Joe Abercrombie

Last Argument Of Kings

Sunny

This series, this book in particular is so wonderfully crafted but it also ruined my life and destroyed all my emotions :^)

Michael Springer

Because, even after the first two volumes, every character will STILL surprise you. Because Glokta is the best fantasy character I've found since Tyrion Lannister. Because Logen is a mushroom-cloud-laying motherfucker. Because you should've seen it coming but you didn't. You really didn't. 

Because even "gritty" fantasy writers are usually afraid to go this far against expectations. Because you will laugh. You will get angry. Because you will hate the ending. Because the ending is perfect. Because the last surprise is on the last page. 

Because every combat sequence is spot on. Because every character's actions are spot on. (Despite the fact that we sometimes don't need quite as much explanation as we get.) Because we need more fantasy authors willing to give people like Terry Brooks, Margaret Weiss, Tracy Hickman and Robert Jordan a really good wedgie. (Giving dead people wedgies might be in bad taste, but it's occasionally necessary.)

Because worlds with swords and sorcerers are boring when they're perfect. Because people are boring when they're perfect. Because perfect things are boring. Because this series is totally not boring. Because in some ways Abercrombie's series works better than A Song of Ice and Fire (in some ways, just some, not all of them, please put down those rocks).

Because it's time to read something entirely made out of awesome. Because this is it. Because. Just because.

Prashanth Srivatsa

That's that with the First Law Trilogy. Can't say I enjoyed it thoroughly, but can't say there won't be parts and characters I will miss reading about through the night. Fantasy does that to you, I guess. But Joe has his style, like it or otherwise; and he sticks to it right till the end, ending it Jason Bourne style, dodging dangerous cliches and plot holes with an over abundance of action that could very well make Michael Bay wet in his bed. Things are still hanging in the balance, even after the last page is turned, and I might just give the standalone novels a try to see if the world gets any more bigger and interesting.
Read it if you like fantasy. For the rest, you aren't really missing much.

andrea

in my opinion this was the best book of the trilogy. it. was. so. good. fast-paced and engaging, the tension and surprises and twists last until the very last page, there was conflict after conflict. it was like watching every little piece of a chess game fall into place, revealing the hidden truths and the big reveal that has been developing since the beginning. 

i didn't think i was very much invested in the first law until now. yes, i've enjoyed every book (if i didn't i wouldn't have continued with it after the first one). even if they didn't change my life i had fun, and i liked the characters and the overall concept of the series. but this one sealed the deal for me and now i find myself being forced to read the other 7 books of the first law world. one step at a time, that is.

there truly are no happy endings for any of the characters and honestly i expected no less. some got what they deserved and some didn't... but what any of the main characters 'deserve' is a complex topic itself. i have to admit that i grew attached to logen, glokta and jezal. how did this man convince me to love terrible characters, some of them objectively evil people, is something i don't understand but i won't question it anymore. to be honest, it's my own fault. the characters are never painted as simply good or bad, nor the author tells you who to love and who to hate because it isn't that simple. yes they're awful people, full of flaws, making questionable actions and driven by their even more questionable morals. yes, i love them. yes, i will be reading every single first law book.

The final novel in the First Law Trilogy by New York Times bestseller Joe Abercrombie. Logen Ninefingers might only have one more fight in him -- but it's going to be a big one. Battle rages across the North, the king of the Northmen still stands firm, and there's only one man who can stop him. His oldest friend, and his oldest enemy: it's time for the Bloody-Nine to come home. With too many masters and too little time, Superior Glokta is fighting a different kind of war. A secret struggle in which no one is safe, and no one can be trusted. As his days with a sword are far behind him, it's fortunate that he's deadly with his remaining weapons: blackmail, threats, and torture. Jezal dan Luthar has decided that winning glory is too painful an undertaking and turned his back on soldiering for a simple life with the woman he loves. But love can be painful too -- and glory has a nasty habit of creeping up on a man when he least expects it. The king of the Union lies on his deathbed, the peasants revolt, and the nobles scramble to steal his crown. No one believes that the shadow of war is about to fall across the heart of the Union. Only the First of the Magi can save the world, but there are risks. There is no risk more terrible, than to break the First Law. . .

Last Argument of Kings

Sally Salinas

I don't know about this one! Loved the series, however if your looking for a pleasant or happy ending this is not the book! All of the main characters ended with lives somewhat miserable. This series had you rooting for people then they turned into jerks then your rooting for them again. Roller Coaster! The biggest jerk was the wizard/magi Bayaz, man he really screwed everyone and was not even remorseful!!! Uggggh. Poor Jazeal, Ferro and Ninefingers. I really wanted them to end up one big happy family, well that didn't happen. Despite all this I enjoyed the story, I wish it had a couple of more chapters, did not like the way it ended.

"You have to be realistic about these things."

Anastasia 

A fantastic close to the first law trilogy. This is easily Abercrombie's strongest book in the trilogy...his prose is so so good here. The pacing is a lot better compared to the previous installment as well

Things I Extremely enjoyed: 

San Dan Glokta remains the first in the first law for me and I have enjoyed his role in the progression of the story so far, his witty comments, his inner thoughts, his intelligence in state affairs and to an extent his interrogations 

As for Bayaz and Jezal Dan Luther....I didn't really care much about their stories until late in the second book and I have to admit both of them really lifted the final book which was absolutely entertaining in every way 

Things I didn't like :

Logen ninefingers end to the story was bittersweet for me ...I mean he defeated bethod and gave the northmen hope again for a better ruler what I didn't like was the coup at the end ..I felt that Logen finally overcame his need for senseless killing ..he joined a worthy cause with Bayaz in the previous book and joined forces with the union to defeat the gurkish...I felt he deserved the benefit of the doubt from his closest warriors but they all felt he was the same man from his time with Bethod and I won't lie that really HURT ...I know he survived that fall but seeing him go back to nothing ??...it wasn't a good ending imo ...everyone else got their redemption and upliftment except him and I will never be okay with that 

Secondly Ferro: I felt she surffered the most of the company that set out to the edge of the whatever...Bayaz used her and didn't care about her in the end and tbh I didn't like that she didn't have a definite end as well 

Still a very good wrap to the trilogy ...would definitely recommend this

Celeste Richardson

You can find this review and more at Novel Notions. 

I’ve read some dark stuff in my life, but I believe that Last Argument of Kings is the bleakest, most brutal book I’ve read, ever. Joe Abercrombie undoubtedly earned his title as the King of Grimdark. If it wasn’t for the humor Abercrombie had been deftly layering into the story since The Blade Itself, I don’t know that I could’ve finished this final installment. I joked with my fellow Novel Notions bloggers that I felt like I needed to bathe in kittens and rainbows when I read the last pages, and that honestly wasn’t far from the truth. I started half a dozen or more books in the aftermath of this book, only to put them down again because they weren’t bright enough. I finally settled on rereading a Nora Roberts trilogy that I’ve read over and over since my teenage years. Nora’s charming descriptions of Ireland could not be further removed from the Union and the North and Gurkhul as Abercrombie detailed them.
“I have learned all kinds of things from my many mistakes. The one thing I never learn is to stop making them.” 
If Before They Are Hanged was a study in character development, in how people can grow dramatically in the face of adversity, Last Argument of Kings was a demonstration of how quickly those developments can be thrown by the wayside and how easily characters can slip back into old habits. People who had genuinely changed found that those changes weren’t strongly rooted enough to sustain. It felt like the plot was propelled almost entirely by one betrayal after another. I didn’t expect a happy ending, I really didn’t. I mean, you have to be realistic about these things, after all. But I didn’t expect to hate nearly everything about the ending, either. A scant few characters found themselves in a decent place as the book drew to a close, and even those endings were heavily tempered with disappointment.
“If you want to be a new man you have to stay in new places, and do new things, with people who never knew you before. If you go back to the same old ways, what else can you be but the same old person? 
Abercrombie also succeeded in crafting perhaps the single evilest character I’ve ever experienced.  The full extent of said evil was shocking to me, as it was in no way apparent when the character was first introduced. Their callousness in regards to the value of human life was appalling, though it’s a trait that I should’ve anticipated as I look back. Even though I was shocked by this revelation, I had to respect how elaborate and well executed their plan was. There was one character who managed to surprise me with their decency, but I’ll refrain from naming them.
“People would far rather be handed an easy lie than search for a difficult truth, especially if it suits their own purposes.” 
There were a couple of chapters that, though blood soaked, exhibited some amazing technique from the author. A duel scene, which is possibly the best such scene I’ve ever read, managed to be horrifying in content and almost breathtakingly beautiful at the same time. The language used was incredibly impressive and demonstrated that Abercrombie is not only a gifted storyteller, but a phenomenal craftsman. I was also highly impressed with a chapter entitled “Sacrifices.” Almost every perspective character was present in this single chapter, and Abercrombie made an artistic decision that I found delightful. Whatever line ended one perspective was also the opening line of the next perspective. It was a fun and thoughtful addition that I appreciated immensely.
“Rules are for children. This is war, and in war the only crime is to lose.” 
While this book was painful to read, I have incredible respect for what Abercrombie managed to do in the First Law trilogy. It might’ve been brutal, but it was engaging and suspenseful and, even when I was disappointed in the characters’ decisions, I still cared about them. That’s a difficult balance to strike, and Abercrombie did it was great finesse. There were also an impressive amount of surprises, though few of them were happy. I’ve heard that his standalone novels set in the same world aren’t quite as bleak. I very much look forward to reading these, though I’ll be giving myself a breather before approaching them. 
“Round and round in circles we go, clutching at successes we never grasp, endlessly tripping over the same old failures. Truly, life is the misery we endure between disappointments.” 
Oddly enough, I believe that the First Law trilogy is now among my favorite fantasy series I’ve read. But, unlike others in this category, I’m not sure it’s a trilogy I’ll be rereading, as most of the other series among my favorites have been or will be. I loved the characters and would definitely like to revisit them, but I don’t know if this last book in particular is one I could stomach a second time. While Last Argument of Kings was written and executed brilliantly, the difficulty I had in reading it kept me from giving it the full 5 stars I know it deserves. If you consider yourself a fan of the grimdark subgenre but have somehow never read this trilogy, that’s an oversight that undoubtedly needs to be remedied. But if you struggle with darker fiction, you might want to steer clear of the First Law. You’ve been warned.

Kayla Smith

That ending was so satisfying but I have to admit I missed the lack of plot. This installment had too many scenes of fighting and war for my own personal taste and enjoyment. Still a new favorite series overall, though.

Deborah Kerr

What an absolutely stunning conclusion to my new favorite series.

I thought I wasn't going to enjoy the fact out of all of these characters, not a single one of them is *wonderful and good*. Because let's be honest, even if you love them, you wouldn't actually like them in real life. The brilliance of Abercrombie is the fact that he doesn't shy from the realism in his fantasy; the good moments are only good because the bad moments are so damn bad.

... I don't care how terrible this makes me--I'd still die for Logen Ninefingers.

Ben Nathan

Wonderful ending to a really well done high fantasy trilogy. Every character is flawed. The ones I used to hate, I kind of love and the ones I used to love, I kind of hate. Definitely going to read the one off books from him.

Last Argument Of Kings

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