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Shattered Sea Trilogy (aka 'So much for Abercrombie's sabbatical')


MisterOJ

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I just got the best blog comment ever about this:

It's up there with the quote Joe Abercrombie published on his blog at Christmas, reviling the "Thresh Law" (sic) and begging him to write nothing more.

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The one thing it has to have is a young adult protagonist, which is something I haven't really done before so was interested in trying. Beyond that you're looking at shorter length, probably tighter focus and quicker pace, perhaps simpler in terms of plotting and number of narrative threads. Less swearing. Less explicit on the sex and violence front (though not massively so). Other than that the gloves are off. Half a King is about power, betrayal, revenge, endurance, loyalty, family, oppression, friendship, coming of age ... the themes are universal, in other words. It is not lightweight. I wrote a book about a young adult, but I didn't change how I write or what I write about.

It doesn't read very much like The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

I agree that those are universal themes and it sounds good! I will buy it lol... All I'm really saying is that I'm a little disappointed that I have to wait longer for the next First Law books.

(Shame about the differences to The Very Hungry Caterpiller though! Man, I loved that book ... :P)

Good, just what the board needs, another d*bag troll.

What is it in any of my 38 comments that suggest I'm a troll? Stop being such a humourless & curmudgeonly forum 'veteran' and perhaps read what I have written rather than simply jump straight to righteous indignation!

I think all of my comments so far have been about Joe's world - I have read all of his books (and enjoyed them). All I said was that i'm a 'little disappointed' and that it sounds like 'an alternate Tyrion story' on the surface level. I have no doubt that I will enjoy this book! I have no doubt that there are many great books aimed at younger readers that I would also enjoy.... Happy?

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I guess Joe could turn the expectations of "the very hungry caterpillar" on its head. It could go into very dark places if set within "the first law" world. Just how hungry does that caterpillar get and what happens when he eats other caterpillars. He'd probably come out of his chrysalis as a dung beetle too :)

I think I'll give these a try next summer if my reading slate is clear.

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I guess Joe could turn the expectations of "the very hungry caterpillar" on its head. It could go into very dark places if set within "the first law" world. Just how hungry does that caterpillar get and what happens when he eats other caterpillars. He'd probably come out of his chrysalis as a dung beetle too :)

I think I'll give these a try next summer if my reading slate is clear.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar as an Eater? I could get on board with that...

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I agree that those are universal themes and it sounds good! I will buy it lol... All I'm really saying is that I'm a little disappointed that I have to wait longer for the next First Law books.

(Shame about the differences to The Very Hungry Caterpiller though! Man, I loved that book ... :P)

What is it in any of my 38 comments that suggest I'm a troll? Stop being such a humourless & curmudgeonly forum 'veteran' and perhaps read what I have written rather than a simply jump straight to righteous indignation!

I think all of my comments so far have been about Joe's world - I have read all of his books (and enjoyed them). All I said was that i'm a 'little disappointed' and that it sounds like 'an alternate Tyrion story' on the surface level. I have no doubt that I will enjoy this book! I have no doubt that there are many great books aimed at younger readers that I would also enjoy.... Happy?

Merriam-Webster defines the word ignorant as: destitute of knowledge or education <an ignorant society>; also : lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified.

When you attempt to use A Very Hungry Caterpillar as some sort of analogous insult, you reveal you complete and utter lack of understanding of modern children's literature. If you don't know enough about something, sometimes it's just best to walk away from the computer for a while and not say something stupid.

As Brady put it, far more diplomatically than I ever could considering my proximity to this subject, YA is a marketing thing and about what shelf something is going to sell better on, hence the reason why two separate imprints were probably brought into play. But to regard it as a "disappointment" just continues to reveal how much of a troll you are.

Expand your horizons, troglodyte.

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One of the best books I've read this year was a YA fantasy and it was by no means a simple or unintelligent plot. It was beautifully written, in truth, with as much detail as fiction for adults. To me the difference between YA and Adult is the difference between a HBO drama and a BBC drama. Both high quality. One has explicit adult themes while the other is often more subtle.

Isn't The Hungry Catapillar that big painted green catapillar book? I think my mum got it for me when I was five. Defo a far cry from YA!

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One of the best books I've read this year was a YA fantasy and it was by no means a simple or unintelligent plot. It was beautifully written, in truth, with as much detail as fiction for adults. To me the difference between YA and Adult is the difference between a HBO drama and a BBC drama. Both high quality. One has explicit adult themes while the other is often more subtle.

Far more eloquent that I might have made my point. I get overly salty when people take shots at YA, especially considering it's how I'm going to make some of my living in the very near future.

And to clarify, I embrace my curmudgeoniness.

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Incidentally, in the US where Barnes and Noble have quite a strict policy on a book being shelved in only one part of the store, Half a King will probably be sold in the adult fantasy section. In the UK it will probably find its way into both adult fantasy and young adult, probably in one edition, but possibly in two separate ones. Depends a bit whether we hit on a design that we think will work for everyone.

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Merriam-Webster defines the word ignorant as: destitute of knowledge or education <an ignorant society>; also : lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified.

When you attempt to use A Very Hungry Caterpillar as some sort of analogous insult, you reveal you complete and utter lack of understanding of modern children's literature. If you don't know enough about something, sometimes it's just best to walk away from the computer for a while and not say something stupid.

As Brady put it, far more diplomatically than I ever could considering my proximity to this subject, YA is a marketing thing and about what shelf something is going to sell better on, hence the reason why two separate imprints were probably brought into play. But to regard it as a "disappointment" just continues to reveal how much of a troll you are.

Expand your horizons, troglodyte.

Merriam-Webster defines the word humorless as: 1. lacking a sense of humor <people who can't see the lighter side of life>

When you attempt to turn my use of A Very Hungry Caterpillar into some sort of analogous insult, you reveal your complete and utter lack of understanding of modern jovial banter or sarcasm. If you don't know enough about something, sometimes it's just best to walk away from the computer for a while and not say something stupid.

Expressing my minor disappointment does not reveal me to be anything other than a little bit disappointed. It does not make me ignorant and it does not make me a troll.

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One of these days, I'll learn not to feed the trolls.

Enjoy.

You're right, what a victim of a vicious trolling you are! Did I actually say something about caterpillars?! How appalling...

I suppose replying to a person with a definition of ignorance from Merriam-Webster, after calling them a 'd*bag troll', is perfectly acceptable behaviour though? That is the antithesis of all things troll.

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The Very Hungry Caterpillar as an Eater? I could get on board with that...

It's a fan-fic mash-up just waiting to happen :)

Incidentally, in the US where Barnes and Noble have quite a strict policy on a book being shelved in only one part of the store, Half a King will probably be sold in the adult fantasy section. In the UK it will probably find its way into both adult fantasy and young adult, probably in one edition, but possibly in two separate ones. Depends a bit whether we hit on a design that we think will work for everyone.

There's always "the guy on the front of the cover" approach. That seems to work on any shelf. While I love the parchment style for "first law" I think something equally distinct would serve the new series better. You can still have your big old name on the front of it :)

When the next two parts are out over the course of 12 months is that because you are already writing the second/third parts or is it because of the reduced length and your speed on the First law books that makes you confident you can keep to that schedule?

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You have quite a bit of shelf space in Meadowhall Waterstone's Fantasy section, last time I checked, Joe. I'd say dividing up between YA and Fantasy wouldn't be too hard. I've noticed that Philippa Gregory's YA has a very similar cover style to her normal historical romances.

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There's always "the guy on the front of the cover" approach. That seems to work on any shelf. While I love the parchment style for "first law" I think something equally distinct would serve the new series better. You can still have your big old name on the front of it :)

I hate to say it, but the cover was the main reason I picked up Best Served Cold (my intro to Abercrombie). If it had been the boring UK parchment cover instead of the US version with the hot sword wielding babe, I probably wouldn't have been so quick to pick it up.

On YA: all the cool kids are doing it. Gaiman in particular seems to be doing a lot of YA. Some of it is great literature by any standard. Madeline L'Engle stands up nearly a decade after the first read. Pullman is good too.

I like Vikings, I like Abercrombie- I will like Half a King. I'm sure of it. And, no disrespect intended, but a shorter book isn't really a bad thing for Abercrombie IMO. The First Law books and stand alones are massive.

What I'm really looking forward to is the short story collection. I've got all of Abercrombie's work that is currently available in the US, but several stories are only available in the UK for now.

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I like Vikings, I like Abercrombie- I will like Half a King. I'm sure of it.

That pretty much sums it up.

I've read War and Peace at 12, I can well read YA at 50 :) (I actually read a fair bit these days since my niece demands a constant supply of reading material). For me, there are only books I find interesting and books I find boring and usually don't finish. Genre doesn't play much of a role in that (though I tend to find Romance boring most of the time).

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