The Heroes

Three days of battle in the North over a ring of stones called the Heroes.

Last updated 27 October 2026

The Heroes is Joe Abercrombie's fifth novel, set in the First Law world. It was first published in January 2011 by Gollancz in the UK, with an American edition from Orbit.

Quick Facts

Author: Joe Abercrombie
Published: January 2011
Publisher: Gollancz (UK), Orbit (US)
Setting: The North
Preceded by: Best Served Cold
Followed by: Red Country

Facts from the source article.

Background

Eight years after the original trilogy, the Union and the North are at war again: Black Dow, Protector of the North, faces Lord Marshal Kroy's Union Army, with the Dogman fighting as the Union's ally. The title refers to a Stonehenge-like ring of stones on a hilltop that both sides fight over in a climactic three-day battle. The story is told by six characters: Curnden Craw, an ageing chief of Named Men; Prince Calder, Bethod's younger son; Bremer dan Gorst, King Jezal's disgraced former bodyguard; Finree dan Brock, Kroy's ambitious daughter; Corporal Tunny, a long-serving veteran; and Beck, a young farm lad.

Source

Text adapted from The Heroes on the First Law Wiki (Fandom, CC BY-SA 3.0). Page history: contributors. Codexery summarised the page, and this entry is shared under the same licence.