Abercrombie is a Brit who's not nearly as well-known in the U.S. as he should be. Like George R.R. Martin, he writes dark, morally dodgy fantasy about large men with large swords, but he works at closer range and in something more like real time. The Heroes takes place during one massive, grinding battle — two enormous armies contesting a scrap of random, worthless land. Abercrombie moves from one warrior to another, showing us the strange paths that brought them to this bloodbath,

—Lev Grossman