“They burned her home.
They stole her brother and sister.
But vengeance is following.
Shy South hoped to bury her bloody past and ride away smiling, but she’ll have to sharpen up some bad old ways to get her family back, and she’s not a woman to flinch from what needs doing. She sets off in pursuit with only a pair of oxen and her cowardly old stepfather Lamb for company. But it turns out Lamb’s buried a bloody past of his own, and out in the lawless Far Country, the past never stays buried.
Their journey will take them across the barren plains to a frontier town gripped by gold fever, through feud, duel and massacre, high into the unmapped mountains to a reckoning with the Ghosts. Even worse, it will force them into alliance with Nicomo Cosca, infamous soldier of fortune, and his feckless lawyer Temple, two men no one should ever have to trust…”
And that is about all that has been released by Abercrombie’s publishers, Gollancz, regarding his upcoming novel (A) Red Country. However, we were able to get more details from Abercrombie in our Podcast earlier this year (you can’t see the weapons and angry glares we had to use in order to force them from him, as it’s an audio only file). You’ll also find out why I consistently use (A) prior to Red Country…which I’m sure is annoying you.
Well, actually, we do have some (A) Red Country news for you today! That is because Gollancz has finally broken their recent silence by releasing the cover on their blog… YES! The actual cover! The good news is that they’ve stuck with the same style they’ve used for Abercrombie’s First Law Trilogy, Best Served Cold and The Heroes – so, you’ll have a nice matching set once you pick it up.
Here it is, let us know in the comments what you think:
Looks pretty awesome right? I do love those Abercrombie covers… Oh what? That’s not big enough for you to truly admire? How about this one?
“With [(A) Red Country], 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.”
The word is that (A) Red Country is to be a kind of western adventure. From the few pieces of information I’ve read and what Joe has told me, it sounds like a kind of Unforgiven type story – you know the one with Eastwood? As opposed to cowboys riding around and blasting each other. I for one can’t wait to see how he has handled it.
For those interested by the way (and I’m sure that is all of you), the release dates are as follows:
UK: THURSDAY, OCT 18TH 2012 AND US: TUESDAY, NOV 20TH 2012.
I’m off to beg Gollancz for an ARC so I can get an early review up! Already, I’m anticipating this being one of the best books of the year and if you’ve read an Abercrombie book before, I don’t need to explain that statement; you already know why.
I’ll leave you with the US Cover…enjoy!
Notes:
• Joe Abercrombie is the author of the brilliant First Law Trilogy. You can read a review for this here.
• Our first interview with Joe Abercrombie can be found here.
• Our Podcast with Joe Abercrombie can be found here.
• Other than our Podcast, the only details on (A) Red Country can be found here.
• Finally, for more information on Joe Abercrombie, please visit his blog.
Richard Marpole
Jennie Ivins
I love Joe Abercrombie books. October can’t come quickly enough for me. Also interesting to see the difference between the US and UK covers. Once again there seems to be a greater level of sophistication in the UK version, of things implied rather than the more in-your-face US approach. And of course, very happy to see you can never have too many knives…
Joe Abercrombie is so, so good. Would just like to say that the UK covers are always better (unfortunately). Sigh.
The initial premise of the book sounds a lot like Winter’s Bone to me.
Revenge plots are very common in Westerns – I think that is what Abercrombie was going for 🙂
The US one looks like a poster for 300 or somesuch, far less appealing in my opinion.
I’m with Topher – knowing Abercrombie’s world as a fan, the US cover tells us nothing and bears little resemblence to what I’d imagine. The UK edn is far more in-keeping with the series. I get the same thing with UK/US editions of Wereworld mind you, very different approaches, though I must add that the US edns have grown on me in a massive way.
Cheers for the article, Marc!
Reading the write-up, this almost sounds like a historical fantasy set in the US Old West.
I believe that is what it is supposed to be 🙂
The UK cover is shiny and pretty. Definitely want.
Abercrombie is a classy guy. I haven’t read any of his books, but I’ll be picking some up at some point.
When I was organizing 29 Days of Fantasy last February, he was the only one out of all the celebrity authors I contacted to actually give me a reply of any kind. I thought that was fantastic of him.
I wish him all the best with this latest book, it looks very exciting. 🙂
That’s a lot of knives. And, as one character is fond of recalling “you can’t have too many knives…”
Massively looking forward to this.
Cannot wait for this book. I’ve loved Joe Abercrombie since I first accidently picked up The Blade Itself. Happily, it’s out just before my husband’s birthday so that’s him sorted!
The US cover is awful. Is that why all the covers have changed over the years? Are they the US covers? I don’t see why they have to be different. The UK covers reflect the feel of the books, the US cover makes it look tacky.
I’ve found I almost always prefer the UK covers for any given book(whatever the reasons are for creating different covers for the areas, I seem to fall more inline with the UK demographic than the US where I live.)
This is definitely so with Abercrombie’s books, and that’s without seeing them in person. I have heard they have a textures/dimension to them that really adds to the look.
Abercrombie’s UK covers are among the best out there. I can’t figure out why the US versions are different and wind up making the books look like everything else on the market, when the UK ones are so striking and classy.
Another great cover!
Oh, that is very nice. I love the covers he gets.
Gorgeous! I love Didier’s artwork – wish I’d had the cash to win his sketch at the Gemmell Awards auction 🙁
Man this is awesome. Love that they have continued the theme of map and weapon from Best Served Cold and The Heroes.
One Seriously Badass Cover!!!
F*CK YEA!
Wow, Red Country sounds incredible. I love his books so that’s a day one buy for me.
UK Cover, hands down.
I’ll be ordering from Book Depository. Just like with ‘The Heros’, I’m not a fan of the US cover.
It is awesome. You can never have too many knives…