Before They Are Hanged (64 page)

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Authors: Joe Abercrombie

Tags: #Fiction, #General, #Fantasy, #Science Fiction & Fantasy

BOOK: Before They Are Hanged
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Acknowledgments

Four people without whom…

Bren Abercrombie, whose eyes are sore from reading it

Nick Abercrombie, whose ears are sore from hearing about it

Rob Abercrombic, whose fingers are sore from turning the pages

Lou Abercrombie, whose arms are sore from holding me up

Also…

Jon Weir, for putting the word out

Simon Spanton, for not putting the boot in

And who could forget…

Gillian Redfearn, who not only made it happen, but made it better

Copyright © Joe Abercrombie 2007
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 2007 by Gollancz

An imprint of the Orion Publishing Group

Orion House, 5 Upper St Martin’s Lane, London WC2H 9EA

This edition published in Great Britain in 2008 by Gollancz 13579 10 8642

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 9780575082014

Typeset at The Spartan Press Ltd, Lymington, Hants

Printed and bound in Great Britain by Mackays of Chatham plc, Chatham, Kent

www.joeabercrombie.com

The Orion Publishing Group’s policy is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products and made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The logging and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

www.orionbooks.co.uk

Table of Contents

PART I

The Great Leveller
Best Laid Plans
Questions
The Wounds of the Past
The Condition of the Defences
The Thing About Trust
Allies
Campfire Politics
Small Crimes
Rain
Bloody Company
Long Shadows
And Next… My Gold
Fear
One Hundred Words
The Blind Lead the Blind
Prince Ladisla’s Stratagem
Until Sunset
Long Odds
The Road to Victory
Necessary Evils
Among the Stones
The Fruits of Boldness
One for Dinner
One of Them

PART II

Heading North
Scant Mercy
So This is Pain
One Step at a Time
The Rest is Wasted Breath
A Matter of Time
Scars
Furious
To the Last Man
Jewel of Cities
Luck
Beneath the Ruins
No Good for Each Other
The Hero’s Welcome
Cold Comfort
The High Places
Coming Over
Cheap at the Price
To the Edge of the World
Before the Storm
Questions
Holding the Line
A Fitting Punishment
The Abode of Stones
Back to the Mud

Acknowledgments

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