Best Served Cold, by Joe Abercrombie

Best Served Cold
Joe Abercrombie
Orbit: 2009


As can be guessed from the title, Best Served Cold is a novel of revenge. Monza Murcatto is betrayed by her employer, Duke Orso. Her brother murdered and Monza assumed dead and dumped down the side of a cliff, Monza was left with nothing but hate. Once a renowned and feared general Monza was alone in the world. All that was left was a burning desire to take her revenge on Orso and the six other men responsible for her betrayal.

With the damage done to her body from her almost-murder, Monza hires a strange assortment of very dangerous people to assist her in her vengeance.

Best Served Cold is set in the world of Abercrombie’s debut trilogy The First Law and it is set a few years after the conclusion to Last Argument of Kings, but Best Served Cold stands on its own and requires to knowledge of the events of the previous three books. Several minor characters from the first trilogy make appearances here, and references to others also crop up, so those readers who are familiar with The First Law will have a greater reference point to who “The Cripple” is and why he should be feared, and Shivers past experience with The Bloody Nine will be sharp in the minds of those readers. The thing is, Best Served Cold works just fine without that background. Despite the twists and turns and betrayals, Best Served Cold is a straightforward story of revenge. There are all sorts of side stories going on, but the core of the novel is Monza and her desire to revenge herself and her brother’s murder on Duke Orso and carve a path of death through the seven she believes to be ultimately responsible. Damn the consequences.

Readers familiar with The First Law have an idea what to expect from Best Served Cold. For the potential reader who has never heard of Joe Abercrombie before, Best Served Cold is violent and profane, the novel is fast paced with plenty of action and betrayal. There is a sense of grit to the novel, that the blood may hit readers in their face. Best Served Cold is dark and nasty and it is an absolute delight.


Previous Reviews
The Blade Itself
Before They Are Hanged
Last Argument of Kings

Last Argument of Kings, by Joe Abercrombie

Last Argument of Kings
Joe Abercrombie
Pyr: 2008

With his concluding volume in The First Law trilogy, Joe Abercrombie brings his major characters back together in Adua once again, if only to give them a moment to regroup before Abercrombie spins them all off in unexpected ways. After the failure of a months long quest to distant ends of the known world, Bayaz returns to Adua with Logen Ninefingers, Jezal Luthar, Ferro, and a couple of other far less important characters. The quest was to find some mystical artifact called “The Seed”, though nobody other than Bayaz seemed to have a clue as to what that might be.

No sooner do they arrive back in Adua that Bayaz begins some sort of game with Jezal dan Luthar’s future, publically proclaiming Jezal to be a hero and a great warrior despite the fact that Jezal is nothing more than a young man only just starting to mature into a better man. Logen Ninefingers, known as the Bloody Nine, rejoins the group of Northmen fighting alongside the Union against the invading army of Bethod’s Northmen. Logen has been escaping his reputation on Bayaz’s quest, but back among men who have reason to hate and fear him Logen’s homecoming can be nothing more than an epic battle. The crippled Superior Glotka continues to serve Arch Lector Sult as Inquisitor and Torturer, and the return of Bayaz and company is about to upset the balance in Adua even as the Open Council prepares to elect a new King.

That’s just the part that came before, the set up for the story. Prologue, if you will. There is only a brief pause before Abercrombie gives each of the major characters everything they thought they might have wanted. Except, everything each character might have imagined turns out nothing like they would have expected.

This is where Abercrombie excels, in creating characters the reader can care enough about that when Abercrombie brings the pain and the nasty, the reader can’t help but be fully engaged. Make no mistake, Abercrombie brings the pain and the nasty. Abercrombie excels at pain and nasty and Last Argument of Kings is chock full of pain and nasty. This is Abercrombie’s wheelhouse.

Several things are done very well here. The first, and most obvious is the battle sequences in the north. The general fighting sequences are done well, but the blood-lusts of the Bloody Nine are something else, and how Abercrombie describes both the fighting and the blood-lust is exceptional. It is not that the reader feels as if he (or she) is there in the battle, but we can feel it and almost see the madness. Almost.

The second thing done very well is even when describing the unbelievable (Jezal’s ascension, for example), Abercrombie somehow makes the character development realistic. Sure, Glotka never really changes, but Jezal does and while there is a hint of a the farmboy-fantasy development to Jezal, it is not at all the same. Abercrombie twists even that convention of the genre, playing with it and then playing it false. All is not as it seems and Jezal does the best he can with it, but Jezal is not Belgarion of Riva. This is not the average ascension. Abercrombie makes even this work. The rest of the characters…well…they’re men and women grown. They don’t change so much as adapt and play out their natures. Logen attempts to develop, but circumstances forces him to what he knows best. Glotka just gets by, delightfully nasty as he is.

The only thing in Last Argument of Kings that feels almost false is something that comes across as a villain’s cliché speech explaining the reasons why. The speech itself doesn’t play well, but what follows is excellent. On one hand, there is no clear answer if the speechmaker is a villain. He may just be a puppetmaster with no clear cut good or evil. On the other hand, even if it is a false note played by Abercrombie, it is only one false note followed by awesomely brutal destruction.

That’s the key in this novel and the entire series, it is brutal. Bad things happen to good people and many of the “bad guys” really don’t get what they deserve. Late in the novel Glotka says “I don’t deserve this”, but the only answer given him is “No one gets what they deserve.” Last Argument of Kings is not about the righteous. In Abercrombie’s world none are righteous. Nobody gets what they deserve, except perhaps, the reader. The reader deserves the brutality told in such an entertaining way. It’s nasty, but that’s why we read Abercrombie, for the pain and the nasty and the humor laced through all of it.

For all the ramble of this review, I’m not sure I’ve truly covered what I wanted to cover or done Last Argument of Kings justice. The deal is, this is a damn fine book and one of the best conclusions to a trilogy I have had the pleasure to read. The last chapter, “The Beginning”, is fitting since the trilogy opened with a chapter titled “The End”. The events in “The Beginning” mirror those of “The End”, suggesting that we are only jumping into the middle of a larger story, that there is neither beginning nor end, not for these characters (or anyone else). Even now I ramble. Rather than prolong this, a simple “Well done, Mr. Abercrombie” and a “thank you” will have to suffice. The First Law is one hell of a ride and one that doesn’t relent from start to finish. It’s a damn fine novel.

Previous Reviews
The Blade Itself
Before They Are Hanged

Top Nine Author Discoveries of 2008

There is something to be said about talking about books. After all, that’s what we read. But, just as much fun as discovering a great new book is discovering a great new author. Or, even discovering a great older author. It’s all new if you have never read an author before.

So, in honor of authors, those wonderful people who write the wonderful books, here is a list of some of the authors I encountered for the first time in 2008.


1. Emma Bull: It all starts with Shadow Unit. (in 2008, almost everything stars with Shadow Unit). Bull's story "Breathe" opened the first season of Shadow Unit and I was sold. It was much later in the year before I was to read War for the Oaks or Territory, but when I did there was no longer any question that Emma Bull wasn't a writer to watch, she was a writer I MUST read.

2. Joe Abercrombie: I've read the first two entries in his First Law trilogy and both The Blade Itself and Before They Are Hanged deliver brutal epic fantasy goodness. I have no doubt that the third volume will do (has done) the same. I'd confess to a man crush on Abercrombie's fiction, but that would just be weird.

3. Scott Westerfeld: John Scalzi's Why YA post inspired me to pick up one of Westerfield's novels and I ended up with a copy of Uglies in my hands. I quickly ran through Pretties, Specials, and Extras (apparently I never did write that review) and when I finished, I hoped Westerfeld might have one more book left in this series, though I can't imagine what it would be. You can pretend that Westerfeld's work is just YA (if you ignore his fully adult novels) and thus not worth reading, but you'd be wrong and you'd miss out.

4. Ellen Klages: It's all about Portable Childhoods. The short fiction of Ellen Klages is outstanding, so much so that in early 2009 I fully expect to read The Green Glass Sea (which was a short story in Portable Childhoods). Klages is a writer I'm keeping my eye on.

5. Nancy Kress: If you read short fiction and stumble across any of the major magazines and anthologies, or watch the award lists, you'll probably come across a story from Nancy Kress. This year I read my first collection of Kress's short fiction (Nano Comes to Clifford Falls) and my first novel (Dogs). I want to read more.

6. L. Timmel Duchamp: Alanya to Alanya was an eye opening experience. It is a very political novel, a feminist novel, and yet I think it has (or should have) a wider appeal than one might expect if you only look at the labels. The novel helped push me to think about gender and power in ways I had not previously. The second book in the Marq'ssan Cycle, Renegade, is a pyschological battle of will, and in the next two months I intend to read the third volume.

7. Nick Mamatas: Oh, this is primarily based on Under My Roof, but that's enough. I also read Move Under Ground this year and while good (and quite possibly more impressive as it reads like Kerouac), Under My Roof is a true standout. I've got a copy of the anthology he edited with Jay Lake (Spicy Slipstream Stories) on my shelf to read. The man can write, but he also has a solid editorial eye (he was editor of Clarkesworld Magazine)

8. Liz Williams: Between Snake Agent and The Demon and the City I know I want more Detective Inspector Chen (there are two more published and an additional two in the works), but I also want to read some of the other stuff Liz Williams wrote. Detective Inspector Chen is future urban fantasy detective fiction where Heaven and Hell are real, bureaucratic, and interact in human affairs. Good stuff. Real good.

9. Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu: I'll be honest, Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu is the one novelist on this list from whom I've only read one book (Ellen Klages would have been the other, but it was a collection of stories and I count those differently). In this case that one book is The Shadow Speaker. I don't believe I've encountered much fiction set in Africa (it's out there, I know), and this tale of technology and magic is a beautiful story told well.


I posted a similar list last year, so if you were curious who I discovered for the first time in 2007, well, here you go.

Six Reasons to read The First Law

Jeff Vandermeer asked Joe Abercrombie for reasons why people should read his books. Joe answers at Omnivoracious.

2. Because its frequent explosions of visceral action are the closest you can get to being hit in the mouth with a mace and still keep all your teeth. Its selection of rooftop chases, duels to the death, chaotic melees in all weathers and full-scale pitched battles are so exciting they may cause you to lose control of your bodily functions.

Abercrombie's answers are fully awesome and had I not read and enjoyed the hell out of the first two, those six answers would be more than enough to get me reading. (Still waiting for my library to even stock The Last Argument of Kings).

As it is, I wanted to point out that post for sheer cool factor.

Before They Are Hanged, by Joe Abercrombie

Before They Are Hanged
Joe Abercrombie
Pyr: 2008

Before They Are Hanged is the second volume in Joe Abercrombie’s First Law sequence and follows his debut novel The Blade Itself. Abercrombie picks up the various character threads left hanging from the first book. Inquisitor Glotka has been named Superior of Dagoska and is tasked with finding what happened to the previous Superior while also protecting the city from the expected siege it is about to sustain. The Northman Logan Ninefingers travels with the First Wizard Bayaz, the preening and untested swordsman Jezal, an angry warrior woman from the South, Ferro, and a couple of others. Logan and company seek a treasure from antiquity on behalf of Bayaz, some talisman which will change the tide of history. Colonel West joins the armies fighting the incursion from the North.

As the middle book in a trilogy, Before They Are Hanged only makes sense if viewed in light of The Blade Itself. Any cursory overview of the novel’s plot will sound old and well used, but if one has read The Blade Itself and enjoyed The Blade Itself, there is a great deal of excitement to be found in what happens to the various characters of Before They Are Hanged.

What I once considered to be something called Middle Book Syndrome I now believe to be a combination of two things which affect how readers view the second book in a trilogy. The first volume is new, it is fresh. It is our first glimpse into a strange new world with (hopefully) exciting new characters. It is the first taste and it is delicious. We then wait a number of months or years to read the new volume, the second volume. The craftsmanship of the author has hopefully improved from Book 1 to Book 2, but often enough the second volume doesn’t taste quite as good even though it was better prepared. We’ve met all these characters before. It isn’t fresh. The second thing that affects this perspective of a second book is that we have not yet been given the ultimate resolution of the trilogy. Book Two should advance plotlines, further develop characters, but seldom is there that fully satisfying conclusion because that’s what we will have in Book Three. So, we get what is called Middle Book Syndrome with question of whether or not the novel was filler and could have been better told.

I think that Joe Abercrombie escapes this sense of Middle Book Syndrome with Before They Are Hanged. Yeah, some of the shiny newness has worn off the characters. We’ve met Glotka and Jezal and Logen before, and yeah, they don’t do too much we don’t see coming. Yet, character development does happen and I think it occurs in a realistic manner. We can guess how Jezal is going to change because he starts as an arrogant young pup and he is on his first adventure with men (and woman, though Ferro is almost more masculine than the guys). He has to change and he is likely to change in a particular way. Glotka and Logen are men grown and men formed, so even as there are chinks in their armor, they ultimately remain true to themselves. The success here is that Abercrombie has drawn out these fascinating characters. No matter what they are doing, we want more of Glotka, the crippled torturer. We want more of Logen Ninefingers and his berserker rage. We may not necessarily want more of Jezal, but we get that, too (but less of Jezal than we have in The Blade Itself). Abercrombie delivers when he writes such clearly defined characters. There may be a sense that these are stock characters, more archetype than wholly original, but Abercrombie writes them so damn well that I’m not sure I really care.

What happens is of importance to the story and our enjoyment of it, but it is not quite important enough to attempt to give an overview of. There is political intrigue with Sand dan Glotka taking over the city, there is questing with the motley crew searching for a stone at the Edge of the World, and there are battles and incompetence in the Colonel West storyline. Topping 500 pages Before They Are Hanged feels short, as if another 200 pages would help create a fully satisfying reading experience.

The only true negative I have for Before They Are Hanged is simply that I know the story isn’t over yet. Abercrombie provides closure on the direct storylines begun in this novel, but there is an overarching story that we know isn’t complete even while we don’t know exactly where Abercrombie is taking us.

I mentioned in my review of The Blade Itself that the novel would be judged based on the successes of the subsequent two volumes. Thus far we can count The Blade Itself a resounding success.

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.


Previous Reviews:
The Blade Itself

Thoughts on Hugo Nominees 2008: John W. Campbell Award

Joe Abercrombie (2nd year of eligibility)
Jon Armstrong (1st year of eligibility)
David Anthony Durham (1st year of eligibility)
David Louis Edelman (2nd year of eligibility)
Mary Robinette Kowal (2nd year of eligibility)
Scott Lynch (2nd year of eligibility)


The SFF award I find most interesting is not specifically from one of the three major awards (Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy), and it has nothing to do with any individual story or novel. The award that is most interested is the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. The award is given at Worldcon with the rest of the Hugos, but it isn’t a Hugo. Not really.

The John W. Campbell Award is given to the best new science fiction or fantasy writer whose first work of science fiction or fantasy was published in a professional publication in the previous two years. (via Writertopia)

Past winners include Naomi Novik, John Scalzi, Elizabeth Bear Cory Doctorow, Ted Chiang, Jo Walton, Nalo Hopkinson, Jay Lake, Lucius Shepard, Orson Scott Card, and others stretching back to 1973 (Jerry Pournelle).


I’ll start with Jon Armstrong. Everything I know about Armstrong is that he wrote a novel titled Grey. It was published by Night Shade Books. It’s supposed to be good. I haven’t read it. I’m sure I’ll get to it, but for the moment Armstrong is pretty well taken out of the conversation for the Campbell. As an added bonus, Grey is available for free download. Thanks, Night Shade!

This brings me to David Louis Edelman. Edelman is the author of the much heralded Infoquake (which, naturally, I have also not read) and the forthcoming Multireal. While I haven’t read Infoquake, I have seen a great deal more buzz for Infoquake than I have for Grey. Obviously buzz does not equal quality, but the Campbell nomination does suggest it. Moreso than Grey, I definitely need to read Infoquake. Infoquake was published by Pyr.

Not having read either Jon Armstrong or David Louis Edelman, it is impossible to guess how likely either would be to go home with a Campbell in hand.

David Anthony Durham is a beneficiary of having written three prior novels but no fantasy until he brought us Acacia last year. Durham was able to hone his craft before we got our first taste. But, given that the Campbell is for new SFF authors, Durham qualifies. Lest I come across as being slightly petty or petulant, let me say that this is not my intent. I thought Acacia was a damn fine novel, one of the better releases of 2007, and Durham more than deserves his place on the Campbell list. I only hope that he will be able to turn Acacia II quickly so he is better able to build a readership. If I see Durham’s name on a new fantasy novel, I’ll be sure to read it.

Joe Abercrombie. What can one say about Joe Abercrombie without being assassinated? Thus far I have only read The Blade Itself and thought it was a very strong fantasy debut. Abercrombie is working with some rather stock characters (barbarian warrior, cripple, naïve lordling, etc), but writes the characters in such a way that they feel fresh. Plus, he is putting these stock characters into much grittier situations than we normally see, and given the character perspectives in the novel I think that Abercrombie is starting to twist these stock characters into forms and shapes we do not normally get. Inquisitor Glotka is no mere shade of Tyrion Lannister.

Then there is Scott Lynch. Mr. Lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas Under Red Skies. As much as I admired Acacia and enjoyed the hell out of The Blade Itself, I think that the two Lynch novels are good enough and popular enough that Lynch has the best chance of winning the Campbell in his second and final year of eligibility. But this is by no means a sure bet. I’m not one of the Hugo voters, so I can’t put down a name. Without having sales figures in hand, I don’t know who sold how many books, but the sense I have is that Lynch outsold the rest...but Durham may have put up solid numbers himself. So who knows? Scott Lynch is by no means a lock (get it? Locke!? Sorry...), but along with Abercrombie and Durham, I would say he is a solid contender. Because we don’t necessarily know the makeup of the voters for the Campbell, it is difficult to say who will take home the award.

I have not forgotten Mary Robinette Kowal. I just saved her for last. Mrs. Kowal is my sentimental favorite. The other five nominees are all novelists. Mary Robinette Kowal is a short story writer. If you have been reading this blog for the last year or so you will know that I think very highly of Kowal’s fiction. Kowal is probably as dark a dark horse as you can get in this category as the Campbell tends towards novelists (with a couple of notable exceptions), but I think Kowal’s short fiction is every bit as strong as the novelists’ in this category. If she comes out with a short story collection, I’d probably buy it. If she published a novel, I know I would buy it. My biggest hope is that MRK gains a wider readership for her fiction as a result of the Campbell nomination.


I would be tickled if Mary Robinette Kowal was awarded the Campbell, but my expectation is that Lynch or Durham will walk away with it. Abercrombie will likely draw the same readers as Lynch and I think that some of those who would otherwise vote for Joe Abercrombie will cast their votes for Scott Lynch. Durham’s the guy who I can see upsetting the proverbial apple cart. I think he has just enough popularity and notoriety to get through.

The most important thing here, I think, is the nomination itself. It gets people (me) talking about the writers and that provides greater awareness of their work...which can only help.

But how cool would it be if Mary Robinette Kowal won? Seriously.

The Blade Itself, by Joe Abercrombie

The Blade Itself
Joe Abercrombie
Pyr: 2007


Mr. Abercrombie may have to continue to chase that elusive and perfect 10/10 review of his fiction. The Blade Itself falls short of perfection, though if we really want to get right down to it, no novel or story should ever achieve a perfect rating because nothing is absolutely perfect. I say this, of course, in full expectation that Mr. Abercrombie will someday read this and bring down the full force of his wrath and scorn upon those who dare give him less than his due. Does this make me fearful? I tell you now, sir, that it does not. I am fully braced with my back against the wall. I can take it. To hedge my bets, I have also hired mutant attack dogs with grenade launchers attached to their heads, the Shrike, Rodents of Unusual Size, and a couple of accountants. I think I’m covered.

The Blade Itself is one of the more recommended books I’ve seen cross my mental radar in the last few years. The only other books that compare, in terms of hype, are The Lies of Locke Lamora and The Name of the Wind. That’s pretty heady company because The Lies of Locke Lamora has lived up to the hype. I can’t speak for The Name of the Wind because I just haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. Mr. Abercombie opens The Blade Itself with a little prologue of a chapter called, interestingly enough, “The End”. It is a chase sequence with Logen Ninefingers running from some beings called The Shanka. There is some battle, more chase, and a leap presumably to the death. In other fantasies this opening prologue would conclude with Logen dead and the reader wondering what this Shanka invasion is all about. The rest of the world wouldn’t know about it. This is *not* what Mr. Abercrombie does here. “The End” is the beginning and the very next chapter deals with the after effects of “The End” and with Logen having escaped in a very exciting manner.

After a couple of Logen chapters Mr. Abercrombie begins to introduce the two other primary viewpoint characters in this novel: Inquisitor Glotka, a crippled former soldier turned torturer; and Jezal, a young pompous ass of a nobleman training for a sword fighting competition. While Jezal is, in many ways, naïve to the ways the world outside the particular sphere of nobility works (and to be honest, he could care less), Jezal is not your average heroic fantasy hero. I expect Jezal to make something of the hero’s journey over the new two volumes and change his outlook from the pompous asshood of his inexperience to somewhat more worldly and understanding once he actually has to be out in the world, fight, live, and work with those from different political / social stations. I do not expect, however, Jezal to be the singular hero other fantasy novels work with. This is not a kitchen boy / farm boy fantasy.

The most interesting aspect of The Blade Itself is the character of Sand dan Glotka, Inquisitor. Glotka physically is a broken man. He was tortured for two years and was left crippled, unable to eat solid food and barely able to walk. His existence is pain. But Glotka was once a man of great strength, he was a former swordsman, a former champion, a formerly dashing and bold man. Now Glotka is hurt, angry, and a member of the Inquisition. He takes no pleasure from his job or from his existence, but he has value to the state. He roots out treason one torture at a time. Glotka is fascinating in ways that are reminiscent of Tyrion Lannister from George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, but unlike Tyrion, Glotka was made the way he is. Glotka had everything taken away from him when he was captured. Tyrion was born misshapen. What makes Glotka so interesting, besides his brutally sharp tongue, is the contrast of his former life which can be personified in Jezal (though Jezal does not have the class or talent that Glotka did) to Glotka’s present existence as a cripple. It pervades every little bit of movement and thought of Glotka’s life. Rather than being ponderous or overdone, Mr. Abercrombie somehow walks the line of keeping Inquisitor Glotka edgy versus delving too deep into the pathos of his situation.

I have no idea what that means. “The pathos of his situation.” But it sounds good, so I’m keeping it.

With Logen, Jezal, and Glotka as the lens through which we see this world Mr. Abercrombie has created the reader is given an action packed and intelligent debut novel (and man, can Abercrombie write an action sequence! Good God, the man writes action like a dream...a dream where there is brutal violence visualized in crisp detail). The Blade Itself is such a set up that as the novel progresses the scope of the world and the threat grows ever larger as more and more hints are given as to what, exactly, is going on.

There is so much going on in The Blade Itself. There are fascinating characters, political maneuvering a plenty, sword-play, action, a dash of romance, class politics, a variety of cultures, more action, magic, empires and feudal warlords, still more action, foul language, inventive language, something called action – all this, and more. The Blade Itself has something for everyone all wrapped up in a violent, action packed, sometimes profane package.

And I like it.

A lot.

Still, Joe Abercrombie will have to continue his quest for the perfect 10/10 review. There are two reasons I am willing to go into which will explain why I cannot give a 10/10 review for The Blade Itself.

1) The Blade Itself does not have a true ending. It is not a complete book in and of itself. The success of The Blade Itself will ultimately hinge on how successful volumes two and three are. The best way to describe this is that the novel reads and concludes as if Mr. Abercrombie took a 1500 page novel, chopped it into three parts and published Part I as The Blade Itself. So, if Volumes Two and Three are as strong or stronger than Part I, my estimation of The Blade Itself will go up. If Books Two and Three fall victim to the Suck Monster, I will think of The Blade Itself as a great opening, but not something I can confidently recommend because of the next two books. With all of that said, I have the utmost confidence in Joe Abercrombie to write two more kick ass novels and really deliver on the promise of The Blade Itself. He promises quite a bit with this novel.

2) I don’t grade my reviews with numerical values. Nyah!

So, that’s it. The Blade Itself is one helluva impressive debut novel, one that compares favorably to the other much hyped fantasy novels of the past three years, one that sets its own bar in terms of expectation, and one which I will be quite pleased to read the two sequels to.

Abercrombie

Joe Abercrombie cracks my shit up. His railing against anything short of perfection in reviews of his work have been damn near classic (uh oh!) and this latest mini tirade is even better.

As I have not had the chance to read The Blade Itself, I have not yet felt the ire of Abercrombie. However, I have called his railings only damn near classic, so one can hope.

If he writes fiction anything like he blogs, I am sure to LOVE it.

Interesting note: Patrick Rothfuss was thought to be the big name on the ballot for the Campbell award at this year’s Worldcon. Abercrombie spills the beans that Rothfuss’s earlier short fiction publication has made him ineligible for Best New Writer. Innnnteresting.

Pyr: Fall / Winter Catalog

Pyr's Fall / Winter Catalog is out and up on their website. It may have been up for a while now, but you can see how up on things I am right about now.


Highlights:
The Blade Itself, by Joe Abercrombie (Sept)
The Metatemporal Detective, by Michael Moorcock (Oct)
Selling Out, by Justina Robson (Oct)
Starship: Mercenary, by Mike Resnick (Dec)


Thoughts:
The Blade Itself has been receiving some very solid buzz from the advance copies, so this should get a shot. Moorcock's Eternal Champion work is hit or miss, but I understand he does not consider it is his Serious Fiction, so I'm curious what how this one will do. Selling Out is the follow up to Keeping It Real, an excellent opening fantasy / science fiction blending with cyborgs and elves and broken heroines. Starship: Mercenary is the third entry in the Starship series by Mike Resnick and thus far has been a pure pleasure to read. I expect no less from Resnick.

I most look forward to the Resnick and the Robson.

Forthcoming Fiction from September to December 2007

I'm flat out stealing this idea from Andy Wolverton's recent post where he listed out a few books coming out in the near future. From the Locus listing of Forthcoming Books, here's what has my interest in the last four months of the year.


September:
The Elves of the Cintra, by Terry Brooks (Del Rey)
The Bonehunters, by Steven Erikson (Tor)
The Blade Itself, by Joe Abercrombie (Pyr)


October:
20th Century Ghosts, by Joe Hill (Harpercollins)
The Empire of Ivory, by Naomi Novik (Del Rey)
The Merchants War, by Charles Stross (Tor)


November:
Gentlemen of the Road, by Michael Chabon (Del Rey)


December:
Not a blessed thing.



Interestingly enough, Terry Goodkind's Confessor is not listed on Locus and near as I can tell still has a sale date of November 13. I would like to see how Goodkind closes The Sword of Truth out. Also missing is Mike Resnick's Starship: Mercenary from Pyr in December. Highly anticipated.