Joe Abercrombie

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

OK, Joe Abercrombie has written a trilogy that A) has gen-U-ine character development and B) pretty snappy dialog. A very, very nice surprise from a normally formulaic and two-dimesnional genre. Good fights, too.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Made the Queen read them. I'm waiting on the third book, which is already out in Britain. The first book was good. The second book was okay but I'm hoping the third book will resolve all. He also writes a pretty funny blog. It's mostly him writing about what other people think of him.

[The Queen]

The only problem with "walking"/quest books is that the characters are always depressed and hungry and I can't sit and read the danged thing without wanting to stuff my face!!!

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

OK, finished book #3 "Last Argument of Kings".

It rocks.

This could be termed the "Anti-Fantasy" trilogy. The classic 2-D characters that populate the genre are all here at first glance, but the subsequent books reveal ambivalence, greed, uncertainty, raciscm, substance-abuse, self-loathing, self-deception, inhuman arrogance, unlikely redemption, tainted success, gradually evolving the characters into complex humans and resolving the various crises in ways that satisfy, frustrate, and leave you sad at the same time.

It is what can happen to a genre work when it is written by someone who knows it inside and out, but also know human foibles and can actually write interacting, evolving, characters. Various shades of anti-heroes and anti-villains. It's all gray, and not at all pretty.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Curse you, Will Robinson. I think I'm waiting for the trade paperback.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

It is out in trade paper, but it is, I think, a British edition. My Borderlands Bookstore ROCKS!

Maybe you will visit it when you are up here, yes? You will find it very agreeable. There is even a hairless cat named Ripley.

-Y

[The Queen]

I can understand a cat. I can understand a cat named Jones. I can even understand a cat named Ripley. I cannot understand a hairless cat. What's the point?

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

It is so you can have a cat and *not* sneeze. As a system, it works pretty well.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

But you go through Nair like crazy.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Constant low-level radiation does the trick. Plus, you can always find it in the dark.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

You guys are the coolest. Are they spending the 100k to have it cloned?

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Cloning's free up here, along with hover-cars and robot-butlers. Do you have to pay for those down there?

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Did I mention Bastard. No, we don't have hovercars. But we do have tornadoes that will topple trains.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

It sat on the shelf for a long time, which means I forgot most of what was going, except for the Bloody Nine. I love him. Just let me kill.

Let's just say I'm depressed by this book. Yes, it turned the genre on the head, but I kind of liked the genre. I didn't need to have all the Northmen dead. I wanted Luthar to change and become a good guy. Which he did but then couldn't put any of the goodness into action. The one good character gets a wasting sickness. The helpful wizard turns out to be an utter dick. And poor Glotcka never gets the magic cure to his ailments. What gives.

I liked it. I'm waiting for the stand alone due in July. Plus, the more I think about it, the more I think we are not done with these characters. If you are hankering for the return of GRRM, these will be a nice filler.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

You can never have too many knives.