Joe Abercrombie - 'Best Served Cold'

Manda Scott · Post by **Manda Scott** » Wed June 29th, 2011, 4:04 pm

Hi all - wondered if anyone in this part of the list had found Joe Abercrombie yet?

I was introduced to him by fellow author Anthony Riches (his 'Wounds of Honour' is excellent if you're into Roman military fiction).

I spent the first book of his 'First Law Trilogy' (entitled, 'The Blade Itself') thinking that I hated the texture of it, the self-satisfied smugness and the too-clever-by-half writing that's always written with a snigger in the lines, but in the end, the characters got under my skin: the berserker northman who wants to be liked, the crippled torturer who was himself tortured to his current state, the waistrel would-be knight who finds courage, the magicians and half-demon women... and I came away thinking that actually, it was head and shoulders above the rest of this kind of writing and well worth the effort.

I'm half way through 'Best Served Cold' which is a stand-alone sequel to the First Law, all set in the same world a short time after, but from a different stand point -and am thoroughly enjoying it.

anyone else had a go?

Manda

annis · Post by **annis** » Wed June 29th, 2011, 8:13 pm

Oh yes, I love Abercrombie - heroic fantasy well laced with black humour- right up my alley!

And btw, hello, Manda! Nice to see you over here

Manda Scott · Post by **Manda Scott** » Wed June 29th, 2011, 10:02 pm

/Waves to Annis!

It's good to be back.. .

m