Casting Call: Redemption's Blade
For those that missed it, The Expert System's Brother has been released by tor.com as a lovely novella which has been getting some very pleasant reviews (including this little piece in Locus). It's turned out very well, I think, and please consider giving it a look if you fancy.
Today (ish, as some e‑copies went out earlier this week) sees the release of Redemption's Blade, though, and for that I've decided to do a Casting Call post, the first in a long old while (since Tiger & Wolf I think?). Blade has also been getting some nice press, including what I think is my second ever 5 star review in SFX (the current one with Danaerys on the cover) and a very nice write up in the non-partisan tor.com.
For those coming in late, Redemption's Blade is a fantasy that picks up the personal pieces after the epic has been and gone. Celestaine was one of the heroes who defeated the Kinslayer, the insane demigod who erupted onto the surface of the world with his monsters and his slave armies ten years ago and set about ruining everything for everyone. If there was a way he could inflict misery on the world, he did so, and one of his foibles was to take the avian Aethani and have their wings torn off, each and every one, and consign them to the darkness of his iron mines. Now he's dead, and Celestaine is trying to find out who she is in peacetime. Trying to be a hero, she pledges to Amkulyah the Aethani prince that she'll restore his people, and sets off to track down magic of sufficient power to achieve it. In this she is aided (mostly) by Nedlam and Heno, a pair of Yorughan, the Kinslayer's warrior élite, who turned coat during the war. Nedlam is a cheerful bruiser but Heno is a Heart Taker, a blood mage complicit in all manner of evils. Along the way she locks horns with, helps and opposes a variety of others who are also trying to cut themselves a niche now the war's done, from duplicitous collectors of magical trinkets to former enemy generals to disgraced demigods on the scrounge.
Now obviously the below casting won't mean a thing to you if you haven't read the book, and should be taken with an absolute pinch of salt anyway — feel free to run your own casting call, and comment below with your suggestions for who you'd see in the roles if you like!
Celestaine — Gwendoline Christie
Voice of Heno — Ian McShane
Voice of Nedlam — Catherine Tate
Prince Amkulyah — Osric Chau
The Undefeated — Mark Hamill
Ralas — Anthony Rapp
Dr Catt — Francois Chau
Dr Fisher — Wen Jiang
Voice of General Thukrah (and MoCap) — Andy Serkis
Governor Adondra — Tamsin Greig
Archimandrite of Ilkand — Peter Mensah
Jocien Silvermort — Joseph Morgan
Kait Heguman — Simone Missick
Meddig — Karl Theobald
Mysterious Helmed Figure — Idris Elba
All photos are from the actors' imdb pages, use of which I hope is OK.
Photo credits are: Christie — Tim Whitby, McShane — John Russo Photography, Tate — Chris Haston, Osric Chau — BKHeadshots, Hamill — Gettyimages.com, Rapp — Dimitrious Kambouris, Francois Chau — uncredited, Jiang — Ben A Pruchnie, Serkis — imaginarium, Greig — Stuart Wilson, Mensah — Jason Merritt, Morgan — Amanda Elkins, Missick — Dana Patrick, Theobalf — Impossible Pictures, Elba — Dave J Hogan
© 2008-2024 Pan Macmillan
Catherine Tate as Nedlam. OMG that made me laugh. 'Am I Bovvered?' She is not bovvered. But some other inspired choices in there too, esp Hamill, Rapp and Greig! I can't wait until I get to play this game. So I should probably go to my own blog now and get on with that.