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Is there any kind of ETA for the new book? I checked on his site and blog but couldn't find any kind of estimate.
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Jun 23, 2011 15:30
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Clinton1011 posted:Is there any kind of ETA for the new book? I checked on his site and blog but couldn't find any kind of estimate. He apparently just started it in March, so it'll be at least a few months.
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Jun 23, 2011 16:18
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I always felt Logen was basically Korgoth of Barbaria And I imagined the Practicals looked like this: 
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Jun 23, 2011 18:47
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Finished Last Arguments of Kings yesterday - Jesus CHRIST. This guy hates his characters. It was an awesome ride but the most depressing thing I've read since Perdido Street Station.
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Jun 28, 2011 06:03
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Dramatika posted:Finished Last Arguments of Kings yesterday - Jesus CHRIST. This guy hates his characters. It was an awesome ride but the most depressing thing I've read since Perdido Street Station. I hope you are going to pick up Best Served Cold next, then The Heroes. I think he only gets better with every book he releases.
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Jun 28, 2011 14:52
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I also finished Last Argument of Kings yesterday. Going to start Best Served Cold in a few days. I already have The Heroes but I definitely want to read them in order.
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Jun 29, 2011 02:28
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Beastie posted:I also finished Last Argument of Kings yesterday. Going to start Best Served Cold in a few days. I already have The Heroes but I definitely want to read them in order. BSC and the Heroes are totally unrelated and you can read them in any order.
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Jun 29, 2011 17:05
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zoux posted:BSC and the Heroes are totally unrelated and you can read them in any order. There is a character arc in Best Served Cold that I think you would want to read before you read The Heroes. It's not required to enjoy The Heroes but the character is in both books and it just makes sense to follow their story in the correct order.
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Jun 29, 2011 17:28
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Clinton1011 posted:There is a character arc in Best Served Cold that I think you would want to read before you read The Heroes. It's not required to enjoy The Heroes but the character is in both books and it just makes sense to follow their story in the correct order. That's the most major thing, but there are a couple of other things too. Even though they are stand alone stories, several references are made in The Heroes to the events of Best Served Cold. While they aren't spoilers that would totally ruin the book, they definitely give away some of the ending. Monza is referred to at least once as gaining political power (or something along those lines) so you know she succeeds at least partially in her mission. Both the fact that Shivers is back in the North and has lost his eye give away most of his arc. Also, BSC contains the scene where Gorst "fails" the king, which helps to explain much of his angst in The Heroes. The two books could definitely be enjoyed in any order, but I'd still recommend reading BSC first.
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Jun 29, 2011 19:36
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Yeah, read BSC first because the events of 'the heroes' are directly after BSC chronologically.
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Jun 29, 2011 22:20
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I picked up Best Served Cold today, and will probably start it tomorrow (it's my day off.) I didn't realize that this thing was such a behemoth of a book. I swear to god my Kindle feels heavier after getting it. More pages just means more bloodshed 
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Jun 30, 2011 03:19
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Honestly, they're all really fast reads. I got them all on my Kindle and was honestly shocked at how thick they were when I saw physical copies in a bookstore.
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Jun 30, 2011 13:25
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Just finished up The Heroes recently. I already need another Abercrombie fix. I'm hoping the next book takes place in Gurkhul and we get to see what's become of Ferro since Last Argument. Also maybe set us up for an epic showdown between Bayaz and the Prophet.
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Jul 6, 2011 16:39
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I've read them all and have just finished Heroes. Good stuff. Heroes rather reminded me of the way music bands often put out an album, put out a second one refining their technique then produce a third which is different and experimental and annoys some of their fans. It's definitely a departure from his previous style and is in the style of a strong British tradition of war weary battle stories. Here's an excerpt from a Siegfried Sassoon poem: "The rank stench of those bodies haunts me still And I remember things I'd best forget. For now we've marched to a green, trenchless land Twelve miles from battering guns: along the grass Brown lines of tents are hives for snoring men; Wide, radiant water sways the floating sky Below dark, shivering trees. And living-clean Comes back with thoughts of home and hours of sleep. To-night I smell the battle; miles away Gun-thunder leaps and thuds along the ridge; The spouting shells dig pits in fields of death, And wounded men, are moaning in the woods. If any friend be there whom I have loved, God speed him safe to England with a gash. It's sundown in the camp; some youngster laughs, Lifting his mug and drinking health to all Who come unscathed from that unpitying waste: (Terror and ruin lurk behind his gaze.)" Very similar in style. Other possible influences might be Sven Hassel, a war weary soldier who served in the German Army on the Russian front - his character Porta is identical to Tully. He sold tons of books in the sixties and seventies over here and in the 80s when Joe was a teenager the second hand book shelves were full of cheap battered copies. Kelly's Heroes also sprang to mind - Joe said in an interview that he watched a lot of war films to research Heroes. The Western concept should be good. I'm surprised no one has as yet mentioned Firefly, the obvious example of a Western crossover. I loved Firefly and I love Abercrombie so looking forward to seeing them marry. I did smile to see him claim in an interview that he's playing Red Dead Redemption as research. One last thing - that piece of lit crit linked upthread. It had me fuming, it was so pretentious and ignorant. Barbarians in the North is not some allegory for Thatcher's Britain, it's an absolutely standard trope in the genre which the critic is too poorly read to realise (eg Conan, GRRM). Surprised to see it linked as an excellent review and even more surprised no one trashed it. I could go on a lot longer but it's an old post now and I don't want to necro it.
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Jul 7, 2011 11:12
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StabbedUp posted:I did smile to see him claim in an interview that he's playing Red Dead Redemption as research. I hope he's been playing the Undead Nightmare expansion. 
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Jul 7, 2011 18:27
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Beastie posted:I hope he's been playing the Undead Nightmare expansion. No. No no no no! Zombies would be a loving terrible addition to the world. Simple muzzleloaders are the logical next step.
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Jul 7, 2011 20:29
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Bummey posted:No. No no no no! Zombies would be a loving terrible addition to the world. Simple muzzleloaders are the logical next step. The Shanka can be the Zombies.
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Jul 7, 2011 23:53
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Clinton1011 posted:The Shanka can be the Zombies. What. No.
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Jul 9, 2011 04:52
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Well, I finished Best Served Cold and I loved it. The whole idea of revenge only brings more revenge really tied into Shivers character (hating Logen) and Monza's idea of payback. I can't wait to start The Heroes tomorrow. The only downside is this is the last Abercrombie book I'll be able to read for quite some time. Also sheesh duders I was kidding about the zombies. Bump: Spent the past two nights reading The Heroes all night. At first I was sure it was pretty much just another Abercrombie book. Then on day one when the actual battle started I was blown away. I love how he would describe some mundane commander or soldier and have them killed, then switch to the perspective of their killer. The leap-frogging around has me hook, this is his best one yet. Beastie fucked around with this message at 19:32 on Jul 14, 2011 |
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Jul 9, 2011 05:00
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Just finished the trilogy (got stuck towards the end of the 1st book, then eventually picked up Before they are hanged and loved it, read it and Last Argument of Kings as fast as I could) and holy crap, that ending is pretty tough. None of this happy nonsense! Best part of the trilogy: when Quai turned out to be Tolomei. Wow, that was some pretty cinematic writing. Kept thinking it'd make a great film trilogy, only it's probably far too gruesome. Reading the end in Agriont with the Inception soundtrack worked a charm.
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Jul 18, 2011 19:05
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I picked up the first book of the trilogy completely at random (new kindle, was just looking for stuff to read) and got hooked. I finished the trilogy a couple weeks ago but I've been holding off jumping into Best Served Cold because I felt like I needed a little break after that ending. I really enjoyed it though, and even though I haven't gotten into the stand-alone books yet I like the thought that he's parceling out the story in self-contained chunks instead of dragging it out, but we still get to revisit the world he's created.
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Jul 18, 2011 19:45
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I tore threw the last 10 chapters of The Heroes this morning. The ending was a bit more of a let don than the other books. I'm not sure if I feel that way because it seemed uneventful, or if this is the last of this series for some time. I really did like how he would describe the battle from both sides and flip flop between killers and the killed.
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Jul 28, 2011 23:03
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Beastie posted:I tore threw the last 10 chapters of The Heroes this morning. The ending was a bit more of a let don than the other books. I'm not sure if I feel that way because it seemed uneventful, or if this is the last of this series for some time. I'm just getting started on it, and my first reaction is "holy poo poo Gorst is a loving beast. He's like Gregor Clegane with a worse attitude, no wonder nobody makes fun of his voice to his face."
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Jul 31, 2011 01:51
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I don't know if you're far enough in yet, but pretty soon you'll start to figure out that he's also loving pathetic in his own way. I still can't decide if I hate or pity the guy.
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Jul 31, 2011 02:18
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Yeah he knows what he wants but he goes about getting it in such round-about ways and in the end he just screws himself over Also gently caress Bayaz, in the first book you admire him and then you slowly realize how he is such a cocksucker for no loving reason.
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Jul 31, 2011 02:22
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Grand Prize Winner posted:I don't know if you're far enough in yet, but pretty soon you'll start to figure out that he's also loving pathetic in his own way. I still can't decide if I hate or pity the guy. I have a hard time hating him just because of how much he hates himself.
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Jul 31, 2011 02:55
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Beastie posted:Also gently caress Bayaz, in the first book you admire him and then you slowly realize how he is such a cocksucker for no loving reason. I wouldn't say it's for no reason. Since Bayaz is effectively immortal he's stopped seeing short-lived humans as anything but ants or chess pieces or whatever. Not that this excuses the absolute fucker in any way, but his attitudes are comprehensible. And his motivation is simple as poo poo: pure hatred for the Prophet.
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Jul 31, 2011 03:03
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I saw Bayaz as the perfect summation of Abercrombie's theme: the self always wins out over the collective. Hence why Logen goes back to being the Bloody Nine, Shivers can't be a good man, Monza gets her revenge, Jezal becomes a lazy poo poo and Bayaz ruins everyone's lives because he really hates a guy.
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Jul 31, 2011 12:05
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anathenema posted:I saw Bayaz as the perfect summation of Abercrombie's theme: the self always wins out over the collective. Hence why Logen goes back to being the Bloody Nine, Shivers can't be a good man, Monza gets her revenge, Jezal becomes a lazy poo poo and Bayaz ruins everyone's lives because he really hates a guy. I always thought the defining character arc of his work was that people change, but more often than not they change back.
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Aug 1, 2011 01:42
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Grand Prize Winner posted:And his motivation is simple as poo poo: pure hatred for the Prophet. The world that Bayaz runs is pretty much indistinguishable from a world run by a standard Evil Dark Lord Necromancer, he just keeps a much lower profile and works through cut-outs (subborned leaders, his bank, his apprentices, etc.)
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Aug 1, 2011 10:17
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Grand Prize Winner posted:I don't know if you're far enough in yet, but pretty soon you'll start to figure out that he's also loving pathetic in his own way. I still can't decide if I hate or pity the guy. I just finished it, and fact: Gorst owns.  e: especially his rant at the end. "Battles? Bitch, I love battles."
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Aug 1, 2011 17:46
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I haven't read Heroes in a while, did Gorst send that letter to his king or not? The one where he is a rear end in a top hat in it. And to add a little more depth, I thought it was pretty obvious that Logen was the descendant of the third brother the one who could commune with spirits and that Bez was a son of the 4th brother.
Hollismason fucked around with this message at 18:13 on Aug 1, 2011 |
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Aug 1, 2011 17:54
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Hollis posted:I haven't read Heroes in a while, did Gorst send that letter to his king or not? The one where he is a rear end in a top hat in it. And to add a little more depth, I thought it was pretty obvious that Logen was the descendant of the third brother the one who could commune with spirits and that Bez was a son of the 4th brother. Nah, he just writes it and
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Aug 1, 2011 18:59
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Finally finished the First Law trilogy today. The books took a while to build up steam, but I really like the direction everything ended up going in, and I think the trilogy had a really solid, satisfying ending. Any advice on the next Abercrombie book I should go to from here?
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Aug 10, 2011 02:01
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AcidCat posted:Finally finished the First Law trilogy today. The books took a while to build up steam, but I really like the direction everything ended up going in, and I think the trilogy had a really solid, satisfying ending. Best Served Cold is next, both in terms of publication order and chronology.
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Aug 10, 2011 04:23
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Daveski posted:Best Served Cold is next, both in terms of publication order and chronology. And from here out his books are amazing. I didn't realy care for the trilogy but the stand alone books are so good.
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Aug 10, 2011 04:55
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The Supreme Court posted:Kept thinking it'd make a great film trilogy, only it's probably far too gruesome. Reading the end in Agriont with the Inception soundtrack worked a charm. HAH! I did the exact same thing, lol. Glad I'm not the only one. I also used the soundtracks from Crimson Tide and Gladiator. Hans Zimmer is too perfect  After watching Game of Thrones, I would prefer an HBO series as opposed to movies. Better yet, an awesome hard R animated mini series... but they never do those anymore.
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Aug 11, 2011 16:00
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That's why someone a few years ago made this pilot for [adult swim]. Unfortunately it was too expensive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYJ8G_ou6Dc I mentioned earlier that Logen is basically Korgoth.
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Aug 11, 2011 21:40
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Demtor posted:After watching Game of Thrones, I would prefer an HBO series as opposed to movies. Better yet, an awesome hard R animated mini series... but they never do those anymore. What? No. No. HBO would butcher this series just like they did with A Song of Ice and Fire. Books should not be made into movies. Muppet Christmas Carol is the only exception to this.
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Aug 11, 2011 22:05
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Butcher?! Whoa, that's an extreme opinion but I respect that. Most people I know enjoyed it. To each his own I guess. They certainly did get away with a lot of, "well we didn't have the budget for [fill in with whatever when necessary]"
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Aug 11, 2011 22:15
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