Joe Abercrombie's trilogy to be published by HarperCollins

Bestselling fantasy author Joe Abercrombie's new YA crossover trilogy has been jointly acquired by HarperVoyager, an imprint of HarperCollins, and HC's children's division. The first novel HALF A KING is due to be published in 2014 and, set in a fictional historical world, it tells of crippled Prince Yarvi, son of a warlike king who overcomes adversity to try to meet the expectations of his family and citizens.

Publishing director for HarperFiction, Jane Johnson, said, “I've never experienced such universal enthusiasm for a project in all my years at HarperCollins. We received the submission on a Wednesday and by Thursday afternoon everyone had read and adored it - the whole building was buzzing with the huge potential for this series.”

Editorial director for HarperCollins Children's Books, Nick Lake, said, “I’ve been a huge fan of Joe’s work for ages—his vivid imagination, unparalleled action scenes and dark humour are perfect for the crossover audience.”

Joe Abercrombie said, “With this trilogy I’ve set out to do something a little different—shorter, tighter, and with a broad, page-turning appeal—while still giving readers the vivid characters, crunching action, twisting plots and black humour that I’m known for.”