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4.41 AVERAGE
4.41 AVERAGE
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Abercrombie just keeps getting better (I think). His characters are deeper, he's better at balancing humor and warmth with death, greed, and cowardice, and his women are 3-dimensonal.
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Getting right into, I didn't like this one as much as The Blade Itself. While I would say the plotting is better or more straightforward in comparison, I think it's a weaker book overall for me personally.
This review is going to be mostly complaints as its easier to talk about things I don't like when it comes to the works of an author that I have enjoyed so much so far.
Abercrombie made a few choices in this one that don't really appeal to me personally as a reader. I am not a fan of the industrial revolution setting personally. My biggest issue with the series so far is that all of the new characters introduced have had no where near as much charisma, or the ability to get me personally invested in who they are and their story, as the original cast in The First Law trilogy.
For me it comes back to the complaints I had with the standalone trilogy. "A Little Hatred" feels more like a setup book for the rest of the story when it does not have to be.
Minor Spoilers from this point forward as well as for the previous books in the series. Discussion of characters and my biggest issue so far...
Opinions on POV Characters
Savine - Neutral, don't really have much to say about her.
Rikke - Pretty neutral on her as well, the most interesting chapters from a story perspective
Leo - I hate him, the most unlikeable character in the story so far
Orso - My personal favorite, the most enjoyable/a character that is on par with those of the original trilogy for me so far.
Clover - Intriguing, he feels nostalgic, I like his chapters a lot.
Vick - I like her chapters quite a lot as well, the one I'm looking forward to the most in seeing how she comes into play with the rest of the story.
Other Characters that I want to talk about a little
Stour Nightfall - Other than Orso, I would say that he is the character I am most interested in seeing how he develops and where the story takes him. Steals the spotlight of whatever scene he is in. I really enjoyed his discussion with Leo and his choice during the dining scene with Scale.
Tallow - His relationship with Vick is very interesting, looking forward to seeing where it goes.
Broad as a character
The most major issue that I've had so far, like I mentioned previously, comes down to the POV characters and in particular one specific character. Broad in of himself is not a bad character, I don't really think Abercrombie is capable of writing a truly bad character, but from the standpoint of this story and The First Law world itself, he is truly a wasted POV. Oftentimes, I don't find myself feeling that Abercrombie's characters exist solely to serve the plot, they more often feel like characters that just so happen to exist in a world that would continue with or without them and we are just following their story. However, Broad feels to me as a plot device first and character second. I think he would be a fine character if his story existed in a vacuum, but the main issue I have is that he feels like a retread of arguably the best character in the series, going through a dilemma that the arguably best character has already gone through. That being "Lamb" in Red Country. Putting their "story/motivations" side by side. Broad is an ex-soldier that has a bad temper or urge to fight whose dilemma is his inability to control himself in order to protect his family. "Lamb's" story/motivation in Red Country is quite literally one-to-one but greatly improved upon due to what we as the readers already know about him. I want to reiterate that I do not believe that Broad is a bad character as he is anything but. I just think that his POV does not really benefit the story in anyway and that we would have been much better off experiencing the story in Valbeck and the Breakers from the POV of his wife Liddy or his daughter May, in fact I think that May as a POV character would have been fantastic. In summary, my issues with Broad are that he is a worse version of a story we have already experienced, a wasted POV character that serves as a plot device, and therefore detracts from the story more than adds to it.
Final Thoughts
"A Little Hatred" is a good book and a good start to a trilogy that I am sure I will enjoy. I do have some gripes with it but that doesnt detract from it being a well written story. It's more that I have such a high regard of Abercrombie as a writer that I was left a little bit disappointed, but I feel that comes more to my personal tastes not being pandered to more than anything.
As a last aside though, my motivation for reading is still pretty heavily skewed in my desire to see the characters that we know from the previous works in The First Law world. I really just do not have any personal investment in the majority of the new characters introduced, but I'm sure the more time I spend with them the more I will come to like them as much as the ones before.
My personal First Law World Rankings
1. Last Argument of Kings
2. Before They are Hanged
3. The Blade Itself
4. Best Served Cold
5. The Heroes
6. A Little Hatred
7. Sharp Ends
8. Red Country
This review is going to be mostly complaints as its easier to talk about things I don't like when it comes to the works of an author that I have enjoyed so much so far.
Abercrombie made a few choices in this one that don't really appeal to me personally as a reader. I am not a fan of the industrial revolution setting personally. My biggest issue with the series so far is that all of the new characters introduced have had no where near as much charisma, or the ability to get me personally invested in who they are and their story, as the original cast in The First Law trilogy.
For me it comes back to the complaints I had with the standalone trilogy. "A Little Hatred" feels more like a setup book for the rest of the story when it does not have to be.
Minor Spoilers from this point forward as well as for the previous books in the series. Discussion of characters and my biggest issue so far...
Opinions on POV Characters
Savine - Neutral, don't really have much to say about her.
Rikke - Pretty neutral on her as well, the most interesting chapters from a story perspective
Leo - I hate him, the most unlikeable character in the story so far
Orso - My personal favorite, the most enjoyable/a character that is on par with those of the original trilogy for me so far.
Clover - Intriguing, he feels nostalgic, I like his chapters a lot.
Vick - I like her chapters quite a lot as well, the one I'm looking forward to the most in seeing how she comes into play with the rest of the story.
Other Characters that I want to talk about a little
Stour Nightfall - Other than Orso, I would say that he is the character I am most interested in seeing how he develops and where the story takes him. Steals the spotlight of whatever scene he is in. I really enjoyed his discussion with Leo and his choice during the dining scene with Scale.
Tallow - His relationship with Vick is very interesting, looking forward to seeing where it goes.
Broad as a character
The most major issue that I've had so far, like I mentioned previously, comes down to the POV characters and in particular one specific character. Broad in of himself is not a bad character, I don't really think Abercrombie is capable of writing a truly bad character, but from the standpoint of this story and The First Law world itself, he is truly a wasted POV. Oftentimes, I don't find myself feeling that Abercrombie's characters exist solely to serve the plot, they more often feel like characters that just so happen to exist in a world that would continue with or without them and we are just following their story. However, Broad feels to me as a plot device first and character second. I think he would be a fine character if his story existed in a vacuum, but the main issue I have is that he feels like a retread of arguably the best character in the series, going through a dilemma that the arguably best character has already gone through. That being "Lamb" in Red Country. Putting their "story/motivations" side by side. Broad is an ex-soldier that has a bad temper or urge to fight whose dilemma is his inability to control himself in order to protect his family. "Lamb's" story/motivation in Red Country is quite literally one-to-one but greatly improved upon due to what we as the readers already know about him. I want to reiterate that I do not believe that Broad is a bad character as he is anything but. I just think that his POV does not really benefit the story in anyway and that we would have been much better off experiencing the story in Valbeck and the Breakers from the POV of his wife Liddy or his daughter May, in fact I think that May as a POV character would have been fantastic. In summary, my issues with Broad are that he is a worse version of a story we have already experienced, a wasted POV character that serves as a plot device, and therefore detracts from the story more than adds to it.
Final Thoughts
"A Little Hatred" is a good book and a good start to a trilogy that I am sure I will enjoy. I do have some gripes with it but that doesnt detract from it being a well written story. It's more that I have such a high regard of Abercrombie as a writer that I was left a little bit disappointed, but I feel that comes more to my personal tastes not being pandered to more than anything.
As a last aside though, my motivation for reading is still pretty heavily skewed in my desire to see the characters that we know from the previous works in The First Law world. I really just do not have any personal investment in the majority of the new characters introduced, but I'm sure the more time I spend with them the more I will come to like them as much as the ones before.
My personal First Law World Rankings
1. Last Argument of Kings
2. Before They are Hanged
3. The Blade Itself
4. Best Served Cold
5. The Heroes
6. A Little Hatred
7. Sharp Ends
8. Red Country
Sure, if you're a fan of Abercrombie you'll say: "don't read this one first - read his earlier books!"
Well, I read it first anyway. And it was pretty good. So I read the trilogy, and it was pretty good. My lesson? You can be perfectly fine if you start here. Prepare for a mix of 16th C English politics with the French Revolution and you're mostly there.
Well, I read it first anyway. And it was pretty good. So I read the trilogy, and it was pretty good. My lesson? You can be perfectly fine if you start here. Prepare for a mix of 16th C English politics with the French Revolution and you're mostly there.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
medium-paced
A lot more sex than I thought there would be. Got confused with who was doing who lol
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes