I came up with the world specifically for these books, and that was actually quite a nice thing - I’ve learned a lot since I wrote the first law books so it was nice to be able to come up with something fresh, something without all the baggage of all those words written, something specifically suited to the kind of story I wanted to tell. Was this really a problem at all for you, or did you already have ideas or notes on a possible Viking-esque story? Were there any particular difficulties, aside from time management? And what did you find the most enjoyable part of writing it?

I have to admit that I was surprised that you took a departure from the First Law world, not least because writing for a completely different world from scratch sounds like a massive challenge. With every project there’ll always be moments where you feel negative about it, and for me that period tends to stretch from just after starting the project, to just as I’m getting to the end.ģ.

I think being a professional means not relying on inspiration, having to find ways to make progress when you’re not feeling particularly into what you’re doing. Certainly you do feel burned out at times, certainly you have days where you feel pretty uninspired. I guess you break the tasks down into small bits, and make sure you’re making some kind of progress each day. How did you manage to avoid getting burned out, especially when travel could upset your writing schedule? Yet somehow during this time you managed to not only write the Shattered Sea trilogy, but also made it a strong and powerful series. You've had a punishing promotional schedule over the past couple of years, doing cons and book signings across Europe and America. Well, I think that the downside of being a venomously ambitious sociopath, if there is one, is that one is always looking forward towards the next enemy to be destroyed, rather than smiling upon the heap of corpses you’ve left in your wake.Ģ. Do you ever take a moment from your hectic schedule to look back on how far you've come, and enjoy your success? So far as I understand it, you are now Britain's best-selling fantasy author, and are published in at least 20 different languages. Apparently a lot of people took your advice. I remember when you first joined the chronicles forums nearly ten years ago, you kept saying 'Buy my book'.

With the third book in his Shattered Sea trilogy coming out on July 16th, and despite a gruelling schedule this year - that has seen him attend conventions across Europe and the USA, and a whirlwind signing tour of the UK - Joe Abercrombie was able to take time-out to speak to chrons.ġ.

Joe abercrombie shattered sea trilogy