Friday, 27 June 2008

If You're Just Joining Us...

Is there no end to the talents of Jon Armstrong? As well as being the author of the acclaimed sf book Grey, he also does frequent and regular podcasts. He's a nominee for this year's Campbell Award for best new writer, and he's in the process of interviewing the other five nominees. This week's interviewee? Well how nice of you to ask. It's only fantasy author Joe Abercrombie. I frakkin' love that guy!

Check it out, if you dare, at If You're Just Joining Us... and hear me talk out of my ass on the subjects of fantasy, family, role-playing, writing tricks and massive success. It is a hoot.

Obviously, as always, I take no responsibility for complete ignorance/total hypocrisy/factual inaccuracy etc. Even less responsibility than usual, in fact, since speaking live gives you less time to make sure you're properly qualifying your responses. Something I always do exhaustively here on my blog, of course...

Labels: interviews

Wednesday, 25 June 2008

Czech Mate

Oh, that pun really stinks. It really stinks. But like strong cheeses, I find the worst-smelling puns the most enjoyable. Besides, it was that or "Czech it out," so just think, it could have been a lot worse.

Anyway, Czech readers rejoice because I have received my copies of the Czech translation of The Blade Itself, Sama Cepel, from the publisher Solaris. Apologies for the lack of appropriate accents which no doubt totally change the meaning. It's a surprisingly neat little book, quite densely set but only 420 pages in a mass-market-ish sized format, 100 less than the UK one. Surprising since translation usually adds some bulk - it's literally less than half the thickness of the behemoth 800 page German version. They've gone for the UK art, which seems to be proving popular in varied markets, though without the grip-friendly textured paper which is the most often praised feature of my writing.

Really been trying to think up a decent pun revolving around Sweden or Swedish, could not think of anything. "Swede dreams are made of these?" No. God no. Let's just cut to the chase, then:

Exciting news for the many, many English-speaking Swedish devotees of this blog. And the many Swedish-speaking English devotees who would rather read books in Swedish than English. For the Forma publishing group have secured rights to publish The Blade Itself in Swedish. It appears they'll be doing a hardback and mass-market paperback, and also a book club version in which the book will probably be split into two parts that it may fit through a letterbox. A common thing in the Scandinavian market, apparently, but since each book is in two parts, and publishing it as six small books rather than three big ones has always for some reason vaguely fascinated me, it shouldn't be a problem...

Labels: news

Thursday, 19 June 2008

Eighty-One

British SF&F Magazine SFX have run a poll of their readers of their 100 favourite SF&F authors. Can't be bothered to post the whole thing, so I'll link to a posting and discussion here on Westeros, where I am occasionally to be found shrilly singing my own praises. As such lists go, and barring a few eyebrow-raisers of the type you always get with public votes, it seems a really good one to my eye. It's certainly tilted towards the commercial end of the spectrum, as you'd expect from a magazine with a broad base of readers, but there are a few more literary/experimental writers in there. There's a pretty good mix of fantasy and sci-fi (I was expecting fantasy to be much less represented, on the whole). There's also a surprisingly strong showing for what you might call classic writers as opposed to recent ones.

But the thing I really wanted to discuss is ...

LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! I'M AT 81! WOOOOOOOOOOH! etc.

Very pleased to make it on there at all, in fact, as a pretty new author, especially since it's an honest-to-goodness broad based, relatively commercial sample. Even if that no-talent-hack George Orwell made it on a whole three places higher than me. I mean what the hell's he contributed to literature? 1984? However you cut it that's at least 25 years out of date.

It is a very Brit-o-centric list, as is only proper. I doubt some of the much-loved British writers like Pratchett, Gemmel or Rankin would score so high in a US version, and in terms of newer writers I doubt I'd appear, since I'm still pretty new across the pond, whereas someone like Pat Rothfuss I'm sure would do, since his success there with his first book has been most impressive. It's surprising, in a sense, that there isn't an equivalent publication in the states. The closest they've got, as far as I can tell is ... SFX.

Talking of Brit-o-Centric, you don't get more honest-to-bloody-goodness British than The Bridlington Free Press, news organ of the Yorkshire sea-side since 1859. How it came about, I couldn't say, but they have reviewed The First Law trilogy:

"TWISTED, gripping, inventive, gritty and utterly compelling - think of a positive adjective and Joe Abercrombie's The First Law series deserves it.
It is a feast of brilliantly-developed characters who, despite being a bunch of the most unlikeable creations you could (or rather couldn't) imagine, the reader can almost grow to like as their personas are peeled away through the three books."

You guys do know I'm from Lancashire, right? The strange thing is that I was in Bridlington last summer for the wedding of one of my wife's friends. I actually wrote some of Last Argument of Kings in the loo of the hotel there. Strange coincidences...

Labels: news, reviews

Sunday, 15 June 2008

Hype Malfunction!

Man, what with all these great reviews recently, you can imagine I was starting to feel pretty ground down. Does no-one out there hate my stuff any more? Is there no-one who'll give a brother a kick when he's up? It can be tough getting out of bed when you know there'll be no knives out for you in the senate-house, believe me. So imagine my delight when my weekly (alright, daily) blog-search (alright, hourly) unearthed this little beauty at Bobby's triple zero's book thoughts:

"Every review I've read focuses on how Abercrombie did well by not overly describing the setting and instead focusing on creating vivid characters. This is actually where I disagree the most. To me the characters were cliche. Yes, I said it. Cliche. Let the hate mail commence."

Oh yeah, sweet smarmy. Yes, I said it. Smarmy. Tastes like strawberry jam. I doubt anyone cares enough to actually mail him anything, even me, but one should be careful what one wishes for...

"Predictable. Cliche. Semi-boring. In essence, this is Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself. But despite all that I said, it does have potential. After all this is only the first in the series. Maybe the characters will grow in different ways than I predict in the next two. I sincerely hope that Abercrombie proves me wrong."

Hmmm. If I was feeling in a sarcastic frame of mind, I might say something like: "Predictable. Cliche. Semi-boring. In essence, this is Bobby's blog." But everyone knows that I am just so well not sarcastic. And I'm not at all a tiny-minded, bitter little man with an old, dried-up white turd where my heart should be. Well, alright, I am. But I can be charitable on occasion. After all, this is only Bobby's fourth post. Maybe his blog will grow in different ways than I predict in the next two.

In other news, the evil Gollancz hype machine, running as it does on the skulls of stolen orphan children and lubricated by the blood of harmless virgins by that undead arch-hype-sorcerer Simon of Spanton, manifestation of corporate strangulation of all that is good and righteous upon the unsullied, unicorn-infested, emerald fields of the fantasy genre (takes deep breath) has been running overtime again in its efforts to trick the innocent readers of the world into buying Richard Morgan's The Steel Remains. Which I rather liked. At least before all that evil hype got started. Now I am forced to question my own response. Could it be that I TOO was hypnotised by that fiendish puppet-master of the lowest nether pit of publishing?

Well, what I want to know is, if the macabre Gollancz hype-engine is so fricking effective, how the hell did this bad review of my book happen, eh? Eh, Spanton?

EH?

Labels: reviews

Thursday, 12 June 2008

Back from Cornwall

Back from Cornwall. Stayed in a lighthouse. Weather was fantastic. Paddled on the beach. Swam in the sea (cold as f*ck). Even did some body-boarding. Surf's up, dudes, and that. Went to St. Michael's Mount near Penzance, a castle/church/stately home on a great rock that is an island for most of the day. Fascinating, beautiful, but very high. Me and high do not mix well.

I return to find much discussion on the webasphere regarding my books. Without further ado, then. SFSignal have reviewed Before They are Hanged. They were not complimentary:

"Everything that was good in the first book (excellent story, fast-paced action, interesting characters) is honed to a fine edge here."

Only kidding! They were really complimentary!

"I'm not usually a fantasy fan, but Before They Are Hanged is one of the rare books that I didn't want to put down and pulled out to read whenever I could. It's certainly a worth addition to the series and if you like great stories, fantasy or otherwise, pick up this book and the first if you haven't already."

Boo-yah. Actress Felicia Day also read Before They are Hanged. Well, you can't win 'em all, as they say. She did not like it:

"The characterization is fascinating and gripping. Joe Abercrombie really masters the "grey area", where no one is a two-dimensional bad guy, and you're constantly questioning the motivation of people who you thought were on one side or another."

Only kidding! She loved it! Reviews of the first two books from the interestingly titled woodge.com. Bad, bad reviews:

"This was exactly the kind of book I'd hoped it would be. Fun, exciting, violent - a large roster (but not too large) of interesting characters get involved in intersecting story-lines and it's set in a medieval world with all sorts of people and places plus some powerful sorcery. This is sword-and-sorcery at its best."

I'm joking! They were great reviews! Pedro Quaresma read The Blade Itself, and he was not happy:

"I therefore unconditionally recommend this book and this trilogy to any fantasy fan. I sure hope the author continues creating such great quality books."

Got you again. He was very happy. And don't worry Pedro, I will continue to produce books. Their quality? You'll have to be the judges. Author Tim Stretton has finished Before They are Hanged, and been reflecting upon its qualities:

"I will blog much more about Abercrombie later--he is a writer of unusual gifts,"

I am indeed. In fact I once received a fossilised banana from a distant aunt. You won't find many more unusual gifts than that. But he goes on to speak more directly about my work:

"and for anyone who enjoys fantasy his books are a treat. Darkly humorous, dripping with rich characterisation and with great control of voice, Abercrombie is setting the standard for modern fantasy fiction."

Damn straight he is. Damn straight. Stretton goes on to consider The Blade Itself in more detail, and very complimentary he is too. Apart from his rather worrying stated desire to gun me down in the street. Simply another reason, as if any more were needed, never to leave the house.

Labels: reviews

Tuesday, 3 June 2008

What They Said in May 08

It's been a while since I trawled the dank corners of the interweb for opinions about my books. Well, it's been about ten minutes. But it's been a while since I talked to you lot about it. Time to set that straight...

Salvek - no, not a vulcan, but a Frenchman - has been reading the French translation of The Blade Itself to accompany a piece of burned toast, at Fantasy au Petit-Dejeuner. My French (or possibly vulcan) is nowhere near good enough to understand what he might actually have said. Bonus points to anyone who can tell me...

To quote The Usual Suspects, "in ... English ... please." Fellow Fantasy Author Tim Stretton, who has his first commercially published novel, The Dog of the North out later this year (he didn't pay me to say that, I just thought it was good manners), has also been reading The Blade Itself:

"Abercrombie is a real talent. I can't remember enjoying a debut novel so much for years. He understands the tropes of the fantasy genre and is able to subvert them in a way which is both invigorating and respectful of the genre. There isn't--yet--a great deal of plot, but the characters are so compelling that it doesn't matter. He also has a highly entertaining blog which mixes pleasingly ironic self-aggrandisement (at least I assume it's ironic...) with some perceptive observations on writing in the fantasy genre."

Why, that's this blog, you lucky f*ckers! Moving onto Before They are Hanged, SQT has been giving it the once over at her Fantasy and Sci-Fi lovin' Book Review:

"Despite a few critiques, I still think "Before They are Hanged" is a superior book in an outstanding series. Abercrombie has style that I have never really seen before. It's a kind of no-holds-barred, in-your-face fantasy epic that takes all the typical fantasy tropes and says - I'm not going to do what you think I'm going to do, and you're gonna like it."

Yes you will, or your money back, guaranteed! (note that actual money will not in reality be returned under any circumstances). Joe Sherry has also read the second book at Adventures in Reading. He has some interesting points about the old middle-book syndrome, but not in relation to my work, oh no!

"Before They Are Hanged improves upon the vision of the first novel, feels more tightly written (for whatever that means or is worth) and overall *feels* like a stronger novel. It lacks the freshness that can only exist in the opening novel of a series, but it measures up to the promise of the first book. Another fine effort from Abercrombie."

Jessica Strider, from The World's Biggest Bookstore in Toronto has meanwhile completed the trilogy with a read of Last Argument of Kings. It's only a quicky so I'll quote the whole thing:

"The third in the First Law trilogy is not a book you can read alone, you must read the first two to understand the action (and they're great books so what are you waiting for?). Having said that, and in the interest of not posting spoilers I'll simply say: expect surprises. Lots of them. Everyone gets betrayed and no one gets what they deserved... A brilliant book with a completely unexpected and non-traditional ending."

Couldn't have said it better myself. And I'm a writer.

No one cussing off my work this month? Well, not really, so far as I could tell. I guess my stuff just truly must be that good. Feel free to restore the cosmic balance by cussing me in the comments section. I probably won't respond for a while as I'll be away down in Cornwall for a week, off the internet. But I can be outraged on my return, don't worry about that.

Labels: reviews