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Rhgr posted:Imagine George Martin, but a George Martin who isn't a total oval office. That's Joe Abercrombie. Well hes a right oval office to his characters  Just finished the First Law trilogy and holy crap, if you think Martin is too much of a dick to his characters you aint seen nothing yet. Smashurbanipal posted:From his own descriptions of "Heroes", that's pretty much Abercrombie's point: everyone is kinda reprehensible and there is absolutely no "good" faction or person. It's all shades of vicious, vindictive, vain and other wise unappealing traits that are written so successfully that you can't help but empathize with the characters. Yeah but I cant really say I empathized with Glokta much, he really is a horrible horrible person. More like I pitied him sometimes. Mr.48 fucked around with this message at 03:36 on Apr 18, 2010 |
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Apr 18, 2010 03:30
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Ballsworthy posted:edit: Shivers is probably my favorite, though. I hope he's better than in Last Argument of Kings, because he was a total bitch.
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Apr 19, 2010 00:00
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John Charity Spring posted:Regarding The Heroes, Abercrombie's let slip some interesting information on the characters and setting, which I only saw today. What? Another novel set in the north and no mention of Ninefingers? Outrageous! 
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Apr 19, 2010 00:56
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Bummey posted:I don't know, I'm not entirely sure I'd like to see Logen again. I like him, but I think his story ended well enough that bringing him in again might ruin it. Logen was by far my favorite character in the whole trilogy so I would definitely like to see him again.
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Apr 19, 2010 04:49
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Evfedu posted:Bloody Nine vs Fenris, best fight scene in anything ever?
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Apr 20, 2010 22:42
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Torsade de Pointes posted:I didn't think he was a bad guy in the books. He sounded like a real bastard when he was younger, but it's not entirely his fault later on. He just goes into uncontrollable psychotic rages at random. He's mentally ill instead of an evil dude. Same thing with West. They've both managed to make good men out of themselves, but once in a while they lose control and do things they end up regretting. Glokta on the other hand is an evil man (willing to torture and condemn to death innocent people just to keep his job) who ends up doing good sometimes when it suits him. Much like Bayaz. Its the ultimate kick in the balls that the first two men who are good, yet flawed get hosed over, while the two evil men who do good sometimes end up successful.
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Apr 21, 2010 03:41
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Tornhelm posted:See, I always figured that it was more likely that West was a variant on the classic Berzerker with Logen leaning more towards Multiple Personality Disorder, so while the Bloody-Nine was pretty much a psychopath, it wouldn't matter as much against West, it would pretty much end up just being a contest to whose alter-ego faded first. Not really, "furious" West is just West without his usual inhibitions, and he is at best just a very good fencer. The Bloody Nine is an unstoppable killing machine. Draw your own conclusions.
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Apr 26, 2010 14:10
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Ballsworthy posted:Possession probably wouldn't be the word I would choose, but yeah it seems possible that the transformation into the B9 is tied to his supernatural side. At the same time though he gains no supernatural ability (preternatural, sure, but not super) and spends the whole series lying to himself about what kind of person he is and his own history, even when it seems like he's being brutally honest he's still spinning or obfuscating somewhat based on Bethod's revelation at the end. Logen has a lot of dark work in his past without even adding any battle madness. Given that it also seems possible that the B9 is the real Logen and everything else in the series is him making a conscious effort. Not really. All the poo poo Bethod says simply describes an ambitious young man who knows he can beat anyone else in single combat. Its fairly easy to see how a rash young man could see unifying all the disparate warring northern clans into a single nation as a noble purpose. By that token offering to duel would save many lives as opposed to just a massive battle where many more lives would be lost. The only truly "evil" thing he did was ordering that town sacked, and he seems to genuinely feel terrible about that and doesn't deny it. Him killing Shivers' brother was probably the B9. Although I also kind of like the idea that B9 is not a separate entity, but the "real" Logen before he decides to try and become a good man. However, his first childhood episode where he kills his friend and doesn't remember why seems to indicate that the B9 was always a result of possession/split personality/some other mental illness.
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May 8, 2010 20:27
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Ballsworthy posted:^^ I'd forgotten about that "I'm free of you" line, that's pretty big, but I still think it could go either way. I never said he was fighting for peace. Read my post again. Also, we dont know the exact circumstances of the killing of Rattleneck's son.
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May 9, 2010 01:26
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Grand Prize Winner posted:I agree with most of that but this one little quibble. Sure, some are all angsty, but others are like, "gently caress yeah! I eat human flesh and therefore have superpowers!" I was under the impression that cannibalism is something that can enhance your already existing magical powers, not something that would just give you superpowers out of nowhere.
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May 13, 2010 20:29
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A Nice Boy posted:Oh man...Almost done with book 1, and though I've really liked the whole thing, he really picks up the pace in the last 150 pages, basically from when they go into the House of the Maker. If you're more than ~50 pages from the end the best is yet to come 
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May 18, 2010 17:59
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Just got Best Served Cold in the mail, the one with the nice cover too! Will report back shortly.....
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Jun 7, 2010 17:03
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Just finished Best Served Cold and was impressed by the sheer amount of backstabbing. One thing I'm not certain of though: Whats the deal with Shenkt? Clearly he's an eater like Sulfur and refers to having the same masters once upon a time, so is he an ex-apprentice of Bayaz or what?
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Jun 8, 2010 22:30
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A Nice Boy posted:Welp, just finished the trilogy and moving onto BSC, but goddamn, wanted to vent a little: You gotta realize though, that when Logen goes berserk, he's not in control of himself and people like Tul Duru who have been around him for years should have known better than to approach him in that state in the middle of battle. Black Dow on the other hand, is fully in control of his own actions, and still constantly kills in cold blood. So, objectively, Black Dow is considerably worse than Logen and his words at the end were just him trying to justify betraying of his chief
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Jun 25, 2010 17:17
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Kellanved posted:On the other hand, would you want a ruler who goes berserk at the drop of a hat and starts killing people around him?. Eh, arguing who is worse in this series isn't a very good way to spend our time. Most characters are plain bad on some standard. But it's not at the drop of a hat. Only during battle, so really it's not that bad. Everyone just needs to learn to stay the hell away from him once he starts laughing like a maniac while smashing people's skulls.
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Jun 25, 2010 19:06
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A Nice Boy posted:Yeah, what the hell should I read after Best Served Cold? The Prince of Nothing series by R. Scott Bakker.
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Jun 30, 2010 07:33
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John Charity Spring posted:The first image of the rough UK cover for The Heroes has been released. Still scheduled for release on the 11th of January. I order my books from bookdepository, so I always get the nice UK covers anyways.
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Jul 17, 2010 17:50
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A Nice Boy posted:Apparently it's going to have way more returning characters than BSC did. Wait, who's Kroy? Anyways I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for Logen to show up.
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Jul 18, 2010 01:26
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Yadoppsi posted:One of the rival generals under Lord Marshal Burr. In LAoK he is promoted to Lord Marshal after both Burr and West die. Oh yeah, he was the really uptight infantry general right? Poulder or something was the other cavalry commander.
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Jul 18, 2010 07:46
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From Joe's blog: "Secondly, Calder has a tough, strong, honest, loyal older brother with a pea for a brain before him in line." I don't know if Honest and Loyal are good words to describe Scale given what we saw in The First Law books.
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Aug 20, 2010 01:11
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savinhill posted:I can't remember who these characters are. Bethod's two sons.
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Aug 20, 2010 03:20
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Casao posted:I picked up The Blade Itself because Amazon recommended it to me and it was pretty good. Just starting the second now. Good stuff, hopefully it and its re-reads will tide me over till we get more Locke Lamora or Black Company. After the last Black Company book, I don't think I want to read any more. Just saying.
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Aug 24, 2010 01:29
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keiran_helcyan posted:Yeah off the top of my head regarding Bayaz Khalul's number two asked him why he killed Juvens, and he responds along the lines of "Juvens thought he could change the world with good intentions...but I say I didn't kill him!" So in my opinion he flat out murdered his old master to motivate all his fellow apprentices to follow his lead. Then murdered Kanedias' daughter to further motivate the apprentices to kill Kanedias, leaving him as the most powerful mage in the world. He's really just a power hungry rear end in a top hat, not cackling psychotic evil, but perfectly willing to kill anyone between him and absolute power Wasn't Badesh killed by Glustrod in the first war? I could be remembering wrong though.
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Sep 3, 2010 18:03
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Unkempt posted:Mmmmm. I know it says not for sale, but seriously, how much do you want? (after you're done)
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Sep 10, 2010 01:22
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Evfedu posted:Logen had a fantastic arc that pretty much encompassed everything you needed to know about him except: "Who is his dad" and maybe a clearer explanation of his berserking. You have to be realistic I kid, I kid, I'd love to see more of Logen.
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Sep 26, 2010 01:41
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savinhill posted:On Abercrombie's dust jackets, his bio says that he edits video for Iron Maiden and other bands. I'd love it if Maiden would do a song about his series like they did for Dune. "Bloody Nine" Would be the most metal song ever. 
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Oct 9, 2010 20:17
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Axeface posted:Also, if that untagged spoiler about Shivers on the first page of the thread is true, I'm gonna be really full of impotent rage at the internet in about a day or two. It has a grain of truth, but is not actually true. Thats probably why it wasn't deleted.
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Oct 11, 2010 18:46
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Melche posted:headbutt someone to death or something. That dude was just awesomely nuts. Thats actually more along the Bloody Nine's style of doing things.
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Nov 18, 2010 01:13
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:I think David Gemmell is a good author to try out if you liked Abercrombie. It's not nearly as dark, but his overall tone tends to be set nearly the same. He has his downfalls (mostly him being dead now Read his books you mooks. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3369312
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Dec 1, 2010 21:47
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) but all in all I really enjoyed his writing. There isn't a book he wrote that isn't on my shelf.
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Joe posted a brief preview of the next book on his blog:quote:“Shy South comes home to her farm to find a blackened shell, her brother and sister stolen, and knows she’ll have to go back to bad old ways if she’s ever to see them again. She sets off in pursuit with only her cowardly old step-father Lamb for company. But it turns out he’s hiding a bloody past of his own. None bloodier. Their journey will take them across the lawless plains, to a frontier town gripped by gold fever, through feuds, duels, and massacres, high into unmapped mountains to a reckoning with ancient enemies, and force them into alliance with Nicomo Cosca, infamous soldier of fortune, a man no one should ever have to trust…” Cosca is back! And who could have had a bloodier past than Logen? CANNOT loving WAIT!
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Feb 5, 2012 09:14
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It cant be Shenkt, it says he has a bloody past, and Shenkt cant exactly put his bloody days behind him, being addicted to eating people and loving with Bayaz and Khalul and all. Also: Lamb, None-Bloodier......Logen, Bloody-Nine. Come on! Its Logen, I want to believe! Mr.48 fucked around with this message at 19:17 on Feb 5, 2012 |
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Feb 5, 2012 19:13
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Erm...... you might want to stay away from this thread until you're done, its gotten a bit spoileriffic around here. (I'm probably one of the worst offenders)
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Feb 6, 2012 07:23
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J Bjelke-Postersen posted:Has there been any indication that this new book might introduce rudimentary guns or will the dueling be of the sword variety? A book by Abercrombie finishing with a Mexican stand off would rule (prediction: everyone would probably find a way to get killed). Well The Heroes did have Bayaz's minions testing a rudimentary canon so I guess it would depend how late the new book is taking place in the timeline of the other books.
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Feb 13, 2012 05:18
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Grand Prize Winner posted:What about Shivers? Does he have any reason not to go globetrotting after The Heroes? I'm not saying it's likely after his Styrian adventure, but it may be a possibility. Nah, Shivers is pretty firmly entrenched in being an uncaring murder machine. Pike is a possibility, but the whole Bloody-Nine/None-Bloodier thing seems like way too blatant of a hint. Unless Joe is deliberately trolling us, which I wouldnt put past him I guess... Edit: Maybe its Bremer dan Gorst after retirement? Mr.48 fucked around with this message at 04:06 on Feb 14, 2012 |
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Feb 14, 2012 04:01
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From the publisher's blurb on the Amazon page for the new book: "The First Law trilogy was Joe's take on the great epic fantasy tales. Then, in Best Served Cold, he took on a fantasy version of a classic revenge story, and we have a superb tale of war waged in the frozen north still to come. With this, his next novel, Joe Abercrombie is once again venturing in a new direction, and on a new adventure, with one of the most enduring, powerful and popular characters of the First Law trilogy. It's going to be their biggest challenge yet." If its not Logen I'm going to be seriously pissed off.
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Feb 14, 2012 07:33
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The Gunslinger posted:Characters don't sit around by the corpse and describe it but its acknowledged hes dead. The only character who makes sense given the wording Joe chose is Logen but he could be using it intentionally so who knows. I really hope it isn't Shivers again or something, if hes going to revisit any character then it might as well be Ferro or Logen. Their arcs were basically finished in most respects but I'll read anything new involving them because they were so well done. Hang on a second, Ferro..... Lamb is the step-father of the missing kids but we don't know who the mother is yet! Edit: Oh yeah, and Shivers doesnt make sense since he seems unlikely to ever leave his life of violence behind him after his transformation in BSC.
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Feb 22, 2012 20:06
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Ornamented Death posted:Have you read Glen Cook's Black Company series? If not, read Glen Cook's Black Company series. Be sure to stop reading after book 3 though, its all downhill from there.
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Feb 23, 2012 23:19
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syphon posted:The Lies of Locke Lamora was fantastic, except that he apparently wrote 2 books and then went crazy (so book 3 has been pending for 5 years now). That shouldn't stop you from reading the first book, since it's a fantastic book, even as a standalone. Clinical depression is nothing to scoff at.
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Feb 25, 2012 00:41
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I think Duck and burger might be mistaking assholes for violent bad-asses. Granted, its a common mistake to make for someone thats used to reading fantasy by authors other than Abercrombie where the characters the author tries to portray as violent bad-asses often just come off as assholes. With Abercrombie though, the duality is quite intentional and is explored further in the books.
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Feb 29, 2012 20:53
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I loving love you! And I love Joe, and Logen and the whole drat world! Made my whole loving day.
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Mar 20, 2012 05:17
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