Joe Abercrombie - photo by Lou Abercrombie
Biography
Abercrombie studied psychology at the University of Manchester before going on to be a freelance film editor. Between editing sessions, he began writing The First Law trilogy, the first book of which - The Blade Itself - caught the attention of the Gollancz publishing company.
Over the next two years, the two subsequent novels in the trilogy (Before They Are Hanged and Last Argument of Kings) were also published, and in 2008, Abercrombie was nominated for the 2008 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Abercrombie went on to publish three stand-alone novels in the same universe: Best Served Cold in 2009, The Heroes in 2011 and Red Country in 2012.
His latest book, Half a King, is set to be released in July 2014. It will be his first novel not to be set in the First Law world.
Bibliography
First Law trilogy
The First Law trilogy consists of:
- The Blade Itself (May 2006)
- Before They Are Hanged (March 2007)
- Last Argument of Kings (March 2008)
Stand-alone novels
The three subsequent books were also set in the First Law universe:
- Best Served Cold (June 2009)
- The Heroes (January 2011)
- Red Country (October 2012)
Not set in the First Law world:
- Half a King (July 2014)
Short stories
- The Fool Jobs (2010) - published in the Swords and Dark Magic anthology
- Yesterday, Near a Village Called Barden (2011) - published in a Waterstones-exclusive edition of The Heroes
- Freedom! - published as an extra in the Waterstone's hardcover version of Red Country
- Some Desperado (2013) - in the Dangerous Women anthology
