Joe Abercrombie is the New York Times bestselling author of Red Country and the First Law trilogy: The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, and Last Argument of Kings. He is a full time writer, and occasional freelance film editor, who lives in Bath, England with his wife and three children.
The Heroes
Paperback
- ISBN-13: 9780316193566
- Publisher: Orbit
- Publication date: 10/21/2011
- Series: First Law World Series
- Pages: 592
- Sales rank: 8,962
- Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.60(d)
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They say Black Dow's killed more men than winter, and clawed his way to the throne of the North up a hill of skulls. The King of the Union, ever a jealous neighbor, is not about to stand smiling by while he claws his way any higher. The orders have been given and the armies are toiling through the northern mud. Thousands of men are converging on a forgotten ring of stones, on a worthless hill, in an unimportant valley, and they've brought a lot of sharpened metal with them.
THE HEROES
For glory, for victory, for staying alive.
First Law Trilogy
The Blade Itself
Before They Are Hanged
Last Argument of Kings
Novels in the First Law world
Best Served Cold
The Heroes
Red Country
Recently Viewed
Magnificent, richly entertaining." Time
"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." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)"
The Heroes is an indictment of war and the duplicity that corrupts men striving for total power: bloody and violent, but never gratuitously so, it's imbued with cutting humour, acute characterisation and world-weary wisdom about the weaknesses of the human race. Brilliant." Eric Brown, The Guardian (UK)"
Delivered in Abercrombie's trademark witty style ... This is an action-packed novel full of brutality, black humour and razor-sharp characterisation." Dave Bradley, SFX (5 star review)"
It's an excellent tale and arguably Abercrombie's best book yet ... Its pace really showcases his talent for differently voiced and realistically motivated characters ... any genre fan can enjoy what's one of the best fantasy books of the past year." SciFi Now (5 star review)
A stand-alone set in the same world as the author's The First Law trilogy andBest Served Cold(2009), this down-in-the-mud military epic may call itself a fantasy, but it reads more like a bracing blast of cruel reality.
The King of the Union seeks the overthrow of Black Dow, the uncouth warlord who calls himself the Protector of the North, which sets the doughty but fractious fighters of the North against the more sophisticated and numerous army of the Union. Over the course of three days, well-meaning but incompetent generals, bloodthirsty thugs, vengeful magi, scheming princes and military wives, cynical veterans and painfully naïve recruits engage in bitter clashes in an attempt to seize the hill bearing the standing stones known as the Heroes. The plot is almost incidental, a mere vehicle to convey the author's gritty, eloquent screed on how war is no neatly ordered chessboard; rather, it is a messy series of blundered encounters, where cowardice and mismanagement meet happenstance and bloodlust. Brave warriors die pointlessly, and those with the connections, luck and ability to turn up at the right time are dubbed heroes.
Long on message and nuanced character development, short on entertainment value.