NPR posted their list of The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy today, and we were pleased to see Joe Abercrombie’s The Heroes (US) get a mention! Lev Grossman called Abercrombie “not nearly as well-known in the U.S. as he should be,” and sung the praises of his gritty style of fantasy:

It’s as if Tolkien cared about the back story of every individual orc: Each soldier is one among thousands, floundering in the fog of war, but each feels like he’s living out a tragedy or a triumph with himself as the hero. There’s no right side and wrong side — even the warriors aren’t sure which is which — and in the end the question of who’s the real hero comes down to who survives to tell the story.

The rest of the list has some other great books, so be sure to take a look.