October 2007 Archive

Halloween Winner!

Woooooh-Ooooooh-Ooooooh! That’s my impression of a ghost.

It’s the final day of October, and by the ancient laws set down by me three weeks ago, it is time to let the dice choose the first (extremely) lucky winner of a Signed, Lined, Dated proof of Last Argument of Kings.

Pray to whatever dark gods you worship that the dice favour you.

And the winner is:

Wait for it.

Wait for it.

The dice are rolling.

Wait for it.

The 72nd entry to the competition, which was from …

Drum roll please …

JOSH MEYER!!!!

Who, apparently, deserves a proof of Last Argument of Kings because …

“…if I order any more of your books shipped overseas my wife will KILL ME. I will, no doubt, have some type of statement as to that being your fault on my headstone. While it might be good press, we don’t want that, do we??”

No, Josh, we decidedly do not want that, even if it is good press. I am happy to have saved your life. A round of applause, Ladies and Gentlemen, for JOSH MEYER. Don’t hate him, hate the dice.

(Josh, you should be in receipt of an e-mail from me requesting your postal address, and your choice of personalised inscription.)

I should point out that, in classic style, the proofs are not actually printed yet, so there may be a SLIGHT DELAY in receiving the forbidden bounty. However, I am assured that it will be ANY DAY NOW.

The dice have chosen the victor, but the unfortunate many should not despair, as the dice will choose a second (extremely) lucky winner on the last day of November. Then, on New Year’s Eve, I shall pick the entry that tickles my funny bone/plays upon my heart-strings/flatters my bloated ego the most to win the final proof. The competition remains open, and anyone who wishes to enter should follow the instructions HERE.

Once again, I am TOO GOOD TO YOU.

Read more | 2 comments | Posted in Uncategorized

The Blade Itself on Neth Space

Ken has run one of his ‘Questions Five’ interviews with me over on his long-established blog Neth Space. For those that don’t know, it’s an attempt to ask five questions an author will never have been asked before, and hence to illicit unexpected and hilarious responses. He’s also reviewed the book, as it goes, and […]

Read more | 10 comments | Posted in interviews, reviews

Hot New Authors (and me)

Jeff Vandermeer has run an interview in two parts (Part 1, Part 2 and some additional material including a truly mighty cover of the US Blade Itself) with some of the new wave of heroic fantasy authors: Karen Miller, Brandon Sanderson, Brian Ruckley, oh, and that Abercrombie bloke as well. It’s what you call a […]

Read more | 6 comments | Posted in interviews

Hot New Authors (and me)

Jeff Vandermeer has run an interview in two parts (Part 1, Part 2 and some additional material including a truly mighty cover of the US Blade Itself) with some of the new wave of heroic fantasy authors: Karen Miller, Brandon Sanderson, Brian Ruckley, oh, and that Abercrombie bloke as well. It’s what you call a […]

Read more | No comments yet | Posted in interviews

What THEY are saying NOW

Like a bit of romance in your life? Romantic Times has reviewed The Blade Itself, and awarded me four and a half stars out of five, would you believe: “Abercrombie kicks off his series masterfully with a heroic fantasy without conventional heroes. Its clearly the characters that take center stage here. Their dialogue is full […]

Read more | 6 comments | Posted in reviews

Competition Time

Are YOU, the AVERAGE READER, the PERSON IN THE STREET, the EVERYDAY FOLK, sick of seeing SMARMY INDUSTRY INSIDERS, ARTSY-FARTSY CRITICS, and even worse, SELF-CONGRATULATING BLOGGERS, boast about receiving advance reader copies of the latest, keenly awaited books of your favourite authors, when you know YOU WANT THEM MORE? I offer you, JOE PUBLIC, the […]

Read more | 14 comments | Posted in Uncategorized

Covers, Uniqueness, and a Couple of Gags

For those few of you who have yet to hear too much of me talking, there is an HILARIOUS interview with yours truly over at Fantasy Book Critic. I actually really enjoyed doing this one, as Robert went to heroic efforts to come up with some questions that I hadn’t been asked before. Topics range […]

Read more | 2 comments | Posted in interviews

Fantasy, RPGs, Innovation, and Bile

Ariel, the webmaster (which is what spiderman should really have called himself) of myself and several other authors, has drawn my attention to an interesting debate. Mark Chadbourn a fellow Gollancz author and a very nice bloke has made a post about the impact of RPGs, particularly of the multiplayer on-line variety, on fantasy, and […]

Read more | 8 comments | Posted in opinion, Uncategorized

Maps. Craps?

Tolkein, Jordan, and Martin, all have them. Scott Lynch doesn’t, so he put some on his website. Mervyn Peake couldn’t possibly. M. John Harrison would probably murder you for suggesting that he should. David Gemmell didn’t have any, then he bowed to pressure and included one done by a fan which (apparently) everyone thought was […]

Read more | 112 comments | Posted in opinion