I just finished Joe Abercrombie’s newest book, A Little Hatred. This is the start of a new trilogy, but it is set in the same universe as his other books. I love how Abercrombie has progressed this story through a longer period of time. This series takes place 28 years after the first trilogy. By this point, characters like Glokta, the Dogman, and Jezal are older men. As we saw in Red Country, this world is rapidly changing, just not so sure about whether or not it is changing for the better…
As I have done with all of the books in this series, I will do a casting call for the new characters and mention my thoughts on their stories and where I think things will go for them. There will be spoilers from here on out.
Rikke
The Dogman’s daughter. He was one of my favorite characters in the original series and I am happy his daughter plays such a major role. I am most excited to see how her vision turns out “a wolf eats the sun, a lion eat the wolf, a lamb eat the lion, an owl eat the lamb.” We know the first part (Stour Nightfall is the wolf and takes on the Union–which has the sun as their symbol) and then Leo defeats Stour in the circle. Does it mean that Logen will return to the North? I doubt it. At the end of the book, Prince Orso is referred to as a lamb during his triumph. Will Orso bring Leo down somehow? Or has this vision already occurred? Is Savine the owl and she broke Orzo’s heart. I keep reading theories that people think Rikke is the owl, but I am not so sure.
I think the India Eisley would be perfect for the role. You need a girl that is attractive (remember how Leo and his friends react when they see her?), but also could look a little out there because of some magical powers.
Leo dan Brock
As the story starts, I thought for some reason that Leo was King Jezal’s son, but then I quickly remembered Finree, who was such a good character in The Heroes. Leo is known as the Young Lion and by the end of the story, he has defeated Stour Nightfall in single combat and earned a triumph with Prince Orso.
Luke Benward looks like he would be an over-eager warrior, who is also easy on the eyes.
Savine dan Glokta
Savine is the daughter of Arch Lector Glokta. She is beautiful, smart, cunning, and shrewd. She is helping to shape the world (and become rich and powerful while doing it) by investing in new technologies (whether or not it hurts the people is none of her concern).
Elizabeth Debicki just has the look of some aristocrat who would completely take over a room full of men. She pulls off that kind of attitude in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Prince Orso
I think he was my favorite character in this book. At first he comes off as someone who does not care about anything other than drinking and whoring. My favorite part is probably when he goes to spar with his father. He allows King Jezal to win and we quickly realize that there is more to this foppish dandy. At some point we are going to get a sword fight between Orso and Leo (or maybe Orso and Stour Nightfall).
I think Joe Keery would be perfect for the role. He is great in Stranger Things as the good looking guy. His change in that show has been fantastic and I think he could pull off the hidden good guy lurking in Orso’s heart.
Stour Nightfall
Black Calder’s son and the heir to Bethod’s chain and the right to rule the Northmen. There are zero redeeming qualities in the man. He is incredibly skilled as a fighter and should have defeated Leo in the Circle, but his arrogance got the best of him. He is just an unlikable individual (everyone remarks how he is a prick).
This is a weird one because I kept picturing Mads Mikkelsen (probably because they kept mentioning Stour having wet eyes). But then other characters mentioned his blue eyes and I thought of that kid who played Percy Jackson: Logan Lerman. He has that look of a young guy who just holds the entire world in utter contempt.
Jonas Clover
When we first meet Clover, he is teaching some kids how to sword fight. I thought for sure that he was going to be someone in hiding. Especially when Wondeful shows up and talks about his past. We learn more about his past though and he ends up not being anyone from the other books, but he would have been present. Clover is someone who is concerned about himself. There are a bunch of great moments in the book. My favorite is when he kills Stour’s warrior with an arrowhead during a battle and basically says something like “I told you I would kill you.” The toughest part though was when he realizes what he has to do to prove his loyalty to Stour Nightfall and he stabs Wonderful. There was part of me that wanted the two of them to escape and join up with the Dogman. I should know better than to expect happiness from Joe Abercrombie.
I wanted to avoid anyone from GOT or LOTR, so it was tough to think of someone for this role. Mark Addy was someone I was leaning towards, but then I thought that you might someone a little more comedic or at least someone who could be funny, but also hint at a hidden danger. Jack Black has that crazy look in his eyes and could totally pull off the scene where he stabs an ally or allows Rikke to escape.
Gunnar Broad
I feel like there has to be a point where Gunnar and Logen meet, right? If not, then Gunnar is basically the spirit of Logen reborn (is Logen dead? Last time we saw him, he was with Shivers, right?).
I think the notable thing about him is the glasses and the way he gently takes them off when he is about to fight. I immediately thought of Dave Bautista and his role in Blade Runner 2049. I think the guy who played Drago’s son in Creed 2, Florian Munteanu, would be good as Gunnar. He is big and if he has any acting skills, I would look forward to him standing there menacingly, then slowly taking off those glasses before busting some skulls.
Vick
She ends up being the reason why Prince Orso succeeds in Valbeck. She has a hard look after her years spent living in the work-camps. She has the same job that Glokta had when we first met him, meaning she responds directly to the Arch Lector. She infiltrates dissidents and then brings them down. She seems like she is always so close to flipping on the Union, but then she does her job.
I will not lie, I just looked up hard looking actresses and Christiane Paul came up. I think with some makeup work though, they could make her look like someone who has lived a rough life. She probably has a good accent for the part too.
Zuri
Finally, we have Zuri. She is Saveen’s assistant. She is not a major character, but she is definitely one of my favorites. She is Gurkish (could she be an Eater?);and Savine as well as a few other characters mention that she is is beautiful and very intelligent. She quotes scripture, but usually with in a very dry fashion. I hope her story and role is expanded throughout this series.
I have no clue if Anok Yai can act. She is a model from Sudan. She is beautiful and she would bring an exotic look, plus her accent would be nice, especially when she switches to other languages. I think the other thing is that Zuri is described as thin, but someone who is very strong. We never got to see her in action, but my guess is she is going to be a formidable fighter.
I cannot wait for the next book! Naturally things will go completely opposite of what we expect, that is the beauty of Abercrombie’s style.
