Last Argument Of Kings

The only difference between war and murder is the number of dead.

The First Law concludes with a grim and dark finish. There is no cheerful and happy ending here. The characters don't retire atop a gilded hall and reminisce fondly on their times together and that makes this story fantastic.

You could argue that no one had a happy ending, expect for some of the most despicable characters. This series is such a departure from standard fantasy stories that the fact Abercrombie doesn't write that expected ending is almost as shocking as how the story plays out.

We all got our reasons. Good men and bad men. It's all a matter of where you stand.

The series walks a fine line between good and bad, and that continues in Last Argument of Kings. If you have made it this far in the series then you know how Abercrombie writes and you get all of that and more in this final story.

The hardships of war continue, the innocent lives lost in the process are numerous and unnecessary. This weighs on the conscience for some of the characters...some, but not all. It's because of that what makes this story fun to read. Characters have bonded together, evolved and sometimes shown sights of maturity, but they still behave as you expect them to.

The con will lie, the brute will seek violence and others will be manipulated to serve a greater purpose. The lack of a surprising character development keeps the story faithful and such a pleasure to read.

Do you know what's worse than a villain? A villain who thinks he's a hero.

That one quote summarizes the entire series. The line between hero and villain is fine and can be a simple matter of perspective. This is a dark, gritty and sometimes surprisingly violent story, but for any fan of fantasy I think The First Law is a must read.

I highlighted so many passages in the book that relate to the story and series as a whole that I couldn't part with them not being in the review so here are the other items I highlighted while reading this book.

People would far rather be handed an easy lie than search for a difficult truth, especially if it suits their own purposes.

He was gradually starting to realize that the more powerful a man became, the fewer choices he really had.

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? You have to be realistic.

Everything beautiful has a dark side, and some of us must dwell there, so that others can laugh in the light.

Well, everyone lies. The differences between a hero and a villain is whether anyone believes him.

Well, enjoyed it thoroughly until every thing unraveled. and suddenly everything I thought I saw, but talked myself out of, was laid bare before me as truth. and here I am holding this book and wondering why I'm not more upset. because, by all accounts, I should be upset. I watched characters I spent three books learning to love and laugh with get kicked in the dangly fruits and left to cry about it. figuratively. I might have liked the ending better if that had actually happened. But, as the conclusion to a large arcing theme, the ending is perfect. And I really should have known.

Also, how is Sand dan fucking Glokta the only one with a satisfactory ending? besides Bayaz of course. damn Magi.

but, this is no reflection on Abercrombie's writing. The man has a talent for bluntness that verges on poetry. and his ability to narrate in third person, but through any of his character's various lenses is downright enviable.

I still recommend the series, and look forward to reading future works from Joe Abercrombie.

Disappointing.

I read all three books back to back. Credit is due for the characterisations throughout the novels, with flawed characters and gray morality throughout. Gone is the normal good versus evil nonsense seen throughout most books. The end to the series is original for the genre, entertaining and well planned.

Unfortunately the journey to that end was the disappointing part, In retrospect much of the story feels like padding, and didn't really move the story towards its conclusion. So many of the sub-plots in the end seemed totally pointless, with whole huge sections of the plot coming full circle and to no conclusion. A deus-ex-machina moment in the final 1/3 of the final volume instead brought the plot together. Although many of the subplots were probably designed to draw the reader through the rich world, sadly the unsatisfactory conclusions to most of these sub-plots undermined the whole effort.

Add to that some rather overlong and over-detailed battle and fight descriptions, and frankly almost the entirety of the tedious chapters involving the northmen and so much of what could have been a great series of books was undermined. The "shades of gray" characters themselves even became less of a draw as no sympathy was left for any character by the end of the long journey, with the possible exception of one.

To my mind the series was 1 book too long, with one too many "defeat snatched from the jaws of victory" moments that instead of being an enjoyable read and being able to savour an original ending, it felt more like an unsatisfactory slog with a bunch of characters I'm glad to see the back of. It's an ok book, but a disappoint ending to a series which started with such promise. I would read an individual Abercrombie book again, but could never commit to any new series.