 Hey guys, it's Liana and I'm here today to talk about Odell Hatred by Joe Abercrombie. Well, yes, I do have quite a few additions here, so let's just go through them real quick. Oh, if you don't know what Odell Hatred is or Joe Abercrombie, then you're new to my channel and he's the bestest ever. So I have here the Ark, which my friend sent to me. I have the Goldsboro Edition with sprayed pages. I have the Barnes and Noble Edition, which is signed. I have the Waterstones Edition that has an extra story, and I have the regular, was whatever edition that was sent to me by the publisher. So which one should I hold up while I talk? The US cover or the UK cover? This one's very shiny, so oh, maybe I'll hold up the less shiny one. That seems like a good plan. So yeah, I'm super excited. I haven't had a new Abercrombie book to talk about, like, well, since I started my channel, he hasn't had a new book come out. So this is very, very exciting. A Little Hatred takes place in the world of the first law. I have a couple videos. I have one video that's about the first law, like, world, maybe that's it. I feel like my channel is, like, all Abercrombie content all the time, but really, honestly, it's not, because he doesn't have, like, a million new books to talk about. Anyway, the world of the first law is the first law trilogy, and then three stand-alones that also take place in that universe, and then a series of short stories. And now this is his return to the universe. And this is kind of a continuation of the trilogy, but the events of the stand-alones, which chronologically take place after the trilogy, are also, like, have affected the world. So you can't really, I mean, I guess it's being sold as, like, its own new series. It's the Age of Madness Book One. I think you could read it without having ever read any Abercrombie before and, like, get it. You would know what's going on, but a lot of what makes it amazing and great is the nuance that you only pick up on if you've read the previous books. So technically, you can read it first, like, and only. But I wouldn't recommend that, because part of the joy of it is these characters that you either know something about, have heard something about, or they are the children of characters that you have heard about, know something about, or followed before. So a lot of the, like, subtleties and nuances to the relationship dynamics, you don't have to pick up on them to know what's going on, but he's done the work of, like, building that into it, and it's, like, an absolute joy to read that part. So to get maximum enjoyment, I wouldn't recommend reading this without having read, at the very least, the first-law trilogy, but ideally, the stand-alones as well. So yeah, this takes place, like, 30-ish years after the first-law trilogy ends. And I guess it's kind of spoilery for the first-law trilogy, too, because there's some characters that have survived from the first-law trilogy to be in here, so that means that they didn't die. And that's a big spoiler in an Abercrombie book, since people drop like flies. So this follows, I guess it also spoils some other character relationships, regardless. This is kind of following the next generation. So you've got Giselle's kid, Glockda's kid, you've got the dogman's kid, and then they're all in it too, Glockda, Giselle, and the dogman. And then there's a bunch of new characters as well. It's not just rehashing the oldies into a new generation. There's new characters, too. I mean, honestly, the part that had me most excited, and it did not let me down, was Sandan Glockda being back. Oh, I miss Glockda so much. Such a weird character to fangirl over. Like, I feel like most people are like, you know, my book boyfriend is Sandan Glockda. But for real, I fucking love Glockda so, so much. And seeing him with his daughter in his relationship with his daughter. Oh my God, it was so, oh, so well-written. I was, ugh, ugh, this is why my rant reviews are better, because I'm more articulate when I'm pissed off. I don't, I can't articulate why this is great, it's just fucking great. And it's not just Glockda. I really like the character of his daughter, Savine Dan Glockda. She's an incredibly well-written character, holy moly. Before I read this, I would have said my favorite Abercrombie book of all time is Best Served Cold, and probably one of my favorite female characters he's written is the main character in Best Served Cold on Scarow Mercado, who's known as Monza. But Savine Dan Glockda and A Little Hatred have dethroned those. This is the best Abercrombie book I have yet read, and as you know, I'm a fan, so that's saying something. Oh, this book is so freaking good. It's taken the world of the first blob, what we built up in the trilogy, the politics, the war, the everything, the characters, and built upon it so magnificently. And now he's telling a story that's more rooted in like industrial revolution, populism, that kind of thing. And it feels so relevant, but not in a way that feels too on the nose, if that makes sense. Like, I hate when I read books that are like trying to be relevant. It just is relevant. Like, it's telling a story that stands on its own. Anytime you'd read it, you'd be like, this is an excellent story. But it just happens to be so relevant for the times right now. And so in a meta way, in addition to just being in and of itself, like an extremely well-written and well-told tale, in a meta sense, like it just, it's resonating with me as a present-day reader, so much more than it would have any other time. Oh my god, oh my god. The jokes are great. The like grim, dark, gallows humor is fantastic. Once again, Abercrombie has like demonstrated his ability to do character studies, like nobody else. Once again, most of the characters are not likable, at least not entirely likable. And also then, there's things about them that you find extremely problematic. Their selfishness, their short-sightedness, their like, there's multiple layers to these characters. They're all so messy. And Glokta is still Glokta, but also like, he's not exactly who he was 30 years ago, because that wouldn't be realistic or good character development either. But he is Glokta. Like, I still feel like this is the character, and exactly how the character would be 30 years down the road, given his situation, his position, his job, his family. He is exactly as he would be, and oh, it's so, so well done. I was a little nervous about like new characters in the first law, about returning to this world and just being like, it feeling kind of trying to force more into a world that everything's been told already on a thing. You know, like squeezing out on one more. But this is like, it's whole new thing. And it is, I can't wait for the next book. Oh my god, like, I know this just came out, and I read it like in two seconds. But I need the next book now, because, oh my god. Oh my god, it's just so fucking good. Like, I don't, can I try, I can try to be more articulate, but really it's just, if you love Abercrombie, and you love the way he writes, if you love the way he writes characters in a way that is layered and complex and they surprise you, maybe he writes stories and plot lines that like, they're intricate and complicated, but they're not constantly like, gotcha type twists where it's a twist to be a twist. Like, it's so well constructed and so rooted in like, grim and jaded realism that it's, oh my god, it's just masterful. And watching the pieces of it, you can't really root for any particular side, because all the sides are equally flawed, and you're just watching it unfold, and it's like watching a master conduct an orchestra of depravity. It's a symphony of cynicism. It's incredible. Yeah, again, like the rich people are insufferable and rich and selfish and short-sighted, but the poor people are insufferable and selfish and short-sighted, and all these conflicting and sometimes aligning, but more often conflicting goals of the different moving pieces. Oh my god, it's just so well constructed and well told. Amazing character is amazing writing, because I've talked about that before. Joe Abercrombie's prose is also just artfully written and a joy to read, because he just tells it well in a way that you want to read it. Oh my god, this book was amazing. Like, I was worried, I expected it to be one of the better books I've read this year. Like, I never, I don't think Joe Abercrombie's capable of writing a bad book, but I was like coming back to the first law world, kind of like with the iron gold and going back to the Red Rising world, I was like, is this a good idea? And then iron gold turned out to be my favorite and a little hatred has turned out to be my favorite. So at least in these two cases, returning to the world was a great idea. Apologize for doubting, you know. This was more than I could have ever imagined or hoped for. I expected it to kind of be more of the same, which is great because I loved it before, so more of the same is going to be fine because I liked it. But it was its own thing, but also so, so utterly Abercrombie. Ah, ah, this is a six out of five stars. I just, I kind of want to read it already again because I don't have anything else to do until the next book comes out. Maybe I'll just read all the first law world books again, and maybe by the end of that reread, the next one will be out. We can hope. Let me know in the comments down below if you're an Abercrombie fan, if you've read a little hatred already, I read it like the moment it came out. I started reading the arc of it before it came out, but I read the bulk of it after it came out. So I've been kind of sitting on this review for a couple weeks, and by the time this video is going up, I think it's going to have been like well over a month since I read it. So it's been out. So you had time is what I'm saying? Like if you haven't read it, what the fuck are you doing? Read it? It's so good. Oh, after so many disappointments this year, I was so let down by so many of my favorite authors this year. Again, so I was like the curse of 2019. I was like please don't let Abercrombie also be victim to this curse. Like please let his new book be the exception. And it's the exception that made all those disappointments worth it. If the price of this book was hating all those others, I will pay it twice over. This book was everything. And now I've oversold it. So when you pick it up, you're going to be disappointed because I've overhyped it. So forget everything I said, except the part where I said to read it, but like go into it like me expecting like well more first love. I guess you know, that's that's good. Like it'll be fine. Go into it like that is my recommendation. Go into it expecting a decent book and then come back and be excited and blown away with me. Let me know anything and everything in the comments down below. I post videos on Saturdays. So like and subscribe and I'll see you next Saturday. Bye.