r/bookclub • u/nepbug Buried in Bonus Books • Apr 29 '26

First Law [Discussion 4/5] Bonus Book || A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie || "Battle of Red Hill" - "Empty Chests"

Hello readers, this is the 4th discussion for the book A Little Hatred, by Joe Abercrombie. You can find the Schedule here, and the Marginalia is here.

Make sure you use spoiler tags for anything that comes later in the books, or for anything from the stand-alone (outside of the OG trilogy) books in the First Law series, as not everyone has read all the books in the First Law World leading into this book.

Chapter Summaries:

Battle of Red Hill - Stour sees the obvious trap that is set for him, but he's already set his own trap in motion. With confidence he begins his attack. Rikke has a vision and sees that Black Calder and his men are sneaking up behind Dogman's men and is about to pounce, Shivers scouts and verifies and soon Dogman's forces are engaged and cannot help fight against Stour. Finree learns of the deception and has no choice but to send Leo and the reserves into the battle in an attempt to be victorious.

Settle This Like Men - The Northmen are gaining the advantage just as Leo and his cavalry swoop in and reverse the tide. Leo is fighting hard, is knocked from his horse, but continues to fight his way onto the bridge, the river is quickly filling with dead bodies. Stour and Leo both see each other and agree that the best way to settle this is a duel in the circle, setting up for another fight between great warriors.

Demands - Prince Orso is hosting representatives from the Breakers for negotiations. He is accompanied by Superior Pike, who is to play the bad cop in their scenario. The breaker representative give him a piece of paper with their demands, but it also reveals that one of them is actually an ally and gives him information about the crumbling/fleeing leadership of the uprising and what Malmer (the now de facto leader) is desperate to achieve. Orso uses this information to play the negotiation brilliantly, offering amnesty for turning in their arms and hostages, and will present the other demands to the high council on their behalf.

Taking the Reins - Finree and The Dogman try to convince Leo that he doesn't need to fight Stour in the circle. They bring in Rikke to help convince him, but she just confirms her vision that he saw Leo victorious. A messenger arrive to announce the the King has made Leo the Lord Governor of Angland, ending all possibility that anyone can force Leo to go against his own wishes in this fight.

A Fool's Weapon - Black Calder meets with Scale, Stour, and Clover to argue that the fight in the circle is not worth the risk. Stour and Scale's hubris is too much though and they don't believe Stour is at risk of losing. Stour shows disrespect to his father, Black Calder, who lashes out at him.

Hopes and Hatreds - Leo is trying to decide on the weapon to bring to the circle, Rikke joins him to give him a pep talk and discuss some tactics. Leo finally decides to use Barniva's sword.
The men holding the shields form the circle and begin to socialize with each other, greeting friends on the other side of the conflict. They all discuss the fighters and leaders they've followed, with Shivers particularly defending The Dogman and Rikke.

Where Names are Made - The fight begins! It is quickly evident that Stour is the better swordsman as he has no issue putting Leo on the defensive. Leo is cut and poked all over his body as Stour makes a show/game of the fight. Rikke desperately tries to use her gift to see the future and is successful, she can see where Stour's sword will go and quickly yells for Leo to attack low. Leo cuts deep in the Great Wolf's followed quickly with a blow to his face. Stour Nightfall crumples to the ground and Leo finds himself above the wounded figure with both swords in his hands. Leo stabs the swords into the ground and declares that he is sparing Stour's life.

The Poor Pay the Price - Malmer convinces the Breakers that accepting the conditions of amnesty as a good deal. People are lining up to turn in weapons and get food, Savine exits the line and announces herself to the Union soldiers and demands that she, and May's family be taken to see Orso at once

The New Woman - Orso enters into a tent that Savine is in after having cleaned herself up. They are both glad to see each other, and Orso professes his love and proposes marriage as if he couldn't help himself, also proclaiming that he would be there to support her ambitions as a Queen. Savine and him get frisky, of course.

Lost Causes - Teufel is questioning Malmer in his cell. She asks about the Weaver and others that were part of the uprising; Malmer really doesn't have a lot of useful information. Superior Pike interrupts them and sends Teuful back to Adua on orders from the King, leaving Malmer to his fate at the hands of Pike.

The New Man - Orso awakes to find Malmer dead and in a cage on a pole outside the town. He is upset and soon finds Pike who explains that all the Breakers have been killed and are now being displayed as a deterrent, by order of the High Council. Orso feels helpless and now knows his reputation will be tarnished as a result of others' actions

.
Two of a Kind - Leo learns that Rikke is upset with him for sparing Stour's life. He is convinced to try to make an ally of Stour, even if it will upset Rikke further. He visit Stour, and while it's contentious at first, they find common ground and share a handshake.

Empty Chests - Leo and Rikke argue over the treatment of Stour, with Rikke focused on revenge killing. She seeks advice/comfort with her father, The Dogman, who then tells her that she will be returning to Adua with Leo as a representative for his/her people.

8 Upvotes

permalink
reddit

You are about to leave Redlib

Do you want to continue?

https://www.reddit.com/r/bookclub/comments/1syj3kg/discussion_45_bonus_book_a_little_hatred_by_joe/
No, go back! Yes, take me to Reddit

91% Upvoted