Facebook Twitter Pinterest <Embed>
Buy Used
£2.12
FREE Delivery on orders over £10.
Used: Very Good | Details
Sold by the book house
Fulfilled by Amazon
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comment: This item will be picked, packed and shipped by Amazon and is eligible for free delivery within the UK

Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) is a service Amazon offers sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's warehouses, and Amazon directly does the picking, packing, shipping and customer service on these items. Something Amazon hopes you'll especially enjoy: FBA items are eligible for and for Amazon Prime just as if they were Amazon items.

If you're a seller, you can increase your sales significantly by using Fulfilment by Amazon. We invite you to learn more about this programme .

Have one to sell?
Sell on Amazon
Flip to back Flip to front
Listen Playing... Paused   You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more
See this image

The Fallen Blade: Act One of the Assassini by by Jon in Courtenay Grimwood [Paperback] Paperback – 3 Feb 2011

by
Jon Courtenay Grimwood (Author)
› Visit Amazon's Jon Courtenay Grimwood Page
search results for this author
Jon Courtenay Grimwood (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars 26 customer reviews
See all formats and editions Hide other formats and editions
Amazon Price
New from Used from
Kindle Edition
"Please retry"
£4.99
— —
Paperback
"Please retry"
£7.99
£3.02 £0.01
Paperback, 3 Feb 2011
—
£0.01 £0.01
Audio Download, Unabridged
"Please retry"
£0.00
Free with your Audible trial
Audio CD, Audiobook
"Please retry"
—
£12.55 —
Top Deals in Books
See the latest top deals in Books. Shop now
click to open popover

Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

  • Apple
  • Android
  • Windows Phone

To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number.
Top Deals in Books
See the latest top deals in Books. Shop now

Product details

  • Paperback: 432 pages
  • Publisher: Orbit (3 Feb. 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1841498459
  • ISBN-13: 978-1841498454
  • Product Dimensions: 15.1 x 3 x 23.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,069,647 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Review

Sharp as a stiletto, dark and dazzling as a masquerade. Grimwood's Venice is totally compelling (Mike Carey)

Full of mysteries that remain unsolved . . . Grimwood creates a fascinating world and involving characters . . . most importantly, he makes us want to read the next two volumes of the trilogy (INDEPENDENT)

Vividly gothic . . . complex but compelling (IMPACT)

Book Description

A tale of ambition, revenge and the rise of a vampire assassin from this critically acclaimed British author.

See all Product Description

Related Media

Previous page
  1. 1:02
    Now Playing Watch the trailer for The Fallen Blade
Next page

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsIntensely political drama (also, vampires)
By J. Shurin on 25 Feb. 2011
Format: Paperback
The Fallen Blade is the first book in Jon Courtenay Grimwood's new series, The Assassini. In it, he creates an alternate 15th century Venice, one plagued not just by the era's political upheavals, but also vampires, werewolves and witches. It is an exciting time to be alive (or undead).

For a relatively compact book, The Fallen Blade contains a sprawling cast of characters and no shortage of action. The ostensible lead is a mysterious young man called Tycho - who has, quite literally, appeared from nowhere (or ancient Scandinavia, same difference). Tycho is a gorgeous physical specimen with the face of an angel. However, that's where the resemblance ends. He's a vampire (Mr. Grimwood gains kudos not only for avoiding the word but also avoiding it in a natural way) and one with no self-control.

Anne recently drew parallels between vampirism and puberty and, in The Fallen Blade, Mr. Grimwood continues to link the two. Tycho is a raging pit of hormones - hungry, horny and hot - and he's straddling not two, but a half-dozen worlds. His distant Viking past is a series of upsetting memories, his life on the Venetian streets is confusing and lawless and his cultivation into high society is a series of unpleasant, non-sensical rules. Tycho is a perpetual conflict between his festering, murderous instincts and the brittle veneer of civilisation that has been lacquered onto him by his more patient friends.

Arguably the least patient of said friends is Atilo, the city-state's chief assassin. In a previous life (figuratively - unlike Tycho, Atilo is still very much human), Atilo was a warlord for the city's enemies.Read more ›
1 Comment 18 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
4.0 out of 5 starsDelicious Dark Fantasy
By Niall Alexander on 29 Mar. 2011
Format: Paperback
There's enough going on in the first hundred pages of The Fallen Blade that I honestly had trouble keeping track; enough character, atmosphere and narrative in that short space to fit out a swathe of less ambitious fantasy sagas from top to tail. Overwhelming is what it is, initially, and for its density - for its complete and utter abundance from the word "go" - The Fallen Blade will very likely haemorrhage readers of a certain type. For myself, only rarely will I think to put a book down without sticking with it till the bitter end... and I nearly did this. Nearly... but not quite.

Imagine my astonishment, then, that having resolved to give Jon Courtenay Grimwood's dark fantasy debut a little longer to find its feet, and taken the opportunity to realign a few of my own key expectations, I found in The Fallen Blade the first act of a trilogy with such tremendous promise that at this point, its difficult beginning be damned, I wouldn't hesitate to proclaim it the finest new series of the year to date.

Perhaps the problem I found myself facing, starting in on book one of The Assassini, was a lack of familiarity with the author: an award-winner, at that. And here I hadn't read End of the World Blues, or The Arabesk Trilogy -- more fool me, from where I stand now.

But I don't think that was it.

I think the trouble was, I came to The Fallen Blade expecting a certain standard of fantasy -- which is to say, politely put, standard fantasy. We all know the like, no doubt. And what with the uninspiring blurb and cover art adorning Orbit's edition of The Fallen Blade, it's surely fair to say I had my reasons. Namely a city teetering on the brink of collapse, with a war in the offing, a history of horrors and a proliferation of political strife.Read more ›
Comment 16 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
4.0 out of 5 starsSeriously good historical urban fantasy
By Gareth Wilson - Falcata Times Blog VINE VOICE on 20 Feb. 2011
Format: Paperback
Whilst this latest book by Jon Courtenay Grimwood will be cited as fantasy, I prefer to think of it as Historical Urban Fantasy as there's a touch of the Vamp and the addition of Loup Garou's haunting the streets of this politically charged double dealing world of ancient Venice. Whilst he's had to be careful that the tale hasn't gone too Assassins Creed, it's a story that has not only been wonderfully researched but one that will thrill and enthral the reader with its use of clever prose, artfully disguised misdirection and tied up with a landscape that defies belief.

Add to this a masters touch for spinning a tale, a great understanding of pace and the reader really will have something new and evolving to keep on their shelves which makes this first title in the series a real treat and one that will be reread from time to time with as much passion as the first expedition.
Comment 5 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsDarkly delicious
By Randal on 11 Jun. 2012
Format: Paperback
Vampires and werewolves in a 15th century Venice with magic! What's not to like?

Venice is ruled by Duke Marco, Prince of Serenissima, but he's a simpleton and so his uncle, Prince Alonzo the Regent, vies for power with his sister, Marco's mother, Duchess Alexa. Atilo, spy, assassin and head of the Assissini is past his prime, but he's driven to find his own successor in the wake of a battle with krieghunds, the shapechanging warriors of Leopold, the German emperor's bastard son, in which he loses most of his trained assassins.

Into this brutally Machiavellian setting comes a strangely beautiful pale boy, discovered shackled with silver and walled up in the hold of a Mamluk pirate ship. He's strong, fast and agile, can absorb peoples' thoughts and knowledge, has a strange hunger, burns in the daylight and fears to give in to the full moon.

His only memories are of a northern village where he was an orphan and a slave, and then of falling through fire... but it seems that was a hundred years ago. While in hiding the boy discovers and forms an attachment to Giulietta, Duke Marco's cousin and a marriage pawn. When Giulietta is abducted, supposedly by Mamluks Venice begins to slide towards war.

Atilo discovers the pale faced boy at the scene of a kill and the boy's speed and agility make him realise that if only he can find him, tame him and train him, he might have found the successor he's been looking for. He names the boy Tycho.

The twists and turns in this story take Tycho from being Atilo's prisoner to his apprentice until he finds Giulietta once again and falls foul of Venetain justice.Read more ›
Comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

great !

Published 13 months ago by KENNETH TURNER
5.0 out of 5 starsTerrific opening act!

I have to admit that I'm biased where JCG is concerned BUT even so, this is an amazing book.

Vampires, werewolves, mages and witches abound, set against the backdrop of... Read more

Published on 19 May 2014 by Dennis Campbell
3.0 out of 5 starsInteresting Politics

Interesting but I found it difficult to follow, and of course full of weird mysticism and monsters. I did not like it very much!

Published on 3 Feb. 2014 by Bob Innes
5.0 out of 5 starsA Jon Courteney Grimwood Book

I bought this book for a friend for Christmas because he loves this writer.
My friend said he will love it

Published on 3 Jan. 2014 by Trisha
4.0 out of 5 starsI liked it

Interesting take on the vampire mythology, well written, good plot, set in historical venice, draws on the politics of the time, but loosely and with artistic license.

Published on 10 Feb. 2013 by Steve Hunt
1.0 out of 5 starsNot great

Boring. The author tried too hard. Stick to the day job.
Try other writers, they do it better. Seriously overwritten.

Published on 3 Jan. 2013 by Mr. T. P. Bedingfield
5.0 out of 5 starsOriginal fantasy

Generally don't like derivative fantasy whether it is vampire, were beasts or Tolkien. I liked this because it was original in setting and Very grey in the sense of black and white... Read more

Published on 15 Dec. 2012 by Scifiken
4.0 out of 5 starsGreat plot, needs better characterisation....

Stephanie Meyer and Deborah Harkness need a lesson in what a vampire really is and that lesson is "The Fallen Blade". Read more

Published on 4 Nov. 2012 by Ms. M. Patel
5.0 out of 5 starsGrown-up vampires for grown-up readers.

Recently I've been embarrassed to tell people I like books about vampires, because the whole sparkly teenage angst thing has ruined them for me. Read more

Published on 28 Jun. 2012 by L. C. Fisher
5.0 out of 5 starsGood read

Like other reviewers I sometimes also found it difficult to understand who is saying what but overall the book is very good

Published on 13 Jun. 2012 by Mr. A. Abdulazizov

There's a problem loading this menu at the moment.

Learn more about Amazon Prime.

Pages with Related Products. See and discover other items: the fallen

Look for similar items by category

Feedback