The Heroes

the few things in it. He’d always thought retiring would be going back to his life after some nightmare pause. Some stretch of exile in the land of the dead. Now it came to him that all his life worth living had happened while he was holding a sword.
    Standing alongside his dozen. Laughing with Whirrun, and Brack, and Wonderful. Clasping hands with his crew before the fight, knowing he’d die for them and they for him. The trust, the brotherhood, the love, knit closer than family. Standing by Threetrees on the walls of Uffrith, roaring their defiance at Bethod’s great army. The day he charged at the Cumnur. And at Dunbrec. And in the High Places, even though they lost. Because they lost. The day he earned his name. Even the day he got his brothers killed. Even when he’d stood at the top of the Heroes as the rain came down, watching the Union come, knowing every dragged-out moment might be the last.
    Like Whirrun had said – you can’t live more’n that. Certainly not by fixing a chair.
    ‘Ah, shit,’ he muttered, and he grabbed his sword-belt and his coat, threw ’em over his shoulder and strode out, slapping the door shut. Didn’t even bother to lock it behind him.
    ‘Hardbread! Wait up!’

Acknowledgements

    As always, four people without whom:
    Bren Abercrombie, whose eyes are sore from reading it.
Nick Abercrombie, whose ears are sore from hearing about it.
Rob Abercrombie, whose fingers are sore from turning the pages.
Lou Abercrombie, whose arms are sore from holding me up.
    Then, my heartfelt thanks:
    To all the lovely and talented folks at my UK Publisher, Gollancz, and their parent Orion, particularly Simon Spanton, Jo Fletcher, Jon Weir, Mark Stay and Jon Wood. Then, of course, all those who’ve helped make, publish, publicise, translate and above all sell my books wherever they may be around the world.
    To the artists responsible for somehow making me look classy: Didier Graffet, Dave Senior and Laura Brett.
    To editors across the Pond: Devi Pillai and Lou Anders.
    To other hard-bitten professionals who’ve provided various mysterious services: Robert Kirby, Darren Turpin, Matthew Amos, Lionel Bolton.
    To all the writers whose paths have crossed mine either electronically or in the actual flesh, and who’ve provided help, laughs anda few ideas worth stealing, including but by no means limited to: James Barclay, Mark Billingham, Peter V. Brett, Stephen Deas, Roger Levy, Tom Lloyd, Joe Mallozzi, George R. R. Martin, John Meaney, Richard Morgan, Mark Charan Newton, Garth Nix, Adam Roberts, Pat Rothfuss, Marcus Sakey, Wim Stolk and Chris Wooding.
    And lastly, yet firstly:
    She who wields the Father of Red Pens, which cannot be drawn without being blooded, a fearless champion on the battlefield of publishing, my editor, Gillian Redfearn. I mean, someone’s got to do the actual fighting …

Copyright

    A Gollancz eBook
    Copyright © Joe Abercrombie 2011
    Axe illustration © Didier Graffet/Bragelonne 2010
    Map © Dave Senior 2010
    All rights reserved
    The right of Joe Abercrombie to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
    First published in Great Britain in 2011
    by Gollancz
    The Orion Publishing Group Ltd
    Orion House
    5 Upper St Martin’s Lane
    London WC2H 9EA
    An Hachette UK Company
    This eBook first published in 2010 by Gollancz.
    A CIP catalogue record for this book
    is available from the British Library.
    ISBN 978 0 575 08875 7
    This eBook produced by Jouve, France
    All characters and events in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
    No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor to be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
    www.orionbooks.co.uk