Author(s): Joe Abercrombie

Fiction

They say Black Dow's killed more men than winter & clawed his way to the throne of the North up a hill of skulls. The King of the Union, ever a jealous neighbour, is not about to stand smiling by while he claws his way any higher. The orders have been given & the armies are toiling through the northern mud. Thousands of men are converging on a forgotten ring of stones, on a worthless hill, in an unimportant valley & they've brought a lot of sharpened metal with them. Bremer dan Gorst, disgraced master swordsman, has sworn to reclaim his stolen honour on the battlefield. Prince Calder isn't interested in honour & still less in getting himself killed. All he wants is power & he'll tell any lie, use any trick & betray any friend to get it. Just as long as he doesn't have to fight for it himself. Curnden Craw, the last honest man in the North, has gained nothing from a life of warfare but swollen knees & frayed nerves. He hardly even cares who wins any more, he just wants to do the right thing. Over three bloody days of battle, the fate of the North will be decided. But it is unlikely to be the noblest hearts, or even the strongest arms that prevail.