Monday, 25 May 2009

Bedlam, Bath

Experiencing the most manic couple of weeks of my life at the moment. Been to Portugal for a wedding and Southport for a funeral with a two year old and a two month old in tow, and during the two days in between the two trips entirely packed up and moved all our stuff into storage, sold our flat in London, bought a house in Bath. That house has been rewired, has the plumbers in and will be shoddily decorated by me this week, then I'm off next Monday to sign a thousand books at the warehouse, will be looking after the kids on tuesday, will actually move in on wednesday, then I'm off to manchester, then london to do signings on thursday and friday. Life's rich tapestry.

Progress on the new book, as you might imagine, has been negligible. At least this once I have an excuse.

To add to my woes my email is screwed, so I can get emails via the usual route (see contact page) but unfortunately cannot send any. So do not hope to get a reply to anything any time soon...

In the meantime, I note that Pat of the redoubtable Hotlist, noted organ of the internet sf&f scene, has reviewed Best Served Cold and he actually quite liked it thank you very much:

"Abercrombie's latest is his most ambitious work to date. Moreover, if it's any indication of what he is capable of, it bodes well for the future indeed. His accessible style could make him one of the biggest names in the genre in the years to come."

11 letters surely makes mine one of the biggest names in the genre already...

"Best Served Cold is an excellent tale of murder and vengeance. It's a morally ambiguous work with many shades of gray. The good guys become the bad guys, and vice versa, and back again. There are more twists and turns than in The First Law, and I get the feeling that Joe Abercrombie truly came into his own while writing this one. Best Served Cold is filled to the brim with all the elements that made The First Law such an enjoyable reading experience, yet it is definitely the work of a more mature author."

I have been accused of many things, but never before maturity.

"If you are one of those poor drifting souls who have yet to give Joe Abercrombie a shot, Best Served Cold is your opportunity to get acquainted with the author's style. For fans of Abercrombie, it will scratch that itch and more. Hard to put down."

You heard the man. Scratch that itch, people.

Right, back to the madness...

Labels: Other Life, reviews

Saturday, 9 May 2009

Best Served Cold UK Tour '09

It's only three weeks until Best Served Cold comes out in the UK. Can you feel the excitement? Can you? To celebrate the occasion, I will be doing an exhaustive tour of the UK, where you will be able to get lovely new beautiful hardbacks of Best Served Cold signed, and perhaps even lined and dated, in my flowing, fantasy-esque script. Other books too, maybe. Details are still being confirmed, but I thought I'd let you know what we do know so you can cancel your holidays/reschedule weddings or funerals/sell your children in order to attend one if not more of these once in a lifetime literary sensations:

Thursday 4th June, 7pm, Manchester
Talk and signing at Waterstones,
91 Deansgate,
Manchester M3 2BW
Tel: 0161 837 3000

Ah, my old hunting grounds in Manchester, where I attended University. Well, when I say attended, obivously I mean sat for three years in an array of freezing/filthy student houses playing Street Fighter II for 3 years. Happy days. When I think of my college buddies, Ryu, Guile and Blanka, it brings a tear to my eye. We used to call ourselves the four amigos. Ha ha ha. The stuff we got up to. Dragon punching, and Sonic Booming, and all that. Great times, man, great times. Haven't been back for a long while, so I'm quite looking forward to this one. There'll certainly be a reading, a Q&A, and some signing, plus maybe a bit of chat about the new book, we shall see...

Friday 5th June, evening, time TBA, London
An event of some kind at Forbidden Planet,
179 Shaftesbury Avenue,
London WC2H 8JR
Tel: 020 7420 3666

Thence to London, where I'll be doing something at Forbidden Planet on Shaftsbury avenue. The signing for Last Argument of Kings there was actually really well attended, so this year we're hoping to do something more. Possibly some kind of talk. Possibly some kind of Q&A. Possibly some kind of informal circulation, like that Barrack Obama doing town halls, only without the handsomeness, charisma, eloquence, power, appreciation, or sense of history obviously. So not like Barrack Obama at all. Except for the standing and talking.

Saturday 6th June, 1pm, Bath
Signing at Waterstones,
4-5 Milsom Street,
Bath BA1 1DA
Tel: 01225 448 515

And finally Bath, which will, by this point, be my manor, so to speak, since we're packing up and leaving London on the 21st of May. Farewell big smoke, hello Georgian splendor. Well, you know, Georgian splendor partially ruined by rubbish, compromised, Prince Charles-esque bullshit modern development with no architectural merit. Don't get me started. Oh, you didn't? Sorry. Anyway, town planning will be neither here nor there at the Bath Waterstones (which is a fine Waterstones) on Saturday the 6th. Fantasy fans of southwest Britain, I expect to see you there...

Other dates, plus the details of the Forbidden Planet event, will no doubt be announced in due course.

EDIT: The FP event will consist of a reading and Q&A, followed by signing of books. Lack of seating prevents anything more elaborate...

Labels: appearances