Film Fantasy Friday: The Will of the Empress (except on Saturday)

This week's a-day-late-and-a-dollar-short edition of FFF brings you another Tamora Pierce title (I can't help myself! Her books are so eminently castable), The Will of the Empress. This is the capstone book for the two Emelan quartets, Circle of Magic and The Circle Opens. TWotE pulls the four main characters together again after being separated for three years, and they find that many things have changed. Like Pierce's other books, this one has a reasonably hefty ensemble. Behold:

Lady Sandrilene fa Toren: played by Sarah Bolger, Sandry is a thread mage and the fulcrum of this film's plot. Asked not-so-politely by her cousin to come for a visit, Sandry heads to Namorn to see the court of the Empress.

Daja Kisubo: played by Aissa Maiga, Daja is a smith-mage. She is independently wealthy at the age of 18 due to her magical prowess. She keeps a house in Summersea, Emelan's capital, where she, Briar, and Tris live. Currently she and her three foster-siblings are feuding for a variety of reasons.

Briar Moss: played by Shahid Kapoor, Briar is a plant mage. He too has quite a bit of money stemming from his power with plants. After living through a war in far-off Yanjing, he is having post-traumatic stress symptoms, which he doesn't want his foster-sisters to know about.

Trisana Chandler: played by Rachel Hurd-Wood (with a pair of spectacles), Tris is a weather-mage, one of the most powerful living. Despite this, she is relatively poor, since most of her would-be employers want to use her for battle magic, something Tris finds repulsive.

Duke Vedris IV of Emelan: played by Mark Strong, the Duke is Emelan's ruler and Sandry's uncle. He shows an inclination to make her his heir, rather than either of his ill-suited sons.

Empress Berenene dor Ocmore of Namorn: played by Marion Cotillard, Berenene is Sandry's cousin through her mother and the antagonist of the film. She intends to trap all four young mages in Namorn in order to give her court more power.

Rizu fa Dalach: played by Angel Coulby, Rizu is Berenene's mistress of the wardrobe. Rizu and Daja fall in love, but Rizu is not willing to leave Namorn to be with Daja.

Ishabal Ladyhammer: played by Helen Mirren, Ishabal is Berenene's most powerful court mage. She attempts to keep the four mages inside Namorn's border but is beaten back by their combined strength.



Ambros fer Landreg: played by Matthew Goode, Ambros is Sandry's Namornese cousin and the steward of her estates. She eventually transfers the rights of the estates to him.

Zhegorz Fiavrus: played by Tim Roth, Zhegorz is thought mad by all who come into contact with him. Tris recognizes that he hears voices on the wind and begins to teach him to harness his power.




And that's how Diana casts it! All images pulled from Google and Wikipedia.