New Joe Abercrombie book announced!

So, Joe Abercrombie’s Young Adult trilogy has now finished. Although 5 years ago we’d never have entertained the idea that Joe would go down the YA route we were so damned impressed with the result that we didn’t bug him – even once – about when the next First Law novel would be coming.

It did help that we knew there would be more First Law titles coming and that this was just as alternative to Joe taking an extended break from writing (which seemed on the cards originally). We knew this because Gollancz had announced a deal that promised at least another trilogy and singular title set in our favourite Grimdark Universe*. Despite our patience, the moment that Half A War hit shelves, we were back to bugging Joe and Gollancz as to when his next book would be out, what it would be about and what genre it’d be a part of. Well, in publishing-terms we’ve been given our answer pretty quick: it turns out that Joe is working within another medium before returning to novels aimed at adult readers: that of the short story.

From the Press Release we received from Gollancz today, we know that Abercrombie plans to release a hardback collection of short stories that will all be set within the First Law Universe. We are told that this collection will be a mix of original and reissued tales, including the Locus Award-winning “Tough Times All Over.” The brand-new shorts will feature some of the most popular characters from the First Law world, including Glokta, Jezal, Logen Ninefingers, Bethod and Monza Murcatto. Joe announced via Twitter that the title will be Sharp Ends, and is set for release in April.

Of the deal, Joe said: “I’m very pleased that some widely scattered shorts are going to be brought together in one volume along with some new stories about old friends and enemies, filling in some blanks in the map of the First Law world and offering some different perspectives on key events.  I hope readers will have as much fun revisiting some of these much-loved – and much-hated – characters as I have . . .”

An incredible stat that we stumbled across was that Joe’s novels have sold over half a million copies globally. As someone who has been looking to promote the short story form over the past few years, I feel that Joe’s involvement and Gollancz’s belief that this collection will sell, is really good for a genre that has been slipped away from bookshelves in recent years. The rise of the eBook means that short stories should be able to find their way back in front of readers so long as publishers and authors like Joe continue to believe in them. So, yes, a good day! 🙂

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