Category Archive for ‘reviews’ rss

An Action Tour-de-Force

January 27th, 2012 • 16 Comments

Time was I used to post every whiff of opinion about my books that google could sniff out.  Scrag end mention on an inactive LiveJournal account?  You’re in!  These days, I have to say, I’m a little more circumspect.  The quantity of opinion out there, it weighs heavy, and outside of the scramble of promotion surrounding a new release, it takes something particularly insightful, inflammatory, noteworthy or (of course) grovellingly complimentary to arouse my interest.

But fitting firmly into the insightful category is a balanced and (unsurprisingly) finely written assessment of The Heroes from writer Elizabeth Bear, who I met last weekend in Detroit.  She calls me vivid and muscular.  Well, alright, my writing style…

Also fitting into the satisfying arena of respect of ones peers (alright, great superiors) is a mention from the doyen of gritty fantasists, GRRM, in his Hugo Recommendations (I know, I’m not holding my breath), where he calls The Heroes, “an action tour de force”.  OK, I admit, he preferred Patrick Rothfuss.  But those big-beards always stick together.  Maybe I need to get some small-beard fantasy author buddies to take ‘em down, like my old mates Peter Brett and Brent Weeks:

Mind you, they’re both looking a bit on the bushy side.  And why does my head seem so small in that photograph?

2011 In Review

December 31st, 2011 • 28 Comments

37 today, and another year flows beneath the bridge.  Go quick, don’t they?  From a personal standpoint I moved back into my house and continued the long building project, only now lurching dysfunctionally to a close.  Had a third baby.  Published a fifth book.  The good thing about babies is that they’re actually quite good fun to make, the hard work and expense starts after.  The good thing about books is that, while they’re quite hard work to make, once they’re published they require minimal maintenance and with any luck actually make you money.

A YEAR IN BOOKSELLING – Yeah, I really can’t complain.  Well, I could.  As a venomously ambitious sociopath without the emotions of guilt, shame or regret, it galls me deeply that anyone in the world sells more books than me.  But I really shouldn’t complain.  The Heroes came out in January, made no. 3 on the UK Hardcover bestseller list and stayed in the top ten for four weeks, which makes it by far my fastest selling book.  Didn’t do too badly in the US either, especially in ebook format, which is rapidly becoming a significant slice of the pie, especially from an author’s standpoint as royalty rates can be five, six, even ten times higher than on a heavily discounted paperback.  Various translation deals were done for various books of mine, including first deals in Brazil, Italy (which had been strangely stubborn), and simple and complex Chinese.  I think that puts the Blade Itself in about 25 languages now, though don’t ask me to list them.  All 3 of the First Law books have now sold over 100,000 copies in their various UK editions.  You’d be amazed how hard it is to get reliable sales figures, especially from overseas, but in all languages and editions of all my books we reckon we’re at well over a million sold.  And all this for a load of nonsense I dreamed up in the middle of the night purely for my own amusement.  I really shouldn’t complain.

A YEAR IN BOOK WRITING – I will admit, not my best.  I’ve written about two thirds of the first draft of A Red Country so far, and I reckon it’s going to need a fair bit of work when it’s finished.  Indeed a couple of chapters near the front might well need total rewriting from scratch, which will be the first time I’ve ever really done anything along those lines.  Why the slightly disappointing work rate?  The house was a mess when we first moved in and serious work didn’t end til April.  Then my new baby appeared, the eldest started school, Skyrim was released … so many distractions, so many excuses, and attempts to routinise the working day haven’t really panned out yet.  Hard to believe I wrote Last Argument of Kings in about 14 months while still working more or less full time as an editor.  But then I had no kids (or just the one baby towards the end) and a long-established plan to work from.  Full time authorship is a bit of a different deal, with an awful lot of additional stuff to do.  But I’ve had a good few days since Christmas, as it goes, and I’m hopeful I can hit my stride a little better next year.  We shall see…

BOOKS – This year I have been reading mostly fiction and non-fiction related to the American West.  Non-fictionally I’d say the best thing was actually Ken Burns’ TV documentary series on the subject.  A lot of the non-fiction books have been a little dry and specific – if anyone knows of any really good western non-fiction do comment below.  Some of the fiction’s been great, though.  Pete Dexter’s Deadwood, Elmore Leonard’s Western Short Stories, AB Guthrie’s The Big Sky and Richard Matheson’s Journal of the Gun Years were some of the highlights.  Call me ridiculous but I don’t think I’ve read a single fantasy or sf book this year.  Just haven’t really had the time.  One of these days, probably when I’ve finished the latest book, I’ll have to sit down and crack through a few recent genre classics that I might pontificate at length about just how far short of my stuff they fall…

TV and FILM – I may have interviewed George RR Martin about Game of Thrones for Sky TV, but I haven’t actually got to see the series yet.  How indescribably lame is that?  The televisual highlight was probably the first two series of cynical Danish procedural The Killing, with Spartacus: Blood and Sand providing some gore-daubed entertainment in the background.  Film wise I can’t think of much new that really floated the boat for me this year.  The Conan re-imagining sucked.  X-Men First Class was surprisingly good.  Otherwise I shrug my shoulders and concede that Unforgiven, Lonesome Dove and Deadwood are as brilliant as they ever were.

GAMES – Excellent year again.  Skyrim was my game of the year in the face of tough competition, and redefined fantasy roleplaying.  Dragon Age II didn’t.  Rage was kinda rubbish.  Deus Ex was kinda alright.  Dark Souls was fascinating but so, so hard.  LA Noire was fascinating but so, so flawed.  InFamous 2 and Arkham City were both excellent but perhaps lacked that special spark.  Resistance 3 I thought was very impressive, I don’t think I’ve seen so original and atmospheric a first person shooter in a long time, not that it’s my genre of choice mind you.  Uncharted 3 I’m playing now and all I can say is those guys can do a grandstand sequence like no one else.  It’ll probably be my no. 2 for this year.  Very much looking forward to the new Mass Effect in the new year, though…

BEST REVIEWS – There was a fair amount of praise for The Heroes even if I say so myself.  In the UK I managed to pull off the not inconsiderable feat of uniting The Guardian (“it’s imbued with cutting humour, acute characterisation and world-weary wisdom about the weaknesses of the human race. Brilliant.”) and The Sun (“Don’t miss it or you deserve to be gutted like a stuck pig, your entrails left to feed the crows.”) in enthusiasm.  Time magazine called it, ‘a magnificent, richly entertaining account of a single three-day battle’, while SFX said ‘an action-packed novel full of brutality, black humour and razor-sharp characterisation,’ and gave it all the stars they had.  Five, in case you were wondering.  I could go on.  No?  Oh.  I’ll leave the last word to Sci-Fi Now, who in their latest issue have declared The Heroes their best book of 2011.  No, seriously, they have: “Some books successfully capture the geist of the times and speak to the evolving expectations of the genre’s readers … this cynical, gritty, and realistic fantasy homage to the epic war movie is character-driven writing of the highest order.  It’s bleak and thoroughly modern view of human nature through a dark fantasy lens is a showcase for how much the genre has changed, and why Abercrombie holds his position at the forefront of British Fantasy.”  Zing!

BEST WORST REVIEW – The usual crop of amazon one-starrings, blog-lashings, accusations of overratings and offhand chat-room pastings, but one meaty slice of criticism bestrid the others as ’twere a colossus over pygmies, and it was, of course, Leo Grin’s fire and brimstone assault upon modern fantasy or, as he had it, “postmodern blasphemies against our mythic heritage” and “Abercrombie’s jaded literary sewer” in particular.  And a proper storm in the internet teacup ensued, didn’t it, though?  My own response became my most commented-upon post of this year or, indeed, ever, by some considerable margin, with 224 comments and 26 trackbacks.  I cannot imagine that I have ever seen so many people resolving to buy and read my work as I did in the wake of that article.  Proof, if any were needed, that there is truly no such thing as bad publicity.  I can only hope that I continue to “shock, outrage, offend and dishearten,” critics everywhere in the months to come.  I’d say it’s a virtual certainty…

Happy new year, readers!

NPR’s best of 2011

December 16th, 2011 • 19 Comments

Author and critic Lev Grossman has posted his favourite five sf&f books of the year at NPR, and stone me if he hasn’t included The Heroes:

‘Abercrombie is a Brit who’s not nearly as well-known in the U.S. as he should be.’

I can only agree.  I should be bigger than General Electric.

‘It’s as if Tolkien cared about the back story of every individual orc: Each soldier is one among thousands, floundering in the fog of war, but each feels like he’s living out a tragedy or a triumph with himself as the hero. There’s no right side and wrong side — even the warriors aren’t sure which is which — and in the end the question of who’s the real hero comes down to who survives to tell the story.’

In other news, the bookselling, fundraising, basement clearing drive has had stunning, touching, and impressive results.  They’ve been flying off the shelves (or out of the boxes) and to varied corners of the globe (it has corners, right?).  Still a few bits and pieces available but things are winding down now and we’ve sent out well over 100 books, freed up about six cubic metres of my basement (largely in packing materials), and after postage has been deducted made about £500 for charity.  So thanks to everyone who bought a book.  Enjoy them and their many hilarious dedications.  We’ll probably give it another go next year…

Lies and Firsts

September 9th, 2011 • 26 Comments

I note in passing that my dark masters at Gollancz have re-issued Scott Lynch’s The Lies of Locke Lamora with a retro yellow cover reminiscent of the early 60s in order to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the imprint:

THE fantasy debut of 2006, other than mine.  The book, of course, is a wretched tissue of laboured plot-devices, tin-ear dialogue, slovenly world-building and all around hackery.  But this edition is worth the price of admission for the superlative introduction and fetching cover alone.  My advice?  Read the introduction, cut the cover off, then toss the rest away.

In other news, Tor.com are considering the openings of various fantasy series in collaboration with Barnes and Noble buyer Jim Killen in their First in Fantasy series.  Ron Hogan kicks off by considering The Blade Itself:

“The Blade Itself could almost read as a grim, ultraviolent parody of A Song of Ice and Fire, with hyper-accelerated political intrigue covered in blood and guts and shot through with savagely dark humor…”

Almost?  What do you mean almost?

“…except that Abercrombie works hard to keep even the most venal or manipulative of his primary characters well-rounded.”

Oh, yeah, that.  I accept your retraction.

Flowers and Plaudits

May 12th, 2011 • 14 Comments

It seems I am now able to add another name to the ever-lengthening list of awards I haven’t won, for I duly note that my short story, The Fool Jobs, is one of five finalists for a Locus Award.  It’s actually not a short story apparently, as at some 8,000 words (yes, I can’t even write a short short story) it sits in the novelette category, somewhere between a short story and a novella in length.  The cynical among you might say something like, “ha!  Novelette is, like, way the softest of the categories, I’ve never even heard of that before,” to which I would reply something like, “I don’t care, bitch, I’m a finalist, yeah!”  And then the cynical among you would say, “Neil Gaiman’s in the same category as you, you might as well go home,” to which I would be all crestfallen and say something like, “ah.  Shit.  You’re right.  Never mind.  I don’t care about awards anyway.”  I also note, however, that the anthology in which The Fool Jobs appears, Swords and Dark Magic, is a finalist in the anthologies section.  My congratulations to its editors Lou Anders and Jonathan Strahan, along with the galaxy of other leading fantasy writers who contributed, though obviously less well than me, since they weren’t finalists individually.  Yeah!  It’s me that gets my ass handed to me by Neil Gaiman.  Meeeeeeeeee!

In other news, the shockwaves of bankrupt nihilism continue softly to reverberate, and have inspired an interesting consideration of The Heroes by Alex Preston writing in Salon Futura.  You tend to read opinions from folks steeped in the fantasy genre, so interesting to get one from a writer who stands well outside it but happens to specialise in violence in literature more generally.  As an interesting aside, I note in comments that Guardian columnist Sam Jordison went to the same school as me.  What are the odds?

And in further news my UK publisher, Gollancz, is celebrating its 50th birthday this year, and to celebrate will be reprinting 10 of its most notable fantasy and science fiction titles in traditional yellow jackets.  You may go and vote for your favourites from a list of 50, and believe me it’s a hell of a list.  Oh look!  There’s one of mine on there.  Fancy that…

 

Swords and Lasers

March 23rd, 2011 • 23 Comments

A couple of interviews lately.  In print (or at least on screen) with the mushroom-meister himself, Jeff Vandermeer, at Amazon’s Omnivoracious, focusing on The Heroes.  And a very nice podcast over at Sword and Laser covering quite a bit of ground, including worldbuilding, influences, approaches to writing, and wee.

Reviews of The Heroes and other books also continue to creep out into the sunlight.  One from Todd VanDerWerf of The AV Club:

“As the battle rages, Abercrombie sketches in more than two dozen characters, getting into their points of view and offering thrilling excitement alongside a more modernist deconstruction of whether this war business is really worth it. It’s as if Tolkien wrote the battle of Helm’s Deep after staring at Guernica for several hours.”

Then Pat, of the Hotlist:

“The Heroes is another morally ambiguous work with many shades of gray that should leave Abercrombie’s growing legions of fans clamoring for more … the pace remains crisp throughout, with not a single dull moment between both covers.”

And finally Martin Lewis has some interesting things to say about it:

“The Heroes is funny, exciting adventure fiction which is completely guilt free because the reader has nothing to feel guilty about, they have already faced it head on. Every witticism is barbed, ever exhilarating scene of martial prowess must be repaid by the reader with an emotional hangover. Blood, black humour and bile are Abercrombie’s bread and butter and it makes for a tasty dish.”

Meanwhile SF Writer Neal Asher has been taking a gander at The First Law, and I have to say it seems like he liked what he saw:

“Great characters I really cared about, pain that really hurt, the dirt blood and reality of battles in which people are hacking at each other with effing great meat cleavers … it’s been wonderful to discover that I still like fantasy, or rather, I like fantasy that’s done well. Nice one Mr Abercrombie.”

Nice one Mr. Asher…

Job Done

February 11th, 2011 • 18 Comments

With Edinburgh and Glasgow visited yesterday, my whirlwind tour of the UK is now finished.  My thanks to my publicist Jon for his organisational skills and staunch support throughout, and my thanks to all of you who turned out to the fifteen or so events.  Those who didn’t manage to make it (Boo, hiss) we left a trail of signed stock behind us, at Forbidden Planets in Bristol and London, at Toppings in Bath, and at Waterstones in Southampton, Reading, Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Reviews of The Heroes continue to emerge, and in some unexpected places.  You don’t see a lot of fantasy covered in Britain’s most popular tabloid and home of dodgy puns, The Sun, but lo and behold a review of The Heroes by Peter Thornton there today complete with a photo of me needing a shave under the headline, “War story is razor sharp”:

“I’m a big fan of the author’s straightforward, darkly humorous epics of gristle and sinew and his ability to make even the most shady characters seem halfway likable … Don’t miss it our you deserve to be gutted like a stuck pig, your entrails left to feed the crows.”

Too true.  Further printed goodness comes from Lev Grossman in Time Magazine in the US, where The Heroes is on their short list of things to do this month:

“It’s a magnificent, richly entertaining account of a single three-day battle — complete with balletic Kurosawan violence — that leaves behind no heroes, only survivors.”

Talking of Kurosawa, I’m over at Orbit’s blog this week, talking about some of the filmic influences for the Heroes, which is, after all, a kind of a fantasy war story, inspired as much by film as it is by literature and all that.

Back home, massive email backlog.  In the past I’ve tried generally to respond to email where possible, these days I’m getting more and more of it, especially around release time, and it is getting harder and harder to keep up and still maintain any forward progress on the various other stuff I have to deal with.  Like, you know, the writing and all that.  So apologies, again, if your email goes unanswered,  Rest assured I appreciate all encouragement and gnash my teeth furiously at all criticism, regardless of whether I respond or not…

Twinterview

January 22nd, 2011 • 24 Comments

People keep telling me twitter is a wonderful thing, but I have given it a wide berth lest the quarter of my life that is not spent on the internet ends up spent, well … on the internet.  Or perhaps the twinternet.  But next week, to celebrate the release of The Heroes and etc.  I shall be twittering answers to questions, or possibly answering questions twittered at me, or doing something involving a fusion of twitter and interviews.  At 4pm.  On Thursday 27th.  Via Waterstones.

Aw shucks, you got a question for me, here’s a link.  Or is it a twink?

Some folks have been asking me when (twen?) various e-book (twe-book?  Alright, I’ll stop now) editions of The Heroes (especially UK kindle) will appear since they seem to be not available.  All I can say is that I am told they should appear on the day of publication in the UK (27th Jan) and US (7th Feb).  The enhanced edition will be appearing a little later.  Sorry about that, I can only deny all responsibility and blame anyone in range.  Hey, perhaps it’s YOUR fault.

In other news, I am guest editing the newsletter of my UK publishers Gollancz this month.  Guest editing is perhaps somewhat glorifying my role (what, me?  Glorifying?) but you can bet I cracked some dodgy jokes at the start of it.  You want to keep up with all that is forthcoming from the UK’s leading genre imprint, why, you can sign up for it here.

In even more other news, SciFi Now have reviewed The Heroes:

“It’s an excellent tale and arguably Abercrombie’s best book yet, not just as an enjoyable continuation of his saga, but also as his tightest writing to date.  Its pace really showcases his talent for differently voiced and realistically motivated characters … any genre fan can enjoy what’s one of the best fantasy books of the past year.”

5 stars, in case you were wondering.  You weren’t wondering?  Well, er, still 5 stars!  

Another opinion comes from Jared at Pornokitsch, and what an opinion it is:

“The Heroes is Joe Abercrombie’s fifth book, and what a book it is … The First Law was great, Best Served Cold was brilliant and The Heroes is truly masterful.”

Then there’s 5 stars from Fantasy Faction:

“If you have read Abercrombie’s work before I have little doubt you will find this his best release to date… The fight scenes are sharper, pointier and more realistic. There is better character development. And finally, the narration is darker, grittier and even more seamless than ever. For a standalone novel to achieve so much is simply incredible”

And 5 stars from Fantasy Literature:

“The Heroes is brilliant storytelling … Joe Abercrombie’s latest book should be at the top of your list and even if you have not yet read the previous novels that are set in this world, you should still read The Heroes. Gritty, harsh, powerful storytelling that takes you into the crucible of combat and lets you see how the perception of the hero is not always the reality of the hero.”

I guess you could say people seem to like it so far.  I take nothing for granted, of course.  I’m sure there will be some deeply unpleasant reviews just around the corner.  When I see one, you can bet you’ll know all about it…

The Heroes Minus Nineteen Days

January 8th, 2011 • 26 Comments

Don’t know if you’re aware of this, but there’s this book coming out at the end of January called The Heroes.  As one would hope, a veritable tornado of publicity is beginning to sweep across the parched dustbowl that is the January sf&fnal press, both print and internet.  I always like to hear the good news first, so we’ll start with the showerings of praise.  The first is from one of the few mainstream UK papers to pay regular attention to SF&F, none other than The Guardian:

“The Heroes is an indictment of war and the duplicity that corrupts men striving for total power: bloody and violent, but never gratuitously so, it’s imbued with cutting humour, acute characterisation and world-weary wisdom about the weaknesses of the human race. Brilliant.”

Next, a FIVE STAR review from the redoubtable Dave Bradley at the worlds foremost SFnal publication, SFX:

“Delivered in Abercrombie’s trademark witty style … This is an action-packed novel full of brutality, black humour and razor-sharp characterisation.”

Yes, FIVE STARS.  MAXIMUM POINTS.  BEST POSSIBLE.  Next, opinon from none other than Stargate supremo and keen observer of the SF&F literary scene, Joe Mallozzi:

“I was fortunate enough to receive an advance copy of Joe Abercrombie’s latest foray into nihilistic fantasy and, damn is it great … Epic in scope yet delightfully detailed in its tracking of the various players involved, it delivers what we’ve come to expect from Abercrombie: dark humor, multi-faceted characters, blood and battle.”

Next up, Romantic Times, or RT as they appear to have become known:

“It’s full of violence, raw language, morally complicated characters and a constantly shifting POV.  Well written and stocked with fully realised characters.”

Then, John Ottinger at Grasping for the Wind:

“The lovechild of The Killer Angels and Conan the Barbarian, Joe Abercrombie’s newest stand-alone novel, The Heroes is more of the same gritty, violent, tragicomedy that has propelled Abercrombie to the top of many fan-favorite lists … Abercrombie, simply put, has done it again. Though there is some repetition of theme and characterization, the work itself is marvelous. I simply could not stop reading it … This has been my favorite read of the past year and I cannot recommend The Heroes highly enough.”

Now, alas, we must turn to the negative reviews:

Did you spot them?  No.  There aren’t any.  I wonder why that is?  Maybe it’s because the book is frakking ace.  I don’t know.  I’m just guessing.  It wouldn’t be like me to mention in passing that you can preorder it from those lovely people at amazon or waterstones, for 50% off.  Oh, hold on, I just did.

Publishers Weekly

December 13th, 2010 • 20 Comments

That esteemed organ of the American book trade, Publishers Weekly, have spoken out on the subject of The Heroes, with a starred review, no less:

“This blood-drenched, thought-provoking dissection of a three-day battle is set in the same world as Abercrombie’s First Law Trilogy (The Blade Itself, etc.), but stands very well alone. Union commander Lord Marshal Kroy coordinates the fight with the aid of a motley group of incompetent, self-important officers. The strangely sympathetic Col. Bremer dan Gorst is officially a royal observer who nurses a burning desire to kill or be killed. Leading a much smaller army against the Union is Black Dow, whose grip on the throne of the Northmen is tenuous and based on fear and brutality. Calder, a slippery and cunning egotist, advocates peace while plotting to take Black Dow’s place. Abercrombie never glosses over a moment of the madness, passion, and horror of war, nor the tribulations that turn ordinary people into the titular heroes.”

Mmmmm, titular.  I realise it’s been an unpardonably long time since I reminded you that The Heroes can be pre-ordered here in the UK, or here in the US.  Let me just put that right.  Oh, I just did.  Or you could even meet me on tour, as detailed in the previous post, and snap up your copy the week of release, signed by mine very own right hand…