Publishers Weekly

December 13th, 2010

That esteemed organ of the American book trade, Publishers Weekly, have spoken out on the subject of The Heroes, with a starred review, no less:

“This blood-drenched, thought-provoking dissection of a three-day battle is set in the same world as Abercrombie’s First Law Trilogy (The Blade Itself, etc.), but stands very well alone. Union commander Lord Marshal Kroy coordinates the fight with the aid of a motley group of incompetent, self-important officers. The strangely sympathetic Col. Bremer dan Gorst is officially a royal observer who nurses a burning desire to kill or be killed. Leading a much smaller army against the Union is Black Dow, whose grip on the throne of the Northmen is tenuous and based on fear and brutality. Calder, a slippery and cunning egotist, advocates peace while plotting to take Black Dow’s place. Abercrombie never glosses over a moment of the madness, passion, and horror of war, nor the tribulations that turn ordinary people into the titular heroes.”

Mmmmm, titular.  I realise it’s been an unpardonably long time since I reminded you that The Heroes can be pre-ordered here in the UK, or here in the US.  Let me just put that right.  Oh, I just did.  Or you could even meet me on tour, as detailed in the previous post, and snap up your copy the week of release, signed by mine very own right hand…

Posted in reviews by Joe Abercrombie on December 13th, 2010.

20 comments so far

  • Liam says:

    Or at amazon.ca in Canada 🙂

    They estimated my copy will be here in March though 🙁 That’s so farrrrrr.

  • A-drain says:

    Any idea where I can order an e-pub version?

  • Sedulo says:

    “For Glory, For Victory, FOR STAYING ALIVE!”

    Hmmmm…are these reasons for writing the book?

  • Eeeeeeee says:

    What A-drain said. In fact, what I’d reallylike to know is where/when/how I can order the the previously mentioned special edition ebook with the lotsa goodies. Planning to get two of these and I need to order before they go out of print…umm. No, well actually I’d just like to hear that they can be bought without being tied to a platform (Kindle/iCrap) or DRM. I know you as an author are not in control over such marketing decisions, but maybe you’re aware of a platform that will sell the book unencumbered?

  • Harvey Quinn says:

    Just preordered my copy and I will be also getting a copy signed with your distinctive artistic manuscript too. I may even buy one as a belated christmas present for someone.

    Also, congratulations on the Xfactor win

  • Sedulo says:

    Do you have access to the number of pre-ordered books?
    I ordered two. It looks like they’ll arrive just in time for Valentine’s Day. Yes!

  • Tim Stretton says:

    The only good review I ever got was from Publishers’ Weekly, so naturally I concur with your assessment of it.

    The Heroes is my most-awaited fantasy novel of 2011, although Amazon.uk is maddeningly vague about when and at what price the Kindle edition will be available…

  • enjai says:

    What’s worth more on ebay, a left hand signed copy of “the heroes” or a right-hand signed copy of “the heroes”?
    Maybe I should play it safe and try and get both.

  • Eva says:

    Just pre-ordered my copy from Book Depository. The Heroes should be in my hands by the end of January. 🙂

    Unfortunately, Joe, your very own right hand is a little too far away from where I live. 🙁

  • D. Geiken says:

    I so wish the US version had the axe and map cover… 🙁

  • Marc says:

    Why is it the British version has the cooler cover?

  • Jon says:

    I’ve ordered mine… well, someone else ordered it for me, but still, it’s coming to my house, hopefully in a little over a month or so.

  • Dan says:

    Hey Joe, when are those Q&A’s going to be posted from the Gollancz site?

  • weaselfeet says:

    ahh good news man, it seems that everyone is havine fun with it.
    I do loves me some Black Dow … but I still miss my Threetrees.

    cheers
    feet

  • Tom says:

    I’d love to get a signature on my preordered copy of The Heroes. Or any other of your (formerly preordered) books I already own. But, coming to UK may be a problem for me. So, as The Blade Itself is now translated to Croatian, you may want to come over for a beer, a promotion and a signing session. That would be a decent thing to do.

  • Brad says:

    I noticed that the U.S. cover is not the same as the “beautiful” U.K. cover. What’s up with that? I read the blog post on the map art and was looking forward to getting a copy – map intact. I’ll have to try and figure out a way to get a U.K. copy. Anybody know how to do that?

  • ogbebaba says:

    Hey Joe have you listens to this podcast George R.R. Martin has some relay nice things to say about you in it.

    have listen http://www.bearswarm.com/episode-136-george-r-r-martin-and-a-song-of-ice-and-fire

  • Joe Abercrombie says:

    Sedulo,
    As good reasons as any. Ordering two is a good thing.

    Brad, Marc,
    The US publisher give it their own cover treatment. So do the Germans, Russians, Spanish, and etc. These are the mysteries of international publishing…

    Enjai,
    And both feet. But it’s the one signed with my face that really brings in the bucks.

    Tim, and other e-book enquirers,
    The basic kindle and e-pub editions should (hopefully) be available along with the paper edition, 27th Jan. As far as I’m aware the plan is for the enhanced one to appear at the same time. The additional material for that is all handed in. But it may take them a little while longer to sort the details, it’s still relatively new stuff, all this enhanced business, and the different retailers all have a different attitude to it which is taking some time to resolve. So I can’t be absolutely sure on that one. I hope that it’ll be possible to upgrade from basic to enhanced if folk are interested in the extra features having read the book, but again, it all depends on the platform. So I’m afraid not completely sure looks like the answer on that one…

    Tom,
    I’ve been twice invited to a convention in Zagreb, but haven’t been able to make it yet. Pretty sure I will at some point, provided they keep asking.

    Dan,
    Seems that Q&A may not come along for a while yet, alas, but I’ll post it when it does.

    Og,
    “Really first rate.” Heh.

  • Nina says:

    The comment is off topic but, my partner and I are very keen to learn more about Glockta. We both think he almost needs his own biography. Do you have any further plans for him?

  • DGeiken says:

    I so wanted to get the UK cover that I just ordered it from Amazon UK and paid the difference for the conversion. I figured it was worth if for the “cooler” cover. Shipping was a bit steep, but, oh well, it is only money. And I think it comes out a bit earlier than the US printing. No?

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