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Last Argument Of Kings Gollancz Joe Abercrombie 9780575077904 Books

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Last Argument Of Kings Gollancz Joe Abercrombie 9780575077904 Books

Spoiler Alert: Every book in this series was a 5-star winner ... until the end. Abercrombie's characters come through the pages as fully human, with virtues and weaknesses, regrets and joys, and I could fully relate to their struggles and dreams. I could even sympathize with the twisted torturer, despite his horrible actions. This was a great, rollicking ride ... right up until the end of the trilogy. Abercrombie seemed to ask himself the question: "What would be the most totally dissatisfying ending I could write? How can I leave a bunch of dangling storylines and maybe set up a second trilogy?" Once he had the answer to those questions, that's what he did.


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Last Argument Of Kings Gollancz Joe Abercrombie 9780575077904 Books Reviews

I’ve been marathoning my way through the First Law trilogy now for a while, and with each new chapter, falling more and more under Joe Abercrombie’s spell. And yet, I couldn’t have been more wrong in some of my comments that I made about the first and second books in the series. Not in their quality, and not in their strengths – the rich character building, the black sense of humor, the complex plotting. No, what I misjudged – and what punched me in the gut as Last Argument of Kings finished – was its sense of hope. Because while I thought that Abercrombie was presenting deeply flawed characters who were doing their best to be good people, and that those good people might be capable of redemption, it turned out he had a whole secondary game waiting for me in the shadows – one that left me pretty stunned by the end of the series.

In most ways, though, Last Argument of Kings continues the threads we’ve seen for the other books. The wars we’ve been setting up on both sides of the Aduan kingdom – that with Bethod to the north and the Gurkish to the south – finally break loose, in all of their horrific violence and cost. And as those wars play out, our various “heroes” (put in quotes because, as anyone who’s read these books knows, calling any of these men pure heroes is a stretch of the imagination) find themselves in positions of surprising power over the events unfolding. Logen Ninefingers – a.k.a., the “Bloody Nine” – reunites with his old group of men, and does his best to turn the tide in the North, while continuing his internal debate of whether he could ever undo the damage he’s done in his old life. Sand dan Glokta – cripple, torturer, cynic – finds himself torn between two very demanding masters, and with the power to quite possibly save the kingdom – or maybe destroy it. And Jezal dan Luthar finally realizes exactly why Bayuz, the First of the Magi, has been following him around for so long.

More than anything else, though, this is the book where we finally see Abercrombie’s full design, and just how elegantly he’s been putting all of this together. I’ve commented about the previous books that one of their joys is the sense that we’re not quite sure what the endgame is – just what, exactly, is the common thread of this trilogy? By the time Last Argument of Kings ends, you’ll realize exactly what’s going on, and see that what we’ve been watching play out has been far more controlled, manipulated, and shaped than what we expected. And our assumptions about our characters are going to take some serious blows.

What Abercrombie seems to be fascinated by, overall, is the blurred line between good and evil, and that’s something that gives the ending its brutal punch. Characters we like, and even admire, turn out to be something less than heroic. Cowardice turns out to have its benefits. The cruelest, in some ways, show themselves to be capable of the greatest kindnesses. And more than anything, the question of power and survival hang over everything. Exactly how far should we be willing to go in order to survive and succeed?

These are thorny questions, and Abercrombie doesn’t give us easy answers. Nor does he make the book an easy read, as he displays a Martin-like willingness to butcher and maim characters, to turn them on their heads, and make us question their motives. It’s a bravura performance by Abercrombie, and while the end can be a painful, heartbreaking read at points – one character’s fate, in particular, is truly awful in ways that I never dreamed of – I’m also floored by what he accomplished here. Each character developed, changed, evolved, and shaped over the course of the series in incredible ways, giving you a complexity and depth that many authors just dream of, and setting up moral shades of gray without ever betraying our assumptions. More than that, by the time you finish Last Argument of Kings, it becomes evident just what a grand scope Abercrombie was working on, and just how intricately structured the entire series has been from the beginning.

In short, it’s a fantasy trilogy that I absolutely loved. It’s darkly funny, shockingly violent, richly written, beautifully rendered, thoughtfully constructed, and brilliant. And I’m thrilled that there’s more stand-alone books to come – I don’t plan on waiting long to jump into them. If you like George R.R. Martin and haven’t read these, you’re missing out, plain and simple.
In regards to the conclusion of the the dramatic journey for many characters in this series, a more apt or succinct summation cannot be written. It seems that, for Abercrombie, dark fantasy is not limited to the nature or source of events happening in his world. As rotten and ready to fall as his world has become, many of the characters that make up his world must be every bit as sordid and impure. It's part realism with a touch of caricature and a generous dollop of artistic license. It also works beautifully.

The rising action begins about a third of the way through and never really tapers off. Battles, duels and remarkable events eventually wrap up, but dramatic tension persists until the very last page. Regardless of how you feel about the characters and the specific endings they achieve, there can be no arguing that each character arc is suitably finished. Not all survive. Some are rewarded. Some are punished. Others merely go on. What made the book so eminently enjoyable was the fact that it didn't end with the last big battle or combat sequence. Instead, a non-trivial portion of the book is spent detailing the aftermath of the world-changing events (arguably considered the 'climax' of the main story). This post-mortem examination of the world and it's impact on the remaining characters was entirely welcome and most refreshing.

TLDR Normally, a 600+ page book would take me 10 or 12 days to read. I finished this one in 4. Two thumbs up, all day long.

“First it is done to us, then we do it to others, then we order it done. Such is the way of things.”

“Banks,” grunted Marovia. “They are made of air. They spin money out of guesses, and lies, and promises. Secrets are their currency, even more than gold.”

“I did a good thing, and so, of course, there is a price to be paid.”

“It can be a fearsome weapon, patience. One that few men ever learn to use.”

“Cleverness is no guarantee of sensible behavior.”
Another average fantasy book that probably sold a ton. It seems like Abercrombie went to the Stephen King school of writing fantasy, making it all up as you go and having pretty absurd plot lines that don't mesh well into . There is a lot in the book, and the series, to talk up as some really good writing. However, the prose and character attitudes get beyond stale after reading several books about them. Glotka is a cripple and is in pain, did he mention that? Logen may be a hero or a devil, did he mention that? Ferro is after vengeance and looms in the background, did he mention that?

An even bigger problem is the ongoing "GrimDark" getting grimmer and darker theme, the main them I seem to have taken from the books. Over 300 limbs cut off, 40 heads cut off and the fantasy equivelant of the Saw movie series later, you just get the sense that it all was much about nothing.

Which ends up being the summary in the last pages of the book, the lack of a conclusion in a trilogy (which seems to me to be pretty important). You are basically given an ending to set up more books set in the world, like it was all just a soap opera or a video game with upcoming DLC and a season pass.
Spoiler Alert Every book in this series was a 5-star winner ... until the end. Abercrombie's characters come through the pages as fully human, with virtues and weaknesses, regrets and joys, and I could fully relate to their struggles and dreams. I could even sympathize with the twisted torturer, despite his horrible actions. This was a great, rollicking ride ... right up until the end of the trilogy. Abercrombie seemed to ask himself the question "What would be the most totally dissatisfying ending I could write? How can I leave a bunch of dangling storylines and maybe set up a second trilogy?" Once he had the answer to those questions, that's what he did.