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Sharp Ends: Stories from the World of The First Law by [Joe Abercrombie]

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Joe Abercrombie

Sharp Ends: Stories from the World of The First Law Kindle Edition

by Joe Abercrombie (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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The Union army may be full of bastards, but there's only one who thinks he can save the day single-handed when the Gurkish come calling: the incomparable Colonel Sand dan Glokta.

Curnden Craw and his dozen are out to recover a mysterious item from beyond the Crinna. Only one small problem: no one seems to know what the item is.

Shevedieh, the self-styled best thief in Styria, lurches from disaster to catastrophe alongside her best friend and greatest enemy, Javre, Lioness of Hoskopp.

And after years of bloodshed, the idealistic chieftain Bethod is desperate to bring peace to the North. There's only one obstacle left - his own lunatic champion, the most feared man in the North: the Bloody-Nine . . .

Sharp Ends combines previously published, award-winning tales with exclusive new short stories. Violence explodes, treachery abounds, and the words are as deadly as the weapons in this rogue's gallery of side-shows, back-stories, and sharp endings from the world of the First Law.

Print length

349 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Gollancz
Publication date

26 April 2016
File size

10600 KB
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Review

Highly recommended - a funny, finely-wrought, terrifically energetic work of high fantasy. Seek it out -- Joe Hill

Pratchett-like parody of epic fantasy throughout... if Pratchett dropped the C-bomb and relished disembowelment. ― SFX

'Joe Abercrombie has created a world able to stand alongside landscapes the likes of George RR Martin and JRR Tolkien have created in terms of drama, political intrigue and, of course, bloodshed.' ― SciFiNow

Suffice to say that Sharp Ends is an intriguing entry point into the World of the First Order. I'm equal parts hooked and scared. Is it all like this? Can anyone survive? ― Geek Native

These stories proved to be engrossing. They are a spicy addition to the main courses of the novels, adding to the flavour of the original and offering a wider explanation of how some characters got to the place they did. I look forward to enjoying the novels and I'll be looking out for my favourites. ― SF Crowsnest

There are some great writers of low fantasy around today, but few are as good as Abercrombie...Each short story does offer an entertaining and dark read ― The Bookbag

Dark, and darkly comic, this is an ideal read for anyone who enjoys their humor dry and their vengeance bloody. ― The Eloquent Page

he consistently high standard of the stories in Sharp Ends make it a triumph. Granted, readers would be advised to acquaint themselves with their setting, but anyone who was excited by Abercrombie's debut ten years ago will feel those butterflies again. It's a masterful approach, displaying everything that's great about the short story format, from a writer at the height of his powers. ― Starburst Magazine

Sharp Ends is by turns brutal, witty, chilling, charming but always brilliant. ― Geek Planet Online

Overall, the best fantasy collection it's been my pleasure to read in many years. ― CONCATENATION --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

Joe Abercrombie is doing some terrific work

- George R. R. Martin

Delightfully twisted and evil - Guardian

Joe Abercrombie has written the finest epic fantasy in recent memory

- Junot Diaz, Pulitzer Prize Winner, on Red Country

Joe Abercrombie is probably the brightest star among the new generation of British fantasy writers - The Times --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B016IOF8OY
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Gollancz; 1st edition (26 April 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 10600 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 349 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 22,990 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 46 in Collections & Anthologies Fantasy
- 50 in Fantasy Anthologies
- 773 in Epic Fantasy (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
1,461 ratings

About the author

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Joe Abercrombie

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Joe Abercrombie is a freelance film editor, who works on documentaries and live music events. He lives and works in Bath. THE BLADE ITSELF, his debut novel, is the first novel of The First Law trilogy, followed by BEFORE THEY ARE HANGED and LAST ARGUMENT OF KINGS. His new stand-alone bestseller is BEST SERVED COLD.

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Customer reviews

5 star		68%
4 star		22%
3 star		8%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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arran

Awesome

Reviewed in Australia on 18 December 2017

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Great read and awesome to learn about other characters and the story's that connect them.
Can't wait to read the rest of the first law books

Reviewed in Australia on 16 June 2016

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one of best writes of this genre left

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Frank A

An utter disappointment

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 July 2018

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I enjoyed every single of Abercrombie's book. I think he's better than most of the much lauded, contemporary fantasy (american) authors who tend to be very formulaic as they try to appease their 20-year-olds fanbase. I had left this book in the queue because I had no Abercrombie book in a while so I indulged in other (generally disappointing) books from other author.

It is with much regret that I can say this book is a blatant cash-grab. A bunch of disjointed stories over the course of many years of specific moments of characters we know, or of new characters that are hard to care about. Clearly the Abercrombie "soul" is there, but it's a bunch of short stories that I believe were edited out of previous books and someone told Mr. Abercrombie he could turn them to profit.

Avoid, even if you're a fan.

13 people found this helpful

Targaid

This is how you fill out a world

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 March 2022

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Star Wars does it (badly these days) by making up stories to fill in the gaps by fan demand. Trek did it with stand-alone novels. George R.R. Martin does it rather than finish the darn story. It's common to want to fill in background detail about how our favourite characters got to where they were when we met them. Usually such efforts muddy the waters and create more contradictions than there were before.
Abercrombie has filled in some background here and, as with all his work, done it with style and truth.

From how the war affected folk in the wider world to letting us see that familiar villains and heroes were not quite so black and white as we may have imagined these are great short stories. Some have a lighter tone than we're used to in the world of the First Law, some just as dark but none fail to fit in or to hit their mark.

Armed_Sirloin

Disjointed, but not without merit.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 October 2018

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I'm beginning to struggle with my motivation to finish this book. I adored the first 6 books in the series. They were gritty and entertaining on many levels, so I was overjoyed to see new stories from this world. But unfortunately, it just hasn't lived up to expectations.

I'm 75% through the book, and I'm struggling with the disjointed nature of it. I know they are a collection of short stories, but I was hoping for a little more interaction and cross over between stories. One story line even covers 15 years.

I have tried to accept and value each little story on their own, but I don't have enough time to invest emotionally in the characters to care about what happens to them.

It has been entertaining to hear about some characters from the original series.

I don't hate this but any means, I'm Just disappointed. If you loved the First Law series, I'm sure you'll enjoy this.

3 people found this helpful

Youngs

Well written but miserable and unengaging

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 December 2017

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Well written as per usual with Joe Abercrombie's work. However [spoilers] most of the stories were not engaging as they consisted of short segments about people caught up in larger events - and who frequently die miserably at the end. While one realises this is probably a realistic take on the experience most people would have in a 'real' fantasy/medieval environment, it's not a place I want to spend my limited recreation time visiting.

6 people found this helpful

Stephen Davies

More miss than hit

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 January 2019

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Ass in most short story anthologies this collection is very hit and miss, using some new characters and using various central characters as bit part players. In part we are just given snippets of events, something which can be infuriating at times. We also lose the character development present in a novel. Die hard fans may well latch onto this collection, but as much as I loved the First Law series this was a massive disappointment

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