One opinion I didn’t quite get to in the last post:
“Joe Abercrombie’s BEST SERVED COLD is a bloody and relentless epic of vengeance and obsession in the grand tradition, a kind of splatterpunk sword ‘n sorcery COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, Dumas by way of Moorcock. His cast features tyrants and torturers, a pair of poisoners, a serial killer, a treacherous drunk, a red-handed warrior and a blood-soaked mercenary captain. And those are the good guys. Monza Murcatto, the Snake of Talins, could teach even Gully Foyle and Kirth Gerson a few things about revenge. The battles are vivid and visceral, the action brutal, the pace headlong, and Abercrombie piles the betrayals, reversals, and plot twists one atop another to keep us guessing how it will all come out. This is his best book yet. All that’s missing is a map.”
George R.R. Martin
Colour me extremely pleased, not only because it’s a great quote, not only because commercially I couldn’t get a better endorsement, but also because Martin is an author I greatly admire and his Game of Thrones was a big inspiration to me when I read it back in the 90s, made me realise that you could write an epic fantasy that was gritty, deep, unpredictable, and character-focused. I doubt my writing would be the same without having read that, if I’d decided to start at all. Makes me feel a bit giggly to think of him reading my stuff and liking it…
Tee hee hee.
27 comments so far
Speaking of George R.R. Martin – he has confirmed some casting details for HBO's proposed pilot of A GAME OF THRONES:
http://grrm.livejournal.com/95840.html
Hey Joe, congrats! You deserve every letter, space and quote mark of that endorsement. I bet you'll be walking on pink, fuzzy clouds the rest of the year now. Tee hee hee. 🙂
hah! I LOVE GRRM!! And if he says this is your best book yet, I believe him. Now, to get my hands on a copy…
That is awesome. Martin is favorite of mine, but LAOK puts somebody ahead in my book. And I haven't even got to BSC yet. Next week for the states right?
I'll relate perfectly once I get such a quote out of you some day.
You suck Joe!
Hah! Someone else (and a very big someone) who wants a map! 😉
Sorry, who is this Martin guy? I'm trying to read his Clash of Kings, but while Game of Thrones took me a few months (!), Clash of Kings I'm still not finished with after 6 months. Best Served Cold took me, what? Three days? At most.
Seriously, I started reading Martin's books because people where saying how your books where influenced by his. So far I'm a far way from impressed. But then I have come to realize, some time ago that I am a hopeless fanboy. (Yeah, I'm the norwegian with the tongue).
Hell, You are up there with GRRM in my pantheon of authors. And at least you, live up to your promised due dates much better. I adore your first series and my son is re-reading it again this summer for the thrill. Please keep writing for us. Many thanks.
Fuck me, great endorsement there, Joe. Doesn't get much better than that, eh? Brilliant stuff.
Look forward to reading BSC.
Best served cold came out in South Africa last week. Thanks for a great book!
So much praise from Martin – that should keep you happy for a lifetime.
And hey, he is right on spot with this statement. 🙂
Dude. That? Is awesome. Grats!
(I love the map comment. The man knows where it's at. 😉
Just wondering: where did this review come from? It's sadly not included on GRRMs "What I am reading" page on his site…
Anon,
He told me personally, face to face.
In a dream I had.
Does that not count?
He even got in a dig at your holy quest for maplessness. Slick.
Best,
Bryan
Ha! I didn't need GRRM's endorsement to recognize quality. I just needed that awesome cover and title (The Blade Itself).
I love GRRM's stuff too; he's not as regular as you (he said in understatement), but his books are LONG. So it's possible to re-read the whole series a couple of times in between books, which is not a bad thing. My high-water mark of quality in a book is that you want to re-read it. Both you and GRRM qualify.
Waiting for my copy of Best Served Cold patiently…it might be available, here in SA, but it appears you have to live in an actual city to get ahold of it…
Oh, and I just got a note from Amazon that BSC is on its way! Any way I can send it to you to get signed?
Joe Abercrombie said:
Anon,
He told me personally, face to face.
In a dream I had.
Does that not count?
Hm, in a way, I guess. And I didn't ask because I'm in daubt or anything: I'm pretty sure GRRM enjoys your stuff, and the style of the review is also totally his.
All I wanted to point out is: if he took the time to write it, why didn't he put it up on HIS site? There is some healthy traffic over there, including people who never heard about your books… while everyone reading YOUR blog is already on the smart side.
I've read GRRM before I read The First Law trilogy. In my opinion Mr. A perfected the gritty dark whatshamacallit which GRRM started.
I thought you might like that one. 🙂
Congratulations, Joe! I'm in the UK now and got my British edition of Best Served Cold. Looking forward to reading it! P. S. Having a blurb from Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Diaz blurb on the front cover of the US edition (inside cover of the UK edition) ain't bad either.
This just sold me, and I didn't even know this book existed until 5 minutes ago.
Wow! As the last commentator stated, this is definitely a selling blurb! You – and this book – were already on my TBR list, but this endorsement has drastically accelerated your inclusion in my TBR pile.
Can I read this title without having read any of the First Law trilogy…though I intend to?