almost like a Western in the way that the towns are laid out — there’s a quasi general store and a the local saloon,
John Hulet and Justin Blazier´s rating: 4 | Joe Abercrombie | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie
You have never heard me gush over a novel by Joe Abercrombie, but times have changed and gushing will now commence. A Little Hatred (2019) is fabulous. It’s got everything I’m looking for in a fantasy novel.
A Little Hatred is the first book in Abercrombie’s new fantasy series, THE AGE OF MADNESS. It’s set in the same world as his FIRST LAW series (The Blade Itself,
Kat Hooper´s rating: 5 | Joe Abercrombie | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Half a King by Joe Abercrombie
What happens when you are born crippled in a medieval world? What if your physical impairment is sufficient to leave you always at a disadvantage to others? How do you survive? In Half a King, the first book of Joe Abercrombie’s SHATTERED SEA series, those questions are answered in exciting and realistic ways.
Yarvi is a Prince of the ruling family of Gettland, one of the nations that surround the Shattered Sea. He has found his niche studying to become a Minister,
John Hulet, Jason Golomb and Kevin Wei´s rating: 4 | Joe Abercrombie | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Half the World by Joe Abercrombie
Joe Abercrombie’s Half the World is book two of his SHATTERED SEA trilogy. Although Yarvi and some of the cast from book one do make an appearance, Half the World isn’t exactly a sequel to Half a King, and I almost think you could read it without having read book one. The overarching storyline follows Father Yarvi’s quest to find allies abroad as Gettland’s enemies close in,
Kevin Wei and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 5 | Joe Abercrombie | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Warning: Will contain mild spoilers for Half a King and Half a World
One of the worst aspects of Joe Abercrombie’s Half a War, book three of his SHATTERED SEA trilogy, is the cover art — a depiction of assorted medieval weaponry formed by tongues of flame lapping at the darkness. Needless to say, the cover art is pretty freakin’ awesome, so Abercrombie must have put an extraordinary amount of work into the substance of Half a War to make it even better than the attention-grabbing visual that serves as its housing.
Kevin Wei´s rating: 4.5 | Joe Abercrombie | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
The Trouble With Peace by Joe Abercrombie
To my surprise and delight, Joe Abercrombie’s A Little Hatred, the first book in his THE AGE OF MADNESS series, was one of the best books I read last year. As I said in my review, “it’s got everything I’m looking for in a fantasy novel,” including a large cast of interesting and multi-faceted characters, a fascinating setting (a world on the brink of an industrial revolution), and an exciting,
Kat Hooper´s rating: 5 | Joe Abercrombie | Audio | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Grimdark Magazine seeks to fill a gap in the niche market for those who enjoy “grim stories told in a dark world by morally ambiguous protagonists,” according to the editorial in the first quarterly issue. The first issue is promising, if somewhat opaque to one who is not already immersed in this relatively new subgenre.
The first story is “Shadow Hunter: A Shadows of the Apt Story” by Adrian Tchaikovsky, set in his universe in which humanoids take on the characteristics of insects. The Wasp-kinden, for example,
There is so much free or inexpensive short fiction available on the internet these days. Here are a few stories we read this week that we wanted you to know about.
Enchantress of Venus by Leigh Brackett (1949, $0.99 at Amazon)
The world celebrated what would have been the 100th birthday of Leigh Brackett on December 7, 2015, and to celebrate the centennial of the so-called “Queen of Space Opera” in my own way, I have resolved to finally read five novels featuring her most famous character,
Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword & Sorcery edited by Jonathan Strahan & Lou Anders
Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword & Sorcery is a book I’ve been eagerly anticipating ever since it was first announced in 2009. I was particularly excited about the anthology’s impressive list of contributors which includes several authors I enjoy reading like Glen Cook, Greg Keyes, Scott Lynch, Joe Abercrombie, Garth Nix, Tim Lebbon, Caitlin R.
Robert Thompson, Stefan Raets and Greg Hersom´s rating: 4.5 | Bill Willingham, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Garth Nix, Gene Wolfe, Glen Cook, Greg Keyes, James Enge, Joe Abercrombie, Jonathan Strahan, K.J. Parker, Lou Anders, Michael Moorcock, Michael Shea, Robert Silverberg, Scott Lynch, Steven Erikson, Tanith Lee, Tim Lebbon | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 20 comments |
Rogues edited by George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois
Rogues, a short-story anthology by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, is a marvelously diverse collection of stories and genres, tied together by those scoundrels, those tricksters, those rascals, those rogues that you can’t help but love. I listened to it on audiobook and loved the experience, especially because a few of the readers were actors from Game of Thrones.
When I picked this up, I was most excited to hear two stories in particular: “How the Marquis Got His Coat Back,”
Previous SFF Author: Chelsea Abdullah
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…
Detailed, thoughtful review, Bill. I'm going to read it for two reasons. First, Karen Russell wrote it, and second, it…