The new website (as you will probably have noticed) is now live!
Thanks first of all to Darren Turpin, who set up and managed the old site, which served me well for the best part of a decade. But Darren has drifted away from the web design business (and into gardening), and the internet is never still, so a thorough redesign has been long overdue.
Thanks second of all, therefore, to Luke Burford for this new modern, slick and scaleable design which shall bring all things Joe Abercrombie roaring into the Age of Madness. Massive thanks also go to Raymond Swanland and Jon McCoy, two most excellent artists who’ve worked on Subterranean Press’s limited editions of my books in the US, who have kindly given me permission to use their art on the site and make my stuff look far better than it has any right to. Thanks also to Laura Brett (designer), Dave Senior (maps) and Didier Graffet (weapons) for the parchment-style covers that constitute some of the other backgrounds.
Content wise it’s much the same of course. We’re selling books here, people. Although we’re now selling at least one book that we weren’t before (or at any rate offering pre-orders). I don’t want to get too over-ambitious but I’ll probably be blogging a bit more than I have been for the last few years as well. I’ll aim to keep up the progress reports every two months as before, but with the publication of A Little Hatred in September, and the other two books in the trilogy yearly, there should be a fair amount of artwork, interviews, reviews, appearances and process type posts going on as well.
So I invite you all to root around, kick the tyres, and let me know what you think and if you come upon any mistakes, broken links etc…
26 comments so far
Hey Joe,
I like the new site. Will signed copies of the new book be available to order? I still have my copy of Half a King in my office.
Cheers,
Thomas
New site looks and feels pretty polished so far… no broken links etc… Question time: How was Glokta able/willing to father a daughter? He seems somewhat asexual to me (not asexual per se, but really uninterested and distracted by constant pain). I hope we can see something of him in her, but that she also has something of her own. Can’t wait until September.
“Shy smiled. For the first time that day. That month, maybe.
Then the bag came open.”
Just read that last week, and the sketch of that scene that I spotted on the site is very well drawn. Love the new website and the little details. Good luck with the release and all the details.
Looks great! I’m so excited for the new trilogy! I force your books upon my friends new and old all of the time. If I get any idea of them being a fan of fantasy books I ask for their address and send them a copy of “The Blade Itself”. Also really like the art below!
Meh. To be honest, I’d rather stay with the old look. I see that it’s basically a redesign for mobile phone users, and I guess they’re probably a majority around here, but I find it cumbersome to use from my PC. Before I could see anything I needed in the opening screen: see if there were new posts or tweets, and direct access to all the sections… Now I have to scroll down to a random point, skipping an indeterminate number of oversized pictures and short paragraphs occupying all the screen.
On the other hand, we didn’t came here for the look, but for the content. So Joe saying that he’ll try to blog more often (and keep doing his wonderful bimonthly updates) is excellent news. 🙂
>Content wise it’s much the same of course. We’re selling books here, people.
Nothing wrong with selling books, but the era of visiting a website for the sleek graphics and design ended in the early ’90s. We want new content! Funny and Witty anecdotes! Thrashing Book reviews! Pictures of your cat/dog doing Things!
I absolutely love the artwork on the new site. Especially the piece with Shev and Javre on the bridge with Whirrun of Bligh.
Thomas,
I think Waterstones have signed copies for preorder. Maybe Goldsboro books as well. And there will definitely be signed stock in the US cause I’ve signed a LOT of sig sheets.
Nna,
Well you’ll have to read and find out, won’t ya?
Matt, Cameron, Corey
Yeah those ink-blotted black and white drawings are by Raymond Swanland from the limited edition of Sharp Ends, one for each story, and they work particularly nicely on here.
Roger,
Change can be hard, man.
Blackdow’s Cat,
I don’t know that design ever really stopped being a thing…
Most excellent art from the Heroes right there in the first page! It looks good and it also looks good on phone and tablet. Welcome to the Age of Madness!
Hi Joe!
Beatiful new site!
One little thing: your comments should be in border, as before…
I am reading Best Served Cold right now and am LOVING it! Should I catch up with the other two standalone books before I read A Little Hatred? I mean I am still going to read them regardless but should I bump them up on the reading list?
Yury,
Yep.
Aaron,
Yep.
@Nna the Druid: Well, wasn’t she already pregnant from a certain other man before marrying him …?
@Joe: Apparently A Little Hatred will also have a hardcover version? Nice.
Regarding the more blogging part: Have you ever considered streaming on twitch? Not necessarily playing, but there are quite a few artists with different backgrounds who just use it to get in touch with their communities. And to get more money of course. I’d appreciate any opportunity to give you more of mine, since authors only get a fraction of the book prize so that you probably didn’t earn more than 10 pounds with me even though I own all of your books …
And we all want a Joe Abercrombie who is financially independent enough to just write what he deems best. (just not financially independent enough to retire)
@Nna the Druid well now… someone hasn’t been paying attention, hint hint.
I’m sure you’ll see some aspect of her parents in her…
And Glokta will have no doubt influenced her as well.
Thumbs up. 🙂
Of course, it helps that not only do you have a new website, there’s a new trilogy coming. Seems like a win-win…
…until people start nagging about what books will follow that. 😀
Very nice. Running smooth. I’ll be on the lookout for a signed copy of ALH here in the US. Looking forward to the fall.
Hey Joe, love the new design! Kudos for the getting it done.
Quick question. Is Yoru Sulfur considered a Magus and part of the Order?
Perhaps intentional for reasons, but I thought the new website would take the opportunity to add the missing Anthology Appearance:
‘Small Kindnesses’ appears in Unbound: Tales by Masters of Fantasy, edited by Shawn Speakman (Grim Oak Press US, 2015)
Other than that, the new website looks sleek and the artwork is topnotch! Catch you on the flip-side…
Hey Joe,
I like the new site. … no broken links etc … Time for questions: will the book be released in Italy in conjunction with the European release? Another thing I didn’t expect Glotka to have a daughter, I can’t wait to read the book
Looks modern and user-friendly.
Only 2 gripes I have is: conflicting background art for the First Law books. The Shattered Sea series has a very uniform look if you close in on their respective articles, but the First Law books are more rag-tag, featuring comic book art, realistic digital paintings and cover art. Wouldn’t hurt to spruce that up, should more material become available.
Second is that the titles are sometimes hard to read over the background image when you read articles.
Otherwise, pretty slick. Look forward to following your posts here.
Ooh! Shiny! I love the new look! V snazzy!
Quick question that has been nagging me for ages: is there a name for the trilogy as a whole?
@Georgia: The Age of Madness
Fuck yeah, Joe, we’ve been waiting for this.
New whiskey deathmatch? Maybe Japanese version?
Great new site, Joe. However, you still look like a mad axe murderer in your profile pic….
Or is that deliberate?
I am hoping we will have a pregnant Ferro in the mix.