Joe Abercrombie

Gritty British fantasy author Joe Abercrombie has shared some details about his next book. Entitled The Heroes, it’ll focus on a variety of characters over just one single battle and could hit shelves around February 2011.

Like Abercrombie’s most recent novel, Best Served Cold, The Heroes will be a stand-alone book set in the world Abercrombie created in his First Law series. In his own words, from a new entry on his blog:

“It mostly takes place over the course of three days, and is the story of a single battle for control of the North. Principally it follows the (mis)adventures of six assorted persons on both sides and different levels of command, whose paths intersect during the course of the battle in various fateful, horrible, wonderful, surprisingly violent, surprisingly unviolent, and hilarious ways.”

Keeping the Door‘s review of Best Served Cold found that it was a light-on-magic and heavy-on-swords blood-soaked revenge quest that would highly satisfy fantasy fans with a black sense of humour and a taste for gritty and violent prose.

The book’s clever pacing, frequent plot twists and likeable (or hilariously despicable) characters will leave many readers unable to put it down. It’s especially recommended to George R. R. Martin fans, who will find the cruel hoops that Abercrombie’s characters are forced through, and the chapter by chapter pacing, reminiscent of the fantasy master’s epic A Song of Ice and Fire.

A number of other reviewers also delivered favourable reviews for the stand-alone novel, as well as for the previous First Law trilogy.