So… a quote for Joe Abercrombie, eh? *cracks knuckles* (“Any brilliant double-edged quote from an American author will be attributed to Mark Twain.” –Mark Twain) As you can see, a daunting task indeed. (That is, unless you can get it to stick on Goodreads or Amazon.) And if you write something amazing but not specific to the target, people will just attribute it to Mark Twain. If you write something the publisher doesn’t use at all, you’ve failed. A canny publicist will pull real praise out of a reckless phrase, like so: “I love John’s…work.” or, stretching morality, even “I love work!” You also have to avoid fragments that can be pulled that undermine your snarkish intent: “I love John’s frequent use of correct punctuation in his work!” could be undermined. The trick, of course, is to write something that sounds positive, but may not be. When I opened the package containing Joe’s book (not addressed to me), I rubbed my hands together. As you can see, the similarities are eerie.

I taught swing dancing in college Joe does a wicked hip-hop-folk-dance-locomotion-twist-Macarena fusion that you wouldn’t believe. Martin’s heir apparent (oh wait, that was neither of us). Our careers have followed similar trajectories: each of us receiving early and effusive critical praise (oh wait, that was him), each of us selling millions of books (him more millions–or a more… ebullient publicist), each of us winning the David Gemmell Legend Award (oh wait, that was me), each of us being dubbed George R. Having been published in ye olde aught-7, Joe Abercrombie is the elder in our Sith-padawan duo, whilst I have only been in print since late, late 2008. Opportunities to blurb one’s nemesis are rare indeed. So you can jump in here even if you haven't read his other stuff. Simply said, I think this is my favorite Abercrombie book yet. I got all the grit that I love in Abercrombie, and the craft, and the character.

That's something I have to be in the mood for. But at the same time, I'm not always up for reading bleak. And honestly, someone that can make me feel that way is a fucking master. Sometimes his books leave me feeling a little bleak. That said, sometimes I put down one of his books and think to myself, 'Well, I guess everything sucks and everyone in the world is awful and we're all pretty much fucked in the end, aren't we?' Yeah, simply said, his craft is undeniably excellent. His worldbuilding is great, his characterization is marvelous, he writes an amazing action scene. I've been a fan of Abercrombie's stuff for years. Because I got to read an ARC of this book and you have to wait until it comes out in July.īut I can say this: This particular book is worth the wait. First off, I would like to taunt you all just a little bit.

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie