The First Law by Abercrombie. And more!

[AshesOfOld]

Hey playgrounders

So, I don't know how many have actually read the amazing fantasy-trilogy 'The First Law' by Joe Abercrombie. If you haven't, I suggest you hustle down to the library and start right away, because it is one of the most gripping and entertaining works I've read since 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'.

This thread has several purposes.

Firstly, to spread knowledge about it and for general praise and critique. Why is it so fantastic? What didn't you like about it? Et cetera.

Secondly, let's talk movie adaptation. Should it be a movie trilogy, with the possible sequels 'Best Served Cold' and 'The Heroes' as per the books. Or should it be the next HBO-series after Game of Thrones. Maybe even a manga - in a style similar to Afro Samurai (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfa8Rs09-U0&feature=related)?

I'm really curious as to how other people picture the characters, so if it were turned into a movie, who would play our heroes?
Spoilered for length:

The main characters:
Logen Ninefingers/the Bloody-Nine
Sand dan Glokta
Jezal dan Luthar

The follow-ups:
Ferro Maljinn
Collem West
Bayaz, the first of the Magi
Quai, his apprentice
Ardee West
Vitari, a practical (has a prominent role in the 4th book)
Nicomo Cosca, the mercenary leader (has a prominent role in the 4th book)

The pack:
The Dogman
Threetrees
Black Dow (has an important role in the Heroes)
Tul-Duru Thunderhead
Harding Grim
(Forley the Weakest)

Others of interest:
Bethod, king of the north
Prince Calder, his son (has a role in the Heroes)
His witch (can't recall her name)
The Feared (seriously, who can play that guy?)
Yulwei, a magi - Keith David (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0202966/)
Arch-lector Sult
Khalul, the prophet, second of the Magi
Practical Frost
Practical Severard
Bremer dan Gorst, master fencer (has a role in the Heroes)

I'll come with some of my own suggestions later, when I've had more time to mull it over.


And thirdly, okay I can't think of a third thing right now, so maybe it's not several purposes. But we'll leave it there, in case something comes up. have any of you seen a map of the world? Cause it keeps getting mixed up in my head, and I can't figure out whether Gurkul is east or west nor the empire nor the edge of the world for that matter.

Tadaa.

[pita]

At first, I really didn't like it. The end was like "Well... okay... what??? Why... I honestly don't get why you did that. Not that great." But I gave it a reread 6 months later, and fell in love. The end is so perfect. The entire series gets better and better every reread, with the exception of The Heroes, which had the mediocre parts of both The First Law and Best Served Cold. It had a few very cool chapters (the ones where the POV constantly changes), but the characters weren't as great as usual (though it's hard to match Logen, or Monza), the jokes weren't as funny, and the plot felt like it was trying too hard to pass a message to entertain.
I see it as an HBO miniseries. Actually, more specifically, I see Best Served Cold as a seven episode miniseries. It could be awesome.
I have no idea who could play Monza, but Emily Van Camp has been in my head ever since Revenge.
I always imagine Jeremy Irons as Orso, but for some reason I usually imagine Jeremy Irons as a British Burt Reynolds, even though they look nothing alike.
The rest of the cast constantly changes in my head.
As far as the first law?
Danny Trejo is pretty much exactly how The Bloody Nine is described, give or take a finger.
As Jezal, I always see the resident pretty-boy villain (For a while he was Robert Pattinson. Now he's in a state of flux depending which movie I watch, but he's been everyone from Tom Felton to Jack Gleeson to Christian Slater), but there's no real picture.
Glokta has no image in my head, other than a painting I saw once of Maester Aemon. A little too monstrously described.
I don't have an image for Ferro Maljinn, but Zoe Saldana with tons of scar make-up would be perfect.
Bayaz is Patrick Stewart. The ultimate Patrick Stewart.
Yulwei would be Keith David. But, then again, every old black character in every book I've ever read is Keith David. I have an unhealthy obsession.
For the Feared I would recommend Conan Stevens (http://www.conanstevens.com/). The perfect actor for the role, really....

[pita]

Double Post Noooooooooooooooooooooo

[warty goblin]

Read the first book, after which I realized I still had no idea what the plot was, or why anything that had just happened actually mattered. I also found it hard to really care about any of the characters. It was well written enough, and not particularly formulaic, but I never felt any sense of excitement or enthusiasm in the storytelling. It lacked a certain spark I guess.

[Weezer]

It was an okay series, though really it left me feeling 'so what?'. The plot was sorta cliche, with many of the the non-cliche bits feeling like they were put there solely to avoid or contradict genre stereotypes. There just didn't seem to be much to it, and the ending was very much anti-climactic. However, saying that, the actual writing was better than your average fantasy novel, which is a plus in its favor, and the inquisitor character was actually pretty interesting.

[Sneaky Weasel]

In my opinion, this is one of the four best modern fantasy series is existence(I define 'modern' as being written by a living author). It has some of the most realistic, interesting characters I've seen. The writing style is incredibly well done, as it goes from one character to the next effortlessly, changing the point of view with none of the jarring I've found in other books. The fight scenes are awesome, they seem so gritty and realistic. I like how the characters can all, depending on the light they are cast in, be portrayed as either heroes or villains. It seem a lot more real then the typical pure, noble hero vs. the horrible, psychopathic villain.
As for a movie, I would love that to happen. A miniseries would be perfect for it. Of course, I would be totally shocked if it ever happened, as I just don't think it's popular enough.:smallfrown: But if it were to happen, I'd like to see Viggo Mortensen as Major West. It just fits, in my mind. And Giovanni Ribisi as Sand Dan Glokta. Just think about it.:smallamused:

[AshesOfOld]

Sneaky Weasel, I agree whole-heartedly. There are no obvious villains, that's what makes it so believable. It's like real fantasy if that's a thing.
Though not on West and Glokta.
West isn't described as ruggedly handsome and Viggo certainly is. I picture him more like a slightly white-trash hothead.
And while Ribisi could play an excellent Glokta, I just can't help picturing him as an old guy, even though he's set to be 35 at the beginning of the The First Law. Maybe he just thinks like an old man :)

pita, Danny Trejo would be great. But Logen is pale and 'pink-skinned', so maybe Mickey Rourke instead? Or Ron Pearlman?
For Jezal, I definitely picture someone older than Tom Felton and Jack Gleeson. Maybe Ryan Reynolds, but that's mostly because I wan't him in everything.
Patrick Stewart as Bayaz. That would be so cool! I just pictured him bigger, built like a butcher. Maybe Brian Cox?
Keith David is PERFECT as Yulwei! That is going in the top post :)
I could see Conan Stevens as the Feared. Tattoos all over the place. Or maybe Nathan Jones.

[Dienekes]

A great series. Admittedly the first book started off kind of generic, but I kept reading mostly because Glotka was interesting and Logen was awesome. Now I've read everything by the guy, and personally I think everything after the first book was amazing.

Personally, Before They Are Hanged is my favorite in the series (Glotka sniffing out rebels in a city left to his own devices? How can you screw that up? You can't), but I like them all. Heroes may have been a bit weaker, better than the first book admittedly, but overall weaker than the rest. But even that had the two chapters of those dying in battle, and I respect what he was trying to do. An entire book just focused on one pinnacle battle, with some old favorite characters thrown in for good measure, as well as taking earlier characters and showing how different people perceive them making them startlingly different than they appeared in the First Law series. There may have been a tacked on message in it, but honestly I just ignore those.

Anyway, yeah I definitely recommend his work.