Crom

I now have my nose deep in "Best Served Cold" Joe Abercrombie's latest. What can I say? Excellent, brilliant, fabulous, all those and more, but that is what I was expecting anyway.

For the last 20 years or so the only Fantasy/Heroic Fiction I ever read was David Gemmel, I loved all of his books, I have re-read them so many times I've lost count. I used to read much more Fantasy/Heroic Fiction. I enjoyed the David Eddings books when they first came out, but as book shop shelves became swamped with Eddings clones I just quit. I read SF and the odd horror maybe a thriller or two. Then a couple of years back there was a book giveaway on the SFX forums and I was fortunate enough to win "The Blade Itself" Signed trade paperback. I felt a bit guilty as even though It sounded good and I fancied a change, I really wasn't sure if it wouldn't be wasted on me.

It languished on a shelf for a few months and then I grabbed it, a large Vodka and Coke, retired to a quiet corner and was hooked almost immediately. It felt like I was reading a Gemmel book in style if not content. I realised by page 50 or 60 that my vodka was getting warm as I'd been ignoring it and that I loved this book, I also loved Joe Abercombie. Had he been in the room, I would have hugged him.

I had Fantasy/Heroic Fiction back in my life. "Before They Are Hanged" was out so I got it straight away and I only had about 6 months till "Last Argument of Kings" was out. In the mean time I sniffed around a few other series and authors, some hit some miss. Thank you Joe Abercrombie or Crom as I started to call him when I thought one day how good it would be to get Joe to do a "Conan" novel.