I have A Little Hatred... SPOILER ALERT!

[Boaz]

So, finally go the book today.

This year, I've reread all of the novels and short stories regarding the world of The First Law to lead up to starting A Little Hatred.

Just finished the first chapter.

Sun < Wolf < Lion < Lamb < Owl.

I think I know the Sun and the Lamb. But maybe not. You have to be realistic about these things.

Say one thing for Joe Abercrombie, say he's bloody.

 

[nixie]

Picked up a copy today, I'm not saying one of the assistants in Waterstones knows my taste but they had rearranged the store, went to ask for help before I could say anything he said I bet you're looking for the new Abercrombie I've saved you one of the signed copies.

 

[Boaz]

Say one thing for nixie, say he's got a way with clerks.

 

[Boaz]

Buzzed posting is drunk posting.

Whatever.

Finished ALH over two weeks ago. Good book. New characters. Old characters. New plots... same problems... new problems. I enjoyed it. The problem is that it is the first of a trilogy... so it introduces new characters and plots while not giving any resolution. I cannot type more without spoiling it.

Edit: I'll spoil a little bit....

I remember Jezal dan Luthar. I remember Sand dan Glokta. I remember Ardee West. Bayaz. The Dogman. Caul Shivers. Calder. Scale. Wonderful. Corporal Tunney. And now there is Leo, Stour, Rikke, Orso, and Savine...

Wait!

Orso and Savine... seriously? No, no, no.

So we know the Sun, the Wolf and the Lion.

Do I really have to wait for 350 days for the next book? Oh right, I've waited eight years for The Winds of Winter... okay, no big deal.

 

[Mister_Oy]

Just finished it and loved it. Good to see some of the old gang back but older - and the new lot are pretty good too!

It’s gonna be a long wait for No2

 

[biodroid]

I assume it's better to read the previous books first before this one?

 

[Dozmonic]

I assume it's better to read the previous books first before this one?

I would say yes only because they're fantastic and add understanding to the world. They aren't necessary.

 

[Boaz]

@biodroid I second Dozmonic's comment. There is a first trilogy (The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, Last Argument of Kings) and three stand alone stories (Best Served Cold, The Heroes, and Red Country). I read them out of order... 4, 6, 1, 2, 3, 5.... And I enjoyed them. My understanding of the Bloody Nine and my introduction of him was completely different than it was supposed to be... If you read 7, 8, 9... and then the first six, you might enjoy the revelations about Glokta, Luthar, the Dogman, Bremer, et al... but it might be best if you understood Bayaz... or maybe not.

 

[Boaz]

@biodroid Just wondering if you've read it. And one more comment about reading Abercrombie's previous books.... To really know what happened before A Little Hatred, you'd need to read the trilogy, but not necessarily the stand alone books (Best Served Cold, The Heroes, Red Country). I think RC is the most stand alone of all the First Law books... I don't think it bears any pertinent information towards ALH.

If you read the trilogy, then you'll cringe at Savine's romance. If not, then you'll get a big surprise.

 

[biodroid]

@Boaz - LOL, I haven't read the 3rd book yet. I'm trying to make my way through Stephen King books I haven't read yet.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Just started reading this a couple of nights ago.

Rikke chapters are somewhat light on POV - don't really get inside her personal feelings much, she just tells, so those chapters feel a bit weak.

But Savine's first chapter - lovely character work, and I burst out laughing with joy when she told her full name! Absolutely loving her character - so strong and well written.

 

[therapist]

I had a similar reaction. I remember rereading Savine's first chapter, 'Keeping Score', because I thought it was really well done. A perfect introduction to a character and great example of how to do PoV well.

 

[Boaz]

@Brian G Turner Keep us updated.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I think there are some interesting characters and an interesting story in here - and I do love the way in which JA brings together characters from the original trilogy and the standalones that followed. I can forgive the fact that JA seems to have evolved the First Law setting from the 15th to 19th centuries in a single generation.

However, I'm feeling somewhat bombarded by character names, most of which are connected with no physical description or sense of personality, and the prose feels like it's rushing through to get somewhere. Often I'm left reading a ton of dialogue with little else, as if I'm reading a screenplay, or as if JA can imagine a director's camera that he's pointing at everything, but forgot to put enough description in to let us readers see through that camera. Yet when he does allow time for description it can be masterful and insightful but there's not enough of it.

I've also hit a section a third through that reads like plot convenience - namely, a mastermind who announces his secret identity in public, then rushes through a crowd to embrace a POV character he doesn't appear to have met, only heard of, allowing for an easy way to connect some of the plot dots and move them forward.

I do find it an enjoyable enough book, but so far I'm not loving it.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Finished it and found it enjoyable overall, but didn't really get into it until about 2/3 through. Ended up skip-reading the chapter with the uprising in Valbeck where Abercrombie jumps between different characters like that famous scene in The Heroes, but I don't think it worked here. However, he repeated the same thing toward the end when we jumped between main characters and it was masterful and the best scene in the book.

Overall, an enjoyable and interesting read, but I really wish JA had slowed things down, especially early on, so we could get a better feel of the place and characters instead of rushing through them. It left me without the sense of place and setting that a great epic fantasy can deliver.

Spoiler

Savine is an extremely powerful woman and lives at the top of high society, yet absolutely nobody knew or talked about either 1) her relationship with the crown prince, 2) her relationship to the crown prince? Seriously?

 

[Boaz]

I prefer Tolkien to Dickens, I guess in part because I enjoy reading about Middle-earth more than the Industrial Revolution. The setting of coal mining slums needs a lot to lift it up to a heroic story... and Abercrombie's gritty characters and Machiavellian politics keeps his story firmly in the gutter.

 

[Bowler1]

I have gone through all three books while on holiday which is a good enough recommendation. These are enjoyable and with Joe you know what you're getting, which is a lot of action.

That said however, I don't think it was the best of Joe's work. I am with Brian above and I found a lot of the characters flat, and most of the plot lines predictable. So far from Joe's best, but if you want Mills and Boon of sword play then this series fits into this. This is not a challenging read, far from I'd say, but good enough to while away the hours.