A Little Hatred - {September 18th, 2020}

[Rob]

Join us.

[Rob]

I'm through Chapter 7 of my re-read. Getting lots of introductions to second-generation characters all with links to the first generation and there seems to be a common thread and you can tell its coming as an Abercrombie reader or at least you should even if it isn't a reread - a lot of hard lessons and growing up is coming, even for those who think they are "adulting".

First (Second Impressions).

Rikke - (view spoiler)[I like her and I have to remember how her "longeye" develops. Not as sheltered as some of the characters, but certainly much more than her dad and others. It is amusing to see the spear girl all grown up from The Last Agrument of Kings. (hide spoiler)]

Leo (view spoiler)[I keep forgetting if he is actually Brock's kid or Bremmer, but pretty sure the former. Needs to listen to his mom. (hide spoiler)].

Orso (view spoiler)[Probably my favorite of the bunch. Unfulled potential is his middle name at the beginning of the book. Also needs to listen to his parents, well maybe not as much as Leo does. (hide spoiler)]

Savine (view spoiler)[Not the most favorable first impression, but yo ucan tell the way she acts if though she's not Glotka's genetically, you know they had a good relationship/she's definitely his daughter by schooling. And of course the surprise of Orso and Savine's relationship full well knowing (as you should if you've read the first trilogy) they're half-siblings. Awkward! (hide spoiler)]

[Anni]

Sorry, my weekend was a bit more chaotic than I expected... I started yesterday, but only managed to read a few chapters, but I'm up to Chapter 9 now.

I'm really gakd we're doing a re-read, it wasn't too long ago I read it and I do remember most of the plot (at least I think so :D), but I also forgot a lot of details. Plus I really, really enjoy being back in the world, it even makes me want to read all the other books again as well... But who's got time for all those books...

Rikke: (view spoiler)[ I just love the way the book starts, and I really like Rikke as well! I agree that she had a way better childhood than her father and his friends. But dealing with Isern-i-Phail doesn't seem to be that easy :D I really enjoy their conversations and Isern-i-Phail's teaching, tho.
Not sure if I saw the connection to the former books before, her being the spear girl, but if not I can't see how I missed it, it was rather obvious :D (hide spoiler)]

Leo: (view spoiler)[ He's Brock's son, Bremmer is still alive and appeared in Orso's chapter with his high pitched voice :) (hide spoiler)]

Savine (view spoiler)[ & Orso: Indeed, pretty, pretty awkward! I think I actually like Savine a bit more than Orso at the beginning. He and his unfulfilled potential actually reminds me a bit of Savine's mother. I also love how much Savine adapted from her "father", but still being very different. (Very well written Mr. Abercrombie!) Really liked this quote:

"“What’s your name?’

She planted one elbow on the stretch of counter Zuri had wiped so she could lean closer and draw out both syllables. ‘Savine.’

‘That’s a lovely name.’

‘Oh, if you enjoy the tip, you’ll go mad for the whole thing.’

‘That so?’ he purred at her. ‘How does it go?’

‘Savine… dan…’ And she leaned even closer to deliver the punchline. ‘Glokta.’

If a name had been a knife and she had cut his throat with hers, the blood could not have drained more quickly from his face. He gave a strangled cough, took a step back and nearly fell over one of his own barrels.”" (hide spoiler)]

Vick (view spoiler)[ I think of her POV I remember the least. I had to listen to the beginning of the chapter again, because I couldn't comprehend what was going on exactly, I remember that it was the same the first time around. Somehow I had more problems understanding the context of the conversation and the connection to other characters than with the othere opening chapters... (hide spoiler)]

Clover (view spoiler)[ Yay! It's so cool that he and Wonderful make an appearance in the new series as well :) And he hadn't changed that much :D (hide spoiler)]

[Rob]

I'm really glad we're rereading it too. Like you, I remember the general plot, but need to refamiliarize myself with the characters and my thoughts on them.

Which is your favorite book in the series (standalone and original 3?)

I'll comment on the spoilers when I get a longer chance at the computer :)

[Rob]

Bremmer's voice on the audiobook is hilarious. I'm reading/listening.

Vick (view spoiler)[Agreed, I remember this the least, but do remember it was about her controlling everything in her head, being the smart one...and I suspect....that's far from the case and I forget what her background is. (hide spoiler)]

Savine(view spoiler)[Yes, definitely can see her "dad", her adoptive dad, and her mom all wrapped into one. Well she has the genes of two good looking people to start, then she gets arrogance from her dad. Trying to figure out what she has from her mom - adventeriousnes/probably more intelligence and determination and then its all enhanced by Glotka's parentage (hide spoiler)]

[Anni]

Phew... Tough question! But definitely The Blade Itself, I also really enjoyed the second book of the original trilogy. The third wasn't bad, but not my favorite.

From the standalones I think I enjoyed Red Country the most. Plus the Javre and Shev stories from Sharp Ends, I would love to reqd mote if these two :)

[Margret, Caladan Brood Face]

Rob wrote: "I'm really glad we're rereading it too. Like you, I remember the general plot, but need to refamiliarize myself with the characters and my thoughts on them.

Which is your favorite book in the seri..."

Best Served Cold was definitely my favorite standalone, I loved the de-evolution of Shivers

[Silvana]

Margret wrote: "Best Served Cold was definitely my favorite standalone, I loved the de-evolution of Shivers."

well said! BSC is also my favorite. Monza has set the standard of a female fantasy character for me. I am just glad we got to see her son in this new trilogy.

[Rob]

Best Served and Heroes are my favorites as well.

[Siobhan]

Before They are Hanged was my favourite, then Red Country :)

[Rob]

How goes Anni? I'm about 54% in.

We're beginning the "time to grow up" stage for Savine, Leo, and Orso, though Leo is starting to grate on me again.

I enjoyed the (view spoiler)[Mulitple perspective of the uprising and how he weaved Savine into the different POVs (hide spoiler)].

Definitely seeing (view spoiler)[Bayaz's hand in both sides with the Breakers and maneuvering Orso even though Glotka and Luthar are invested and of course with Black Calder. (hide spoiler)]

[Anni]

Not as well as I would like 😅
I just finished Part 1, I think I'm around 30%. I'm currently on holiday, we're in Denmark with a small camper van, I was planning to listening to the audiobook in the evening, but the last evenings I was so tired from hiking I fell asleep around 8pm :D tomorrow we will take the ferry to Sweden, I hope I'll have a bit more time to catch up.

[Rob]

Have fun. I just found my way to a bunch of battle scenes. One of these days I have to get to Denmark. i have an old grad school apartment mate who is from there. (And great for urban planers to see all the bicycles)

[Anni]

Thanks :) You should, we had an incredible time so far, the weather wasn't always the best but well enough, we went over to Sweden yesterday, but will go back to Denmark tomorrow and will drive home Friday. Maybe I'll upload a few pictures to my tracker later, the landscape is just breathtaking.

Back to the book! I'm up to 55% now and Leo is getting on my nerves as well :D Time for him to grow up! I think Rikke is still my favorite (view spoiler)[ I also really liked how she reacted to Leo's homophobic comments (hide spoiler)]

The rapid POV change was done really well, I love it when Abercrombie does that. I don't think I've seen it done someone by someone else before, at least not to that extent nor that well. And yes (view spoiler)[ Savines appearance throughout all those scenes was pretty cool :) I also really enjoyed the scene with Savine and Vick in the horse wagon a few chapters before, how they each saw the other one. On a side note, I also liked how Abercrombie described Savines pain from menstruation, not a much discussed topic, but he included it very well and without having experiences himself, at least I guess so :D (hide spoiler)]

[Rob]

Ha yes, (view spoiler)[I like how she essentially all but says it right out at that dinner meeting with the local officials in Valbeck (hide spoiler)]

So I finished a day or two back. So guess I'll go a few things looking forward to:

Relationships (view spoiler)[You know Savine/Leo is doomed to failure. will Rikke ever work her way back to Leo or Orso or will she meet someone else. Shivers seems to like her....but that'd be weird. Will Jurand live long enough to make Leo realize he's who he actually wants a relationship with? Will their society even accept it. Likely not given the "time period" Will Savine and Orso eventually just not care about being half-siblings. Will Orso even find out? Why the heck was it necessary for Bayaz to have jezal killed. he was doing as he was told. Orso is a bit of a wild card. will Calder kill his own kid? Hundreds of other things :) And will the Wolf even side with Leo anyway (yeah right). How will Clover evolve or go back to his old plre clover ways? (hide spoiler)]

[Anni]

I finished as well! Just in time to start The Trouble with Peace today :)

I realized again how terrible my memory is, the last 10 or 20% felt like a new book, maybe I supressed it, to not deal with that cliffhanger :D
(view spoiler)[ Somehow I hoped that the lamb from Rikke's vision would be Ninefingers, but I guess that was wishful thinking... Do you think we already know who the owl is? Maybe even Rikke herself?

And yeah, there's so much relationship chaos right now. I don't think Savine will end up with Leo, maybe he will also grow, but so far I don't think he's... well clever enough to keep up with her. I think it would be more likely that she would still end up with Orso, but her disgust seemed real. I hope she will let him know that they are half-siblings tho, I feel bad for Orso being dumped like that.
Orso and Rikke, haha well wouldn't it be interesting to see her being Queen of the Union?

I'm also really looking forward to what Bayaz, that old bastard, has planned for all of them. I think it's a good thing Glokta told Savine to stay away from him, the question is if she will listen?

And I'm way more shocked about Clover killing Wonderful than I should be, knowing his philosophy of life. I really liked the two together :( Will be interesting tho, what he'll do next. I hope the death of Scale was what Rikke saw in her vision and the dogman is safe, but I think his death was pretty much foreshadowed... Made me think how much longer Abercrombie will let Glotka life... (hide spoiler)]

I'm glad we're starting today, because I can't wait!