Before They Are Hanged was published by Gollancz in 2007, the second volume of The First Law trilogy. The title (from Heinrich Heine: “We should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged”) announces the novel’s moral territory — a world where mercy is indistinguishable from weakness and forgiveness is a luxury no one can afford.
The novel splits into three storylines: Bayaz leads a company (including Logen and Jezal) on a quest to the edge of the world to find a weapon that might save the Union from its enemies; Glokta is sent to defend a besieged city with inadequate resources and compromised allies; and Colonel West fights a war in the frozen North against Bethod’s armies.
Each storyline deliberately invokes and then subverts a fantasy tradition. The quest follows the pattern of Tolkien — a company, a dangerous journey, an ancient artifact — but its resolution is radically anti-climactic. The siege follows military fantasy conventions but reveals that victory and defeat are determined not by heroism but by politics and betrayal. The northern war delivers its brutality without the redemptive framework that usually accompanies fictional warfare.
The deeper subversion is characterological: despite extreme experiences — violence, love, hardship, near-death — none of the characters fundamentally changes. Abercrombie’s thesis is that people do not transform through adventure; they remain who they are, and the belief that experience produces wisdom is itself a fantasy.
Collecting Before They Are Hanged
First edition (Gollancz, London, 2007): Cloth binding, dust jacket.
Market values:
- First UK edition in dust jacket: $40–$120
- Signed first edition: $80–$200
- US first (Pyr, 2008): $20–$50