Joe Abercrombie has earned a reputation as a writer of gritty, intense fantasy that’s unafraid to deconstruct and reexamine the typical fantasy assumptions. For many readers, this falls firmly in the camp of being “a very good thing,” though individual mileage may vary (see here for an interesting blog post and an impressive thread of commentary responding to one critic’s unfavorable opinions on postmodern interpretations of the fantasy genre). His freshman effort, The First Law, offered up a fresh, violent, and often funny take on epic fantasy...

Joe Abercrombie has returned with his latest work, a stand-alone novel (something almost rare in the world of fantasy) loosely set in the world he established in The First Law trilogy. Obviously, Best Served Cold is returning to a favorite theme of Abercrombie's: vengeance...

Joe Abercrombie's refreshing and exciting The First Law trilogy is finally drawing to a close, and it leads off with Paul Gauguin's: "Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge." Last Argument of Kings may be about many things, but revenge is an anchoring theme...

"We should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged." Heinrich Heine's choice words on revenge and war are the first to greet the reader when beginning the journey into Joe Abercrombie's excellent second book in the First Law trilogy, Before They Are Hanged

"The blade itself incites to deeds of violence." After reading these words, quoted from Homer, you can't help but remember them as you read The Blade Itself, as virtually every character you meet happens to have several blades handy at all times...