eimarra | A is for Abercrombie

Joe Abercrombie writes gritty fantasy. The first thing I picked up of his wasn’t the First Law trilogy, but rather the standalone Heroes, set in the same world. The first chapter told me exactly what I was in for: the viewpoint of men and women in battle, trying to carve out a part of the world for their superiors, complete with profanity, honest opinions, and respect for people on the other side. The people aren’t caricatures, and the world doesn’t have soft edges.

In Abercrombie’s words (taken from his site):

I want magic and adventure, sure, but I want it to hurt. I want blood, sweat, and tears, and plenty of them. I want to read about characters as selfish, as flawed, as complicated, and as unpredictable as real people. I want a fantasy that can shock and surprise, amuse and horrify, delight and excite me, all at once.

If that sounds like the kind of story you can get into, go check out Abercrombie’s work.

Today’s post is my first for this year’s Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. My theme is epic fantasy, and blog posts will cover authors, books, tropes, themes, or anything else I can think of to fill the alphabet. Come back regularly to see what else I’ve had to say — or check out some of the other bloggers participating.