Problems with Joe Abercrombie.

[anthorn]

Now, far be it from me to blast a fellow writer. I am curious to hear peoples' opinions on his work.

I have read the First Law Trilogy. I enjoyed it as it was fun vibrant and full of life.

I looked forward to the Best Cold Served. I finished it, it was a slog. I did not find the writing to be the same as the First Law. I am sure this is because as Joe said himself that the FL had been with him for sometime before he'd written and sold it. Best Served Cold and The Heroes are written under a deadline.

So first trilogy was likely: Living the story in his head and living the scenes.
Next two books-idea-write-publish, if you get what I am saying...

I don't know if it is me but I find his writing tends to drag a bit. Every book I have bought I have devoured. I tell you that I bought The Malazan book of the Fallen, books 1-9 and read them all in under a year, that is how much I love books and reading.

Maybe it's the subjects of the later books: the military bent. The I shall have my REVENGE! plots.

Or maybe my reading tastes have simply matured.
I read the First Law trilogy in 2006 as it came out. By then I had only read Sarah Ash, Ian Irvine, Elizabeth Haydon, Terry forgive me it was only one book and I never finished it Goodkind, etc.

Since then I have read GOT. The Mistborn Trilogy. MBTF. Psalms of Issak etc... I don't know. I just don't have the drive to read and even finish his books as I do others. I can't reread them and yet can easily reread all else I have read before.


Anyone else have this problem?

 

[biodroid]

I don't have a problem with his writing at all. I think he builds his pace very nicely and his characterisation is top notch. I did find the first bit of TBI to be tough but once you get going it doesn't stop. I still have to read book 3. I am sure an author is allowed to have a bit of a slump now and again. No one is perfect. I would buy any book by Joe because I like his style. I would not re-read though but that goes for any book. I am a slow reader so re-reading is pointless to me unless it's 10-20 years later then I might if I feel like it. I found The Mistborn Trilogy book 1 tough going and gave up on it. Will pick it up again sometime. Check out Brent Weeks Night Angel trilogy, it's complete and is very good, has more of a plot than FL but also good characterisation etc. You won't be sorry.

 

[The Judge]

I'll move this to the Joe Abercrombie sub-forum.

 

[anthorn]

He has a sub forum?

Oh, I am not denying his characters are top notch, at least in FL and his autistic character in BSC was brilliant, I just for some reason can't force myself to read his latest book and finish it. Unlike if it's R Scott Bakker which I am waiting to read.

Maybe it's just me and my mind being fickle. Oh I read the Night Angel trilogy when it came out too. Very good, very Anime on steroids.

 

[Coragem]

I enjoyed the FL trilogy, but like a lot of people I struggled with Best Served Cold -- it had no "nice" characters I could care about!

Still, I here that The Heroes is a return to form, so I will definitely be trying that.

Read George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire if you haven't already....

Coragem.

 

[nixie]

I haven't found any problems. Good fast pace read with excellent characters. For me Best Served Cold wasn't as good as FL but still very enjoyable and a step above some other authors.

 

[biodroid]

I have heard BSC is a bit below par but I still need to get to it to make a decision.

 

[J-WO]

I think he's amongst the best we have at present.

 

[JDP]

I've enjoyed the books of Joe's that I've read (haven't read The Heroes yet).

I actually enjoyed BSC a bit more than I did the First Law trilogy.To me, the original trilogy was a bit too self conscious about itself and its genre; a bit too keen to 'turn fantasy tropes on their head'. Also, some of the writerisms rankled me a bit (everyone's hair was invariably 'spiky' and anyone making a sound above normal volume was screaming like they had been deprived of their mother's <REDACTED>).

To my taste, the writing in BSC was more mature and well rounded (I'm no professional mind) and the fantasy aspects more 'confident'.

Overall, his books seem to pretty much guarantee adventure and some laughs along the way. Dark, yes; malaise-inducing, yes. But good fun.

 

[limubai2000]

I agree with the previous post that Joe is amongst the best fantasy authors out there now. His next book, a western-fantasy mashup continuing the story in his world looks promising. I didn't have any problems with BSC or Heroes, in fact I like them both better than the FL trilogy.

I don't think a well written piece of fiction requires a "nice guy" or "good guy" (protagonist and antagonists are required though). I think Joe has simply put more emphasis on personal faults and motivations, shades of gray, and the gritty and sometimes gory reality of fighting.

I still remember being how surprised I was that I was "cheering" for Glokta by the end of the second book!

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Oh, I am not denying his characters are top notch, at least in FL and his autistic character in BSC was brilliant, I just for some reason can't force myself to read his latest book and finish it.

Perhaps I am a bit biased -- since Abercrombie's my favorite author right now and I have a man-crush on him -- but I actually liked BSC. Admittedly, it's not as good as the trilogy, but I would by no means call it a bad novel.

In any case, even I would admit that BSC is the weakest of his five novels to date. If BSC is what is turning you off from his latest effort, then fear not - The Heroes is an excellent novel.

Besides, if Best Served Cold is an example of Joe Abercrombie at his worst, then I'd say he's in pretty good shape.

 

[Bugg]

I've only read the FL trilogy - I enjoyed them, although for some reason I didn't think Last Argument of Kings lived up to the first two. I can't quite remember why I thought that, though.

Are the other two novels set in the same universe. i.e. do I need to read them in order?

 

[viZion]

All of the novels are in the same universe. It's best to read them in order but not strictly required. I only say it's best because many minor characters from previous books become major characters in the later books. Also, the later books make tons of references to prior books which you wouldn't get unless you read them in order.

A good example is Shivers. He goes from minor character in the trilogy to major character in Best Served Cold right back to minor character in The Heroes. However, you wouldn't understand why he is the way he is in The Heroes unless you read all the books in order.

 

[Talentlesshack]

Absolutely loved all of Joe Abercrombies books, I would a say that arguably he is the best in the genera at the moment, but I am horrendously biased as his broken characters and sense of shades of grey morality appeal to me. I can understand why some people were turned off by BSC as they its a stand alone piece and a revenge tragedy at that; but as dark character driven fantasy goes I've yet to read anything that paints as credible or undeniably human characters as Joe Abercrombie manages.

 

[Red 13]

I'm currently reading "Last Argument Of Kings". I've been completely hooked to "The First Law" trilogie from the very first page of "The Blade Itself". I think the characters are absolutely brilliant. Its great to have characters in a book who aren't just good or plain bad, they all have their flaws and that makes them alot more real. I especially enjoy reading Glokta's chapters.
I also really like the way the plot advances, J Abercrombie slowly drip feeds you the information but somehow it doesn't get annoying not knowing whats going on and i think thats down to just the pure pleasure of spending time with awesome characters.
Once i finish Last Argumment of kings i'm going to take a break and read some other stuff before moving on to Best Served Cold and The Heroes. I'll be looking forward to reading them.

 

[Boneman]

Until it was mentioned, I hadn't noticed that I had little desire to re-read FLTrilogy. I really enjoyed it, but got a weensy bit bored with the characterisation - what arcs had they been through by the end that you didn't see coming at the beginning? And it's a very small thing, but come on, if a member of your family had been hauled off, tortured and body dumped, sooner or later someone will try a crossbolt from a high building into Glotka. His character became too unbelievable by the end. But I actually wanted more, because the story wasn't finished, so I know I did like it. Strange dichotomy of like/unsure running through me.

 

[Comrade Gwydion]

I must admit, there are few series I've re-read as often as TFL. Possibily only LOTR has been re-read more often.

 

[Red 13]

Well, i finished "Last Argument of Kings" and i loved it. All in all i can't find a single complaint for the whole trilogy, i enjoyed every second of it.

 

[Dante DiBenedetto]

I had a bit of trouble starting with TBI. That lasted maybe a chapter. Ever since then, I've been hooked to everything he's done.

I had no qualms about a lack of "nice" characters is BSC. The transformation that Shivers made was brutal and heart-wrenching, and the few moments where Monza's humanity slipped through the cracks were often humorous.

Out of all of his books, BEFORE THEY ARE HANGED is still my favorite, and is actually in my top 10 all time favorite books. Glokta is a magnificent ******* if I've ever seen one.

 

[Red 13]

Since my last post on this thread i have read "Best Served Cold" and "The Heroes". I was slightly disappointed by BSC and struggled a bit to finish it, maybe because i read it so soon after having finished the trilogy. So i took a good break before reading "The Heroes". I was worried it would disappoint me, but it definately did not, i absolutely loved it and was completely hooked from start to finish just like with the trilogy. I would even go to say that i found it just as good as the trilogy. I'm looking forward to his next one.