Before They Are Hanged

"Before They are Hanged" er en fængslende og dybt kynisk fantasyfortælling om ældgamle hemmelighed, blodige krige og bitre fjender. En nådesløs krig er på vej til det kolde nord. Det bliver blodigt og farligt - og eftersom byens hær er internt splittet over politik og lammet af inkompetence, er de fuldkomment uforberedte på den kommende massakre. Hæren er uden erfaring, træning og endda våben, hvilket gør dem pinligt ude af stand til at smide modstanderens fortrup på porten - og da slet ikke yde modstand når hele fjendens styrke tropper op. Den eneste, der er parat til at forsvare byen er Inquisitor Glokta, der må finde en alternativ måde at gøre det på, siden byen er fuld af forræddere, omringet af fjender, dens allierede er upålidelige og Gloktas forgænger mystisk forsvundet. "Before They are Hanged" er andet bind i den mørke fantasyserie The First Law.

"Before They are Hanged" er en fængslende og dybt kynisk fantasyfortælling om ældgamle hemmelighed, blodige krige og bitre fjender. En nådesløs krig er på vej til det kolde nord. Det bliver blodigt og farligt - og eftersom byens hær er internt splittet over politik og lammet af inkompetence, er de fuldkomment uforberedte på den kommende massakre. Hæren er uden erfaring, træning og endda våben, hvilket gør dem pinligt ude af stand til at smide modstanderens fortrup på porten - og da slet ikke yde modstand når hele fjendens styrke tropper op. Den eneste, der er parat til at forsvare byen er Inquisitor Glokta, der må finde en alternativ måde at gøre det på, siden byen er fuld af forræddere, omringet af fjender, dens allierede er upålidelige og Gloktas forgænger mystisk forsvundet. "Before They are Hanged" er andet bind i den mørke fantasyserie The First Law.

Inquisitor Glokta, a crippled and increasingly bitter relic of the last war, former fencing champion turned torturer extraordinaire, is trapped in a twisted and broken body - not that he allows it to distract him from his daily routine of torturing smugglers. Nobleman, dashing officer and would-be fencing champion Captain Jezal dan Luthar is living a life of ease by cheating his friends at cards. Vain, shallow, selfish and self-obsessed, the biggest blot on his horizon is having to get out of bed in the morning to train with obsessive and boring old men. And Logen Ninefingers, an infamous warrior with a bloody past, is about to wake up in a hole in the snow with plans to settle a blood feud with Bethod, the new King of the Northmen, once and for all - ideally by running away from it. But as he's discovering, old habits die really, really hard indeed... ...especially when Bayaz gets involved. A bald old man with a terrible temper and a pathetic assistant, he could be the First of the Magi, he could be a spectacular fraud, but whatever he is, he's about to make the lives of Glotka, Jezal and Logen a whole lot more difficult...

Inquisitor Glokta, a crippled and increasingly bitter relic of the last war, former fencing champion turned torturer extraordinaire, is trapped in a twisted and broken body - not that he allows it to distract him from his daily routine of torturing smugglers. Nobleman, dashing officer and would-be fencing champion Captain Jezal dan Luthar is living a life of ease by cheating his friends at cards. Vain, shallow, selfish and self-obsessed, the biggest blot on his horizon is having to get out of bed in the morning to train with obsessive and boring old men. And Logen Ninefingers, an infamous warrior with a bloody past, is about to wake up in a hole in the snow with plans to settle a blood feud with Bethod, the new King of the Northmen, once and for all - ideally by running away from it. But as he's discovering, old habits die really, really hard indeed... ...especially when Bayaz gets involved. A bald old man with a terrible temper and a pathetic assistant, he could be the First of the Magi, he could be a spectacular fraud, but whatever he is, he's about to make the lives of Glotka, Jezal and Logen a whole lot more difficult...

'As brilliant as its predecessor' SF REVU Bitter and merciless war is coming to the frozen north. It's bloody and dangerous and the Union army, split by politics and hamstrung by incompetence, is utterly unprepared for the slaughter that's coming. Lacking experience, training, and in some cases even weapons the army is scarcely equipped to repel Bethod's scouts, let alone the cream of his forces. In the heat-ravaged south the Gurkish are massing to assault the city of Dagoska, defended by Inquisitor Glokta. The city is braced for the inevitable defeat and massacre to come, preparations are made to make the Gurkish pay for every inch of land ... but a plot is festering to hand the city to its beseigers without a fight, and the previous Inquisitor of Dagoska vanished without trace. Threatened from within and without the city, Glokta needs answers, and he needs them soon. And to the east a small band of malefactors travel to the edge of the world to reclaim a device from history - a Seed, hidden for generations - with tremendous destructive potential. A device which could put a end to war, to the army of Eaters in the South, to the invasion of Shanka from the North - but only if it can be found, and only if its power can be controlled ...

'As brilliant as its predecessor' SF REVU Bitter and merciless war is coming to the frozen north. It's bloody and dangerous and the Union army, split by politics and hamstrung by incompetence, is utterly unprepared for the slaughter that's coming. Lacking experience, training, and in some cases even weapons the army is scarcely equipped to repel Bethod's scouts, let alone the cream of his forces. In the heat-ravaged south the Gurkish are massing to assault the city of Dagoska, defended by Inquisitor Glokta. The city is braced for the inevitable defeat and massacre to come, preparations are made to make the Gurkish pay for every inch of land ... but a plot is festering to hand the city to its beseigers without a fight, and the previous Inquisitor of Dagoska vanished without trace. Threatened from within and without the city, Glokta needs answers, and he needs them soon. And to the east a small band of malefactors travel to the edge of the world to reclaim a device from history - a Seed, hidden for generations - with tremendous destructive potential. A device which could put a end to war, to the army of Eaters in the South, to the invasion of Shanka from the North - but only if it can be found, and only if its power can be controlled ...