I liked the way lamb was made in Red Country. It added the excitement of knowing it was The Bloody Nine!!! with the freshness of new characters. I wonder what it would be like with Glotka, because much of his personality comes from his inner monologue (I would even think more than Logens?) The Heroes story arc (with characters Bremer dan Gorst, Prince Calder, Curnden Craw, Finree dan Brock, Tunny and Beck): Reusing Shivers` point of view would be very interesting, I think of all your characters, he probably had the most polar arc. We only got a glimpse of the man he is now at the end of Best Served Cold, with small glimpses of his character in The Heroes and Red Country. I was really happy (spoiler alert) with the “duel” at the end between him and Lamb. You built it very well and I kept wondering how it was going to go. I think the way it went was the only satisfactory result and it suited Shiver`s character. But anyway, I really want more chills, even if it`s not his point of view, he`s my favorite 😀 Also, I agree with the whole dilution issue. When the Bloody-Nine first appeared, they turned my entire opinion of the lodges on its head.
The other times he played were also very good (better than 90% of authors), but he lacked that charm “for the first time”. The book follows 3 different characters as war breaks out on two fronts. To the south, Sand dan Glokta and his inquisitors attempted to repel a Gurkish invasion of the city of Dagoska, the only Union possession on the mainland, which had been conquered at great expense a few decades earlier. In the north, the book follows Colonel West and the Scandinavians as they attempt to deal with Bethod, who intends to expel the Union from Angland, their most important possession in the north. Finally, the book follows Logen Ninefingers and his companions on their journey to the far west of their world with the sorcerer Bayaz, the first of the three kings, in search of a powerful and dangerous ancient artifact known as the Seed. The book makes it clear that all of these events are interconnected and part of the larger machinations of a sorcerer named Khalul, the second of the three kings and one of Bayaz`s enemies. Khalul raised a large army of slaves and eaters (cannibal humanoids with increased durability and magical abilities) and indirectly gave Bethod an alliance with the Flatheads, orc-like creatures created as weapons in an ancient war, as well as a man known as the Feared who is supernaturally as good as he is immune to evil. The story ends on a low note for all the groups involved: Dagoska is lost to the Gurkish, an intrigue sees the two heirs to the throne killed and an innocent man is accused for political reasons, the search for the seed is a dismal failure and Bethod remains at large in the north. I think the simple answer is – because I`ve done it before.
I like working in the same world and coming back to the characters a few years later. It immediately gives me well-developed characters to reach out, and I think it gives readers a deeper resonance, a sense of a vast, evolving world, a sense of continuity. If somewhere in a book I need a certain type of character and I have a suitable candidate that we met before, I will usually use it again. But for those who were primary viewpoints, I`ll probably put them on the back burner and stop using their point of view. In part, it`s because I think it`s helpful to see these characters from the outside now, what the reader knows about them may be at odds with what new perspectives might think of them. In part, it`s because I want to do something new and different with every book I write, because if you don`t challenge yourself at least to some extent, you risk stagnating, and that means new and different points of view, if possible. This is partly because you consume ideas and walking on the same ground often leads to diminishing returns, and offering more can dilute and diminish what you`ve already done. The first of the independent books takes place about three years after the trilogy. Set entirely in Styria, an island-continent reminiscent of Italy during the Italian Wars, it focuses on the revenge of a betrayed mercenary leader, Monza Murcatto. The title of the first book is taken from a quote from Homer in The Odyssey: “The blade itself incites acts of violence.” I`m someone who only read the first 4 books but couldn`t resist it because I love lists. Also, my ranking here is about the quality I find as characters, less how I like their POV chapters, or how good I think the chapters are, even though those things are undeniably related. A good example is Shivers, as I don`t think his POV chapters stand out much, but I think he`s one of the best characters in the series so far.
Another is Dogman, his chapters were amazing, I loved watching the band of Scandinavians from his somewhat passive point of view, but it didn`t have much to do with his character. Also Shenkt, a great cinematic action in its chapters, but since one character didn`t grab me, I think it also helps to create the feeling that each book is a story about the main protagonists of that book (I count the initial troligy here as a book), not the ongoing saga of a whole bunch of characters from day one. The story arc of the original trilogy (featuring characters Logen Ninefingers, Jezal dan Luthar, Sand dan Glokta, Dogman, Collem West, and Ferro Maljinn): This book focuses on a three-day battle set in the same world as the First Law trilogy, about seven years after the events of the original trilogy. The Union commander, Lord Marshal Kroy, led Union forces against the much smaller Northern Army commanded by Black Dow. The story contains many characters seen in previous First Law novels, such as Bremer dan Gorst, Lord Marshal Kroy, and the Dogman. [14] It`s just a shame that so many great characters are already dead! (I say shame, I like that no character is “safe”, I wish I had known more about Morveer, I loved all the psychopathic gentleman he had) I think it goes without saying, but all S-B characters would be at S-level on any wider fantasy list. C characters would normally be A. D would be B and F would be C. I don`t think any of his characters would be lowered, not even Ro. Plus, I include my general perception of these characters, including books where they aren`t POV, so thrills will be at the top of my list. The two biggest changes after my second reading of my first one are that Broad was previously in last place and Orso in first place.
The first time, I didn`t give enough credit to Broad for the interest of his story and the depth of his character. With Orso, unfortunately, he didn`t feel as important as the first time, while at the same time I was reading and analyzing Logen more and more.