With Edinburgh and Glasgow visited yesterday, my whirlwind tour of the UK is now finished. My thanks to my publicist Jon for his organisational skills and staunch support throughout, and my thanks to all of you who turned out to the fifteen or so events. Those who didn’t manage to make it (Boo, hiss) we left a trail of signed stock behind us, at Forbidden Planets in Bristol and London, at Toppings in Bath, and at Waterstones in Southampton, Reading, Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Reviews of The Heroes continue to emerge, and in some unexpected places. You don’t see a lot of fantasy covered in Britain’s most popular tabloid and home of dodgy puns, The Sun, but lo and behold a review of The Heroes by Peter Thornton there today complete with a photo of me needing a shave under the headline, “War story is razor sharp”:
“I’m a big fan of the author’s straightforward, darkly humorous epics of gristle and sinew and his ability to make even the most shady characters seem halfway likable … Don’t miss it our you deserve to be gutted like a stuck pig, your entrails left to feed the crows.”
Too true. Further printed goodness comes from Lev Grossman in Time Magazine in the US, where The Heroes is on their short list of things to do this month:
“It’s a magnificent, richly entertaining account of a single three-day battle — complete with balletic Kurosawan violence — that leaves behind no heroes, only survivors.”
Talking of Kurosawa, I’m over at Orbit’s blog this week, talking about some of the filmic influences for the Heroes, which is, after all, a kind of a fantasy war story, inspired as much by film as it is by literature and all that.
Back home, massive email backlog. In the past I’ve tried generally to respond to email where possible, these days I’m getting more and more of it, especially around release time, and it is getting harder and harder to keep up and still maintain any forward progress on the various other stuff I have to deal with. Like, you know, the writing and all that. So apologies, again, if your email goes unanswered, Rest assured I appreciate all encouragement and gnash my teeth furiously at all criticism, regardless of whether I respond or not…
18 comments so far
Hey Joe,
Caught you at the Glasgow gig last night and an enjoyable evening it was too. Thanks for the sig. Still to read The Heroes but if its half as good as the reviews are saying then I canny wait to get stuck in!
Cheers,
Mark C (with a k)
It’s funny, I never read the professional reviews, but I always read the Amazon reviews before buying a book. If I see a dozen well-written five-star reviews for a fantasy book, I’m likely to buy it.
So if you’re fan and liked the book, take some time to write a good review for Amazon or B&N, etc. Let’s help Joe get in the top 10 on the fantasy list on Amazon. And make it your best effort.
Congratulations on the book, well deserved. I’m loving it.
…Mo’ work?
Good job man, take a break drink some beer! Dont forget to remind everyone that the Bloody Fucking Nine is in the 2011 Cage Match!
Joe,
It doesn’t look like The Heroes is available in Canada in ebook format at the moment. Do you know if there are any plans to have this remedied? I got a Kobo, so something Kobo-friendly would be great.
Lobos
Just finished The Heroes. Awesome! No pressure, but hurry up with the next one will ya!
I’m a bit disappointed I never got my book signed. I was stuck in Coventry at the time and miserable with a cold.
Another great book, congratulations again! A propos reviews, someone did a very funny parody review on Amazon page (well, I liked it).
By way of totally random thoughts, Bayaz is reminding me more and more of Francis Urquhart. Maybe one day we’ll get a book from his POV.
Why have Orbit got the US cover of The Heroes at the top of your blog entry?
I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again I must admit the bit where Gorst is in the river and Jalenhorn’s archers are behind him firing into Golden’s men reminded me of a scene in Zulu.
Front row Fire….re-load
Second row Fire….re-load
Front row Fire…re-load
etc……
Lobos,
Far as I’m concerned, I want all my books available everywhere in every format, and continually ask that that be the case, but the wheels of publishing can grind somewhat slowly at times – rights situations and etc. are complex and based around a paper model that doesn’t make a lot of sense in the modern era, particularly when applied to that borderless internet of ours. Hopefully these issues will get resolved, and sooner rather than later. Best advice I can give you is to email the publisher and say, oy! Market over here!
PhilN,
Why, because Orbit US are my US publisher, and they probably prefer to promote their edition than someone else’s…
That’s firing by rank for ya. Zulu almost made the list, actually…
I’ve just read it Joe, and it’s great. As far as I’m concerned – you can’t crank out these fantastic stories fast enough. I want to be able to read a new one every week! It’s simply a fantastic piece of fiction. I love it.
Just started on the book (downloaded epub version). So good.
I’m at work and I’m reading it on my lap under my desk so my boss doesn’t see me. Damn low wall cubicles.
To do:
* Must finish book.
* Bug Joe about next book.
love the book! congrats!
also,thought u might be interested in this essay ,got the link from the Adam Whitehead blog (thewertzone.blogspot.com)
‘The Bankrupt Nihilism of Our Fallen Fantasists’-
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/lgrin/2011/02/12/the-bankrupt-nihilism-of-our-fallen-fantasists/
Just thought I’d mention as we weren’t on the above list, there’s also some signed copies available at Waterstone’s Guildford branch, including some of the back catalogue (while stocks last!)
Thanks Joe!
I will email the Canadian publisher asking about it. If they tell me that it will be sometime before they put out the ebook in Canada, I will have to bite the bullet and buy the paper version. I hate wasting a good tree (or recycled tree) but I will make exceptions for your books.
Lobos
Wondering why I haven’t stopped by this saloon before, as it seems populated by interesting folk. Apparently I managed to sniff out the last signed copy of The Heroes in Waterstones Newcastle, and let me tell you the staff in there were singing your praises to the high heavens.
Stinking cold, real fire and generous helpings of red wine in a big armchair now beckon. Thanks for topping it all off nicely Mr Abercrombie!
PS. I have noticed an odd response amongst us women folk to Glokta. He should be repellent, yet we adore him in his magnificent malevolence.