Sharp Ends

Tale from the World of the First Law First Law

by Joe Abercrombie

eBook, 290 pages

English language

Published Feb. 8, 2017 by Gollancz.

ISBN:: 978-0-575-10470-9
OCLC Number:: 917345251

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 …

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.

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.

3 editions

Kadomi@buecher.pnpde.social reviewed Sharp Ends by Joe Abercrombie (First Law)

A First Law anthology

4 stars

I am not a huge fan of short stories but I did enjoy this collection of 13 short stories set before and after the original First Law trilogy. It brings the return of many old characters, for example dan Glokta just before he was captured, but it also introduces fun new characters. I demand a standalone novel for Shevedieh and Javre! Big kudos, there's the queer protagonist I dreamed of. :-) Shev and Javre feature in 5 of the 13 short stories.

A lot of the stories use a technique that I already enjoyed in The Heroes. Abercrombie jumps from protagonist to protagonist almost effortlessly, it's quite captivating. Several stories look at the consequences of actions of protagonists from the novels, e.g. all the innocent bystanders that paved Murcatto's way to revenge in Best Served Cold.

If you like the First Law books, I see no reason not …

If you like the First Law books, I see no reason not to pick up this anthology for more depth to the series.

Martin Kopischke reviewed Sharp Ends by Joe Abercrombie (First Law)

Short Abercrombie is the best Abercrombie

3 stars

This collection of short to very short stories ties directly into the First Law universe. As a complement to the main arcs, they are an unmitigated good read, highlighting Abercrombie’s strengths (compelling characters and a master’s sense for a scene’s mood) without giving him the room to play to his favourite weaknesses (cynicism and crypto-antisemitic conspiracy threads). On their own, they will probably not do much for you.