What characters do you want to see return in the upcoming trilogy

[Felix]

Apart from the obvious suspects (Black Calder,the Bloody nine and Glokta) i am very partial to both Ferro and Shenkt.

[Paweł]

I'd love it if some minor characters would make a comeback, especially Corporal Tunny.

Also it would be nice to know what's going on with Jezal these days.

[[deleted user]]

Definitely the main three I want to see. Other than those:

Shivers: I think Shivers will be making an appearance. He trekked across the near and far country just to have a chat with Lamb, there must be something in store for us there.

Temple: I greatly enjoyed the character Temple, would be interesting to see if he is included again.

Curnden Craw: A likeable character, and the second in command to the chief of the North - presumably he will be back, it would be good to follow him again.

[Dorothy]

Ditto all above, just love these books. Am listening to Last Argument of Kings (four times now) at moment. For audio fans,
I would also like to add, Steven Pacey's narration of The First Law Trilogy is just so perfect!

[Felix]

I love both Shiver and Craw as well. But then i might be a bit biased because i generally think everything coming for the North is bad ass.

I am very curious what he is going to do with the eaters btw. It terms of characters development i think they have been a little thin so far.

[[deleted user]]

Agreed - the North is definitely my favourite environment in Abercrombie's world. The people and the culture there are easy to become attached to - the hard-edged, thoughtful fighters who live life on the edge, and see alot of blood. Yea the North is awesome.

I've just finished re-reading Before They Are Hanged, there's some of mention there of Khalul and the Eaters, but there hasn't been particularly much contact with them ..

By the way, where did you hear about the trilogy coming out??

[Felix]

I believe he referred to it himself in a short clip posted on his blog. It's not a 100 percent certain yet but with the Gurkish conflict still to adress it only seems logical.

Btw i see you read a fair amount of Fantasy yourself. Anything similar to Abercromie you would recommend. More the spirit of him ( already own all and read most of the work of Martin, Ericksen and the Witcher novels).

Currently reading Rothfuss ( just finished name of the winds. Starting wize man fear) . Good but a whole other animal.

Anyways any advice much appreciated. Prefer British writers over Americans mostly.

[Tarryn]

Wasn't mad keen on Temple, but Curnden and his dozen - I would love to see them back (especially loved Wonderful). And Shivers is the next Nine Fingers in all but name... And that's a compliment to Shivers!

But I really want to know what's happened to Ferro, that would be perfect. She took off and was never heard of again... I want to know if she ever got her revenge, and peace.

Whichever way you look at it, Abercrombie has so much scope to work with, he could even take a minor character from one of his other books and weave a whole story out of their adventures, that's what makes him such a bloody good writer! Luckily for us, he's fairly prolific...

[[deleted user]]

I'll definitely have a look at that.

With regards to similar authors and series Felix:

A great place to start would be Legend by David Gemmel. Gemmels books have gritty, brutal scenes of warfare. Legend is the first part of a quadrilogy. The books draw comparisons to medieval scottish culture. However, there are elements of the mysterious and magical.

The Riftwar saga by Raymond E. Feist is great, but for a book more similar to Abercrombie, try "Honoured Enemy". Its a standalone in the Riftwar world/time, and is such an under rated book.

Peter V. Brett - The Demon Cycle - Bit more fantastical, but the first two books have intense battle scenes, and its easy to get attached to Arlen. I haven't read the last one yet but it looks set to be a cracking read.

I've not read any Erikson - where should I start and what can I expect?

Oh and I'm always being recommended Brandon Sanderson, but havent got round to reading his stuff yet.


Tarryn - I definitely think Craws dozen should be back. I certainly hope to see some inclusion of Craw at the very least. Its a shame Whirrun got killed in the battle - he was brilliant.

[Felix]

Thx for all those recommendations Matthew.

I think i am going to start with the riftear cycle. It seems like a universe it would be fun to get lost in.

Btw have you read the broken Empire books by Lawrence? Heard they should be great.

Malazan book of the fallen is incredible. Some people find it a slog because the world is so immense and its inhabitats so numerous. There are gods, a lot of different races and great written characters a plenty. While all the books are connected they deal with different time periods, locations and realms.
Its a dark, gritty but still very lyrical world. The most fun characters are morally ambiguous. Its a tragedy more then anything else ( things can become wuit bleak and the humor to neutralize is not always there) On the grandest scale. Abercromie and Martin are perhaps more fun but Eriksen creates intricate art.It takes effort (i did not read the last two yet nor all the additional novels) but ultimately very rewarding. Its also( in my humble opinion) wholly unique.

Btw you mind me giving you an add to my buddy list. Would be cool to stay in touch and keep swapping recommendations or generally just swap ideas, thoughts or praise of fantasy fiction.Went to your list, you seem to have good taste dude.

[Felix]

A novella of Whirrum would be great.

Then again a novella about Ninefingers younger days would be great as well.

Abercromie has so many great characters that it might find a fellow author with similar talent who could write these while he focuses on his trilogy.

Someone like tgat would be hard to find though.

[[deleted user]]

Malazan Book of the Fallen sounds great, I'll give it a shot. See what you mean about the scope - ten volumes! I could definitely get lost in that. I like the sound of multiple realms being connected, with gods thrown in too - Feist does something similar.

Glad to hear your going for the Riftwar - based on what you said regarding Malazan, you will love the story of Tomas in this trilogy. It just steps up and up in scale, its brilliant.

I haven't heard of the Broken Empire, I'll check it out too. There are so many books I need to read. I've just begun work on the Mistborn trilogy by Sanderson and its shaping up to be a gem - it has a very original, imaginitive and almost realistic system of magic. Have a look when you can.

Yea I also vote for some sort of account of Whirrun of Bligh - you just know its going to be violent, mad, funny, and interesting if it were to be written. Maybe he and Ninefingers crossed at some point, that'd be cool.

And yea lets friend up, good idea. Thanks, likewise!

[Stas]

Seems like it's not at all as we're discussing here. In an interview he gave before Red Country was published, he said that the trilogy would take place around 20 or 25 years after the end of TFL, meaning all main characters would be old and only appear as secondary characters:

"
bercrombie told Aplin and Wiseall that the new trilogy will probably feature a “next generation of characters” taking the major roles. A Red Country apparently picks up about fifteen years after the end of The First Law, and the new trilogy will start five or ten years after A Red Country, meaning we can expect the new trilogy to begin at least 20 years after the end of The First Law. The main characters from The First Law will therefore become the older generation, and will most likely appear as secondary characters (though Abercrombie notes that this is subject to change). Jezal Luthar, for example, will likely remain in the background as “the old king,” probably much as he has done in Best Served Cold and The Heroes.
The main plot will probably be a “political civil war style plot based around the Union.”
Aplin and Wiseall tried to push him a little bit toward revealing how likely it was that characters from The First Law would return in major roles, and Abercrombie took the opportunity to discuss the “fine line,” as an author, “between giving people what they want and being bored.” He seemed in general ready to move on from focusing primarily on the First Law characters, ready to take the series in a new direction. But he was also definitely aware of fans’ desire to see a return to characters they know and love.
When discussion finally turned to the elephant in the room — the question of when we will find out what happened to Logen Ninefingers and if and when we will see the Bloody-Nine again — Abercrombie responded predictably (and understandably; it’s not as if we really want him to spoil the surprise): he said that he really “can’t ever answer that question [in an interview]” and that fans who want to find out should keep buying his books. There’s an implicit promise there, and one thing I think we can be certain about is that, one way or another, Logen’s story isn’t finished. Otherwise it would be cruel and unusual punishment for Mr. Abercrombie to keep playing coy.
"

http://geekus.net/2012/02/21/joe-aber...

[Felix]

Great update Stas,

Damm well talk about killing your darlings. We can kiss our favorite mercenary goodbye then. He would geriatric by then.

As long as Logan and Glokta return i still be OK though. Though it would be pretty shitty to never hear anything about Fero anymore.

I still think he will also bring the people inpower back. So that means that black Calder and Monza will be back. They might not be in the thick of things that much but i am still holding on to the hope that Joe won't just let them drift into obscurity.

[James]

Ferro and Glokta for sure, would always like to see more of them.

Jezal would be good to hear about him and how he's handling the whole plot about him being king but being a pawn to Bayaz.

the Dogman with him being a leader of the north. He might be knocking heads with Black Calder.

Monza and how she's dealing with uniting Styria and holding off the Union.

So many options, whatever he decides to write about I'm sure it's going to be amazing! Write faster Joe!!!

[[deleted user]]

That did occur to me, regarding the ages of some of our favourite characters from the First Law. It may well be that we'll hear precious little about them in a new series. Abercrombie is likely to bring in mostly new characters - hes always looking for a new direction in his books.

I personally think it likely that we will hear more of the Starikland rebels - who appeared to be doing well for themselves at the end of Red Country. Perhaps this group may be the ignition for the civil war-in-the-Union idea which you put forward Stas.

One things for sure though, Ninefingers will be there in there at some point. He can't be left out cause hes too popular with the readers.

[Felix]

I personally think he will just focus on the battles between the Ghurkish and the Union.
I personally think we finally will see the Union invaded the Ghurkish empire.

Stil it would leave so much unaccounted for( the rebels Stark, Murcatto in Taliens and the old Empire).

Logan will be surely back. The man is like a personification of Ares. I always think about one of nu favorite comic book characters Slaine ( and is Beserk) when i get the privilege of reading a little more about the bloody Nine.

[Jesse]

Sweetie wrote: "Ditto all above, just love these books. Am listening to Last Argument of Kings (four times now) at moment. For audio fans,
I would also like to add, Steven Pacey's narration of The First Law Tri..."
Steven is incredible. The chapters with prince and west were some of my favorites. I wish i could get BSC and Heroes with pacey. Page is not on par with him.

[Felix]

Might need to try out these audio books. Its actually quit strange, never been the biggest fan of audiobooks. I guess it mostly has to do with issues of pacing ( Audiobooks are usually a little to slow i think) and distraction( i love to shape to worlds in a reading about in my mind as i am doing it. Somehow this seems harder with audiobooks).

But i should give some books a try. Any more tips on great voices would be appreciated.

[Becky]

Felix, Maybe you should try First Law on audio. It is an incredible listen, the narrator is awesome. I have always found that I listen and read with different parts of my brain, if that makes sense. This series was really an adventure for me. I do not generally read books with as much grit as Abercrombie's books. At the end I was torn between not wanting it to be over and get me the hell out of here. The reasoning behind the latter being, that after 70 some hours, I was totally in need of something with a little less mayhem. I'm listening to Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind now and it was just what I needed. I'm trying not to get into Abercrombie's stand-alone books for awhile, but I keep getting drawn in that direction.

I think your having already read the series will not hinder your experience. I read each of GRRM's books and then listened to them, some multiple times, on audio. It really helped me dig down into the layers of his books and get a better understanding of them. I am glad I read them first as, they may have been a bit difficult to grasp with a first read on audio.

Sorry to stray off topic...

[Stas]

hi Matthew, I don't remember I ever said anything about civil war in the union,but it would seem awesome. with the #spoiler# rebellion of sult and that nobleman that helped the gurkish in tfl, civil war seems like a real danger in the political system of the union. however, I do have the feeling that any rebellion sprouting in the union s core lands, midderland, would be put down by bayaz quite efficiently, do you agree?

[Felix]

Unless the Ghurkish have been convertibg a small but dedicated group. The would strike at the heart of the Union when called upon by there Prophet simple because his teachings conmit the to this cause.

The could have been Children on spoiled but lost nobel families you seemed to have lost there way and are looking above and beyond material glory towards spiritual enlightenment. It would become a movement because the would start running a system based on charity, apart from the king or traditions of middleland, where they been teaching aka indocterinating the peasant population with the words of the Prophet. Sponsored bu Ghurkish gold but resting of promises of spiritual enlightenment more then anything else. A lot can happen in 15 years. And it would Abercromie deal with another subject that has a whole string of movies behind it.

Bayaz can only control and rule effectively if people are essentially self interested. What if these natural mechanics are replaced by a small but dedicated reasonable influential group. You be an insteresting premiss.

[[deleted user]]

Just from your post on Jan 31st Stas, 10.07pm - though I see now you were quoting Abercrombie, my mistake.

I agree Bayaz would be effective at keeping the Union under his heel in Midder/Ang/Starikland. It would need an excellent method of infiltration and scheming by the Gurkish to uproot him in Adua, his HQ.

A religous campaign of some sort could be just that Felix.

[Felix]

Root of all evil, religion is. Have to stay realistic about these things Lol ( if only things where so easy).

[Stas]

ah, i totally didn't notice Joe's part about civil war. seems I didn't read the quote I posted myself good enough

[Zachary]

If we're talking about a new trilogy taking place a decade or two after the original, I want to see Crummock's daughter. After losing his son, i can only see her Father's instruction getting more ferocious. She might be chieftain of all the High Places by then. (*I've only read the original trilogy -- maybe there's more in the stand-alones?)