Joe Abercrombie was
born in Lancaster, England, on the last day of
1974. He went on to
Manchester University to study Psychology. The dice and the maps
stopped, but the computer games continued. Having long dreamed of
single-handedly redefining the fantasy genre, he started to write an
epic trilogy based around the misadventures of thinking man's barbarian
Logen Ninefingers. The result was pompous toss, and swiftly abandoned.
Joe then moved to
London, lived in a stinking slum with two men on the
borders of madness, and found work making tea for minimum wage at a TV
Post-Production company. Two years later he left to become a freelance
film editor, and has worked since on a dazzling selection of
documentaries, awards shows, music videos, and concerts for artists
ranging from Barry White to Coldplay.
This job gave him a
great deal of time off, however, and gradually
realising that he needed something more useful to do than playing
computer games, in 2002 he sat down once again to write an epic fantasy
trilogy based around the misadventures of thinking man's barbarian
Logen Ninefingers. This time, having learned not to take himself too
seriously in the six years since the first effort, the results were a
great deal more interesting.
With heroic help and support from his
family the first volume, The Blade Itself,
was completed in 2004. Following a heart-breaking trail of rejection at
the hands of several of Britain's foremost literary agencies, The
First Law
trilogy was snatched up by Gillian Redfearn of Gollancz in 2005 in a
seven-figure deal (if you count the pence columns). A year later The
Blade Itself
was unleashed on an unsuspecting public. It is now published in eight
countries, in seven languages, with seven different titles. The sequel,
Before They Are Hanged, followed in 2007. The final part of the
trilogy, Last Argument of Kings, will be published in March
2008.
Joe now lives in North London with his
wife, Lou, and his daughter,
Grace. He splits his time between film editing and writing edgy yet
humorous fantasy novels...
(Taken verbatum from Joe Abercrombie's Official
Website)
First
Law
The Blade
Itself
|
Before They
Are Hanged
|
Last
Argument of Kings
|
The
Blade Itself
Inquisitor
Glokta, a crippled and increasingly
bitter relic of the last war, former fencing champion turned torturer
extraordinaire, is trapped in a twisted and broken body - not that he
allows it to distract him from his daily routine of torturing
smugglers. Nobleman, dashing officer and would-be fencing champion
Captain Jezal dan Luthar is living a life of ease by cheating his
friends at cards. Vain, shallow, selfish and self-obsessed, the biggest
blot on his horizon is having to get out of bed in the morning to train
with obsessive and boring old men. And Logen Ninefingers, an infamous
warrior with a bloody past, is about to wake up in a hole in the snow
with plans to settle a blood feud with Bethod, the new King of the
Northmen, once and for all - ideally by running away from it. But as
he's discovering, old habits die really, really hard indeed ...
especially when Bayaz gets involved. A bald old man with a terrible
temper and a pathetic assistant, he could be the First of the Magi, he
could be a spectacular fraud, but whatever he is, he's about to make
the lives of Glotka, Jezal and Logen a whole lot more difficult ...
Before
They Are Hanged
Bitter
and merciless war is coming to the frozen
north. It's bloody and dangerous and the Union army, split by politics
and hamstrung by incompetence, is utterly unprepared for the slaughter
that's coming. Lacking experience, training, and in some cases even
weapons the army is scarcely equipped to repel Bethod's scouts, let
alone the cream of his forces. In the heat-ravaged south the Gurkish
are massing to assault the city of Dagoska, defended by Inquisitor
Glokta. The city is braced for the inevitable defeat and massacre to
come, preparations are made to make the Gurkish pay for every inch of
land ...but a plot is festering to hand the city to its beseigers
without a fight, and the previous Inquisitor of Dagoska vanished
without trace. Threatened from within and without the city, Glokta
needs answers, and he needs them soon. And to the east a small band of
malefactors travel to the edge of the world to reclaim a device from
history - a Seed, hidden for generations - with tremendous destructive
potential. A device which could put a end to war, to the army of Eaters
in the South, to the invasion of Shanka from the North - but only if it
can be found, and only if its power can be controlled ...
Last
Argument Of Kings
The end is coming. Logen Ninefingers might only
have one more fight in him but its going to be a big one. Battle rages
across the North, the King of the Northmen still stands firm, and
theres only one man who can stop him. His oldest friend, and his oldest
enemy. Its past time for the Bloody-Nine to come home. With too many
masters and too little time, Superior Glokta is fighting a different
kind of war. A secret struggle in which no-one is safe, and no-one can
be trusted. His days with a sword are far behind him. Its a good thing
blackmail, threats and torture still work well enough. Jezal dan Luthar
has decided that winning glory is far too painful, and turned his back
on soldiering for a simple life with the woman he loves. But love can
be painful too, and glory has a nasty habit of creeping up on a man
when he least expects it. While the King of the Union lies on his
deathbead, the peasants revolt and the nobles scramble to steal his
crown. No-one believes that the shadow of war is falling across the
very heart of the Union. The First of the Magi has a plan to save the
world, as he always does. But there are risks.There is no risk more
terrible, after all, than to break the First Law . . .
Logen Ninefingers is truly the best
anti-hero created in a long, long time. Superior Glotka is a
complicated character that I can't help but admire. As fo Bayaz,
First of the Magi, I have always held a sneaking suspicion that wizards
are not as noble as some are portrayed . . . A great read.
Best
Served Cold
(July 2009)
|
Best Served Cold
Mercenaries
are a wonderful thing: they fight as you tell them, whom
you tell them, and when you tell them, for nothing more precious or
complicated than money. And Monzcarro Mercatto, and her brother (and
lover) Benna Mercatto, are the two most successful, most popular, and
most wealthy mercenaries in Styria...but wealthy, popular mercenaries
are not such a good thing. In fact they're a downright dangerous thing.
Which is why Grand Duke Orso of Styria arranges to have them dealt
with. Permanently. With hindsight, he may come to consider this a
tactical error. Through sheer good luck - which her brother doesn't
share - Monzcarro survives the long and fatal drop Orso arranged for
her, and staggers away from her encounter with a ruined right hand, an
opium addiction ...and a plan to come back with a fortune, plenty of
bladed weapons, and a single-minded determination to kill the seven men
in the room when her brother was murdered. Preferably in as gruesome a
manner as she can ...
Joe Abercrombie's Web Site
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