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Joe Abercrombie
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Jason
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Jun 25, 2010 06:05PM
Joe Abercrombie is fairly new. His first series, The First Law, is an incredible foray into realistic characters and battle. A lot of fun to read, and I'm looking forward to reading his new book, Best Served Cold.
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I read and loved Best Served Cold. Now I feel somewhat spoiled, because I just learned that Abercrombie has just come out with a new one: The HeroesThe Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Heroes-Joe-Aber...
I recently read 'The Blade Itself' and loved it.
I've enjoyed all of Joe Abercrombie's novels. He's exactly the kind of gritty that I enjoy. He's a fast paced, simpler G.R.R.M.
His characters are awesome, too. And, like Grant, I love the grittiness. I'd definately agree with the simpler GRRM.
I'm not into gritty I guess. I gave The Blade Itself to my mom. I couldn't get into it... :(
Love Joe's books and shall be ordering The Heroes!
I recently read Best Served Cold and really, really enjoyed it. I am realizing I must like revenge themes!
LOL I had the same realization recently, too, Maggie. And I think that my reading of Best Served Cold was instramental in coming to this realisation.
Lol....I've known it for years. I'm a big vigilante/revenge person. I grew up on those old Charles Bronson movies where he was a hardcore vigilante and progressed up to The Boondock Saints (although the sequel was a disappointment) Revenge themes definitely strike a chord.
The boondock Saints 2 was the worst! I have been forcing myself to forget what happened in it. My favorite part of the first one? The scene with the chick with the tatto "untouched by man." ROTFLMAO!
Lol the cat scene! Best scene in the freaking movie!!! I seriously watched it in slow mo like ten times. I'm an animal lover but That shit was hilarious! "Mrowr..BLAM!" lmao
lol! I love cats, but Iknow what you're talking about. :)I think I like my hero "bad guys" to have a heart of gold. Kind of like Waylander (Drenai Tales, #4). He's a total jerkoff at first, but he ends up being one of the greatest hero's of all time (in the series) though the knowledge of his work is lost in history.
I'm re-reading all of Gemmells books this month! Haven't read any since he passed. Totally agree on Waylander
Grant wrote: "I'm re-reading all of Gemmells books this month! Haven't read any since he passed. Totally agree on Waylander"Ooh, that sounds lovely. I've been giving Legend (Drenai Tales, #1) the side-eye for several days now. :) Have you checked out this site: http://www.gemmellaward.com/?xg_sourc...
Ooooh great link, MrsJoseph! Thank you! You just made it on my Christmas card list ;)
I'm jealous Nicki! Still waiting on my copy to get here
Grant wrote: "Ooooh great link, MrsJoseph! Thank you! You just made it on my Christmas card list ;)":)
Starting reading The Blade Itself. It is very good, and I like what I've read so far, but I must say (contrary to conventional wisdom, I suppose), Best Served Cold seems to be the superior novel. The Blade Itself feels more like a first novel to me (which it was), and Best Served Cold is an author who has matured a bit more with the craft. Anyone else feel that way?
Started The Heroes this morning, off to a cracking start Black Dow was always one of my favourites through out the First Law trilogy. Though it's hard to really pick a favourite out of Abercrombies cast as they are all pretty cool in their way.
Black Dow is a favorite of mine, as well.
I like Abercrombie alot. The First Law Trilogy was amazing, but i have to say that Best Served Cold dit not quite do it for me.
Haven't read best served yet but I'll get around to it. I have to say one of the greatest strengths in Joes' writing is his dialogue he has it positively seething with menace when it needs to and hilarious when .. well whenever he wants I guess.
I'm in the middle of Best Served Cold, and liking it a lot. Monza is quite something.It's quite noticeable, in these books, that political ambition is generally considered the worst crime. Monza's lack of it is what has her on as near to the side of good as most people get in Abercrombie's books, despite the atrocities she has commanded.
Just picked up the Heroes today. I've only read the character descriptions and I'm already a bit concerned. Where the hell is Ninefingers?! I will seriously find Abercrombie and kick his ass if he killed him off. Don't mess with my emotions, Joe. I'm Serious!
Grant wrote: "Just picked up the Heroes today. I've only read the character descriptions and I'm already a bit concerned. Where the hell is Ninefingers?! I will seriously find Abercrombie and kick his ass if he..."Im so with you on that :D <3 Ninefingers <3
Yeah I was pretty upset that day, Erica ;) Let me know what you think of Heroes when you read it. I've found that folks either love or hate it with very little in between
Picked up the Heroes ebook a couple of weeks back and just started getting into it (and enjoying it as expected).While I did enjoy Best Served Cold, I didn't like it as much as The First Law trilogy. Hard to put my finger on why though. Less cripple maybe :)
Rob, yeah, I missed Glokta in Best Served Cold, too. But I liked it better than First Law. And that's not to say that I thought First Law is bad, either. I just felt that Abercrombie had grown a lot between the trilogy and Best Served Cold.
Abercrombie is one of my favourite authors. His characters, humor and overal cleverness really stand out from the crop. The First Law series was great, and The Heroes was an excellent read. My favourite is Best Served Cold though. That book really sang to me for some reason.
Monza is my favourite Abercrombie character, with Ninefingers a close second. Special mention goes to Wirrun of Bligh.
I like how all his titles are parts of famous proverbs too.
Best Served Cold is my favorite as well. I am on book three of the First Law, and I have not read Heroes. Character-wise, I like Logen and Ferro both. But Monza is also one tough bitch (to put it in terms the characters would approve of).
Although I enjoyed Best Served Cold well enough, First Law and Heroes was much, much better. For me Best Served Cold was too predictable and everything seemed to be handed to Monza on a silver platter (granted, a very blood stained and dented silver platter, but a silver platter none the less) which made the story a bit less plausible. Even with my perceived shortcomings for the book I would probably read it again because Abercrombie is, without a doubt, my favorite author and I loved every second of reading all his books.
I liked BSC a lot more than First Law, personally. But I enjoyed them both a great deal.
I felt that BSC was a great extension of First Law. I haven't read Heroes yet.
I read BSC first, then First Law. People mentioned spoilers, but I'm not really seeing it. BSC is a stand-alone novel, by my way of thinking. How do you see it as an extension, just out of curiosity. Always like to talk about these books :)
There is the one character from First Law that takes the main seat in BSC. I can't remember his name. Because he keeps thinking of other Northmen we know, it felt like an extension to me. The spoilers would have been the end of the third book and how things turned out for the North and other empires along with their respective characters by the end of the third First Law book. It's small, but some people are particular about that. I guess you're not. :)
Shivers.
And the extension is that the characters from first law are mentioned here and there in passing and the various connections to the first law trilogy.
(view spoiler)
And the extension is that the characters from first law are mentioned here and there in passing and the various connections to the first law trilogy.
(view spoiler)
I still just don't see how folks enjoyed Heroes. Just so much bad. And no f'ing Ninefingers! Fail. Epic, epic fail.
I hope Abercrombie writes about Ninefingers again!
The issues around reading BSC first a pretty minor to me. Others may differ. Typically, I prefer to read books in chronological order, though. But of those who I know who read BSC first, like I did, no one seems to have a problem with it.If I had read The Blade Itself first, I might have set it down around half way through. You can tell it is Abercrombie's first novel, particularly in the beginning. By the end of the trilogy he's a much better writer, and that carries over into BSC and presumably The Heroes.
But if you're just getting into Abercrombie, there's no reason to start anywhere other than The Blade Itself.
R. Scott wrote: "If I had read The Blade Itself first, I might have set it down around half way through. You can tell it is Abercrombie's first novel, particularly in the beginning. By the end of the trilogy he's a much better writer, and that carries over into BSC and presumably The Heroes."Yeah, I read the first few chapters of The Blade Itself and was really turned off by his writing, but it's nice to hear that he gets better. If I don't warm up to TBI, maybe I'll start with Best Served Cold instead.
I'd agree that the first bit of The Blade Itself is hard to get into, but it did hold my attention. In fact, it's even better on audio. I've experienced both.
Here ya go, Nicki.
I'm a Joe Abercrombie fan. Truly, I am. Up to this point I've enjoyed all of his works. The Heroes however? Utter failure. I've read multiple positive reviews of the book and I just cannot for the life of me understand what folks have been reading. I (along with most of the fantasy world) have come to expect grittiness and violence from Abercrombie. I did Not expect to be bored out of my mind or for him to take a Goodkind-esque turn towards preachiness. Now I'm hoping that perhaps I'm being a bit quick on the draw comparing him to Goodkind's incessant political drivel that inundated his later books but I can definitely see a political tone in Heroes that has been absent in his earlier works. I pray that it's just a phase.
*sigh*. Again.
I was looking ridiculously forward to this book which only made my disappointment all the more bitter. I was rather stunned by the differences between this novel and The First Law trilogy. There was no pacing in this novel. It started off ridiculously slow, bouncing back and forth between numerous useless expendable characters with an occasional main characters perspective thrown in for good measure. It took 200 pages before the story really even seemed to begin in earnest at which point I'd hoped for things to pick up but in truth the story remained stagnant most of the way through the novel. Even worse, and less forgiveable, the plot becomes predictable! I've had friends mention the plot twists and turns and it's all I can do to keep from laughing in amazement. Ugh. I hate to just browbeat this into the ground but between all the aforementioned issues and the continuous "woe is me, war is awful, nothing good comes of it, it's an exercise in futility etc etc bluthering nonsense" I really just found myself struggling to finish the book.
*sigh* (3rd time)
Finally, there is a notable and godawful absence of vitally important characters from The First Law trilogy, some of whom we are told have simply died in the intervening 7 years between The First Law and The Heroes. Dead as in no longer among the living with no explanation to the reader outside of a few lines. Major characters that were present and vital throughout the entire trilogy. It's enough to put me off Abercrombie altogether
I'm a Joe Abercrombie fan. Truly, I am. Up to this point I've enjoyed all of his works. The Heroes however? Utter failure. I've read multiple positive reviews of the book and I just cannot for the life of me understand what folks have been reading. I (along with most of the fantasy world) have come to expect grittiness and violence from Abercrombie. I did Not expect to be bored out of my mind or for him to take a Goodkind-esque turn towards preachiness. Now I'm hoping that perhaps I'm being a bit quick on the draw comparing him to Goodkind's incessant political drivel that inundated his later books but I can definitely see a political tone in Heroes that has been absent in his earlier works. I pray that it's just a phase.
*sigh*. Again.
I was looking ridiculously forward to this book which only made my disappointment all the more bitter. I was rather stunned by the differences between this novel and The First Law trilogy. There was no pacing in this novel. It started off ridiculously slow, bouncing back and forth between numerous useless expendable characters with an occasional main characters perspective thrown in for good measure. It took 200 pages before the story really even seemed to begin in earnest at which point I'd hoped for things to pick up but in truth the story remained stagnant most of the way through the novel. Even worse, and less forgiveable, the plot becomes predictable! I've had friends mention the plot twists and turns and it's all I can do to keep from laughing in amazement. Ugh. I hate to just browbeat this into the ground but between all the aforementioned issues and the continuous "woe is me, war is awful, nothing good comes of it, it's an exercise in futility etc etc bluthering nonsense" I really just found myself struggling to finish the book.
*sigh* (3rd time)
Finally, there is a notable and godawful absence of vitally important characters from The First Law trilogy, some of whom we are told have simply died in the intervening 7 years between The First Law and The Heroes. Dead as in no longer among the living with no explanation to the reader outside of a few lines. Major characters that were present and vital throughout the entire trilogy. It's enough to put me off Abercrombie altogether
Wow. Have to say I totally agree with DP Grant...again. However, I didn't think the book was quite that bad and I am hoping Joe comes back and fills in that seven year gap with other novels. Also, I hold out hope that Nine Fingers isn't really dead just gone to ground to keep those in the north from hunting him down. Maybe he got with a couple hoochies down south in Mexico and is living the life.Sam
*smiles* To be honest the obvious act of setting up for some new grand ordeal rather annoyed me as well but I don't like when I say that Im still an Abercrombie fan. I agree with your assessment of his prior works. This latest one just obviously didn't sit well with me at all ;) He's still an automatic buy for me but I'll approach his next book with caution rather than the zealous glee that I displayed when picking up The Heroes.
The First Law Trilogy is a complete work in and of itself. The Heroes is supposed to be complete as a stand-alone novel. I don't see any reason to assume any given character from The First law Trilogy would show up in The Heroes, or that it be important that they do so.
That's not the issue Scott. The issue is that multiple characters are killed off in intervening years without explanation. It's ridiculous to build up characters over a trilogy and then mention their deaths in offhand remarks in a latter work. Stupid. Moreso the majority of the characters in The Heroes were present in the First Law trilogy so I fail to see your reasoning.
Just because some from The First Law show up in The Heroes doesn't obligate the author to bring them all back, or to even say much about the others. It is a separate story, and if those characters aren't part of it, then so be it.As for offhand remarks about the deaths of some of the characters, it seems to me that such an approach fits in exactly with the sorts of tales Abercrombie writes. Life is often brutal, short, and has little value in his world. This approach by him doesn't bother me at all, although everyone is entitled to their own feelings on it of course.
Which character are we talking about here? It seems to me that all the important ones are still around for The Heroes.(view spoiler)
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Books mentioned in this topic
Legend (other topics)Waylander (other topics)
Best Served Cold (other topics)
The Heroes (other topics)
The Heroes (other topics)
