Joe Abercrombie

Concluding the AGE OF MADNESS trilogy, THE WISDOM OF CROWDS brings the series which is revolutionising fantasy to its stunning conclusion. . .

Chaos. Fury. Destruction.
The Great Change is upon us . . .
Some say that to change the world you must first burn it down. Now that belief will be tested in the crucible of revolution: the Breakers and Burners have seized the levers of power, the smoke of riots has replaced the smog of industry, and all must submit to the wisdom of crowds.

With nothing left to lose, Citizen Brock is determined to become a new hero for the new age, while Citizeness Savine must turn her talents from profit to survival before she can claw her way to redemption. Orso will find that when the world is turned upside down, no one is lower than a monarch. And in the bloody North, Rikke and her fragile Protectorate are running out of allies . . . while Black Calder gathers his forces and plots his vengeance.
The banks have fallen, the sun of the Union has been torn down, and in the darkness behind the scenes, the threads of the Weaver's ruthless plan are slowly being drawn together . . .

Second in the AGE OF MADNESS trilogy, THE TROUBLE WITH PEACE is the next instalment of a series which is revolutionising fantasy . . .

Conspiracy. Betrayal. Rebellion.
Peace is just another kind of battlefield . . .

Savine dan Glokta, once Adua's most powerful investor, finds her judgement, fortune and reputation in tatters. But she still has all her ambitions, and no scruple will be permitted to stand in her way.

For heroes like Leo dan Brock and Stour Nightfall, only happy with swords drawn, peace is an ordeal to end as soon as possible. But grievances must be nursed, power seized and allies gathered first, while Rikke must master the power of the Long Eye . . . before it kills her.

Unrest worms into every layer of society. The Breakers still lurk in the shadows, plotting to free the common man from his shackles, while noblemen bicker for their own advantage. Orso struggles to find a safe path through the maze of knives that is politics, only for his enemies, and his debts, to multiply.

The old ways are swept aside, and the old leaders with them, but those who would seize the reins of power will find no alliance, no friendship, and no peace, lasts forever.

The New York Times bestselling first book in Joe Abercrombie's The Age of Madness Trilogy where the age of the machine dawns, but the age of magic refuses to die. The chimneys of industry rise over Adua and the world seethes with new opportunities. But old scores run deep as ever. On the blood-soaked borders of Angland, Leo dan Brock struggles to win fame on the battlefield, and defeat the marauding armies of Stour Nightfall. He hopes for help from the crown. But King Jezal's son, the feckless Prince Orso, is a man who specializes in disappointments. Savine dan Glokta -- socialite, investor, and daughter of the most feared man in the Union -- plans to claw her way to the top of the slag-heap of society by any means necessary. But the slums boil over with a rage that all the money in the world cannot control. The age of the machine dawns, but the age of magic refuses to die. With the help of the mad hillwoman Isern-i-Phail, Rikke struggles to control the blessing, or the curse, of the Long Eye. Glimpsing the future is one thing, but with the guiding hand of the First of the Magi still pulling the strings, changing it will be quite another .

The Union army may be full of bastards, but there's only one who thinks he can save the day single-handed when the Gurkish come calling: the incomparable Colonel Sand dan Glokta.
Curnden Craw and his dozen are out to recover a mysterious item from beyond the Crinna. Only one small problem: no one seems to know what the item is.

Shevedieh, the self-styled best thief in Styria, lurches from disaster to catastrophe alongside her best friend and greatest enemy, Javre, Lioness of Hoskopp.

And after years of bloodshed, the idealistic chieftain Bethod is desperate to bring peace to the North. There's only one obstacle left - his own lunatic champion, the most feared man in the North: the Bloody-Nine . . .

SOMETIMES A GIRL IS TOUCHED BY MOTHER WAR
Thorn lives to fight. But she has been named murderer by the very man who trained her to kill.

SOMETIMES A GIRL BECOMES A WARRIOR
Fate traps her in the schemes of Father Yarvi, sending her across half the world to seek allies against the ruthless High King.

SOMETIMES A WARRIOR BECOMES A WEAPON
Beside her is Brand, a young warrior who hates to kill. A failure in his eyes and hers, he has one chance at redemption.

AND WEAPONS ARE MADE FOR ONE PURPOSE
Must Thorn be a tool in other hands or can she carve her own path? Is there a place beyond legend for a woman with a blade?

WORDS ARE WEAPONS
Princess Skara has seen all she loved made blood and ashes. She is left with only words. But the right words can be as deadly as any blade. She must conquer her fears and sharpen her wits to a lethal edge if she is to reclaim her birthright.

ONLY HALF A WAR IS FOUGHT WITH SWORDS
The deep-cunning Father Yarvi has walked a long road from crippled slave to king’s minister. He has made allies of old foes and stitched together an uneasy peace. But now the ruthless Grandmother Wexen has raised the greatest army since the elves made war on God, and put Bright Yilling at its head – a man who worships only Death.

SOMETIMES ONE MUST FIGHT EVIL WITH EVIL
Some – like Thorn Bathu and the sword-bearer Raith – are born to fight, perhaps to die. Others – like Brand the smith and Koll the wood-carver – would rather stand in the light. But when Mother War spreads her iron wings, she may cast the whole Shattered Sea into darkness . . .

Yarvi, second son of the feared King Uthrik and the ruthless Queen Laithlin of Gettland, was born with a useless hand, and cannot hold a shield, or make fast a knot, or pull an oar, or do any of the things expected from a man. Left an outcast, he’s surrendered his birthright and been given a woman’s place as apprentice to Mother Gundring, Gettland’s Minister, training to be an adviser, diplomat, healer and translator. But when his father and brother are murdered by Grom-gil-Gorm, King of neighbour-ing Vansterland, Yarvi is forced to take the Black Chair and become king himself – or half a king, at least – swear an oath of vengeance against the killers of his father, and lead a raid against the Vanstermen. Betrayed, left for dead, and enslaved on a rotting trading galley, Yarvi will need all his Minister’s wit and cunning to ecape, and all his diplomacy and knowledge to keep a rag-tag band of other slaves together on a month long trek across the frozen wastes of the utmost north. Father Peace may be the patron god of Ministers, but to reclaim the Black Chair, Yarvi will have to strike a deal with Mother War, and once you’ve invited the mother of crows to be your guest, there can be no telling whose blood will be spilled . . .

SOMETIMES A GIRL IS TOUCHED BY MOTHER WAR
Thorn lives to fight. But she has been named murderer by the very man who trained her to kill.

SOMETIMES A GIRL BECOMES A WARRIOR
Fate traps her in the schemes of Father Yarvi, sending her across half the world to seek allies against the ruthless High King.

SOMETIMES A WARRIOR BECOMES A WEAPON
Beside her is Brand, a young warrior who hates to kill. A failure in his eyes and hers, he has one chance at redemption.

AND WEAPONS ARE MADE FOR ONE PURPOSE
Must Thorn be a tool in other hands or can she carve her own path? Is there a place beyond legend for a woman with a blade?

The First Law trilogy was Joe's take on the great epic fantasy tales. Then, in BEST SERVED COLD he took on a fantasy version of a classic revenge story, and we have a superb tale of war waged in the frozen north still to come. With this, his next novel, Joe Abercrombie is once again venturing in a new direction, and on a new adventure, with one of the most enduring, powerful and popular characters of the First Law Trilogy. It's going to be their biggest challenge yet ... This book will be published on 18 October 2012.

Joe Abercrombie is the most successful fantasy novelist of his generation, with a remarkable, cynical and powerful voice cutting through the cliches of the fantasy genre to create something compelling and exceptionally commercial. With a strong core readership already behind him, each new novel breaks new ground - the epic fantasy quest in The First Law Trilogy, revenge fantasy with the hit BEST SERVED COLD, and now, with THE HEROES, venturing into the dangerous and topical territory of war. Set over three days, in the same world as BEST SERVED COLD, the action is compelling and fast, the battlefield is muddy, bloody and horrible and Joe Abercrombie uses his fantasy setting to explore violence and ambition, strategy and the truism that no plan survives contact with enemy. The characters are the stars, as ever, and the message is dark: when it comes to war, there are no heroes . . .

Springtime in Styria. And that means war. There have been nineteen years of blood. The ruthless Grand Duke Orso is locked in a vicious struggle with the squabbling League of Eight, and between them they have bled the land white.

The end is coming. Logen Ninefingers might only have one more fight in him but its going to be a big one. Battle rages across the North, the King of the Northmen still stands firm, and theres only one man who can stop him. His oldest friend, and his oldest enemy. Its past time for the Bloody-Nine to come home. With too many masters and too little time, Superior Glokta is fighting a different kind of war.

Bitter and merciless war is coming to the frozen north. It's bloody and dangerous and the Union army, split by politics and hamstrung by incompetence, is utterly unprepared for the slaughter that's coming. Lacking experience, training, and in some cases even weapons the army is scarcely equipped to repel Bethod's scouts, let alone the cream of his forces.

Inquisitor Glokta, a crippled and increasingly bitter relic of the last war, former fencing champion turned torturer extraordinaire, is trapped in a twisted and broken body - not that he allows it to distract him from his daily routine of torturing smugglers.