Joe Abercrombie

[Tim Stretton]

Publisher's blurb:

 

Springtime in Styria. And that means war. There have been nineteen years of blood. The ruthless Grand Duke Orso is locked in a vicious struggle with the squabbling League of Eight, and between them they have bled the land white. While armies march, heads roll and cities burn, behind the scenes bankers, priests and older, darker powers play a deadly game to choose who will be king. War may be hell but for Monza Murcatto, the Snake of Talins, the most feared and famous mercenary in Duke Orso's employ, it's a damn good way of making money too. Her victories have made her popular - a shade too popular for her employer's taste. Betrayed, thrown down a mountain and left for dead, Murcatto's reward is a broken body and a burning hunger for vengeance. Whatever the cost, seven men must die. Her allies include Styria's least reliable drunkard, Styria's most treacherous poisoner, a mass-murderer obsessed with numbers and a Northman who just wants to do the right thing. Her enemies number the better half of the nation. And that's all before the most dangerous man in the world is dispatched to hunt her down and finish the job Duke Orso started... Springtime in Styria. And that means revenge.

Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy was one of the most exciting fantasy debuts of recent years, a dark deconstruction of the genre

[poppyshake]

I adored Joe's 'First Law ' trilogy so much that i bought this book immediately (I couldn't even wait for the paperback which is unusual cos I don't like reading hardbacks).. my OH has comandeered it at the moment but he is enjoying it immensely so I can't wait to get started.

[Karsa Orlong]

Nothing like resurrecting an old thread

 

 

The Blade Itself is currently £1.99 for Kindle

 

Even better, though, is that 30th August sees the release of the complete First Law Trilogy in a boxed set (currently £13.23 to pre-order from Amazon) and, on the same date, becomes available as a package on Kindle for £9.99. Well worth a look

 

This is all ahead of the release of Red Country in October.

[Timstar]

Thanks for the tip! I have been looking for this quite cheap, guessing the others won't come down in price anytime soon.

[Karsa Orlong]

The boxed set of paperbacks is a great deal, and the Kindle set. If I hadn't already read them and passed them on to charity I'd probably be buying them

[Timstar]

Its a good deal relative to the RRP... but my scrimping means I need charity shop/second hand prices... I.e £2 ea

[Karsa Orlong]

You could hang on for a while and then try and find The Heroes cheap instead, as it's a stand-alone story (although some of the characters from First Law appear, but it doesn't seem to require prior knowledge of them), and it's a much better book, imo (I'm halfway through it at the mo - shall review it soon)

[Timstar]

Cheers, I'll keep an eye out

[Karsa Orlong]

Posted a review of The Heroes here

[sjryser]

The Hereos...Good call Karsa!

[Kreader]

I read the lot curtesy of my local library. I never thought I'd be interested in the life of a torturer before these books.

[MattB]

Must admit Best Served Cold left me cold. Having loved The First Law trilogy I thought this was Abercrombie trying too hard to be clever, witty and brutal. And it quickly became wearing. I've had The Heroes sitting on my shelf since release and I think that's going to be the next book I read

[frankie]

I borrowed this book from the library a few weeks ago. I shouldn't have read the blurb that was posted in this thread, though, now I'm intimidated! I only read the few short 'introductory' bits off the back of the novel and it seemed interesting and approachable.

 

".. [bSC] is a bloody and relentless epic of vengeance and obsession [...], a kind of splatterpunk sword 'n sorcery Count of Monte Cristo [...] His cast features tyrants and torturers, a pair of poisoners, a serial killer, a treacherous drunk [...]"

 

I think it was the serial killer and treacherous drunk that got me

[Karsa Orlong]

First review I've read for Red Country - sounds promising!

[Karsa Orlong]

Joe Abercrombie on the graphic novel adaptation of his 'First Law Trilogy':

 

http://www.joeabercrombie.com/2013/04/10/the-first-law-graphic-novel-2/

 

 

And the first few pages:

 

http://www.firstlawcomic.com/page/1/

 

 

Can't say I'm overly impressed.  Glokta and Logen look nothing like I imagined them

[frankie]

How's it going with Best Served Cold?

[Karsa Orlong]

I'm 400 pages into it.  Will post some thoughts when I've finished it.

[frankie]

Okay, I hope you've been enjoying it!

[Karsa Orlong]

Joe Abercrombie's typical writing day:

 

https://twitter.com/LordGrimdark/status/324488450235584512/photo/1

 

'Bioshock'

 

[Karsa Orlong]

Some thoughts on Best Served Cold. 

 

And at last I can read the OP's comments up-thread without fear of spoiling anything

[Karsa Orlong]

Joe has just finished work on the first book of a Young Adult fantasy trilogy, called Half a King.  In addition to this trilogy, he has a book of short stories lined up (I'm guessing this will be 'First Law' stories, like the ones included in the last couple of hardbacks).  He's working on another 'First Law' trilogy, but it won't begin to appear until 2017 at the earliest, he says.

 

More here.

[Timstar]

Good stuff, lots to look forward to. If anyone can make a decent YA novel it's Abercrombie!

[Thebookpatch]

Unclouded is the word for me, I would like to say that the material you have shared is simply clear and without any mistakes, keep the good work going.

[frankie]

Joe has just finished work on the first book of a Young Adult fantasy trilogy, called Half a King.  In addition to this trilogy, he has a book of short stories lined up (I'm guessing this will be 'First Law' stories, like the ones included in the last couple of hardbacks).  He's working on another 'First Law' trilogy, but it won't begin to appear until 2017 at the earliest, he says.

 

More here.

 

This is something I might be interested in, if/when I ever actually get to reading BSC and I like it... My logic is that if it's for YA, it's easier, and maybe I can understand it, too, then...

[Signor Finzione]

They say that when you read a good book, you never forget where you were when you read it. Or maybe I just made that up. Either way, it's been a couple of years since I first read Best Served Cold, but I remember that I was on a weekend coach trip to Scotland, surrounded by rain and *shudder* people. Abercrombie provided a perfect escape: I was devouring a fantastic tale of bloodthirsty vengeance, heart-breaking betrayal and (decidedly unromantic) sex, while these old biddies around me were staring out of the windows with no idea about what they were missing!

 

Strangely, though, while my memory is a little hazy as to many of the minor details (plot, characters, etc.), I still have these really vivid images of the setting. The spectacular mountain fortress (Fontezarmo?), the grimy torture basement, the brothel casino, the bank, and - most of all -  the city of Sipani: the wonderful imagery of the fog, the river, the shadows. I even vaguely remember a description from the book of how walking down the streets of Sipani is like travelling on a river boat, with houses appearing out of the murk and everything seeming to float past in a really surreal and unnerving way.

 

We all take away different things from reading a book. Is it strange that these are the things I remember most about BSC?