Joe Abercrombie gives updates on his next fantasy book The Devils and on the Best Served Cold movie

Joe Abercrombie is the author of The First Law, a trilogy of grimdark fantasy novels which went on to spawn a long-running series. The latest trilogy in Abercrombie's fantasy universe, The Age of Madness, took place several decades after the events of The First Law and showed how the next generation navigated an industrial boom which shook up established power structures. By and large it was extremely well received, which is no surprise; Abercrombie pretty much always delivers, especially when he's writing in The First Law world.

But when next we read the author's work, it'll be pretty different than the familiar First Law novels. Abercrombie's next book, titled The Devils, takes place in our world, except it's under constant threat of invasion from elves. Into this situation marches a group of misfit supernatural antiheroes working for a child pope. There's "a self-serving magician, a self-satisfied vampire, an oversexed werewolf, and a knight cursed with immortality" who are so good at their job that "there is no mission that cannot be turned into a calamitous bloodbath."

It sounds like a riotous good time. Abercrombie took to his blog last week to discuss how things are going with The Devils, as well as to drop a very brief update about how things are going with his First Law movie Best Served Cold. Let's start with The Devils:

"Last time I announced that The Devils was basically finished, this time I’ll announce that it’s even more basically finished, the copy edit having been done and sent back," wrote Abercrombie. "US and UK cover art is now pretty much finalized, more about that when it’s appropriate, and we’re currently working on some exciting internal art. In fact the book’s so near to being finished that when I was in New York recently I stopped into the offices of Tor, the US publisher, to sign a few very advance reader copies."

Advance reader copies, or ARCs, are early printings of books that publishers send out in order to drum up interest ahead of release. These often have some slight differences from the final printing like modified cover artwork, thinner paper, a release date printed right on it, etcetera. When ARCs are done well, it can be a serious boon to a book release, and it looks like Tor Books is very excited to start getting the word out about The Devils. Check out these beauties:

"And no, you can’t have one," Abercrombie added. "These are strictly for the best people, the VIPs, the taste-makers and industry leaders. Or so they tell me. I didn’t even get one (mind you I’ve already read it, it was brilliant incidentally)."

Abercrombie went on to say that he expects a larger round of advance copies to go out to reviewers later in 2024, before confirming that The Devils isn't going to release until May of 2025. The fact that those very advance copies are already starting to circulate a full year ahead of release speaks to the sort of push that The Devils is getting from its publisher. Which is great, because Abercrombie's already hard at work on the sequel! In his update, he writes that the sequel will hopefully be more or less finished by the time The Devils actually hits shelves:

"I’ve revised the first part of that one and sent it off to my editors just to prove that I’ve been doing something (and to garner their valued opinions). Quite the shambles right at the moment, being honest. The characters that appear in it from the previous book are all working well, giving rise to some HILARIOUS SEQUENCES but the new characters really haven’t come together yet giving rise to some BORING SHITE. Still, I trust over time the pressure will crush that shite into diamonds, as I plan out and write the rest of the book and work out just what the hell I’m doing with it. Some thinking and planning time definitely needed to fill in the blanks before I think about setting out to write the next chunk. Probably a good old bit of reading around the subject and repeatedly revising what I’ve already got too."

Best Served Cold movie is going through "lots of backroom wrangling" as it nears production

Abercrombie also gave us a brief update on Best Served Cold, the First Law movie in the works helmed by Deadpool director Tim Miller and starring Rebecca Ferguson as famed mercenary Monza Murcatto. We first learned it was being made late last year, and since then the updates have been small but fairly regular. Abercrombie, Miller and Ferguson have all spoken about it publicly and seem pretty excited. There's reason to be optimistic that Best Served Cold is moving forward, even though there are still a lot of details we don't know.

Back in February, Abercrombie talked a bit about Best Served Cold. "All I can say on that is there’s nothing I can say until there’s something I can say." Which sounds obtuse, but when it comes to Hollywood is probably pretty spot on.

"Having been involved in quite a few film and tv projects over the last decade or so I can tell you it’s always a baffling, surprising and frustrating business," Abercrombie continued. "Things lurch forward, then halt, then take steps back, then forward again, like an indecisive drunk on a bender. Projects get announced in a blaze of excitement, then dropped in awkward silence, then suddenly resurrected in a new form. So . . . we’ll see. Don’t hold your breath, would be my advice . . ."

That brings us to this current update. With the copy edit in for The Devils and the sequel underway, Abercrombie is spending a bit of time working on his film projects. "Right now I’m taking a break from the books to do a few film and tv things I am frustratingly unable to discuss," he writes. "Still nothing I can say about the Best Served Cold film, sadly. Lots of backroom wrangling going on but nothing to trouble the industry papers with. I hope you took my advice, and didn’t hold your breath…"

Our watch continues for more news about Best Served Cold. Good thing we have The Devils coming next year to tide us over while we wait for The First Law universe to make its leap to the screen! And there's plenty else to read in the interim:

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.