diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c172e3c..0c5b4b9 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,6 +9,13 @@ Follows [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/) · versioned wi
 
 ---
 
+## [1.13.1] — 2026-07-06
+
+### Added
+- **"View Characters" + recast options once a book's already cast** — Read Aloud's Casting view no longer offers a single blind "Cast Characters" button once this book already has saved characters. It becomes a split button: **View Characters** jumps straight to the Library's character overview, and the dropdown caret offers **Recast all** (previous behavior) or **Recast selected…**, which opens a checkbox picker of the existing cast and only refreshes the ones you check — everyone else's saved sheet is left untouched. (Extraction still re-scans the whole book either way, since any page could mention any character; "selected" just controls what gets saved afterward, not what gets read.)
+
+---
+
 ## [1.13.0] — 2026-07-06
 
 ### Changed
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index feaae22..b50dd27 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.13.0
+1.13.1
diff --git a/static/index.html b/static/index.html
index ab1f69a..90c2afd 100644
--- a/static/index.html
+++ b/static/index.html
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
   <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no">
   <meta name="color-scheme" content="light dark">
   <meta name="theme-color" content="#2563EB">
-  <meta name="app-version" content="1.13.0">
+  <meta name="app-version" content="1.13.1">
   <link rel="manifest" href="/manifest.webmanifest">
   <link rel="icon" href="/static/icon.svg" type="image/svg+xml">
   <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/static/icon.svg">
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 
   <!-- ── Core styles (local — no CDN dependency for first paint) ────────── -->
   <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/vendor/mdi/materialdesignicons.min.css">
-  <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/style.css?v=1.13.0">
+  <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/style.css?v=1.13.1">
 
 
   <!-- ── Flag icons — non-blocking (loaded async, icons appear after JS) ── -->
@@ -365,7 +365,7 @@ window.toggleNavTree = function(treeId, chevronId) {
 </script>
 
 <!-- loader.js: fetches sections → loads JS modules → removes skeleton -->
-<script src="/static/loader.js?v=1.13.0"></script>
+<script src="/static/loader.js?v=1.13.1"></script>
 
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/static/js/audiobook.js b/static/js/audiobook.js
index 7cc41a6..04775f2 100644
--- a/static/js/audiobook.js
+++ b/static/js/audiobook.js
@@ -1012,6 +1012,68 @@ function highlightText(text, names) {
   return html;
 }
 
+// Small dropdown anchored to the "Recast options" caret next to "View
+// Characters", once a book's already been cast before — offers the existing
+// full recast plus a targeted "recast just these characters" flow.
+function _abOpenRecastCharsMenu(anchorEl, bookTitle, existingChars) {
+  document.querySelectorAll('.ab-recast-menu').forEach(el => el.remove());
+  const menu = document.createElement('div');
+  menu.className = 'ab-recast-menu';
+  menu.innerHTML =
+    '<button type="button" data-action="all"><span class="mdi mdi-refresh"></span> Recast all</button>' +
+    '<button type="button" data-action="selected"><span class="mdi mdi-checkbox-multiple-marked-outline"></span> Recast selected…</button>';
+  document.body.appendChild(menu);
+  const rect = anchorEl.getBoundingClientRect();
+  menu.style.top = (rect.bottom + 4) + 'px';
+  menu.style.left = Math.max(10, rect.right - 190) + 'px';
+  const close = () => { menu.remove(); document.removeEventListener('mousedown', onDoc); };
+  const onDoc = (e) => { if (!menu.contains(e.target) && e.target !== anchorEl) close(); };
+  setTimeout(() => document.addEventListener('mousedown', onDoc), 0);
+  menu.querySelector('[data-action="all"]').addEventListener('click', () => {
+    close();
+    if (typeof window.csForReader === 'function') window.csForReader();
+  });
+  menu.querySelector('[data-action="selected"]').addEventListener('click', () => {
+    close();
+    _abOpenRecastSelectPopup(bookTitle, existingChars);
+  });
+}
+
+// Checkbox picker for "recast selected" — re-scans the whole book (extraction
+// is passage-by-passage, so any page could mention any character) but only
+// saves updated sheets for the characters checked here.
+function _abOpenRecastSelectPopup(bookTitle, existingChars) {
+  const ov = document.createElement('div');
+  ov.className = 'audiobook-overlay';
+  ov.innerHTML = '<div class="audiobook-box">'
+    + '<div class="audiobook-title"><span class="mdi mdi-account-details-outline"></span> Recast selected characters</div>'
+    + '<div class="audiobook-msg">Re-scans the whole book, but only refreshes the characters you pick below — everyone else\'s sheet is left as-is.</div>'
+    + '<div class="ab-recast-select-list">'
+    +   existingChars.map(c => '<label><input type="checkbox" class="ab-recast-cb" value="' + escHtml(c.name) + '"> ' + escHtml(c.name) + '</label>').join('')
+    + '</div>'
+    + '<div class="audiobook-actions">'
+    +   '<button class="btn-secondary btn-sm" id="ab-recast-select-all">Select all</button>'
+    +   '<span style="flex:1"></span>'
+    +   '<button class="btn-secondary btn-sm" id="ab-recast-cancel">Cancel</button>'
+    +   '<button class="btn-primary btn-sm" id="ab-recast-confirm">Recast selected</button>'
+    + '</div>'
+    + '</div>';
+  document.body.appendChild(ov);
+  ov.querySelector('#ab-recast-cancel').addEventListener('click', () => ov.remove());
+  ov.querySelector('#ab-recast-select-all').addEventListener('click', (e) => {
+    const boxes = ov.querySelectorAll('.ab-recast-cb');
+    const allChecked = [...boxes].every(b => b.checked);
+    boxes.forEach(b => { b.checked = !allChecked; });
+    e.currentTarget.textContent = allChecked ? 'Select all' : 'Select none';
+  });
+  ov.querySelector('#ab-recast-confirm').addEventListener('click', async () => {
+    const names = [...ov.querySelectorAll('.ab-recast-cb:checked')].map(b => b.value);
+    if (!names.length) { toast('Select at least one character', 'error'); return; }
+    ov.remove();
+    if (typeof window.csForReaderSelective === 'function') await window.csForReaderSelective(names);
+  });
+}
+
 // Live casting view: a scrolling feed of attributed lines + a character roster
 // that fills up as speakers are discovered. Far clearer than a bare bar.
 function audiobookCastView(total, llmUrl, defaultModel, isIdle = false) {
@@ -3105,6 +3167,33 @@ ABSOLUTE REGELN:
         else if (typeof csForReader === 'function') csForReader();
         else toast('Character sheets not loaded yet', 'error');
       });
+      // If this book's already been cast before, "Cast Characters" blindly
+      // re-running the full generation over again isn't the useful default
+      // anymore — offer to jump straight to the existing overview, or recast
+      // just a hand-picked subset, instead of only "do it all again".
+      (async () => {
+        const bookTitle = window.readerState?.title || '';
+        if (!bookTitle || typeof clGetAllByTagOrBook !== 'function') return;
+        let existing = [];
+        try { existing = await clGetAllByTagOrBook(bookTitle); } catch (_) {}
+        if (!existing.length) return;
+        const castBtn = foot.querySelector('#ab-cv-cast-chars');
+        if (!castBtn) return;
+        const wrap = document.createElement('span');
+        wrap.className = 'ab-cv-castchars-group';
+        wrap.innerHTML =
+          '<button class="btn-secondary btn-sm ab-cv-castchars-view" title="Open this book\'s characters in the Library"><span class="mdi mdi-account-box-multiple-outline"></span> View Characters</button>' +
+          '<button class="btn-secondary btn-sm ab-cv-castchars-menu" title="Recast options"><span class="mdi mdi-chevron-down"></span></button>';
+        castBtn.replaceWith(wrap);
+        wrap.querySelector('.ab-cv-castchars-view').addEventListener('click', () => {
+          if (typeof navTo === 'function') navTo('s-library');
+          if (typeof navLibraryView === 'function') navLibraryView('characters');
+        });
+        wrap.querySelector('.ab-cv-castchars-menu').addEventListener('click', (e) => {
+          e.stopPropagation();
+          _abOpenRecastCharsMenu(e.currentTarget, bookTitle, existing);
+        });
+      })();
       panel.classList.add('ab-castpanel-done');
       if (typeof window.setNavCastingBadge === 'function') window.setNavCastingBadge(false);
     },
diff --git a/static/js/character-sheets.js b/static/js/character-sheets.js
index 518e6ef..02c9c50 100644
--- a/static/js/character-sheets.js
+++ b/static/js/character-sheets.js
@@ -778,6 +778,32 @@ async function csForReader() {
   toast(sheets.length + ' character sheets saved — Library → Characters / Cast', 'success');
 }
 
+// Refresh sheet data for a hand-picked subset of an already-cast book's
+// characters, leaving everyone else's saved sheet untouched. Extraction is
+// still passage-by-passage over the whole book (any page might mention any
+// character), so this takes as long as a full recast — it just discards the
+// results for characters the user didn't pick, rather than skipping work.
+async function csForReaderSelective(selectedNames) {
+  const wanted = new Set((selectedNames || []).map(n => String(n).trim().toLowerCase()));
+  if (!wanted.size) { toast('No characters selected', 'error'); return; }
+  const text = csReaderText();
+  const book = readerState.title || 'Untitled book';
+  const knownRoster = csKnownReaderRoster();
+  const sheets = await csGenerate(text, null, knownRoster);
+  if (!sheets) return;
+  const filtered = sheets.filter(s => wanted.has(String(s.name || '').trim().toLowerCase()));
+  if (!filtered.length) { toast('None of the selected characters turned up in this pass — try again or pick different ones', 'error'); return; }
+  const ab = (typeof _audiobook !== 'undefined') ? _audiobook : window._audiobook;
+  if (ab?.roster) {
+    const counts = new Map();
+    ab.roster.forEach(function (info, name) { counts.set(String(name).trim().toLowerCase(), info.count || 0); });
+    csAttachLineCounts(filtered, counts);
+  }
+  await csSaveToLibrary(book, filtered);
+  csGoToLibrary();
+  toast(filtered.length + ' character' + (filtered.length !== 1 ? 's' : '') + ' recast — Library → Characters / Cast', 'success');
+}
+
 async function csForRehearser() {
   const title = $('reh-script-title')?.value.trim() || 'Character sheets';
   const book  = $('reh-script-title')?.value.trim() || 'Untitled script';
@@ -802,6 +828,7 @@ async function csForRehearser() {
 }
 
 window.csForReader     = csForReader;
+window.csForReaderSelective = csForReaderSelective;
 window.csForRehearser  = csForRehearser;
 $('reader-charsheets-btn')?.addEventListener('click', csForReader);
 $('reh-charsheets-btn')?.addEventListener('click', csForRehearser);
diff --git a/static/style.css b/static/style.css
index 0984d22..478893e 100644
--- a/static/style.css
+++ b/static/style.css
@@ -5616,6 +5616,24 @@ code { background: var(--panel); border-radius: 4px; padding: 1px 5px; font-fami
 .audiobook-msg { color: var(--subtext); font-size: 13px; margin: 10px 0 12px; }
 .audiobook-box .reader-synth-track { width: 100%; }
 .audiobook-actions { margin-top: 14px; text-align: right; display: flex; gap: 8px; justify-content: flex-end; }
+/* "View Characters ▾" split button + its recast dropdown, shown once a book
+   already has cast characters instead of a single blind "Cast Characters". */
+.ab-cv-castchars-group { display: inline-flex; margin-right: 8px; }
+.ab-cv-castchars-group .ab-cv-castchars-view { border-radius: 6px 0 0 6px; }
+.ab-cv-castchars-group .ab-cv-castchars-menu { border-radius: 0 6px 6px 0; border-left: 0; padding: 0 8px; }
+.ab-recast-menu {
+  position: fixed; z-index: 2001; background: var(--surface); border: 1px solid var(--border);
+  border-radius: 8px; box-shadow: 0 10px 25px rgba(0,0,0,.3); padding: 4px; min-width: 180px;
+  display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 1px;
+}
+.ab-recast-menu button {
+  display: flex; align-items: center; gap: 8px; padding: 7px 10px; font-size: 12.5px;
+  border: none; background: none; color: var(--text); border-radius: 5px; cursor: pointer; text-align: left;
+}
+.ab-recast-menu button:hover { background: var(--panel); }
+.ab-recast-select-list { max-height: 280px; overflow-y: auto; margin: 10px 0; text-align: left; border: 1px solid var(--border); border-radius: 6px; padding: 4px; }
+.ab-recast-select-list label { display: flex; align-items: center; gap: 8px; padding: 5px 6px; cursor: pointer; font-size: 13px; border-radius: 4px; }
+.ab-recast-select-list label:hover { background: var(--panel); }
 .audiobook-count { font-weight: 500; font-size: 12px; color: var(--subtext); margin-left: auto; }
 .audiobook-preview-box { width: min(760px, 94vw); }
 .audiobook-preview-box .audiobook-title { flex-wrap: wrap; }