Last Argument of Kings (The First Law Trilogy)

The first 2 books were good. Seeing the different characters develop was the main thing that kept the series going for me (other than the obvious, 'gee this person changed dramatically after it was mentioned some people can change the way they look. Wonder what happened?). Then he throws all that development away and decides to make 2d bullsh*t characters because reasons. Every 'twist' was super predictable and most seemed forced. The bad guys were essentially paper cutout muguffins to make the characters have something to do.

I expected some closure of this tale in this last book of the trilogy, but alas, that was not to be and I was left hanging. Seldom have I read a book with so many deeply flawed and angry people, endless war scenes and trauma, both physical and emotional to the point where it is overdone. And from his character development I don't think the author likes women very much.

As an avid book collector I was pleased with the condition the book came in. Sometimes when ordering books from online stores pages or covers get creased during transit but not in the stores case. The books always come in pristine condition. This series had its up and downs with me. Without giving away any plot points these novels had a lot of twists and turns that kept me reading for more. Overall a good read if you havent read any of joe abercrombies works.

Excellent ending to an amazing series. Ending was satisfying and appropriate.

If you are not committed to embarking on a 3-book series, then start with 'The Heroes' as I did. It is slightly out of order, but it doesn't matter.

I read the reviews before I grabbed these books, and that's why I'm writing one now: the other reviews are WRONG. This is really a *insert expletive* series. People are often bothered whenever an author makes every chancy situation turn out for the good, but it's honestly just as annoying when he/she makes every single situation that could possibly be upsetting and bad happen in the worst possible way. There's nothing uplifting about these books. There's no enriching theme. There's no character you can honestly like. I don't mind an author who includes cynical characters, but this author is honestly just an *other expletive.* I finished the books because the reviews had me believing that at some point things would turn around and get better - all the bs would finally be worth the end result. Well, I finished them and I am truly upset. That was such a waste of my time and money. There are countless people who make bad decisions and who's lives have zero purpose...please stop writing stories that might make them believe their wasted lives are novel-worthy.

A good overall story but I really didn't like the ending personally, made most of the rest of it seem like a big sort of let down. If another book comes along and puts a better end to it then I might change my opinion.

The third book here is so, so, so good. You won't regret buying it.

Logen, Glokta, Jezal and the rest of the gang are all in the book, and you won't want to miss a second of this epic storytelling by Joe Abercrombie.

(Don't have your children read this series, btw. Or your children that don't like reading and do #LOLOLOL all the time, we don't need them.)

I'm not sure what book the editorial reviewer was reading but it wasn't this. I agree that the battles were very well written but summing up plot lines? Some sub plots have the abyss ending where the plot just falls into nothingness begging the question why set it up in the first place? Others have what I like to call a "Blair Witch Project" ending where there is a final ambigious sceene that you have to draw your own conclusion to. Look I'm reading books so that an author can take me through a world of their creation if I wanted to do it myself I'd write my own book. Its kinda like a choose your own adventure book that tell you to turn to page 38 when the book ends with page 35.

Holy balls, what did I just do I wish to God I could get my money back. I pushed through these three books. He is telling the story of s*** That does not matter at all in the real story that would be cool and interesting to write about he doesn't talk about magic is only used maybe 30 whole pages of the book . It just makes me sad that he can become a professional author with this wasted time story

What can I say - Joe Abercrombie is a good author, who wrote a very well plotted, well characterized trilogy of low fantasy. Yet readers like me, who enjoy characters who we can cheer for, will not find this book a treat. By the end of the third book, nearly all of the major characters are revealed in turn as cowards, amoral tyrants , psychopathic murderers or self-loathing monsters. A phrase "banality of evil" came to mind many a time as I was finishing the third volume. As I read on, I found less and less to enjoy in spectacle of characters with some pretensions to goodness or morality being ground down and destroyed in turn, so much so that the last 50 pages I ended up mostly scanning. All in all, I find that the third book has spoiled whatever enjoyment I had from the other two.

I read the first book of this series and thought it was all right so I bought the next two. That was a mistake. The books are endless torture and endless wars and endless self pitying. I got so irritated with Glotka that I wished he would jump off a bridge and get rid of his aches and pains. The only character I liked was Col. West. I did not understand the reason for Bayaz's journey north; there was nothing there and it seemed like a pointless part of the story.

I will take a very good look before I read any more of this author's works.

When you come away from a book feeling disappointed in pretty much every character - minor and major alike, and outright wishing death upon several of them, it's hard not to feel disappointed in the book itself.

It left me wondering whether good writing was enough, or if something actually has to happen in the story itself. Ultimately, nothing changed for any of the characters. If you want to know what they are like at the end of book 3, look no further than the first half of book 1. We're left with the same characters doing the same things, just to different people.

The perverse cynicism is so unrealistic and forced that I felt a near-overwhelming compulsion to fly to the U.K., have beautiful women drag Mr. Abercrombie to a pretty garden with singing birds and bright sunlight, and force him to take antidepressants until he breaks down under the torture and lets himself smile for a moment.

**** Spoilers ****

Glokta's ending was probably the best of the bunch, but still disappointing. He ends up in the same profession, doing things that he hates for a master that he hates for reasons that he hates, and gets to babysit someone he hates for added... err, hate.

Ferro becomes an extra superhuman woman bent on vengeance. That's different because she started out as just a superhuman (notice the missing 'extra') woman bent on vengeance.

Logen kills one too many of his own friends, flip-flops between being sure he can be good and sure he can't, and really doesn't do much more than spectate. Even in his big fight, West and friends win the battle for him. He's just a leaf swept along by the wind, and I can look out my window to see that. The character didn't even contribute many hilarious observations like in past books.

Jezal. Bah, where to start? The "noble with redeemable value" turns out to have none.

Bayaz ends up being every bit the bastard I suspected he was. Every "villain" in the series has the moral high ground over Bayaz, and this is the guy who ends up getting everything he wants.

If there is a message or theme to this series, it's this: only bastards accomplish anything, no one can better themselves, you only hurt yourself when you do good things, and everything you love is a lie.

Take Glokta and his relationship with his Practicals. He was good to them, every one. There seemed to be mutual respect and affection. So, of course, Frost betrays him for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Severard, who had plenty of money to buy a home, somehow gets himself in debt while he's at sea (how is that even possible?) and decides that the best course of action is to betray his greatest and steadiest source of cash. Vitari just glares at everyone a few times and leaves. Joy?

West is another example. Possibly the only character who changed at all in the series. He rescues a woman from a lifetime of cruelty, forced labor, and later from rape, and is rewarded with her choosing another man and then promptly dying. He finds his courage, leads armies, and ends up having an entire building fall on him. Abercrombie goes so far as to tease us with the possibility that West might *only* end up with serious, life-altering injuries and psychological trauma. For an entire page or so, it is suggested that he might mend his relationship with his sister and start a romance with a pretty girl, but HA... don't be silly, he ends up suffering an agonizing death as his entire body literally falls apart.

Good lord, enough is enough. The cynicism is outright forced on readers from every single direction the author can think of, whether it makes sense or not.

I understand the concept of questionable pasts, character flaws, all that. But I think you need to look towards Jaime and Tyrion from the Song of Ice and Fire series to see how it should be done. Those two can both be ruthless, conniving bastards, and have serious character flaws, but there's still *something* there which lets you understand and/or cheer for them. And they change. For both better and worse, they change.

Ultimately, memorable characters or not, nothing happened in this series. Glokta is still doing terrible things he has no interest in doing for masters who don't tell him why. Jezal is still a naive coward. Ferro is still all about vengeance. Logen is still the Bloody Nine. And in case the author doesn't make it painfully clear, you can't change either.

I'm seriously disappointed with the author about the way he decided to finish this trilogy, that is more than 1500 pages long; once I finished that, I realized that all this trouble was totally for nothing, or to be precise, to have the same ending of "The strand" by Stephen King, that was by far a better book. I will never understand why people love Abercrombie's books so much, when for me are just a never ending problem.

Sono veramente delusa dal modo in cui l'autore ha deciso di finire questa trilogia, che é lunga piú di 1500 pagine; dopo tutta questa fatica ho un libro che finisce come "L'ombra dello scorpione" di Stephen King ed é decisamente molto piú brutto....La ragione per cui tanta gente ama Abercrombie non mi sará mai chiara, questo ormai é per me definitivo.

A complete grouping of anti-heroes that attach to you from the first of the trilogy, not letting go, even as the last page is turned. I can't remember a good guy; some trying their hardest, but eventually the reality of the world catches up, and pulls them down. As a listener, I spent all three books questioning just who was right and who was wrong, who was good , who was evil, as every character seemed to change as the story progressed. In conclusion, it turns out not a one of them can be labeled, in any one way. The ending left me somewhat hollow and completely awed, as the characters linger in my mind.
Steven Pacey has to be one of the best narrators I've ever listened to, his portrayal of Glokta alone deserves an award, let alone the excellence of the remaining cast. I will definitely listen to the other " First Law" books that came after this one, just to hear more from Pacey. Hopefully those books will tie up some remaining threads left behind from Last Argument, cause like Glokta, I still have a few questions.

NOTE: I don't mind a bleak ending, or a "not all butterflies and sunshine ending" I actually prefer those, in many ways. That wasn't my issue with the series.

My issue with this series is that you barely know the villains, and you barely know the history of the characters and the book narrates that as the story progresses, but in a way that it seems to be all thrown in at random.

For example, Gurkul's main villain is only vaguely mentioned throughout the book. He and his Eaters enter the story randomly, and very little detail is given in this book or the first 2. It makes it hard for you to really care what he's doing. He also doesn't seem that "evil" from a distance, since you don't know anything about his character...The same for Bethod, his sorceress, and sons.

There might as well not even be a villain, for all the lack of care and detail given to their characters. I guess he's trying to imply that the main characters are the bad guys in their own way, by their poor past decisions, but the novelty of that was lost on me by what I felt was very poor story telling.

In book 3 we learn more about Logan's history, but barely anything except his tendency for violence is mentioned in any of the books. Then, we learn that he's part the problem in how Bethod ascended to power, and part of the problem causing the war in the North, but other than Shivers, Dogman, and Grimm you barely get a look at what the North Men think of him (other than fear). And you only get the barest hint of how Bethod was actually trying to help the North, yet blames Logan for all his previous alliances falling through... It just seemed to be thrown in there so randomly. So you have hundreds of men fighting to be free from a man for almost no reason-- except trying to feed his people, when they should be upset at Logan? It just makes no sense and seemed so haphazardly put together. The Shankar and the Sorceress enter at random too, and are never fully explained other than that they're creatures that eat people. Who cares where the sorceress came through, not like he tried to make her a central villain. And why were all these people, creatures, and people of old (The Feared) allied with Bethod, anyway? That's also never touched on.

Bayaz is also an annoying enigma. I get that he's the reason and cause for many ills in the series, but think's his way is the right way... But many of his actions and behaviors also seem haphazardly thrown together, as well as his interactions.

My only other issue is that his female characters are also VERY one dimensional.

Pros:
- At least he writes all strong female characters in personality, who at least have some realism to their design.
- I did like that every character was a very realistic "gray" character. They were human, in that they had both very bad and good things about them. You will even find yourself liking Glokta, despite his actions towards others that are undeserving. I liked that.
- The writing is good.

The series was hardly worth reading in comparison to other good fantasy, and dark/realistic fantasy for the plot and developmental failures, in my opinion. I probably would have spent my time on a better series if I'd had the foresight.

The first two books of the trilogy were very good. This last book is a joke on the consumer. I won't do a spoiler article but I will say that nobody could even begin to guess this... this....whatever it is. There is no "end". It just carries on and you must wait till the next book to see what happens. There is no next book!! This was the last book. It's like Abercrombie wrote an ongoing series and changed his mind and said "Oh I can't be bothered, I'll say it's a trilogy and cut it here". I spent all this money on three books and feel disgusted. My advice is don't buy any of these books because you'll feel taken.
This author goes on the ignore list.

It's difficult to not spoil anything. The problem with this book is not the grim dark ending, the main characters who are the real villains. That's fine I get it. The problem is that nothing really happens. The characters do some stuff, die, then wind up like they were before. Not better or worse than before, just boring. Overall I can see Abercrombie just barely starting to set up his world. Let's hope that the future trilogy gives us some answers on why things are the way they are.
Another major spot of disappointment is that Abercrombie just isn't that great at writing sieges (see David Gemmel for total mastery at sieges). Not a big deal one would think, until you realize the majority of the most important action throughout the series is sieges. There are a lot of them, none of which are particularly memorable throughout the entire series.
I found Abercrombie's overall world mythology began to become a bit repetitive and boring. We see that some of the main characters intentions are decidedly not what they seem, some of the main characters may not be very good people, and yet we are given no real reason why. What's the point of this world, why bother with the world building if you don't relate it at all to the ongoing plot?

**Major spoilers**
The entire plot can be summed up by saying Bayaz runs everything to give himself weapons against the other immortals. Why? We don't know. Just because he's already killed most of them. How pointless.

My thoughts on this series is that it comes across as a bit like Lord of the Rings, but if it were written by George R.R. Martin. The main point of view characters all have their flaws and dark sides and events never seem to go as planned. The characters are compelling, but often not likable. However, I found myself rooting for characters that I normally would despise and then liking that I was rooting for them. I definitely will be moving on to the next trilogy set in the same world and have just started Best Served Cold by Abercrombie.

Say one thing about Joe Abercrombie, say that he's a damn good writer.

I will not read another book by the same author. Don't get me wrong, he is a very good writer. It is clever how he weaved a complex story from multiple threads and view points, and managed to pull out a few shocks, surprises along the way. He developed some of the most unique and intriguing characters that I have read in a long time. But it is this cleverness, at the end, left a horrible after taste in my mind. It is amazing to see how his characters grew out of nothing, into fantastic, and back into nothing again. If none of them actually mattered, none of what they did meant a damn thing, if all they could have strived for was some pathetic existence, then why should they bother to try? And why should I, the reader, care for any of those people living in that pathetic world? No, thank you, real life is depressing enough already.

The writing is superb. At times very funny. No dwelling too much on the past and retelling the same old stuff like some writers would. The on and on retelling of back drop is agonizing. Not with this writer. I appreciated that. Once is enough and the writer does a good job. The first two books keep you wanting mores. The writer does a great job at making you fall in love with the characters even though they commit some of the worst things. He also presents twists and turns which are welcome.

All of that out of the way, the ending was awful. You invest your time into the series, befriending the characters, understanding that not all will be as you wish, but you still expect some type of positive outcome. Redemption maybe. Humanity being rewarded or a hope for humanity. At least one of them? Show some principles, character? Die showing you stand for something above the groveling and subservience?

Based on this series I will not waste my time on the authors other books. Why bother?

5/5 Rating Originally posted at [...]

This last novel was amazing. Flat-out, absolutely amazing. Closing the book, I felt stunned. Speechless. I sat there and reflected on upon our characters. Where they started, and who they are today. Each one of their journeys and stories, in whole scope of things. I now understand why people regard this series so highly.

(See above for summary. Not going to waste time typing that. Have more important things to talk about. It takes off right where we left off anyways.)

This series, and this final novel in particular, left me with one quest: How do I define a character as good or bad? Is it that character's actions, or is it their thoughts that define them? Is it how they see themselves or how they are perceived by their peers? If they do something evil with good intentions, are they still a good guy? Does one moment make up for a life of bad decision? Can one wrong choice really ruin a life? Is there no going back? No changing? No forgiveness? No redemption? In the end though, does it even matter?

The way that Joe wrote the characters in this story was unlike any other I have read. The way he able to change character POV and voice, giving us insight into their thoughts, their inner monologues, how they perceived themselves, other characters, and events around them. Whether I liked them, hated them, could relate to them or not; I felt like I knew each of them. I was able to connect to them on a deeper level and sympathize. That was what made this last novel, and then whole series, so great (On top of all the fighting scenes.)

Speaking of things that made Last Argument of Kings so great - I want to point out two chapters that stood out to me. The first was The Circle. This was a chapter I had been hoping would happen. The title should be pretty obvious what it is about. The second is Sacrifices. A lot does happen here, but there is pretty cool (at least I thought was cool) narrative technique that Joe does. I found it to really help connection switching between all the different events going on.

One of my favorite my moments from this novel had to do with Glotka, when he finally tell us the answer to his ultimate question in life: Why do I do this? The answer fell in so perfectly with everything. I stopped and laughed. It wasn't necessarily funny, but it was - well, of course that was his reason.

The progression of this novel caught me very off guard. It was very intense beginning; lots of action, drama, fighting, and full of emotions. Then as we get towards the end, we built up to that giant, epicly massive, climatic fight at the end of all epic fantasies...! Except, it wasn't really the end... there was still a hundred plus pages to go. I thought the story was done? The battle was finished, and the bad guys defeated. But oh no. Oh no no no. The most important part of the series was just starting.

Those last hundred-ish pages were amazing. They are the conclusion (the wrap-up section, if you will) where all the loose ends are tied together, and the characters each get their final goodbyes. But seeing how those plots connected, how each character's story was influenced (or manipulated) over the series; remembering where they were when they started and what each of them ended up with, at the end; how it ended, and what we learned and now know of the truth -- Those last hundred-ish pages are what made the series.

As I was reading this I kept asking myself why? Why did this to happen to West, Luthar, and Ardee? How come it was Glotka? What about Logen and Ferro, and other Northernmen? What's the deal with Bayaz, Yolwei, and Quai? Then I asked myself: what was the point? This isn't the way a story is supposed to end. But then it hit me. There was no point. There is no need for it to make a point.

This series was very realistic in sense that sometimes life sucks. Sometimes the good guys lose, and the bad guy wins. Sometimes s*** happens, just because. No reason; that's life.

I think Adree summed up things perfectly when she said,
"No on gets what they deserve"

I know I had my issues with the "lack of direction" of plot in the story, but that was me trying to force things. I acknowledged how the great characters where - their development, their arcs, and their plots - but I was looking for the reason of why they were doing everything. There really wasn't one, and took me a while to figure it out, and then accept that the focus of this series, the plot of the story, was the characters.

I HIGHLY recommend this series.

5/5 Rating

First Law Trilogy: 4.5/5 Rating

-DJ

What the hell, Joe Abercrombie? What has gotten into you? I loved the first two volumes so dearly, but this turned everything around. I feel cheated and utterly disillusioned by this last book because it undid everything I loved about the others.

In the first two volumes there was a wide world, a chaotic harsh world where interesting, ambiguous, tainted but humane characters stumbled through, each with their unique thoughts and dreams. I loved that it wasn't so much about the story but about these people who I got to know, their backrounds, their worries and regrets, their hopes and prejudices. It was so great to see them cross each others paths, see them evolve and change by getting to know each other and by the things they lived through. My favorite parts were character moments: the moment when Luthar, humbled by the things that have happened to him, is lying in the cart with his healing injuries, listening to Bayaz' stories, looking over the see. Or the moment where West, after the long exhausting march with the northmen, is going berserk on Bethod's men, all his anger breaking out freely. And the following reaction of the Black Dow. Everything was refreshingly free of a contrived story that used the characters like puppets - no, the characters *themselves* were the stories. And they were all great, tainted but great, each in their own way.

The third volume turned all this around by doing the exact opposite: it wedged this world and the characters into a tight corset by making almost every happening and every action part of a bigger plan, by making the characters captives of a story written by Bayaz, a power-hungry puppet master. Every bit of good gets warped and distorted, there's almost no likeable figure left, all is controlled, broken and ill. WTH, Joe Abercrombie?

That's the major issue I have with this volume, and it practically destroys the first two in retrospect. But there are some other things I criticize as well, because even without this aspect it simply isn't a good read, and I found myself often bored. There are a lot of parts in this book that I find extemely tiresome, either repeated too often or dragged out too long. All the fights, be it big battles or small conflicts, the umptheenth time I have to read about Logen's horrible reputation and his gloomy thoughts on his past and future, the umpteenth time I have to read about Glokta's horrible experiences, his thoughts that never really change. An overkill of repetition, and all the change seems to be of a negative kind.

I feel silly, because I wasted so much affection on this series, and I feel silly because it makes me so angry and sad as
if I lost something extremely precious. Dammit, Joe!

NOTE: I don't mind a bleak ending, or a "not all butterflies and sunshine ending" I actually prefer those, in many ways. That wasn't my issue with the series.

My issue with this series is that you barely know the villains, and you barely know the history of the characters and the book narrates that as the story progresses, but in a way that it seems to be all thrown in at random.

For example, Gurkul's main villain is only vaguely mentioned throughout the book. He and his Eaters enter the story randomly, and very little detail is given in this book or the first 2. It makes it hard for you to really care what he's doing. He also doesn't seem that "evil" from a distance, since you don't know anything about his character...The same for Bethod, his sorceress, and sons.

There might as well not even be a villain, for all the lack of care and detail given to their characters. I guess he's trying to imply that the main characters are the bad guys in their own way, by their poor past decisions, but the novelty of that was lost on me by what I felt was very poor story telling.

In book 3 we learn more about Logan's history, but barely anything except his tendency for violence is mentioned in any of the books. Then, we learn that he's part the problem in how Bethod ascended to power, and part of the problem causing the war in the North, but other than Shivers, Dogman, and Grimm you barely get a look at what the North Men think of him (other than fear). And you only get the barest hint of how Bethod was actually trying to help the North, yet blames Logan for all his previous alliances falling through... It just seemed to be thrown in there so randomly. So you have hundreds of men fighting to be free from a man for almost no reason-- except trying to feed his people, when they should be upset at Logan? It just makes no sense and seemed so haphazardly put together. The Shankar and the Sorceress enter at random too, and are never fully explained other than that they're creatures that eat people. Who cares where the sorceress came through, not like he tried to make her a central villain. And why were all these people, creatures, and people of old (The Feared) allied with Bethod, anyway? That's also never touched on.

Bayaz is also an annoying enigma. I get that he's the reason and cause for many ills in the series, but think's his way is the right way... But many of his actions and behaviors also seem haphazardly thrown together, as well as his interactions.

My only other issue is that his female characters are also VERY one dimensional.

Pros:
- At least he writes all strong female characters in personality, who at least have some realism to their design.
- I did like that every character was a very realistic "gray" character. They were human, in that they had both very bad and good things about them. You will even find yourself liking Glokta, despite his actions towards others that are undeserving. I liked that.
- The writing is good.

The series was hardly worth reading in comparison to other good fantasy, and dark/realistic fantasy for the plot and developmental failures, in my opinion. I probably would have spent my time on a better series if I'd had the foresight.

When your two favorite characters in a book are a master torturer and a warrior who occasionally is filled with so much bloodlust that he forgets who he is and is as likely to kill a friend as much as a foe you really shouldn’t be surprised to have mixed feelings at the end of the series.

But I was surprised. Maybe I’m too used to the series I’m reading ending by tying everything up neatly in a bow and giving out an appropriate number of Happily Ever Afters. I can’t really say that happened. There are some people who got what they deserved, others who got far more than they deserved and even more who did not get what they deserved at all. At the end I wasn’t sure how to feel. This is one of those stories that is going to stick with me and I’ll wonder what the characters went on to do long after the story ended.

I’m going to give Joe Abercrombie some props. He made me love characters that I shouldn’t have liked at all. I mean who loves the torturer in a story, but Glotka is one of my all-time favorite Anti-Heroes. I also adore Logan who sometimes goes on killing sprees and might kill his most trusted ally, still Logen Nine-fingers really made this story for me.

Say one thing for Joe Abercrombie, say he is never boring. I flew through the last half of this book needing to know what was going to happen. I was surprised by revelations that just kept coming. There was one character that I absolutely loved in prior books that I couldn’t believe how much I despised them by the end of this one.

“But you love to play the good man, don't you? Do you know what's worse than a villain? A villain who thinks he's a hero. A man like that, there's nothing he won't do, and he'll always find himself an
excuse.”

I really do not want to give away anything about this story. I just ask that you go in with an open mind and be ready for a very wild and unconventional and always entertaining ride. The ending to this trilogy is much like Abercrombie’s characters; complex, interesting, controversial and perfectly unapologetically flawed. Maybe that doesn’t sound like a good thing but looking back on it now a week after I finished I really liked some of the chances he took with his story.

I really hope he revisits a few of these characters since he left it a little open for some of them in the future. I grew really attached to so many of the characters in the story and I really want to see them again.

‘Last Argument of Kings’ is the third and last volume in the First Law Series, by Joe Abercrombie. Directly following ‘Before they are hanged’, it continues and gives the final instalment featuring the same characters presented and developed in the last two books. Just like ‘Before they are hanged’ it presents the same brutally realistic dark fantasy world, and it is absolutely wonderful.

The main story shows the group that the main characters found themselves in throughout the second part of the trilogy breaking apart; with Logen Ninefingers going back home north to fight with Bethod; Superior Glokta finding himself struggling to keep power and survive the events that take place as the Union seemingly starts to collapse; Jezal dan Luthar deciding to pursuit love with the woman he loves – who has been drastically changed by what took place in the second book and now is completely different from the person we saw in ‘The Blade Itself’ – only to suddenly be dragged into a completely different game he effectively has no idea how to play… When the King of the Union dies, the peasants revolt, and the nobles scramble to steal his crown all the whilst there still is war breeding around the Union, the novel takes a quick and fast paced gritty demeanour that makes you question what will happen to the characters exactly. The world is seemingly falling part around them, and the end of the novel succeeds in not letting any expectation down. It is fantastic, and the perfect finish to this wonderful series.

Something that makes ‘Last Argument of Kings’ unlike the previous two books in the First Law series is the sheer amount of battles and political intrigue in it. Don’t get me wrong, these both make an appearance in the two previous books, but the scale to which it is present in this one is even greater. It is filled with thrilling intrigue surrounding all characters after the events at the end of the second book, breath-taking moments, and huge battles between armies. All in an incredibly twisted and inventive way which takes away no interest at all. It explains secrets and mysteries, continues to develop the characters, and forces them to confront the events that take place... all to lead to an incredibly satisfying ending and epilogue. As the last book of this trilogy, I must say I can’t find anything wrong with it at all, and was as wonderful of a book to read as ‘Before they are hanged’ proved to be.

Joe Abercrombie succeeds in writing the perfect ending for this series. There is nothing that lets you down, no chapter that is uninteresting, no loose end then tied that lets one down. ‘Last Argument of Kings’, with the seemingly historical period of development it sets itself in, and its take on fantasy, is absolutely wonderful. As such it earns and deserves to be called ‘awesometacular’, and to not read it would be to miss a wonderful work of this genre. It is by all means a work of art, and I fully recommend reading it.

Too Long, Yet Not Long Enough: It is a 27-hour long listen on Audible, and I was ready for the third book of the First Law Series to end, but not this way. I loved every minute of listening to this wonderful tale masterfully narrated. But I was disappointed that stories of its many delightful and intriguing characters were unfinished. If this means more is to come; all right then! I would read another 3-book series (or listen to another 60+ hours of audiobooks), because Abercrombie develops his characters so well within a world similar to, but not the same as, medieval Britain.

I gave the previous 2 books in the series 5 stars, but the third only 4, because after 27 hours (over 600 pages) we should have been rewarded with the satisfaction of knowing [spoiler alert] what becomes of Ferro, will Jazel and Glokta be able to work together to rebuild the Union, does West survive, and can Logen once again defy the odds? If Joe returns writes another book which finishes their stories, I'll upgrade this to a 5-star review.

This is a review of the entire trilogy:

The beginning peaked my interest, largely because the characters were so interesting. They were complex, and each one was different with various problems. What really added to the story was that the characters often lacked self-awareness and the way they saw themselves differed from the viewpoint of other characters or the reader. And Abercrombie somehow managed to convey this without using an omnisent narrator voice.
As time passes though, it gets annoying that the characters never seem to learn. Momentous events happen, their personal positions change significantly and they are still thinking about their lives in the same way. During the second book, there are hints of character growth, but they come to nothing in the end - it is hard to believe. It is also hard to accept that everyone in the world in on the dark side of the spectrum and no-one ever experiences a moment of pure joy. I like books which show that everyone has faults, but there is a difference between having faults and being bad - everyone here is bad. There is a whole pointless subplot with the bizarre behaviour of the queen which seems to be there just to emphasize someone's ruthlessness. Try as I might, I can't empathize with any of these people.

Plotwise, it hard to know what to say. There is a lot of action, wars happen, dynasties change, plots are revealed and we find out about long buried secrets. But the writing style makes it seem like nothing of consequence happened. When the big reveal is greeted by "who cares who murdered who a thousand years ago" by the characters, it is hard to see why we readers should care about it either.

Overall, I found this series incredibly bleak - more than some books that end with the destruction of the world.

The third volume of a trilogy is where all the crises are resolved, and all the questions answered, and all doubts settled. Often, almost by tradition, it's also where the final battle is won, and the prince and princess are married, and the medals handed out. But Abercrombie has shown -- repeatedly -- that he doesn't care much about tradition, not unless there's a good reason. And he definitely doesn't do "happily ever after."

Our crew of protagonists are back from their far-flung adventures in the previous volumes, and their problems have only grown worse, although several of them also suffer surprising promotions. Logen Ninefingers, having returned from the failed expedition to the literal ends of the earth, has gone back north and rejoined his crew of Named Men in the struggle against the self-declared King Bethod. Inquisitor Glotka, now a Superior, had managed to hold off the forces of the Emperor, at least for awhile (and at considerable cost to himself), but now the imperial hordes are invading Midderland itself. Capt. Jezal dan Luthor is thinking seriously about resigning his commission and seeking out some peace and quiet with the girl he left behind him, but Bayaz, the First of the Magi, has other ideas about that. Col. West, the loyal and long-suffering spear-carrier, has a chance at true heroism and pulls it off rather successfully, and what's his reward? Just about what you'd expect. Ferro Maljinn hates the city and feels justifiably betrayed in her eternal quest for vengeance against the Emperor, but Bayaz isn't finished with her, either. In fact, Bayaz shows his true ruthless, elitist, megalomaniac colors at last, and the Union is going to suffer mightily as a result. And that's about all I can say without spoiling the continuing adventure for its next readers. Except that I have seen complaints from reviewers about the "darkness" of the story, and their judgment that none of the characters is sympathetic is, I think, incorrect. Actually, I found Jezal and Glotka and (especially) West and Ardee to be quite sympathetic. Even Logen, trying to deal with the effects of his history as a berserker. They all have tried to change in various small ways, to be better than they were. (They just haven't succeeded much.) In fact, everyone has a good side, or tries to develop one, except Bayaz, who is the only player who gets exactly what he wants.

With this debut work, Abercrombie has joined the ranks of sword and sorcery masters in a single leap. When I finished the last bleak page, I knew I would come back and read all three volumes again in a few years. They have a permanent place in my personal library.

After finishing this book I was left conflicted. It was well told and there isn't anything about it once explained I'm crying foul about but even so, I didn't like some of the decisions made and the reasons behind them, and I didn't like some of the things that didn't happen either that I would have rather did.

In this book we get to see the characters fully, see them at their worst moments and decide if they are worthy of being called hero or villain, good or bad. You may be surprised with what you decide, I was. I'd say more about that but no spoilers.

In an epic story like this it's easy to expect the ending to be flat or not satisfying. I'll admit I didn't like all of the endings, but it was never because I felt cheated, I just didn't like how some things ended and it felt real because of this. Things were explained very well at the last section of the book. I can't imagine any questions you had during the book that weren't reasonably answered or at least given decent clues about. (not every shred of plot was wrapped up but the biggest ones were). So no big letdown on the ending of the book.

I decided to digest the book and series for a day or two before I concluded my opinion and after doing so I very much enjoyed the experience. It was far darker than anything else I have read, and it offends some part of you that thinks the world should work in a certain way but those are my problems not the books. The story is after all, the story despite my wishing things.

Reading Joe's books takes a toll on you, so I'm taking a short break before I go on to his next books. I like his style though, and I hope to enjoy the rest in good time.

'A man can change,' whispered Logen, not sure whether he was talking to the Dogman, or to himself, or to those corpse-pale faces waiting in the darkness. Men clattered down the track all round him, and yet he stood alone. 'A man can change.'

(WARNING: This review, while mostly spoiler-free, is written from the point-of-view that you have already read The Blade Itself (The First Law: Book One) and Before They Are Hanged (The First Law: Book Two). So don't blame me if you read something you shouldn't have.)

Superior Glokta, resentfully dutiful as always to the Arch Lector Sult, finds himself being crushed by a rock, ably assisted by an accompanying hard place. His duties demand increasingly contradictory acts of him, as Sult wants him to investigate Bayaz (or else...) while Mauthis - the unflappable representative of the Banking House of Valint and Balk, who holds the threat of the bank's loan over Glokta - insists that he forget about the Magus and investigate Sult (or else...). Perhaps the only solution is to walk down ever darker paths, and one day find himself in the light. Just as long as there aren't any stairs.

Meanwhile, Bayaz and his gang of misfits have returned from their arduous - and altogether unsuccessful - adventure in the Old Empire. Disheartened and disillusioned, Logen has no choice now but to return to his old enemies in the North, and finish what he left behind. A happy reunion this will not be, but when a task needs doing, you're better off doing it than living with the fear of it.

Jezal feels a changed man, not least of all because of the hideous scar now tainting his beautiful countenance, and dreams of settling down with Ardee and leading a quiet life. So what if she is not rich or cultured? So what if his family and friends would not approve? So what if society will be shocked? He is in charge of his own future now. Or is he?

Ferro languishes in the city, the only one looking forward to the invading Gurkish. But killing a handful of soldiers will not suffice, and Ferro wants her revenge. And the bald pink better deliver.

Colonel West is certainly not looking forward to the invasion. Leading several of his men to their deaths against the Northmen was bad enough; asking the exhausted soldiers to now stand their ground and fight the overwhelming army is not something he is looking forward to. And keeping them motivated to fight for their king just got harder, seeing as how the King is dead. And Lord Marshall Burr isn't looking too good, either.

Abercrombie displays a talent for consolidating divergent story-lines. His various POV characters and seemingly unrelated side-plots all come together in an epic finale that Quentin Tarantino would be proud of. There are surprising acts of betrayal and loyalty, violence and compassion, thoughtful reflection and beserker rage. Through it all, manipulation and calculation, as certain individuals skillfully play the characters we love as if they were pawns on a chess board.

The questions most of the characters ask themselves are largely answered, even if the answers were not what they were looking for. The ultimate question for all of them, that permeates the entire series, is perhaps best stated in the quote at the top of this post. Not just a question, but a desperate hope, as Logen convinces himself for the thousandth time that it is not too late. He can change, he tells himself. But can he? Can any of them? Abercrombie's answer, for various people, is both a yes and no. Or rather, it builds on the old adage about how the more things change, the more they stay the same.

I still feel the same way about the primary characters as I did at the start - quasi-sympathy for Logen, a little jealous of Jezal, feeling Glokta is exactly the dark and ruthless anti-hero a part of us roots for even as we cringe at his methods. That is not to say that the series had no character development; on the contrary, The First Law contains some of the most memorable characters I have ever come across. Some people might find this supposed lack of growth a bad thing, crying about how nothing has changed. I have read such comments around the 'Net, bemoaning the 'wasted' opportunity at the writer's hands.

I disagree. Rather, it is all the more impressive that Abercrombie manages to instill such feelings into us that despite all the characters go through, good and bad, our feelings for them remain almost constant, without becoming tiresome. The characters do change, they do experience new things, they do, almost, become new people. But at the end of the day, for better or worse, we are who we are. Indeed, the more things change, the more they remain the same.

And since Joe Abercrombie is such a bloody talented writer, that can only be a compliment. Growth or change in characters can be a good thing, but in my view, it is frequently overrated. You have to be realistic.

(4½ out of 5)

A trilogy that ends with no ending is not a trilogy. And there is no way the author could construe, in even his vivid imagination, that anyone would regard it as such. It's as if Abercrombie set out to write a trilogy, and somewhere in the process, as reviews increased in their number and positivity, the publisher told him he'd be crazy to end it and waved a million bucks in his face to have it continue, no matter the betrayal to those (like me) who assumed it would wrap up.

That said, Glokta (sp?....I listened to the audio) is an even more riveting and compelling character as the book progresses, becoming a morose and resigned philosopher/good guy spitting out pithy observations about life left and right.

Enjoyed the First Law trilogy immensely. In fact, already looking forward to re-reading it, which is the surest indication of its quality that comes to mind. Very curious to see or learn if there will be othar sequels, particularly since the three books do a Finnegans Wake/Dahlgren sort of loopback, so that the end seems to return to the beginning. Dose this mean the triad is sealed and complete, or will the primary character set off from exactly the same starting point into a different story? Alslo, there are easily enough unresolved issues left on the table to justify future books.

Books at this level of enjoyment and immersion are few and far between. Probably will be reading much of the rest of Abercrombie's material for a while. It should go without saying that The trilogy is highly recommended.

There was a lot of promise in this trilogy - once I got used to the violence in Book 1(The Blade Itself), I found myself able to start looking at the collection of unsavory characters Abercrombie sets up as not quite heroes without expectations of goodness. Book 2 (Before they are Hanged) was the best of the series, in my opinion, with a lot of character development and action. The pace was brisk, the story bracing, and the conclusion was a great set-up for book 3 (Last Argument of Kings).

Basic Plot of Book 3 - the quest failed, and now there is a two or three front war happening. The motley collection of "heroes" (none of them are good people) splits up to go where they are needed - Logen to the North, Bayaz, Luthar and Ferro to the Capital, and Glotka across the sea. Will they succeed? Will the demons devour the city? Will the Bloody Nine learn to control his temper?

Here is why I chose to give this book a two-star review:

I feel as though my time and investment was completely wasted in Last Argument of Kings. As a conclusion - yes, there is a conclusion, but it's the worst kind of conclusion - the kind where absolutely nothing/everything changes. The character growth shown in Before they are Hanged is swept away in favor of a "What, you didn't actually think any of these bastards would actually turn out all right in the end, did you?"

This, as a literary style, is not wrong. There are plenty of successful anti-heroes out there. But that is not what I feel Abercrombie was promising. Why write a whole book where characters change, only to conclude that nothing changes? And the treatment of Logan Ninefingers (arguably the only "nice" guy in the trilogy - and he has an alter-ego that literally rips men to pieces) was such a psychological "gotcha!" moment that putting it in the last chapters felt more like a joke on the reader than an actual character choice.

I did not expect hearts and flowers from this trilogy - I knew from The Blade Itself that Abercrombie was going to write a gritty, dark, gory fantasy adventure. And he does - and again the second book was an improvement over the first in term of arc and storytelling. I was surprised then that the third book would be such a general disappointment, a slog through violence that no longer meant anything to the people telling the story. And there wasn't even a "War is Hell" vibe - it was all just machinations of violence with very little heart.

Read the book to conclude the story, but don't expect much by way of resolution.

Woosh! I zoomed through the third book in the First Law series brought to me by Joe Abercrombie. I didn't even get up to go to the toilet so my bladder exploded, but you won't hear me complaining about it!

The third in the series is a nailbiter! The first two kind of plod forward like Michael from Halloween. No matter how you go, you feel something'd right behind you and with the third book you finally see what it is. Last Argument of Kings covers not just two major wars coming to their inevitable conclusion, but also the political intrigue surrounding the death of one king and the handing over of power to his unsurprising, but still satisfying, successor. Glokta - my personal favourite character over the three books, is at his scintillating best, "questioning" anyone he can lay his hands on as he ferrets out the "truth" by hook, crook and a large variety of cutting tools. His story is just amazing and his wit and bitter sarcasm is, well, almost jolly, really. He's certainly the Torturer of the Millenium. He'll be a hard character to beat, that's for sure. I think it will be a hard task for any writer to try matching Mister Abercrombie for Glokta. He's just . . . just it.

Bayaz it is who is very satisfying, too, and a common theme of "what is evil and what is good?" is explored with a frankness and a near-cynicism that's so refreshing in the genre of modern fantasy. Bayaz epitomises to me what is the "powerful mage" character of fantasy literature. The Gandalfs and Merlins and even the Raistlins. He's in some good company, and even more so for the more realistic ruthlessness he displays. His bloodthirsty need to pretty much obliterate the enemy is both fun and explorative of the character. I enjoyed his ruthless nature and his chilling coldness.

Ninefingers, of course, is a little more fun than the past two books, too. His is a magnificent and cunning war, and while I think I would have loved a few more Bloody-Nine moments, I'm satisfied. Ferro's tale was slightly more of a let-down at the end, but I did like her final meeting with Ninefingers. I think it should have just ended there, is all. But I was happy with her story.

The Named Men get their spotlight moments, too, and while I was always pleased with the Black Dow, I was a little disappointed in his final moments. Maybe it's not out of his character, but given his whole sneaky assassin-style, I was kind of wishing for something a bit better from him. His was the only story I think I was displeased with and confused by. Still, he had some of the best moments, and I put him in for my award for "Best Rogue of 2009."

The action sequences, I think, have been a highlight not just of this series, but the previous two. I even found myself wincing, once, and that's a rarity for me. The descriptive, yet constrained violence of Mister Abercrombie is masterfully done. I was reminded a lot of a series of westerns - the Edge series by George G. Gilman. In fact, at many times I was thinking of those.

The thing about Mister Abercrombie is he's got a fine grasp on the realities of politics, and it shows in the final few chapters of the novel as he explores the time after the wars - gleefully showing who falls and who climbs that greasy pole. And he does this with the same deeply witty style that has plagued the previous two books. He carries a backpack of verve, a bucket of vim and a few pockets stuffed with vigor. I feel very satisfied with the novel and the final page made me feel like giving a big whoop of pleasure at the outcome - many of which strangely echo the beginning in a very wheelish manner that kind of leaves you warm and thrilled at the thought that - could there ever be more novels of the Bloody-Nine?

I shiver in anticipation. Please, Mister Abercrombie! Pretty, pretty please?

In the wonderful word of the Bloody-Nine: "More?"

There is not much to be said about this book that has not been mention in the many other reviews. I am however, going to tell you something that I wish I had been told before starting this series.

The book is well-written, the world created by Joe Abercrombie is imaginative and his characters are interesting and detailed. However, after I concluded the book and read the ending, I thought something seemed VERY familiar about this type of tale- especially it's conclusion. Then I read Joe Abercrombie's bio and saw that he lists Quentin Tarantino as an inspiration- that's is when it hit me. This was a typical Tarantino ending, no one gets what they deserve, it temporarily steals that readers hope and makes you wonder what message is trying to be conveyed. No one gets what they deserve? No one is truly happy? It's human nature to never be at peace, and only ignorance is bliss? It IS possible to be dark and gritty without being underwhelming and depressing (i.e. author Brent Weeks).

I recommend reading something like "Once a Hero" by Michael Stackpole as a palette cleanser after this series.

If you like Medieva/fantasy AND Tarantino movies, I would wager you would really enjoy this book. Otherwise, all bets are off.

Last Argument of Kings is the concluding volume of Joe Abercrombie's breathtaking debut trilogy, The First Law. There's not a whole lot of things that I can say in this review if I wish to remain truly spoiler-free, but I shall do my best, but I make no promises. You have to be realistic about these things.

It's been two months since I read book two, and picking this book up felt like a meeting between old familiar friends. All those characters that I had grown to love were returned. Split between wars on both sides, the Union looks to be in quite a mess. Scores are settled amazingly. Loose ends are all tied up neatly. When the smoke clears and the dust settles and you finally finish the book, you'll be left as speechless as I was. (Actually, I busted out laughing in disbelief, which led to "huh.", which led to "wow".")

Like with the previous novels, Last Argument of Kings is a novel about characters. You feel as if you're inside the head of Logen Ninefingers as he contemplates what to do about a dire situation. You hurt with Jezal as he struggles with his day-to-day existence. You feel your neck crack and your eye leak with Glokta and wonder with him why he does it. The plot is chiefly character driven and the experience is perfect.

If you've read the first two books then you know that there is a lot going on in the Circle of the World. A lot of stuff you don't understand, but you suspect Bayaz knows more than he's telling. A lot of mystery and lies, and sorting the truth from fiction is a thrilling activity.

Over all, and to keep my mouth shut to remain spoiler-free, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The entire series was an absolute joy to read. The ruthlessness and brutality is reminiscent of GRRM, but at the same time different and unique. Everything reads realistic, and it's easy to relate to most of the characters. I strongly urge you to pick up these books and read them. Enjoy them. Bask in their wonder. And when you finish, you'll know that you've read something like you've never read before. The conclusion of Last Argument of Kings was a perfect fit to the series and I strongly recommend you try this series out.

And now, like with my review of Before They Are Hanged, I give you some of my favorite quotes.

"That's what war is. A lot of folk getting killed that don't deserve it." Dogman

"No, it ain't ever that simple. We all got our reasons. Good men and bad men. It's all a matter of where you stand."--Logen

Why do I do this?--Glokta

For this final volume in the First Law trilogy, I find myself with very mixed feelings. Certain aspects of this book I absolutely loved. How the characters are all brought together, the incredible battle scenes, the revealing of mysteries and long lost knowledge. These are the things that brought me to the finish line in this book.

However, Mr. Abercrombie's bleak take on the world he created is a bit much. It is nearly impossible for me to point to a character in this entire series that I empathize with or root for. Every character has many flaws that are equal to every other character's flaws. It is a bit weird reading these types of books. There is no hero / heroine. I find many of the characters to be memorable and always interesting. But at the end you almost wish they all got blown away.

So if I take a high level view of this book in the context of the larger story, I have to say I enjoyed the story. That is probably the most redeeming part of the series. At least the story is compelling. Now we can hope that future books by Mr. Abercrombie give us something a bit more palatable in terms of characters.

Pros:
o action packed finale to good series
o lots of memorable characters
o truths and histories revealed add depth to story

Cons:
o all the characters are so flawed that it is hard to empathize with any of them

Overall - I give this book, and the whole trilogy, a recommended rating. If you love bloody battles and a complete list of villains, you will like this book.

I loved "The First Law" series. It is the dark fantasy at its best and darkest; it's unconventional, and has many interesting plot twists and characters that are likeable and disgusting at the same time - like real people. However, I was glad to finish the "Last Argument", and not to come to the series again.
What happened? First, it is way too dark and graphic - even more than the first two books. I felt that the author immensely enjoys describing various tortures and their effects; much more than I enjoyed reading about these subjects. Second, as unconventional goes - the ending is too much unconventional and very disappointing. There were so many interesting and promising plot lines, which were supposed to lead to some type of culmination. It would be naïve of me to hope for happy end in dark fantasy, but there is real "nothing" at the end of the book; almost a parody on most fantasy books. The second part of the book felt like a parody in general; the characters of noble kings, brave warriors and wise wizards were twisted and turned until they turn up to be the exact opposite of their original (I wouldn't say "prototypes", rather "inspirations"). I did enjoy these games to some extent, however, I would like some symmetry in the amount of desperation and hope at the end of the book.
Having said all this, I probably would not be able to stop anybody who liked the first two books, to read the final book in the trilogy and get to know how it's all finished. Prepare to be disappointed, though.

Say one thing for Joe Abercrombie, say he's a different sort of epic fantasy writer.

In the 2000s, the fantasy genre has been inundated with derivatives and disappointments. First, in the derivative section there are the various steampunk/cyberpunk/urban fantasy novels that are aimed at the Gen X and Gen Y crowds. Many have interesting concepts, are well done (China Mieville has won much praise), and have created a subgenre within the field. Second, are the Tolkien knockoffs that still proliferate. Third, there are the Jordan knockoffs -- the impossibly long story that somehow MUST take four or five 800-page books to conclude, at minimum.

Then there are the disappointments, which can become disasters -- most of which occur because the author has lost control of his or her story and either the latest books in the series suck (see A Wheel of Time Nos. 7, 8, 10 -- although #9 had some good aspects and #11 was decent; Malazan Book of the Fallen #8 -- although #9 is reputedly far better), or they're still unwritten after four or more years (one name: George R. R. Martin).

Abercrombie's first installment of The First Law series was very good -- a wry, sardonic take on the adventure and quest format that permeates fantasy fiction. Book Two was just as good.

Book Three is still good, but a step down -- more focus on the standard fantasy elements of siege, war, magical battles, etc. than on the quirky storytelling and sardonic tone that made the other books both fun and unique. But the climax and denouement are riveting, disturbing and very well done (which is a rarity considering how many authors have failed to write good climactic scenes in the genre -- Tad Williams, David Eddings).

Abercrombie's main characters are both archetypal, and not. There are six primary ones: Collem West, the low-born, capable, hardworking warrior; Ferro Maljinn, a warrior woman from the south who has seen war, death, and an existential threat to all mankind but knows only hate -- she's probably the most moral character in the series with the greatest amount of integrity of any major character, by far; Jezal Luthar has his path set for him by an unknown benefactor; the Dogman, an honorable Norse-type warrior; Logen Ninefingers, a barbarian warrior who has far more human frailties than Conan; and Sand dan Glokta, the Inquisitor, who is Abercrombie's equivalent of Martin's Tyrion, without the drinking and whoring.

Glokta's various traits--he's by turns sharp, biting, cruel, courteous, and bitter--and his internal asides make him one of the best anti-heroes of modern fantasy fiction. And in this book, we finally learn the nature and motivations of Bayaz the wizard, who is quite different from the surly version of Gandalf that Abercrombie portrayed in books one and two -- there are reasons that a statue of Bayaz had been erected on the boulevard displaying statues of the kings and great men of the main nation in the book.

Abercrombie did a good job with this series. It's confined to three books of moderate size (for the genre) and completely self-contained. It has humor, decent plotting, memorable characters, and an ending with an impact. And, best of all, you don't have to wait another 5-7 years for it to be completed.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books and was excited to see how it was all going to end. Not the way I thought - but that's a good thing! The only complaint is that I wanted more. His characters are so fully three-dimensional and well written that you can smell them! I was disappointed that everything wasn't neatly wrapped up and resolved, but my understanding is that Abercrombie will revisit these characters in a future series. All the characters initially seem like types familiar from the fantasy genre: the hero, the wizard, the evil manipulator, the warrior, the female warrior, etc. But the skill and talent of Abercrombie is to take those types and fully flesh them out so they are more than just types you have seen before. Compare these characters to say those of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and I daresay Abercrombies are more fully developed, with conflicting desires and motives, with a fair share of good and evil within them that stops them from being cliched.

I'm halfway through Last Argument of Kings and I'm thinking to myself, "This guy had no idea where he was going when he started The Blade Itself." I was already formulating a negative review in my read about dropped plot lines and how unnecessary the first two books are when suddenly everything starts to come together. It was like a slap upside the head seeing how everything that happens in the series all starts to come together. I'm glad to say that I was wrong. Abercrombie apparently knew exactly what he was doing from page 1. He ties everything up magnificently and actually made me want to go back and reread it all again.

My only complaint is that the major events and climax of the book end about 80% of the way in. The author spends a reasonable time tidying up loose threads, but then goes on to set each character on a new path but leaves us waiting to find out what happens next. Normally this wouldn't be a problem... it sells the next book, right? Unfortunately the next three books published in this world are stand alone stories starring new or secondary characters from The First Law trilogy. There's a feeling that all he was doing was continuing on the characters lives without us, but I do hope that he has some grand plan to return them to us for another epic series.

A terrific finale!

This trilogy came as close to satisfying my fantasy itch for the ongoing 'Ice and Fire' series by GRRM (well, the first three books anyway), and the incredible 'Malazan Book of the Fallen' series by Steven Erikson, as any book (series) ever has.

This final installment of Abercrombie's 'The First Law' series neatly ties up all the open ended threads that where expertly developed in the previous two books. And, it would appear, to also leave a suggestion for a new adventure in the future.

The story continues with the sequential telling of the happenings to the wizard Bayaz, Commander West, Dogman, Jezal, Logen, Ferro and Glokta. And as you might suspect, these 'individual' tales come colliding together at the end.

What I liked:

1.)I loved the tale itself. Epic fantasy featuring magic, interesting characters, great battles and a compelling story line. I could barely put this book down, I just had to read one more chapter.

2.)I really liked the unexpected...just when you think things are settling down...

3.)Abercrombie continues to develop his main characters as he proceeds to the conclusion of his story. I found all of the main protagonists in this novel easy to identify with and either really like or dislike. One character was especially memorable; I'll say more below*.

4.)I felt that, overall, Abercrombie's writing skills improved with each book.

The only minor concern(s) I have about this book is that I felt the latter third seemed a little rushed in comparison with the pace of the rest of the novel. (one of the strengths I perceived in the writing of this trilogy was the even tempo with which things seemed to happen and were played out). However, in fairness, multiple events were cascading towards a climax at the end of this novel and this may have given the appearance of a somewhat 'rushed' ending.

Also, as with the first two installments, a map would have been useful to geographically locate persons and events that transpired over the course of this book.

Conclusion:
A fine a fantasy novel as I ever read! Overall, the writing and story telling was second to none.
I can only hope, as the ending of this book suggests, opens the door to more stories in this series from Abercrombie. 5 Stars, more if I could.

...potential character SPOILER to follow...

*And finally, this...for all their accomplished skill, I don't think either GRRM or Erikson have ever come close to creating an individual character like Sand dan Glokta. Glokta, with his villain-esque persona, is the unforgettable, physically grotesque 'cripple' in this tale; a character whose profession requires him to be the consummate liar (except, excruciatingly, to himself), who has instinctive, self-preserving insight into most 'situations' and provides us, the readers, with regular doses of witty cynicism. There were moments in these novels (involving Glokta) that were so sad and tender that they near moved me to tears (particularly this last book) and others that made me laugh out loud; of all the wonderful characters in this trilogy, it was Sand dan Glokta and his tale that I enjoyed the most.

A short excerpt from page 481, book III...Glokta sees his disfigured image in a reflection and thinks...

"The smile seems to promise horrors more surely even than a frown. Has any man ever looked more of a villain? Has any man ever been more of a monster? Could any vestige of humanity possible remain behind such a mask? How did the beautiful Sand dan Glokta become...this? Mirrors. Even worse than stairs."
His lip curled with disgust as he turned away.

R.Nicholson

I gave The Blade itself a five star, and Before they are hung five stars as well. Last Argument of Kings perhaps falls short only in comparison to the previous two. My problem with Last Argument of Kings is because I found there to be way too much action in the novel, especially the last half. I was used to great character driven intrigues and plots and developments, and wham I was whacked with war siege after war siege. If you are into long war scene/battles then this book will be the best of the bunch. For me, however, I found myself actually skimming to the end of paragraphs to see if any major characters were killed or wounded. It's not that his writing of these scenes were flawed. It was the same nice writing. It was only what he chose to write about, and that for me was way too much action. It reminded me of watching a movie with a 15 minute car chase scene. If you came to watch an action movie then whoopee but stuck in the middle of an actually good story it's definitely out of place. Perhaps those scenes were aimed at movie producers and not me. The series in total remains a five star series. It's one of the best fantasy series that I have read in a while. I highly recommend this series to any and all readers. It's very compelling, and there is definitely some humor mixed in with it. I'm actually surprised that the First Law Trilogy is not more popular then it is. That's a good thing for readers craving something good and new....and especially complete. Kudos to Abercrombie and his publisher for churning these out quickly and completely. It seems to be a rarity with today's fantasy series.
Thanks Joe, Great Series, and a Good ending...just a tad too much warfare in it for my taste though. I thought some of the best moments from the series were in this installment though,(Spoiler Alert) especially the battle between Logen and The Freak. I thought there were some major inconsistencies with the ending, which I found to be less then fully rewarding. My only question for the author on this point was where was THE BLOODY NINE in the end.
Will be interested to see what Abercrombie comes up with next.

Last Argument of Kings is the third and concluding volume of The First Law Trilogy, following on from The Blade Itself and Before They Are Hanged. Those who have not read the first two volumes may wish to skip the plot summary as it does contain spoilers of events in those books.

In the frozen wastes of Angland, the army of the Union and its allies continues to wage war against Bethod and his forces. The Gurkish, having retaken Dagoska, now develop new and more bold plans to wage war against the Union from the south. And, having failed in their quest to the far side of the world, Bayaz and his companions return to the city of Adua to make new preperations for the conflicts to come. But in this struggle it becomes clear that different factions are scheming for power, that those who are allies one day may be bitter foes the next, and that the price of victory may be far too high...

The First Law has attracted a great deal of praise since the publication of The Blade Itself three years ago. Abercrombie's clear style delivered an apparently 'straightforward' fantasy tale with some interesting ruthless edges to it. Before They Are Hanged forced the reader to revise a lot of what they thought they knew whilst putting several key twists into the story that were unexpected. Last Argument of Kings delivers exactly what this trilogy needed: a no-holds-barred war story in which secrets are exposed, mysteries are explained and the author resolutely refuses to pull any punches. Those expecting a gloriously happy, neat ending to this trilogy best look elsewhere.

Instead, we get huge battle sequences, including one that threatens to displace the supremacy of Steven Erikson's siege of Capustan from Memories of Ice as the greatest epic fantasy battle this century. We get more intricate, devious politics. We get more torture, courtesy of our friend Glokta (whose character arc remains the most vivid and engrossing of the series). The deepening of the character of Bayaz, who first turned up looking like a jovial Belgarath-style wizard and is now revealed to have a lot more going on to him than just that, is also tremendously satisfying. To those who have taken part in debate on various fan forums (particularly on Westeros.org) some plot elements may emerge as rather predictable, at least until Abercrombie pulls the rug out from under your feet and, just for giggles, does it again a few chapters later. Best of all is the way quite small storyline elements from the previous two books are revisited and minor charaters of no great significance are now revealed to have their own important roles to play.

The ending is superb, particularly the tremendously satisfying epilogue and the final scene. Enough loose ends are left that Abercrombie could revisit the storyline in future books or series, but not to the extent that it is a necessity. Life goes on, albeit in a manner which some characters (and perhaps some readers) find criminally unfair. We also get enough clues laid about other, hitherto undeveloped parts of the world such as Styria that the news that the author's next novel, Best Served Cold, will be set there is most welcome. However, for the time being at least, we must bid a fond farewell to Superior Glokta, the redoubtable Jezal, the secretive Bayaz, the proud Ardee, the solid Colonel West and, of course, the Bloody-Nine. I look forward to the day when we catch up with them and their adventures once more.

Last Argument of Kings (****½) is a more than worthy conclusion to this trilogy. The book is available now from Gollancz in the UK and from Pyr in the USA.

In this third part of the First Law the reader should know what to expect by now--and Abercombie does his best to live up to those expectations. The first book was largely a set-up, an introduction to the characters and the world. The second was a diversion to various parts of the world. Now Superior Glokta is back in Adua, thoroughly under the thumb of Arch Lector Sult--and also the powerful bank of Valint and Balk. Jezal dan Luthar is gratefully back in Adua, too, hoping for a quiet civilized life with Ardee West, but gets dragged into political intrigue that is, of course, way over his head. The First of the Magi is doing the manipulating, and apparently long years of life has left him with diminished power, but still knowledge and guile enough to wreak havoc. In this book he finally shows what he's capable of. Logen Ninefingers returns North to an ugly past and worse situation--with the Union Armies led by bickering incompetents and his old friend and deadly enemy, Berthod, running rough-shod over all, using magic and inhuman creatures to maintain power.

Up North there are small battles and large, desperate and bloody, more than enough detail and description to satisfy the most ardent fan of such things. The pace and suspense and horror of it all is non-stop and action-packed. And then in the South, in Ardee, the politicking, bloody and full of treachery and deceit, continues to run rampant. Things are even grimmer when an overwhelming force of the Gurkish army invades--along with the the hundred nearly indestructible Eaters who are out for Bayaz's blood (and pretty much everyone else in their way).

Everything comes to one climactic scene after another. One is as amazed as Logan when some find themselves "still alive" at the end of each. In a nihilistic orgy of destruction and suffering, all the characters learn that not only is death walking with them, ready to snatch them or another at any second, but perhaps it is even preferable than to keep struggling on. And yet they all do struggle on, in the darkness and the horror and the pain, like that poster-boy of living beyond all hope (and ethics), Glokta. Watching it all is like watching the most amazing and fascinating and horrific train-wreck in history, but one cannot turn away, at least not now. And if we survived the first two books and were left wanting more, then this book certainly delivers. I liked it even more than the first two, if 'like' is the right word for it. The characters remain complex and unpredictable and riveting, as well as the details and the action--all so strong it burns indelibly into the memory. An amazing end to an amazing trilogy.

I was apprehensive while finishing this series due to reviewers commenting on the less than happy ending. But I finished this book and loved the ending to death. Afterwards I was thinking to myself, 'what was I worried about? I don't even LIKE happy endings.' But before I go on more about how the book ends, I'll delve a litte bit into how it begins.

For some reason I wasn't compelled to write a review about Before They Are Hanged, and that wasn't because I didn't like it. It was a great book and continued everything that I loved about The Blade Itself, just into a second book. The characters grew up a bit (some of them anyways), the action was intense and plentiful and the writing and characterization was genius like always. The Last Argument of Kings has all of that as well, but so much more. By the end of it, my jaw was left on the floor, and a week after finishing it I still can't stop thinking about it.

You may ask yourself before you read this wheather Abercrombie wraps everything up in a satisfying manner. Well, that is defeinitely going to be up to each reader's interpretation, but I can say that he could end the series here and leave little to be tied up. The war with Bethod, the war with the Gurkish, the mystery behind who Bayaz and his apprentice really are... all of this is revealed and none of it in a way that makes it seem Abercrombie wanted to rush it or didn't know where he was going. It is very clear by the end, that Abercrombie knew exactly what he was doing from the beginning. Everything comes full circle and that's what I loved so much about it.

I'm going to try not to spoil anything as I discuss how this series wraps up, but I can't promise that 100%, so read with caution. While I do love the ending, I do agree with reviews that it's not a happy one. In fact, if there was an opposite to a fairy tale ending, it just might be this one. Each character definitely has their own resolution, and out of all the main POV characters (Logen, Glokta, Jezal, Ferro, West and Dogman) a couple of them may have resolutions you could call happy and even that could be a matter of opinion. A couple plot threads will leave you wanting more and a couple will seem like there may be a page missing. And I won't say that the bad guys necessarily win, but your perspective on who the bad guys are might change a bit when the veils come off.

I definietly hope that a few answers are given, or at least hinted at in Abercrombie's two new stand-alone novels, but even if they aren't I'm still satisfied and incredibly impressed with The First Law trilogy. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone who loves well-written fantasy and can accept a less than happy, but amazing resolution.

Joe Abercrombie's concluding volume in his "First Law" trilogy does not disappoint. His motley cast of genre-breaking characters each have their part to play, many of those parts surprising and unexpected. And there are few, if any, happy endings. As the cripple and torturer, Glotka notes repeatedly, nobody gets what the deserve.

The Union, sandwiched between wars is the north with barbarians and in the south with the evil, magic-wielding Gurkish, is thrown into chaos by the death of its king. True, he has been a powerless figurehead for a while, with true power in the Union's Closed Council, but still. And the First Magi Bayaz's quest to find the missing Seed, for the forbidden magic it might provide the Union, has failed.

Through it all are Logen Ninefingers, Bloody Nine, northern barbarian and berserker, his own worst enemy, particularly when the rages take him. The crippled, bitter and merciless torturer, Glotka, who finds himself accountable to too many masters, with betrayal all around him. The First of the Magi, Bayaz, who has his own agenda and motives, and may be willing to violate the First Law itself to serve his purposes. And the vain, foolish Jezal, who always dreamed of power, without the least understanding of what it is and what it might mean. It's a tribute to Abercrombie's writing and power of characterization that we can find this cast of misfits, sycophants, sadists and murderers even faintly sympathetic. But we do. At times, they are even compelling.

With this dark a cast, you can't and shouldn't expect any happy endings. And to the extent that there is triumph, Abercrombie later undercuts the triumph with plot twists you won't see coming.

Bloody Nine frequently reminds himself, "You have to be realistic." Abercrombie is nothing if not utterly realistic.

This is fantasy noir, if you will; more grounded in reality than in the happy endings of fairy tales. It's different, it's dark, and while it may not be for everyone, it is a very compelling read.

Strongly recommended.

This is a really tough review to write mostly because I've never read anything this dark or bleak. I was hoping the tid bits from the other reviewers really just meant this had a bitter sweet end. I'm okay for endings that make you think. However, I can't say that was the case here. One reviewer said that pretty much every character ends up how they started or worse. I agree with that statement. Make no mistake, this is a story where the villain, in my opinion, wins best of everyone. Those that do good are punished pretty severely. But that's a fitting theme in this tale...no good dead goes unpunished. Fits right in with the cynicism and gore and death strewn every where.

So why in the hell did I give this 4 stars? Well, I "read" this via the audible narration and it is pretty damn phenomenal. That probably added a great deal more depth than my own inner voice would have. I found that the characters were really well developed even if I was hoping for a few of them to get a sword in the gut by the end. The plot twists were absolutely magnificently done. I guessed at one or two but there are a ton of them, most of which all come tumbling out near the end of this book.

I do have a few questions that I wish the author would have gone into...mostly exposition that was laid out across the trilogy but never really explained:

1) Why is it that nobody at all questioned the absurdly long life of Bayaz? The characters seem to have no issue with this man living hundreds of years, but only dispute that he's the first of the Magi.

2) All through the series it is mentioned that magic comes at a cost. That cost is never detailed, even in the slightest. It's hinted at in book 2 that perhaps Bayaz is trading his health to perform his Art, but the fact that he's hundreds of years old seems to counter this.

3) Why is magic leaving the world? That's never really explained. It's just stated. It's actually mentioned in both book 1 and this one and both times by a Spirit Logan is talking to. Bayaz also mentions it but with different words. Even if this were true, the end of this book has events that seem to make me question that.

Although there still seems to be a few loose ends, the wrapup of the first law trilogy was a masterpiece. Every time you get comfortable, Abercrombie pulls the rug out from under you. If you figure out how much happens in a book, multiply it by 4, then you have this book. If there is any complaint it is that SO much is happening that you lose track of characters until they appear again. The author really does seem to like the David Gemmell style of heroes. So many flaws that you hate to root for them but you cannot help yourself. In the end, it took me an hour to calm back down after finishing the book. He has a couple later books from this same world of his and even though they are not part of the trilogy, I like his style so much I have to get them. Get the trilogy, read them, enjoy them. It doesn't get much better than this. Never thought that I would consider a torturer as any kind of hero....shu

One of the things the store has got right is allowing buyers to review products, for if I hadnt read so many positive reviews about "The First Law" series, I wouldn't have spared it a second glance.

I confess that I would have preferred a fairy tale ending. After all the trials and tribulations the merry band made, it was somewhat surprising to find what happens across over 1500 pages (the first 2 volumes, and part of the third) will merely become but a footnote in the neverending struggle between the First of the Magi, and the Second of the Magi. Not only that, but the FOTM is actually a bit of a right bastard (excuse the French) and several of the surviving main characters simply end up being pawns.

A bright light, well, ok, a glimmer of light, at the end of the tunnel is the fact that the last chapter implies there could be another novel, or novels in the making. I'd love to see our intripid heroes collude and find a way to "neutralise" the Magi, and allow the humans to choose their own destiny. In theory, it could be possible, since magic is supposedly seeping out from the world.

Is the trilogy worth reading? Yes, you betcha.

Will it give you a warm and fuzzy sense of completion and closure?

No.

If you dont like sad endings, or endings with a sense of injustice, then you'd better stop at the end of the second book.

If Mr Abercrombie writes a follow up, I'll be amongst the first to grab it :)

I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books and was excited to see how it was all going to end. Not the way I thought - but that's a good thing! The only complaint is that I wanted more. His characters are so fully three-dimensional and well written that you can smell them! I was disappointed that everything wasn't neatly wrapped up and resolved, but my understanding is that Abercrombie will revisit these characters in a future series. All the characters initially seem like types familiar from the fantasy genre: the hero, the wizard, the evil manipulator, the warrior, the female warrior, etc. But the skill and talent of Abercrombie is to take those types and fully flesh them out so they are more than just types you have seen before. Compare these characters to say those of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and I daresay Abercrombies are more fully developed, with conflicting desires and motives, with a fair share of good and evil within them that stops them from being cliched.

I'm halfway through Last Argument of Kings and I'm thinking to myself, "This guy had no idea where he was going when he started The Blade Itself." I was already formulating a negative review in my read about dropped plot lines and how unnecessary the first two books are when suddenly everything starts to come together. It was like a slap upside the head seeing how everything that happens in the series all starts to come together. I'm glad to say that I was wrong. Abercrombie apparently knew exactly what he was doing from page 1. He ties everything up magnificently and actually made me want to go back and reread it all again.

My only complaint is that the major events and climax of the book end about 80% of the way in. The author spends a reasonable time tidying up loose threads, but then goes on to set each character on a new path but leaves us waiting to find out what happens next. Normally this wouldn't be a problem... it sells the next book, right? Unfortunately the next three books published in this world are stand alone stories starring new or secondary characters from The First Law trilogy. There's a feeling that all he was doing was continuing on the characters lives without us, but I do hope that he has some grand plan to return them to us for another epic series.

A terrific finale!

This trilogy came as close to satisfying my fantasy itch for the ongoing 'Ice and Fire' series by GRRM (well, the first three books anyway), and the incredible 'Malazan Book of the Fallen' series by Steven Erikson, as any book (series) ever has.

This final installment of Abercrombie's 'The First Law' series neatly ties up all the open ended threads that where expertly developed in the previous two books. And, it would appear, to also leave a suggestion for a new adventure in the future.

The story continues with the sequential telling of the happenings to the wizard Bayaz, Commander West, Dogman, Jezal, Logen, Ferro and Glokta. And as you might suspect, these 'individual' tales come colliding together at the end.

What I liked:

1.)I loved the tale itself. Epic fantasy featuring magic, interesting characters, great battles and a compelling story line. I could barely put this book down, I just had to read one more chapter.

2.)I really liked the unexpected...just when you think things are settling down...

3.)Abercrombie continues to develop his main characters as he proceeds to the conclusion of his story. I found all of the main protagonists in this novel easy to identify with and either really like or dislike. One character was especially memorable; I'll say more below*.

4.)I felt that, overall, Abercrombie's writing skills improved with each book.

The only minor concern(s) I have about this book is that I felt the latter third seemed a little rushed in comparison with the pace of the rest of the novel. (one of the strengths I perceived in the writing of this trilogy was the even tempo with which things seemed to happen and were played out). However, in fairness, multiple events were cascading towards a climax at the end of this novel and this may have given the appearance of a somewhat 'rushed' ending.

Also, as with the first two installments, a map would have been useful to geographically locate persons and events that transpired over the course of this book.

Conclusion:
A fine a fantasy novel as I ever read! Overall, the writing and story telling was second to none.
I can only hope, as the ending of this book suggests, opens the door to more stories in this series from Abercrombie. 5 Stars, more if I could.

...potential character SPOILER to follow...

*And finally, this...for all their accomplished skill, I don't think either GRRM or Erikson have ever come close to creating an individual character like Sand dan Glokta. Glokta, with his villain-esque persona, is the unforgettable, physically grotesque 'cripple' in this tale; a character whose profession requires him to be the consummate liar (except, excruciatingly, to himself), who has instinctive, self-preserving insight into most 'situations' and provides us, the readers, with regular doses of witty cynicism. There were moments in these novels (involving Glokta) that were so sad and tender that they near moved me to tears (particularly this last book) and others that made me laugh out loud; of all the wonderful characters in this trilogy, it was Sand dan Glokta and his tale that I enjoyed the most.

A short excerpt from page 481, book III...Glokta sees his disfigured image in a reflection and thinks...

"The smile seems to promise horrors more surely even than a frown. Has any man ever looked more of a villain? Has any man ever been more of a monster? Could any vestige of humanity possible remain behind such a mask? How did the beautiful Sand dan Glokta become...this? Mirrors. Even worse than stairs."
His lip curled with disgust as he turned away.

R.Nicholson

I gave The Blade itself a five star, and Before they are hung five stars as well. Last Argument of Kings perhaps falls short only in comparison to the previous two. My problem with Last Argument of Kings is because I found there to be way too much action in the novel, especially the last half. I was used to great character driven intrigues and plots and developments, and wham I was whacked with war siege after war siege. If you are into long war scene/battles then this book will be the best of the bunch. For me, however, I found myself actually skimming to the end of paragraphs to see if any major characters were killed or wounded. It's not that his writing of these scenes were flawed. It was the same nice writing. It was only what he chose to write about, and that for me was way too much action. It reminded me of watching a movie with a 15 minute car chase scene. If you came to watch an action movie then whoopee but stuck in the middle of an actually good story it's definitely out of place. Perhaps those scenes were aimed at movie producers and not me. The series in total remains a five star series. It's one of the best fantasy series that I have read in a while. I highly recommend this series to any and all readers. It's very compelling, and there is definitely some humor mixed in with it. I'm actually surprised that the First Law Trilogy is not more popular then it is. That's a good thing for readers craving something good and new....and especially complete. Kudos to Abercrombie and his publisher for churning these out quickly and completely. It seems to be a rarity with today's fantasy series.
Thanks Joe, Great Series, and a Good ending...just a tad too much warfare in it for my taste though. I thought some of the best moments from the series were in this installment though,(Spoiler Alert) especially the battle between Logen and The Freak. I thought there were some major inconsistencies with the ending, which I found to be less then fully rewarding. My only question for the author on this point was where was THE BLOODY NINE in the end.
Will be interested to see what Abercrombie comes up with next.

Last Argument of Kings is the third and concluding volume of The First Law Trilogy, following on from The Blade Itself and Before They Are Hanged. Those who have not read the first two volumes may wish to skip the plot summary as it does contain spoilers of events in those books.

In the frozen wastes of Angland, the army of the Union and its allies continues to wage war against Bethod and his forces. The Gurkish, having retaken Dagoska, now develop new and more bold plans to wage war against the Union from the south. And, having failed in their quest to the far side of the world, Bayaz and his companions return to the city of Adua to make new preperations for the conflicts to come. But in this struggle it becomes clear that different factions are scheming for power, that those who are allies one day may be bitter foes the next, and that the price of victory may be far too high...

The First Law has attracted a great deal of praise since the publication of The Blade Itself three years ago. Abercrombie's clear style delivered an apparently 'straightforward' fantasy tale with some interesting ruthless edges to it. Before They Are Hanged forced the reader to revise a lot of what they thought they knew whilst putting several key twists into the story that were unexpected. Last Argument of Kings delivers exactly what this trilogy needed: a no-holds-barred war story in which secrets are exposed, mysteries are explained and the author resolutely refuses to pull any punches. Those expecting a gloriously happy, neat ending to this trilogy best look elsewhere.

Instead, we get huge battle sequences, including one that threatens to displace the supremacy of Steven Erikson's siege of Capustan from Memories of Ice as the greatest epic fantasy battle this century. We get more intricate, devious politics. We get more torture, courtesy of our friend Glokta (whose character arc remains the most vivid and engrossing of the series). The deepening of the character of Bayaz, who first turned up looking like a jovial Belgarath-style wizard and is now revealed to have a lot more going on to him than just that, is also tremendously satisfying. To those who have taken part in debate on various fan forums (particularly on Westeros.org) some plot elements may emerge as rather predictable, at least until Abercrombie pulls the rug out from under your feet and, just for giggles, does it again a few chapters later. Best of all is the way quite small storyline elements from the previous two books are revisited and minor charaters of no great significance are now revealed to have their own important roles to play.

The ending is superb, particularly the tremendously satisfying epilogue and the final scene. Enough loose ends are left that Abercrombie could revisit the storyline in future books or series, but not to the extent that it is a necessity. Life goes on, albeit in a manner which some characters (and perhaps some readers) find criminally unfair. We also get enough clues laid about other, hitherto undeveloped parts of the world such as Styria that the news that the author's next novel, Best Served Cold, will be set there is most welcome. However, for the time being at least, we must bid a fond farewell to Superior Glokta, the redoubtable Jezal, the secretive Bayaz, the proud Ardee, the solid Colonel West and, of course, the Bloody-Nine. I look forward to the day when we catch up with them and their adventures once more.

Last Argument of Kings (****½) is a more than worthy conclusion to this trilogy. The book is available now from Gollancz in the UK and from Pyr in the USA.

In this third part of the First Law the reader should know what to expect by now--and Abercombie does his best to live up to those expectations. The first book was largely a set-up, an introduction to the characters and the world. The second was a diversion to various parts of the world. Now Superior Glokta is back in Adua, thoroughly under the thumb of Arch Lector Sult--and also the powerful bank of Valint and Balk. Jezal dan Luthar is gratefully back in Adua, too, hoping for a quiet civilized life with Ardee West, but gets dragged into political intrigue that is, of course, way over his head. The First of the Magi is doing the manipulating, and apparently long years of life has left him with diminished power, but still knowledge and guile enough to wreak havoc. In this book he finally shows what he's capable of. Logen Ninefingers returns North to an ugly past and worse situation--with the Union Armies led by bickering incompetents and his old friend and deadly enemy, Berthod, running rough-shod over all, using magic and inhuman creatures to maintain power.

Up North there are small battles and large, desperate and bloody, more than enough detail and description to satisfy the most ardent fan of such things. The pace and suspense and horror of it all is non-stop and action-packed. And then in the South, in Ardee, the politicking, bloody and full of treachery and deceit, continues to run rampant. Things are even grimmer when an overwhelming force of the Gurkish army invades--along with the the hundred nearly indestructible Eaters who are out for Bayaz's blood (and pretty much everyone else in their way).

Everything comes to one climactic scene after another. One is as amazed as Logan when some find themselves "still alive" at the end of each. In a nihilistic orgy of destruction and suffering, all the characters learn that not only is death walking with them, ready to snatch them or another at any second, but perhaps it is even preferable than to keep struggling on. And yet they all do struggle on, in the darkness and the horror and the pain, like that poster-boy of living beyond all hope (and ethics), Glokta. Watching it all is like watching the most amazing and fascinating and horrific train-wreck in history, but one cannot turn away, at least not now. And if we survived the first two books and were left wanting more, then this book certainly delivers. I liked it even more than the first two, if 'like' is the right word for it. The characters remain complex and unpredictable and riveting, as well as the details and the action--all so strong it burns indelibly into the memory. An amazing end to an amazing trilogy.

I was apprehensive while finishing this series due to reviewers commenting on the less than happy ending. But I finished this book and loved the ending to death. Afterwards I was thinking to myself, 'what was I worried about? I don't even LIKE happy endings.' But before I go on more about how the book ends, I'll delve a litte bit into how it begins.

For some reason I wasn't compelled to write a review about Before They Are Hanged, and that wasn't because I didn't like it. It was a great book and continued everything that I loved about The Blade Itself, just into a second book. The characters grew up a bit (some of them anyways), the action was intense and plentiful and the writing and characterization was genius like always. The Last Argument of Kings has all of that as well, but so much more. By the end of it, my jaw was left on the floor, and a week after finishing it I still can't stop thinking about it.

You may ask yourself before you read this wheather Abercrombie wraps everything up in a satisfying manner. Well, that is defeinitely going to be up to each reader's interpretation, but I can say that he could end the series here and leave little to be tied up. The war with Bethod, the war with the Gurkish, the mystery behind who Bayaz and his apprentice really are... all of this is revealed and none of it in a way that makes it seem Abercrombie wanted to rush it or didn't know where he was going. It is very clear by the end, that Abercrombie knew exactly what he was doing from the beginning. Everything comes full circle and that's what I loved so much about it.

I'm going to try not to spoil anything as I discuss how this series wraps up, but I can't promise that 100%, so read with caution. While I do love the ending, I do agree with reviews that it's not a happy one. In fact, if there was an opposite to a fairy tale ending, it just might be this one. Each character definitely has their own resolution, and out of all the main POV characters (Logen, Glokta, Jezal, Ferro, West and Dogman) a couple of them may have resolutions you could call happy and even that could be a matter of opinion. A couple plot threads will leave you wanting more and a couple will seem like there may be a page missing. And I won't say that the bad guys necessarily win, but your perspective on who the bad guys are might change a bit when the veils come off.

I definietly hope that a few answers are given, or at least hinted at in Abercrombie's two new stand-alone novels, but even if they aren't I'm still satisfied and incredibly impressed with The First Law trilogy. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone who loves well-written fantasy and can accept a less than happy, but amazing resolution.

Joe Abercrombie's concluding volume in his "First Law" trilogy does not disappoint. His motley cast of genre-breaking characters each have their part to play, many of those parts surprising and unexpected. And there are few, if any, happy endings. As the cripple and torturer, Glotka notes repeatedly, nobody gets what the deserve.

The Union, sandwiched between wars is the north with barbarians and in the south with the evil, magic-wielding Gurkish, is thrown into chaos by the death of its king. True, he has been a powerless figurehead for a while, with true power in the Union's Closed Council, but still. And the First Magi Bayaz's quest to find the missing Seed, for the forbidden magic it might provide the Union, has failed.

Through it all are Logen Ninefingers, Bloody Nine, northern barbarian and berserker, his own worst enemy, particularly when the rages take him. The crippled, bitter and merciless torturer, Glotka, who finds himself accountable to too many masters, with betrayal all around him. The First of the Magi, Bayaz, who has his own agenda and motives, and may be willing to violate the First Law itself to serve his purposes. And the vain, foolish Jezal, who always dreamed of power, without the least understanding of what it is and what it might mean. It's a tribute to Abercrombie's writing and power of characterization that we can find this cast of misfits, sycophants, sadists and murderers even faintly sympathetic. But we do. At times, they are even compelling.

With this dark a cast, you can't and shouldn't expect any happy endings. And to the extent that there is triumph, Abercrombie later undercuts the triumph with plot twists you won't see coming.

Bloody Nine frequently reminds himself, "You have to be realistic." Abercrombie is nothing if not utterly realistic.

This is fantasy noir, if you will; more grounded in reality than in the happy endings of fairy tales. It's different, it's dark, and while it may not be for everyone, it is a very compelling read.

Strongly recommended.

This is a really tough review to write mostly because I've never read anything this dark or bleak. I was hoping the tid bits from the other reviewers really just meant this had a bitter sweet end. I'm okay for endings that make you think. However, I can't say that was the case here. One reviewer said that pretty much every character ends up how they started or worse. I agree with that statement. Make no mistake, this is a story where the villain, in my opinion, wins best of everyone. Those that do good are punished pretty severely. But that's a fitting theme in this tale...no good dead goes unpunished. Fits right in with the cynicism and gore and death strewn every where.

So why in the hell did I give this 4 stars? Well, I "read" this via the audible narration and it is pretty damn phenomenal. That probably added a great deal more depth than my own inner voice would have. I found that the characters were really well developed even if I was hoping for a few of them to get a sword in the gut by the end. The plot twists were absolutely magnificently done. I guessed at one or two but there are a ton of them, most of which all come tumbling out near the end of this book.

I do have a few questions that I wish the author would have gone into...mostly exposition that was laid out across the trilogy but never really explained:

1) Why is it that nobody at all questioned the absurdly long life of Bayaz? The characters seem to have no issue with this man living hundreds of years, but only dispute that he's the first of the Magi.

2) All through the series it is mentioned that magic comes at a cost. That cost is never detailed, even in the slightest. It's hinted at in book 2 that perhaps Bayaz is trading his health to perform his Art, but the fact that he's hundreds of years old seems to counter this.

3) Why is magic leaving the world? That's never really explained. It's just stated. It's actually mentioned in both book 1 and this one and both times by a Spirit Logan is talking to. Bayaz also mentions it but with different words. Even if this were true, the end of this book has events that seem to make me question that.

Although there still seems to be a few loose ends, the wrapup of the first law trilogy was a masterpiece. Every time you get comfortable, Abercrombie pulls the rug out from under you. If you figure out how much happens in a book, multiply it by 4, then you have this book. If there is any complaint it is that SO much is happening that you lose track of characters until they appear again. The author really does seem to like the David Gemmell style of heroes. So many flaws that you hate to root for them but you cannot help yourself. In the end, it took me an hour to calm back down after finishing the book. He has a couple later books from this same world of his and even though they are not part of the trilogy, I like his style so much I have to get them. Get the trilogy, read them, enjoy them. It doesn't get much better than this. Never thought that I would consider a torturer as any kind of hero....shu

One of the things the store has got right is allowing buyers to review products, for if I hadnt read so many positive reviews about "The First Law" series, I wouldn't have spared it a second glance.

I confess that I would have preferred a fairy tale ending. After all the trials and tribulations the merry band made, it was somewhat surprising to find what happens across over 1500 pages (the first 2 volumes, and part of the third) will merely become but a footnote in the neverending struggle between the First of the Magi, and the Second of the Magi. Not only that, but the FOTM is actually a bit of a right bastard (excuse the French) and several of the surviving main characters simply end up being pawns.

A bright light, well, ok, a glimmer of light, at the end of the tunnel is the fact that the last chapter implies there could be another novel, or novels in the making. I'd love to see our intripid heroes collude and find a way to "neutralise" the Magi, and allow the humans to choose their own destiny. In theory, it could be possible, since magic is supposedly seeping out from the world.

Is the trilogy worth reading? Yes, you betcha.

Will it give you a warm and fuzzy sense of completion and closure?

No.

If you dont like sad endings, or endings with a sense of injustice, then you'd better stop at the end of the second book.

If Mr Abercrombie writes a follow up, I'll be amongst the first to grab it :)

Well, this trilogy certainly ended on a high note. Abercrombie continued the characterization trend he had in the previous books, where characters TRY to change, and make small gains, but basically retain their nature. Just like in real life.
Unlike the last book, which felt a bit plodding at times, this one spins through a ton of major events and makes the 600 pages fly by. Not that anything feels rushed or is given short shrift, far from it. The fights leading up to Logen's duel with The Feared are epic and exciting. The climax near the end of the book is both horrific and gripping. And don't even get me started on the denouement... a lot of surprises, and twists and turns, lurk in those last 50 pages.
I have to say that Abercrombie's writing improved drastically since the first book. The second only had a few awkward sounding chapters, and here there were none at all. I especially liked his use of language at the very end, where he brought things full circle, in a way.
It's odd. I heard about this book in discussions comparing it to A Song of Ice and Fire. But in the first two books I strongly disagreed. Despite the series' harshness, it still had heroism and hope that were generally absent in Martin's work.
Well, despair and hopelessness rear their head quite a lot in this novel. And I like the ending Abercrombie crafts more than Martin's novels, because his bittersweet ending smacks more of realism, of political cronyism and uselessness. I loved it!

I'll start by saying that this trilogy is not for kids...it's brutal, dark, vulgar and has no shame in pulling out the very most painful weaknesses a human could have, only to put it on the forefront. No reading between the lines here.
I'll be brief with my reviews of the individual books.

SOME SPOILERS

The Blade itself:
It was amazing...for a first novel. I could only wish that my first book was as well written and put together as this one. Joe has a way of describing settings, characters and events that demands respect. On that note, I have something to say about his character development, but I'll mention that in a minute.
I'll have to say that I felt some of the events were a bit choppy at first. Some of the main characters were not physically described until later in the story, and by then I already had a different idea of what they looked like. Or, something will be mentioned half way through the book, and you assume that either you missed something earlier about that, or that he just wasn't clear...either way, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
What did blow me away was how he distinguished characters by the style of writing. Each time he follows the point of view of one of his characters, he changes the style of writing so it'll match that characters personal traits, cultural background and way of thinking. When he makes the switch, you are in that persons head - completely. I've read other novels, that have done this, but not to the extent or quality that Joe has brought it here.

Before They Are Hanged
Alright, I don't know about this one. Some of my favorite things came out of it...but some of my least favorite as well. I have to mention the character development though. Absolutely amazing. What I though was a complete flaw in the first book ended up being an incredible set up for the second. By the end of the Blade Itself, none of the characters have made any development at all. The jerk is still the jerk. The killer, still the killer and the sarcastic, bitter and impatient grump is still just that. You go from beginning to end expecting more, but never get it. What a let down, right? Well, that's what I believed until I got into this second volume. This is where the development really begins. And here's were the brilliance shines through. By this time in the story, you know the characters so well (remember I mentioned his skill at description) that when events unfold, you as the observer think you already know what they are going to do about it...but then they don't. And that's when Joe takes you for a real ride around his block. The chance for changes have passed! How dare he start to unravel the characters at the point we thought we knew them? Holy cow, it...is...so...well put together at this point. I'll leave it at that.
What I must say disappointed me was the story development. Mostly because it leaves you hanging. But not in a way that says 'Okay, yeah! Let's go for the next one!' but more something to the effect of 'Okay...so...what was the point? I guess I'll read the next one to find out what's next, then.' I can't explain without spoiling, but really, if you get to the end of the second book, you just are asking yourself what the heck is going on. Not necessarily in the best way.

Last Argument of Kings
The best one, or just the climax? Mmmm, probably a bit of both. An issue I do have though, is the fact that by the end of this book, he still hasn't answered my question from book two, which was 'What is the point of half of what just happened.' I assume that ignorance was the answer. Ignorance on behalf of the characters, but really...if that was it, than whatever. Not impressed. But a few highlights here are the other answers and the ending. Both go together really. By the time you get to the end of the of the series, you realize that he gave everybody either what they wanted or what they deserved. But never what made them happy! He makes the reader realize that those who ended up as kings, those who got vengeance, those who made the changes they believed they needed to make, or even those who were just fighting for what they felt was right, never really got what they thought they would. Or hoped they would.
This would seem like a slap in the face if you took it literally. But in the end, this set of characters where such a wreck in the first place that there was no way they could have ended up happy anyway, even though you really hoped they could have. And perhaps they might have had that chance, but they never chose correctly and that was the problem
As a matter of fact, that was another thing about the novels. He is extremely good at showing the reader human weakness, and that - yes, it sucks, but - we all have more of them than we would like. But maybe he takes it too far. Looking back, I can only count maybe 2 or three characters in the entire trilogy - side characters included - who were genuinely decent people. Everybody else wore their weakness on their sleeves and that got old at some points...but that was he wanted to point out.

The First Law was a great trilogy, despite my issues I've mentioned. He took a genre and turned it completely around, never giving you the knight in shining armor or the good humored protagonist who was always at the right place at the right time to save the day. No damsels, no true heroes...only your average guys who do what they do cause they're all the world has got.
He left some loose ends open...guess I'll be reading his new novel, Best Served Cold, to see what's coming next.
4/5 stars Overall

[...]
Thank you :)

In "Last Argument for Kings", Abercrombie pulls all of his characters together for a series of tense, climactic battles. We get betrayals (of course) and even the surprising ones are pulled off with a grim sense of inevitability. In the cynical, self-interested world of bloody politics, friends are easily bought and sometimes the most loyal allies are those that are openly bought (since their motivations are the most consistent).

In what is a mini theme of the series, Logen "The Bloody Nine" reflects on his dark and ignoble past and his attempt to be a better person. Nothing can wash away the past and no good can undo the harm he has done, but he still feels he has to try. Do others have to give him credit? Do we as readers even believe he's a changed man? For a swords and sandals book, there are a lot of interesting philosophical issues raised to keep us hooked. Personalities and learned behaviours are hard to change and growth comes hard to people. There are no happily ever afters, no bold romantic finishes, but that makes the few moments of happiness and light all the more precious.

The hard realism of the characters (yes, even in the face of magic) is what makes Last Argument so compelling. As unlikable as some might have appeared on first introduction, they've all become fleshed out and complex. Their minor triumphs and losses all hit us. I am a little sad to leave them behind, even the bitter, cynical torturer Glokta who is given some of the best moments in the book.

It's hard to oversell this book. If you're a fan of low fantasy, this is a must-read. And if you've only read high fantasy, brother you don't know what you're missing. Buy this series.

Despite the bleakness in the situations of the book, it's the hope of the characters and their will to grapple with that bleakness in one way or another that keeps it from drowning. Well that and the completely brutal sense of humor that pervades the book.

There isn't much closure in this book, but there is crystallization. You come to understand the true depravity of the politics of the land, for instance, and the near-impossibility of people escaping their political world. Once again though the characters provide a tiny glimmer of hope.

I have two small problems with the book. One is that some of the conflicts that make the plot resolve a little too easily. The other is the writing of the character Sand Dan Glokta.

I figure if you're reading the review of this sequel you know who the characters are, so I won't be spoiling anything. If you haven't read the first two, stop reading this review, search for "the blade itself" and do that one click.

Back to Glokta. He's the only character whose thoughts are revealed to the reader explicitly, as if he's talking to himself. I have 2 problems with that. First, it falls into a fairly predictable pattern of exposition, then some punchline of Glokta's, thought out to himself. The rhythm becomes tedious. Second, it often softens the impact of what he says directly before or directly after his little conversation with himself. The best example I can give as to what Glokta's chapters could have been is for you to read them skipping over the italics. It would be something like Garfield minus Garfield.

Last note: I see one of the tags for this product is 'a song of ice and fire.' Well I must say this blows that series' 4th book out of the water. No competition. In fact they are opposites in many key ways. This book is rich characters in an amorphous, vague world -- done on purpose. A Feast for Crows is amorphous, vague characters wandering aimlessly through a rich world -- done on accident I think.

WOW. What a great ending to a superb, and mold breaking fantasy trilogy. This series (The First Law trilogy) is what brought me back to the genre of ""sword & sorcery "", so much of the genre, sadly, is pure crap. This trilogy is like a bright and shining jewel sitting atop a dung heap.
I suspect many of the negative reviews are written by those that somehow expected the "tried and true " variation on the LOTR formula. If you feel comfortable reading yet another novel replete with the usual variation on the theme -- you won't like this book, in fact you won't like this trilogy. There is no black & white, heroes and villain 's are not so dissimilar, and Mr Abercrombie delights in crushing fantasy stereotypes .
Raw, and violent. The face off between Logen NineFingers, and The Feared was awesome. This final book in the series won't make everyone happy, but it will make them eager for more. Myself, foremost among them.

Let me begin by saying the following: I read the whole series in three days. That should give you an indication I found it gripping; okay; I couldn't put them down until I finished them all. The series has had two equal strengths: the interesting characters and intense, well-written action. We were introduced to an array of different characters and come to care about all of them, if only that they get what they deserve (to be hung, in most cases).

In the third and final novel constant action is the standard. There are three wars going on, all needing conclusion: the war against Bethod in the North, the war against the Ghurkish from the South, and a peasant uprising. The battles come fast and furious as Colonel West battles the Northmen and Jezal leads troops against the uprising and the invading Ghurkish. These three wars engender countless battles, plots, and subplots.

The good: Non-stop action and intrigue. Twists come fast and furious. It's easy to imagine a different fantasy author taking many more pages to tell less of a story.

The bad: The first weakness of this novel is inadequate description, ala Glen Cook. The reader rarely gets more than the very minimum to envision the scene. Some of the descriptions that are used are repetitive, for example, new minor characters are described primarily as "tall" too frequently, major characters are often described by a single physical characteristic (Bayaz is bald, Logen has a lot of scars, Ferro has yellow eyes....we get it). The reader finally comes to envision a vast sea of fog from which a select few physical characteristics emerge, are briefly glimpsed, then disappear.

The second weakness of this novel is that the characters we have come to know universally reveal themselves as less than we expected rather than more. Jezal, who seemed to be maturing as a character, turns out to be a coward and something of an idealistic nincompoop. Ardee, the love interest, is an angry, drunken slut. Logen is a dangerous berserker who's hated by his own countrymen (we had an idea of this but the depths of his insanity and the distrust of the other Northerners is fleshed out). Bayaz is a egomaniac and murderer. Ferro is too full of hatred for any other emotion. It's not so much a cast of characters as a pit of snakes.

Joe Abercrombie is a talented writer. Overall, this is one of the best fantasy trilogies I have ever read. It was an entertaining roller coaster throughout. I'm disappointed in the third novel because the characters had seemed to be progressing as individuals and this finale snatches any true maturity or growth away. The moral bankruptcy of the characters is often most clearly highlighted by other characters' opinion of them. Perhaps it's intended to show the gap between our opinions of ourselves and how others perceive us.

When Abercrombie delivers, he delivers.
This finale to an amazing trilogy was, well, amazing. The writing is superb, the character growth continues in ways you wouldn't expect, and it all wraps up so unsatisfyingly, but in a good way.
What the hell does that mean?
It means that Abercrombie tied up most of the loose ends of this story, but left more open to explore. He set himself up for more books along the pathlines of these characters, but I would be (mostly) satisfied if he just stopped here. He did leave one or two (one in particular) things hanging that really irked me, but honestly, that's a sign of good writing. I want to know what happens next, and if he explains it later, II couldn't live with myself if I didn't buy that book.
If you loved the other two books, with their mysterious magic, ridiculous plot twists, funny happenings, and sad deaths, read on.
You will not be disappointed.

Mixed feelings.
Definitely it is not worth re-reading, otherwise it would be like Logen, pissing into the wind. Real life is depressing enough, why make it worse?
I didn't expect a happy ending, but everything, absolutely everything to be bad? While you have to be realistic is a good motto, the ending is not realistic because _life is s£$t_ and _people do not change_ is overplayed.

The Blade Itself starts with a chapter 1 - End, and The Last Argument of Kings ends with the last chapter - Beginning.
It explains a lot. In the beginning the main characters were in s^&t, and in the end they wandered into the same s^%t.
Nothing has really changed. Protagonists didn't really develop, change or improve. The whole trilogy's goal was to hammer home a point:
'Our minds never change!'
'You never change'
'Nothing has changed. I still need vengeance.'
'A man can change,' whispered Logen...yet he stood alone...

I believe the story is not finished. I am sure there will be at least one more trilogy. I know, I will give it a try. But if it ends up like this one, it will be the last for me.

I am turned between rating it 6 or 8 out of 10.

Say one thing for this reviewer, say she's a weak-minded sucker.

She really enjoyed the first two books of Joe Abercrombie's The First Law trilogy. This story was original, had a unique style, fascinating characters, and a darkly cynical style. She liked it. It was fresh. But she was kind of hoping, even daring to expect, that the last book, Last Argument of Kings, might have an ending that was, if not perhaps exactly happy, at least somewhat satisfying.

Unfortunately, Last Argument of Kings was more realistic than happy. Hooray, some might say -- a realistic ending! But realistic is not what this reader reads fantasy for. For three books she read about people's heads being chopped off, painful body parts clicking, toothless gums being sucked at, pain, wasting disease, bodies being cleaved in half, more pain, betrayal, torture, treason, tyranny, loveless marriages, abusive fathers and brothers, miscarriage, alcoholism, prejudice, more pain. Lots of pain. It has to get better, right?

Alas, no. There just wasn't enough redemption to balance all of the pain. A couple of characters became more noble (they couldn't have become less so), but their triumphs were outweighed by the degradation of other characters. It was all just kind of depressing.

Besides that, there really wasn't anything new in Last Argument of Kings. The story ends (for better or for worse), but there was none of the freshness that was so exciting in The Blade Itself. The writing is well above average, but not brilliant, and it certainly wasn't pretty.

What she's trying to say is: The First Law is an entertaining and well-written story for someone who is more the cynic than the optimist. But it left this reviewer feeling icky. Very icky.

"Last Argument of Kings: The First Law - Book Three" concludes the adventures of those battling both Bethod and the Gurkish. The overall influence of Bayaz, First of the Magi, in the Union's evolution takes on an interesting perspective. While the immediate plotline is sufficiently resolved, further issues from the fallout could develop a future series.

The author depicts awesome combat descriptions, particularly when Logan's alter ego the disturbing Bloody-Nine emerges. Political maneuvering plays a significant part as well with Bayaz and among the Northmen. Yet a couple characters are left unresolved, specifically Logan and Ferro, providing opportunities for future novels.

A detailed map of the significant terrains and a comprehensive appendix would have been useful.

I highly recommend the series to any fan of the fantasy genre.

Thank you.

A fairytale ending where the good win, the bad lose, mercy is shown, and virtue triumphs?

NAH!

I applaud Abercrombie for having the guts to do in his third book what he did in the first two. Some people are just insufferable, and that is qualified by whether they're insufferably mean, foolish, or cruel. If you expect to finish this series to find that the "bad" are really "good", you'll be disappointed...though I suspect that if you've made it this far then that isn't the sort of story you're looking for. This is a tale where great events don't coincide with the rise of the good and where the control of power is rarely in the hands of the just and the wise. And that's what made this a great series. While the events themselves may be resolved the problems of human nature still remain, and in that it's a fantastic reflection of us all. We may solve one dispute or end one war, but another will rise. Some have power and will use it against others. This is no fairy tale. You have to be realistic about these things.

As far as pure entertainment value goes, these books stand near the top in a heap of fantasy literature. You learn to love or hate the fascinating and unique main characters. The writing is action packed, fast paced, edgy, dark and sometimes funny. They're definitely enjoyable reads, and Last Argument of Kings is no different.

I thought the plot lines were well summed up in the finale. There were a few surprises, but they weren't too unrealistic. I understand and agree with some of the criticisms about the end being dire. Without giving away too much, it's not a Hollywood ending. But I could have told you that from the beginning, as fairy tale endings didn't seem like Abercrombie's style. However, I disagree that the ending was contrived. I thought the changes in some characters, and no change in others, was realistic. It was only partly satisfying, which I guess is all I could hope for.

After all, you have to be realistic. ;-)

In the past few years I must have gone through a dozen of fantasy and sci-fic series, most are on the top seller list, some deserves to but is not for whatever reasons. I was going through them in my mind at work and found that I compels to write a review for this, it's not my most favorite ( I know noone cares about my favorite), it's one that I prefer to tell others about it. I don't really ever ever write review, but I feel a bit obligated to put my 2 cents on this. There might be some part and extra part in the story that you like more, other you like less, but the final conclusion is so good, I'll say it even past Lord of the Rings level. Bayaz is a powerful wizard, in many ways better than Gadalf, I absolutely love how he handle everything at the end. If they ever going to make a movies out of this series, it will change the public mind set about villain and hero in a big way.

The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie is a set of three novels adhered together to create a single, epic tale. Just like every other fantasy trilogy, I hear you shout from the sidelines. No, it is not just like every other fantasy trilogy. The novels act as progression points in developing a violent, sophisticated and politicalised world - yes, politics!

The Blade Itself is the first novel, followed by Before They Are Hanged and Last Argument of Kings. Don't be deceived: you cannot judge these books by their covers. I quickly discovered the titles have nothing to do with the story. Though if you look carefully, you'll be able to discover the roots of these quotes and garner an appreciation of just how well-constructed these novels are. Each novel is broken into three parts, each with a quote attached as an introduction. I found that I was looking forward to the next section of the novel for both a new quote and the next stage of the tale.

In my own opinion, the First Law Trilogy is the most well-rounded and satisfying series of novels I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Each character is interesting and believable, likeable and dislikable. The political world is intertwined with murder, violence and torture: themes that have come to define Joe Abercrombie as a serious, fantasy author. The story is not particularly exciting and jam-packed with action, but it pans out as an interesting tale that draws you in with each page turn.

I cannot relate Joe Abercrombie to any other author I have read, or rather any other author that pulls off unjustifiable violence so well. The First Law Trilogy is a series that surprised me more often than not. I finished Last Argument of Kings with a deep sigh of satisfaction. Not surprisingly, Joe Abercrombie went on to write two more novels, Best Served Cold and The Heroes, both of which surpassed all my expectations. Abercrombie has also been commissioned to write another stand-alone novel and trilogy, set in the same world.

The story follows three main characters and three semi-main characters. Abercrombie does well in always keeping your attention and not dawdling on one character for too long. You come to care about each character's ambitions and fears, a rare experience in a literary world competing for their reader's attention. Fantasy sells from a fan-base and Abercrombie does well in generating one.

If you're in for a good tale of intrigue, betrayal and violence, Abercrombie is a sure bet. Happy reading!

((For more fantasy news and reviews, visit my blog attached to my profile.))

Everything was great about this series except the ending. Still worth the read and i've had worse endings but it still was unsatisfying. I get joe Abercrombie didn't want to go with the 'and everyone lived happily everafter' deal, but if you're going to go with the other road at least make us glad about something. It seems to me the villain ending is more stereotypical than the hero ending nowadays and all it does is leave a bad taste in the mouth and makes you think the characters are worthless because of it.

Well and ending. Abercrombie seems top of his game for the series. The violence and romance is certainly amped, but the story is well thought out and complete. Well, mostly complete. I'd like to say everything is resolved, but in a way almost nothing is resolved, or was it?

Overall a great ride, and the story just seemed to come together. Most surprising was perhaps the way I found myself routing for Glokta - whether that for his own happy ending, or final justification for all he has done... You'll have to read to find out.

I really enjoyed the first two books of the trilogy. The last book is also a great page-turner and a rather good book of fiction. Characters like Sand dan Glokta (the inquisitor) rarely show up in fantasy books and when they do authors usually don't pass an opportunity to judge them. Joe Abercrombie managed to avoid that, which in my opinion made the book better. Unfortunately author could not doing absolutely unwarranted things to advance the plot. I particularly disliked taking all of planning capacity off Jezal. He used to be an astute card player and champion swordsman in book 1 and now he just doesn't make any plans? None? This is just illogical. Another place where author in my opinion could do much better is the pulling the daughter of Master Maker out of nowhere and quickly getting rid of her. Apparently she could not get her revenge over hundreds of years and had to show up simultaneously with the invasion.
By the end of the book it was hard to follow the plot without certain resignation but the book is still exciting.

NO SPOILERS WHATSOEVER!

This is a novel that closes a trilogy, yet it seems pretty apparent to me that the author loves his characters enough to want to go on. And he’ll get no argument from me.

LAST ARGUMENT OF KINGS is a bloody whirlwind, a slash-and-burn of a novel that plays no favorites among those who populate this and the other two books preceding it: THE BLADE ITSELF and BEFORE THEY ARE HANGED. And what a great series this has been – I found it almost impossible to stay away – which sounds like an overworn cliché, but believe me, it’s one I rarely use. I found this one a little slower than the other two, but that still leaves it head and shoulders better than a lot of books out there.

In this volume the Union’s war with the Gurkish empire to the south and the Northmen’s influx into Angland gets into full swing, and it’s an ugly, messy series of conflicts that is particularly unkind to the Union. Abercrombie gives his readers everything they could want: crisp literate writing, sharp imagery and continuous action. Chapters are relatively short, and there are almost always divisions within them, allowing for a kinetic sense of story full of continual narrative changes and unbroken activity. It’s also Abercrombie’s talent that while he can maintain a great pace while building rich, non-stereotypical characters and storylines, continuously providing surprises in the context of a believable, full-bodied story.

What makes Abercrombie so good is that he avoids clichés either in form or deed – form in the sense of using inflammatory words, or by cutting away at key moments for suspense, or by creating standalone four-word paragraphs for those “drop the mike” moments authors love (like “Little did he know…”).

He avoids “deed clichés” through his constant search to make scenes take place or resolve themselves in unusual manners, which he accomplishes over and over. He is unafraid to kill “name” characters, or to take scenes in unusual, untried directions. Without giving a thing away, there were developments that really surprised and even shocked me – much like those in popular TV shows like GAME OF THRONES, where things occurred that I never saw coming.

And then there are his characters.

The one who probably stands out most is Logan Ninefingers, a violent full of self-contradictions who has an unusual flair for fighting and preservation while endangering all those who stand nearby. He is at times dangerous, self-deprecating, monstrous, misunderstood, powerful, likeable, and very, very tired of fighting. He has the unusual quality of being exactly the person you think he isn’t exactly at the moment when you’ve finally figured him out. But the one thing he most definitely IS, is compulsively interesting.

And while Logen is certainly the most featured and definitive character within the novel, my personal favorite was Superior Sand dan Glotka, a once-dashing man whose bright future was savagely altered when he was captured and tortured for two years by their continual foe the Gurkish. Now a torturer himself, his crippled, hideous form is a source of continuous agony, but his refusal to let it dictate his life is heroic all on its own. Beyond that, some of the best scenes in the book are his – be they garish torture scenes or unflattering interactions with other members of the cast. For my money, he is the backbone of this book, the one whose intelligent observations and discoveries continually advance what we know. This is done either in actual learned knowledge or through his continual sarcastic comments given to us in italics.

There are of course many others: Bayaz, a powerful sorcerer whose most prodigious talent is in self-promotion; Jezal dan Luthar, a man-child whose dubious parentage lands him in a highly unusual predicament; Collem West, a man whose keen military sense seems to land him in all the wrong places; Ferro Maljinn, a former slave and prostitute with amazing eyesight, prodigious physical prowess and an extremely bad temper..

While I feel the book’s post-climax resolution makes the ending too long at something like 90 pages, it can be forgiven when one realizes it is wrapping up three books totaling over 1700 trade publication-sized pages..I'm amazed at that page count, because it felt nowhere near that long when I was reading it. Still, it is a lot of resolution, particularly since a hefty chunk is composed of politics and a governmental meeting. Spirited though it might have been, it was still a bit of a drag. But when one realizes this “world” continues in three more novels (BEST SERVED COLD, HEROES, RED COUNTRY) that take place years later, it makes a kind of sense. Like Mieville’s famous Bas Lag novels of PERDIDO STREET STATION, THE SCAR, and IRON COUNCIL, the author’s skill at creating his (or her) fictional world allows him some leeway when it comes to what he must do to further his universe. PLUS, it’s followed by a absolutely KILLER final chapter.

LAST ARGUMENT OF KINGS is an exhilarating end to a great trilogy, and I’m an Abercrombie fan for life.

I enjoyed the third and final installment the most in this trilogy. The whole plot was revealed , but whether you are satisfied with the outcome or not is a matter of taste. I didn't have any nagging questions at the end that weren't answered and was OK with some uncertainties at the end.

In comparison to the first book, this book was very fast paced with lots of action, yet still dark with plenty of gruesomeness. There weren't really any surprises or major reveals, but I really didn't expect any. The characters were consistent throughout the books - no drastic reforms or redemptions.

The trilogy is definitely worth reading.

This book was pretty awful.
The first half was good, but the ending was terrible. It set up characters for nothing. There is no continuation of these stories. Glokta, Bayaz, Ferro, Logen, Luthar, all these characters get some half-assed ending setting up for a sequel that never came.

A bunch of the characters just repeat themselves. Glokta spend about 1/2 of every line complaining or mentioning how he was tortured to every single person he meets.
Jezal tries to be good 10 times in a row and Bayaz continually lectures him over and over.

Ferro makes absolutely no sense, as ALL character progression goes out the window for absolutely no reason.

Logen, oh poor Logen. There is a romantic interest between Ferro and Logen, they finally meet up and I swear to god the author pretends that Ferro is deaf after 10+ times they mention how they miss each other.

This book is basically taking a good premise, some good characters, and then going HA! Sequel bait!

Except there isn't a sequel. This is the final chapter.

Amazing end to the trilogy. I couldn’t imagine how all the threads would come together and accomplish such a good time. Interesting on many levels, not just based on a novel’s expectation, but a study of power, time, people, and politics. I look forward to reading the author’s other books.

There’s not much to say that I didn’t say about books one and two of the series. The action and characters are great. Lots of politics and conspiracies. One of my favorite parts of the book, and indeed of the series, are Glotka’s ongoing internal dialogues. I strongly recommend this book and indeed the series.

This is the worst book of the 3. First of all it is not really an ending at all. I am quite confident that the story must continue in the other 3 stand-alone novels by Abercrombie or that he will continue to write about this characters in the future, cause there is no way that this could be the end. Another thing I didn't like is how characters just can't be happy. Like in long TV series when you know the boy and girl like each other and should end up toguether but there is always one further annoying confussion that keeps them from being together. I could have recommended this series more before I read this last volume of the trilogy.

I have to admit that I was not happy about the ending when i first read it.

The bad guy (or at least, most evil of the main characters) won, and the possible happy endings and character growths that were hinted at in the earlier books never materialized.

Oh well. Do we really need a feathery happy ending to make a story feel worth while and fulfilling ? Has Hollywood dulled our views that much ?

In the end, for better or worse, the characters stayed true to who they were.

We all make mistakes, and sometimes those mistakes repeat themselves. We can take self help classes and work at improvement, but there are some demons that are damn near impossible to escape.

I'm happy to have gone on this literary journey with Abercombie. His characters were memorable and likeable, the villain interesting, if not semi illusive, and the story tightly written. Never did I feel I was reading filler, which coming from just reading, 'A Dance With Dragons' by Martin was a welcomes change.

I just finished the trilogy and have read through some of the reviews. I know I always try to read reviews of books before I try them so I will do my best to help someone decided to read or not read this series. First, Joe Abercrombie can write so I don't think that needs to be debated. Second, he has created good/interesting characters that you root (or don't root) for. Third, there is good action that keeps the pages turning. To me, those are three important things to have in a book.
I guess my one problem with the series is I'm a little disappointed in the overall story. The first book was almost all set up. The second had more story, but still left me feeling like it was just opening the way for the big payoff. And then, when I finally get to the final book, I was left wanting for more. The third book definitely had more story and brought a lot of earlier plots together. It just felt like a long way to go for not that much story. I kind of feel like it would have been an outstanding single book instead of stretching it into a trilogy.
If I compare it to the Game of Thrones series (which I love), it does not stand in the same class. In GOT, each book creates more and more story. The complexity of the stories George RR Martin writes is head and tails above what is in these books. The GOT book have to be a series. The First Law series may have been better served as a single book. I recently read Star Drops by S.R. Templar and felt the opposite. That is a one and done book (as far as I know) that I really, really liked but it could have easily been spread out over multiple books. The author, by sticking to one cohesive book, kept the action and adventure moving - never getting bogged down in teasing or dragging things out.
So to sum up: Good book. I recommend it if you have the time to read through three books.

I am not without criticisms of Last Argument of Kings, or of the First Law series in general. I thought the first book had some real rough spots in the prose, and came off in general almost as a prologue because nothing much happened. The second book was far better, though, again, it was difficult to see what the stakes were, what the overall plot was. The third book also has a few issues I could focus on.

But if I step back from this individual criticisms and look at the series as a whole, I am enormously pleased with what I see. A gripping, dark take peopled by interesting and complex characters characters--a tale that is rich and detailed and that (miracles!) comes to a real conclusion within three books! God bless you, Mr. Abercrombie.

I can scarcely think of a fantasy series written in the last 20 years that has done better. How many fantasy series out there have actually concluded? You've got Robin Hobb (who's concluded a bunch of them), Keyes, Sanderson, and maybe Kay.

Hobb has her loyal fans, and I actually really liked her Ships of Magic series. Kay can be a bit airy-fairy (even for a fantasy writer) but he is, of course, terrific. The conclusion of Keyes' Thorn and Bone saga was a massive disappointment. And the less said about Sandersons pathetic Last Empire series the better.

Now comes Abercrombie with a real tour de force, ending much stronger than he begins. You will rarely find a better fantasy series than First Law.

There has been much complaining about the sheer darkness of the ending. I think this goes too far. While the ending is certainly not all sunshine and roses, it's not as if Lord Sauron descends upon the Shire and rapes all the little Hobbit women.

Some characters get what they want and find it is not all they thought it would. Some don't get what they want and must come to terms with this. Some suffer ignominious fates for seemingly no reason at all. And you get a clear sense that struggles and suffering will go on. What exactly is the problem with this?

I could quibble with certain plot points, certain character's motivations (for example, what does Bayaz really want? We never learn this.). But I think most of my quibbles are fairly small and not worth dwelling on when my ultimate message is to read and enjoy this series!

(possible spoilers)

...great question asked at the end of the closing book of Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy. A "good/naive" character may briefly mull over the finer points of this question before unceremoniously splitting open the opposition or dicing off the fingers of a former colleague. But, the grownups in Abercrombie's world have long ago silenced any misgivings on the issue. Regardless of devil status, ruthlessness is the key to power, and power is the key to survival; the only progress comes in learning one's place in the power hierarchy and achieving some measure of peace through resignation and obedience.

Plenty of reviews have offered opinions on the emotional appeal of a such a bleak vision, and many have found it lacking. However, definite rewards await those capable of separating emotional appeal from entertainment value. A 30 second car commercial with a decent soundtrack will cause a warm fuzzy feeling but would fail as a commentary on the insights that Abercrombie offers and the questions that Abercrombie raises.

And those questions are convincingly raised, artfully raised, and worth raising! Answer them, if you can.

I read this trilogy over the last 2 weeks. I couldn't put them down. I really enjoyed the series, and I felt Last Argument of Kings was the best of the three. I picked up The First Law several years ago, started it, but didn't get far into it. But then I read Best Served Cold which was great, followed by The Heroes, and Red Country last winter. I know i should have read the trilogy first since several of the characters show up in Abercrombies' later books. Abercombie is a terrific writer. His battle scenes are amazing. I look forward to reading anything he puts out while waiting for the next George RR Martin.

A brilliant final installment in the Trilogy that ties up most lose threads, whilst keeping us hopeful for more.

Most fantasy Trilogies/Series/Sagas take a book or two to set the scene, build the world and get going. With 'Last Argument of Kings' (The Third book in the Trilogy) Abercrombie just keeps getting better! The story builds to a stunning vivid crescendo with multiple battles (and wars in fact) taking place, that draws the story in.

So why after finishing Joe Abercombie's 1st Law Trilogy am I impelled to write this review?
Well because it was just SO Damn Enjoyable!

Don't get me wrong, I sway with vast majority of the fantasy loving public when they cry, 'George RR Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire' is the best fantasy work to date', it is!...But then this, well this is the most Enjoyable!

Sure it doesn't have the epicness (if that is a word) and grandeur of Martin's work, or the two page details of the smell of the docks or the taste of a lemon pie... But it was never meant to.

This is a real character driven fantasy unlike anything I've ever read before (and I've read my fair share of the genre). The characters are real R Rated individuals, much like people really are...There is no sugar coating of fairy or elven dust here, they're grey, gritty, flawed individuals (once again much like the real world) with slight sarcastic but cynical undertones...Saying all that, Abercombie somehow (and this will sound contradictory to what I just described) has created the most colorful and satisfying characters and really has you fall in love with them by the end of the Trilogy...even the crippled, resigned torture!

The other major thing of note with this Book/Trilogy is that it is a page turner... but unlike any other page turner I have ever read. Normally with a page turner, some climatic action scene takes place and the author will build up the suspense and then build it up some more...then, leave out the one final piece to give the scene resolution and normally wont reveal what that was, until 4 chapters later!
This is a page-turner of a different nature. It is a page-turner because every page is just so damn enjoyable to read. From Abercrombie's plot twisting, to his intelligent character banter, to his beautifully detailed battle scene, which I believe are the strongest, most vivid, fight scenes out of any author I've read.
I think you get my point but there real was not one weak chapter in this whole Trilogy. Not no chapter you had to trudge heavily through, no character you didn't want to read more about.
As I finished one chapter I wanted to keep reading purely for the pleasure of continuing to read...not because I had to find our how the good guy finally overcame all odds to beat the bad guy!

It's not ASOIAF and to be honest I was glad it wasn't...Martin has enough of his own pages, chapters, books and TV show to keep us satisfied (if he'll ever finish it!)...

Abercrombie really has given us a refreshing new type of Fantasy Series. One that really deserves your attention! Read it!

This series is dark and gritty and full of profanity. I loved it. He did an excellent job of taking me on a journey right along with the characters. The characters were very real. No heroes, no real villians. Just people that are capable of horrible things and really decent things. I went from hating Glokta, to feeling sorry for him to actually rooting for him in the end.

The Blade Itself was groundbreaking with it's realism and intriguing characters, Before They Are Hanged gave more of the same with war, a quest, and character development thrown in. Unfortunately Last Argument of Kings didn't improve much, if anything it was a step backwards. There was war, character regression, and more war. I had to skip over large sections of this novel because of the boring fights and strategy talk. Don't take that to mean the novel was bad, I'm just not a fan of reading about wars. Throughout this series I found myself waiting for something to happen. After the first book I thought that the second would bring some answers and a substantial plot. It turned out to be a walk across the country for no reason mixed with fighting and war. After the second book I was hoping for a thrilling edge of my seat conclusion. What I got was fighting for 500 pages and 100 pages of what I had hoped for. The last part of Last Argument of Kings reminded me why I liked this series. Plenty of people reveal their true nature, surprises abound, and there is no war! If this series spent less time on fighting and a little more time on the overall plot, I would have found it much more enjoyable. If I could rename this series I would call it The Big Book of Nothing, or at least The Big Book of Very Little. There just wasn't much to this series other than a fight between three nations. It failed to be epic, and it failed to be an adventure. The only thing that kept me going were the characters. They will irritate you, make you gasp, and maybe even make you smile if you are a little twisted. I would definitely recommend giving the series a try, and I think it succeeds at being gritty and in your face. My only problem was the amount of wartime strategy and fighting, but if that doesn't bother you, then this book should sit well with you.

When I started Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy, I was immediately impressed with his characterizations, putting a new and darker spin on the tired old tropes of fantasy. Here was someone to show us that berserkers really aren't nice people to be around, that the young king does not begin as lily white and pure of heart, that power corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The oft-repeated catchphrase of Logen Ninefingers said it all: "You have to be realistic about these things." Now we come to the supposed end of the trilogy, and unless this is some trick of literary legerdemain (fear not, gentle readers, all is not lost?) I have to say the ending does not justify the price of the ticket.

Dark fantasy I get. Realistic, gritty fantasy I get. That evil often escapes justice, that people may sometimes lack the strength to do what is right, all of these things I expected to see in The Last Argument of Kings, as I had in the previous two books. However, when this gray injustice is universal, when every character fails to follow through, when none of the prominent characters appears to get what they deserve, I begin to wonder if clinical depression - or, at the very least, a pathologically cynical worldview - has not been pressed into print by the author.

The writing is not the problem. Mr. Abercrombie is a deft writer and very skilled in creating vibrant characterizations, the writing itself is a joy to read. It is the ending, and the heavy-handed, overwhelmingly negative message it forces upon the reader.

I think the real key to these books is Sand dan Glokta. It would be going to far to call him the protagonist, but he does seem to be a reflection of the world Abercrombie has created, and - ironically - it's most comfortable inhabitant. But increasingly, one of my central problems with Glokta's methods came to reflect my issues with the trilogy as a whole. As recent news events have surely demonstrated, torture doesn't work. People will, eventually, say anything to make the pain stop, whether they know anything or not. But Glokta never guesses wrong, never operates on false information, not once. In Abercrombie's world, torture always works, because the world is a mean and small place and most people are terribly weak.

This is, ultimately, where The First Law trilogy fails for me. It isn't realistic - it's blatantly pessimistic, and the ending suffers for it.

The final book in the trilogy, we watch as those we've come familiar with reach the climax of this tale. While many elements were worthy, I found the ending to be a bit of a let down. I won't say much about it to avoid spoilers, but it almost seemed Abercrombie left it open so he could add a fourth installment if ever the day came he wanted to.

Well, there was no "once upon a time" and there definitely wasn't a "they all lived happily ever after." Violence... check. Love story... NOPE. Magic... check. main characters than in no way could ever be considered heros... 1000% check.
*** SPOILER*** The only decent fellow in the whole 3 books dies a wasting death right at the end... This was to make sure no one was confused about what happens to nice guys!

Like some of the other reviewers here, I agree that this series is very well-written and entertaining for the first two books. But book three is where it gets to be a joyless, depressing slog.

Now don't get me wrong -- I don't necessarily need a happy ending. And only a fool would have assumed from the first two books that this series was going to be all rainbows and lollipops at the end. But honestly, when you follow a group of characters this long and get to like some of them, you at least want some closure. Instead, in this book, you get plot by stupidity, personalities shifting 180 degrees, and main storylines coming to abrupt, unexplained endings.

It seemed unbelievably cynical that absolutely NOBODY in this book came to a satisfying or pleasant conclusion. Only one character seemed halfway content at the end, and even that was colored with continued misery. No matter what they did or how hard they tried, everyone I liked suffered horrific fates and random misfortune, and every flaw that seemed to have been overcome promptly returned just so everybody could be awful to each other.

All in all, this third book seemed hastily-written, ill-planned, grossly cynical, and just plain depressing.

This book is the conclusion of the First Law trilogy and it does not disappoint. Plenty of action, unexpected turns and revelations. The ending will leave you stunned.
Abercrombie takes the usual fantasy heroes and twists them. Very strong set of unique characters, lots of dark humor, a great world. This is by far the best fantasy I have ever read. It is also very realistic - not just in the way of violence, but also the characters are acting convincingly in their own interest.
What you will NOT find here: boring history lessons, cardboard characters, deus-ex machina last minute rescues and predictable events.

I'll start with the bad news first. I had one major problem with this book/series: it ended.

In its defense, it had to. It was so tightly written and well-plotted, anything less than a magnificent finale would have been disappointing. Abercrombie ties up every loose end masterfully, in such a way that he indulges certain fantasy tropes while still maintaining the series' originality by standing those tropes on their sides. All in all, this series is comprised of three of the best fantasy books I've ever read. If you've read The Blade Itself and Before They Are Hanged, Last Argument of Kings is required reading. If you haven't read the first two, you're missing out and you should.

The one problem some people seem to have with the book is that the protagonists aren't sympathetic. It's a valid critique. However, I enjoy my shades of grey, and I found the characters to be very well- and fully realized, their virtues that much more triumphant because of their flaws.

I'll echo the sentiments of many others here: I think Abercrombie has reinvigorated the genre. And I can't wait for whatever he sends our way next.

I, like many of you, felt a degree of disappointment . In the first two books I loved the imperfection of each of the characters, these "anti heroes", but more importantly their growth. I, like may, felt that the growth would lead to heroic resolution of their faults. But the ending of the third book slaps you in the face and says, "Yeah, right. No matter how much you recognize your faults and past mistakes, you are still largely powerless and cannot change it, due to your own weakness and the fact that others hold power over you". Certainly, this is an Anti-Fantasy ending , but this is the brilliance of this "fanatasy" trilogy. Once you get over the initial disappointment , you should realize what a great honest commentary the ending is. If you bought this series to make you feel warm and fuzzy, perhaps in the future you should look in places other than well written fiction.

Every one of them was flawed but I loved them anyway. I wanted the best for each character and from each. When they would fall short, I was disappointed in them, but understood. I was hooked the whole way.

The series in a whole was a captivating mixture of action, witty dialogue, and intriguing locations. Each chapter had me eagerly turning to the next in order to find out what was happening. Characters are unique and each are likable in their own way, despite each of their major flaws.

**Spoiler Alert**
Unfortunately, by the second half of the book, Joe took a decidedly nihilistic turn. This wouldn't be such an issue if it worked both ways, where some characters ended in a better state than they began and others in worst state. Instead, every single character was screwed. By the end of the book, each character either ended up exactly as they began or even more miserable than the start. I can perfectly agree that life takes turns for the worst, but it can also take turns for the better. A really good book knows how to make an ending bitter sweet. This one just left a sour taste in my mouth.

There's a lot of raw honesty surrounding war, money, and politics in this story, delivered with smooth clever prose.

The violence is sensational.

The ending left me shocked, but there is a lot to take in and contemplate. I've really enjoyed thinking about it since finishing the tale. I see small pieces of the world a little differently now.

I would recommend this book for anyone looking for a read that reaches out of the mold.

It was with much excitement that I opened the box that months ago I had pre-ordered and had rapid-shipped from the UK.

As with the first two books, Last Argument of Kings has superb cover-art. It's a very dashing trilogy displayed on your bookshelf appropriately.

But to the story:

In the first two installments, in particular the first, action took a back seat to characterization. You can check out my critiques of both those books if you like. Some of the most interesting and original-yet-archetypical characters in fantasy were made flesh and earned high-praise for me for that feat.

In Last Argument of Kings, action definitively steps to the fore. All of the plot-lines that were set up like dominoes in the first two books are tipped, and before you know it you're swept up in a tide of the little black bricks like Mel Brooks' entrance in the computer-animated 'Robots'. From climax to climax, Mr. Abercrombie charges you through exciting conclusions to every plot and sub-plot introduced before-hand.

This is a difficult review to write because, even more than usual, I would be loathe to give away even the slightst hint of what happens, but most of those characters from the first books that you felt needed some comeuppance get it in this book. But Joe Abercrombie isn't sentimental, and by the end of this book it will be plain that some of those that got a comeuppance didn't deserve it as much as others or as much as you might have thought they did, and those that deserved good certainly don't get it, and many of those that you used to want good things for you'll find you no longer do.

The character Sand Dan Glokta has a saying not quite as ubiquitous as Logen's "You have to be Practical", but far more descriptive of Last Argument of Kings: "Nobody gets what they deserve."

In a manner of speaking, no character gets justice in this book. None of the character arcs end in a way that conventional fantasy norms indicate they should but are nevertheless ended with integrity. In a way, this is a masterful feat. I took JK Rowlings unsentimental killing of characters like the owl Hedwig or the house-elf Dobby for ungraceful, gratuitous acts included in the story simply to showcase her unsentimentality. I perceived none of that artless hackery here. The story concludes as it should, consistent with the world Joe Abercrombie established in the first book.

True - not everything is perfectly graceful. Some of the surprises that are inevitable in any tale - characters thought gone turning up in new guises, etc. - seemed a little forced, but these are small concerns. As a work of art, Mr. Abercrombie stayed true to his original vision.

Ironically, this is as much a source of dissatisfaction for me as a reader as a source of admiration for Mr. Abercrombie as a writer. These are great books. This is great writing. These are amazingly whole characters. What a flipping depressing way to end a great tale though - I get enough dissatisfaction about how things turn out by reading the news. It's not that everything ends badly for every character, but I would have loved to end the tale with a swelling of joyous emotion for just one of these perfectly crafted characters receiving a truly wondrous reward for all of the sacrifice they endured through the three books.

No such luck. Joe's broader message is really that all the struggles we endure, as the struggles of characters like Dogman, Colonel West, Sand Dan Glokta, or Jezal dan Luthar, mean essentially nothing at the end of the day, at the end of the struggle, at the end of their lives. We endure the futile struggle and are not rewarded.

Joe chose to not be kind to his characters. As the god that divines their fate, he implies our own fates are as forsaken. So depressing. I could hope he'd write a spinoff of one of the surviving characters that ends in showers of good fortune, but by then that would seem a cheap device. The moment has passed to lift the reader's heart with inspiration, or to at least lift one of these characters out of the mud and gore of a miserable world.

I think this series is a work of literary art - all too rare in my favorite genre. But like watching a great but basically bleak cinematic drama, I only watch it once. Or like driving through South Dakota in the wintertime - I recognize the majesty of all that flat land, but am eager to be done with it. My ultimate position is that I think Mr. Abercrombie got carried away with his own cynicism and left on the table what might have been a great opportunity to inspire and uplift - and ultimately what might have been an unforgettable tale is instead one merely superbly crafted.

I really enjoyed the trilogy until the third book. When I got to the ending I thought someone had ripped pages out of the book. It was like the author didn't want to write anymore or someone got a little heavy handed with the editing.

The first two books were good, great character development and intrigue and lots of layers to keep you guessing, this book, however, seems to try to finish the story all in one go, a story that could easily have a another book to tie up all the lose ends. It's almost as if the author got tired of the story and wanted to move on, settling for quick, half baked conclusion that left everything up to the readers imagination. A shame really, this series could have been an epic! But still worth reading:)

The first two were passable attempts at bloody fantasy; nicely drawn up characters, very distinct from one another, good action. But this one was much better as far as plot is concerned. Abercrombie follows the lead of George RR Martin by not allowing happiness and hopefulness to get in the way of a good story, so (**spoilers**)Logen doesn't get the girl, or peace, Ferro barely finds vengeance, the wizard is not the blanket of safety like all the other wizards in fantasy, Glotka doesn't earn a conscience or a death, and Jezal's slight brush with danger doesn't permanently make him a noble and humble soldier. Goodness doesn't prevail, life is pretty unfair, and there really aren't any true resolutions, only an ending moment of slight forced peace, for the time being. Hope he reuses some of these characters for his next one.

Probably the worst ending to any trilogy I have read. Leaves endings open for all main characters, all plot lines lead back to one person in a rushed, uninspired way. Completely let down. Wish I could get my time back and forget that I read this.

Someone has appropriately mentioned cynicism and antidepressants, but before you read this series, consider whether you can endure a story that (a) takes us across a world for no reason (get it, get it?), (b) is punctuated by scintillating dialogue such as "uh" (for yes) and "gugh" (injured sound effect), and (c) is content with a lesson that in the end we are the very least of what we could be. The writer mishandles his plot, finds one or two traits for each character and runs these into the ground, and brings us full circle with all the subtlety of the smell of overcooked cauliflower filling the kitchen. You can return a book and ask for your money back, but it's harder to get your time back.

Pretty good; however, as with the first volume, it was too long and would have benefited from being edited more thoroughly. As with the first two of the series, the book was very dark, and is definitely not for someone who likes a character or characters to find redemption.

Joe can write, the characters are human, all with virtue and flaws. The narrative pulls you into the story, you are there, you feel the cuts, the slashes, the stabs and the pain. Your arm will hurt after a vicious fight. The blood flows and splatters, you will feel the sweat and the cool breeze on the back of your neck. If you are a fan of this genre, you will not regret reading his stories.

Every one of them was flawed but I loved them anyway. I wanted the best for each character and from each. When they would fall short, I was disappointed in them, but understood. I was hooked the whole way.

The series in a whole was a captivating mixture of action, witty dialogue, and intriguing locations. Each chapter had me eagerly turning to the next in order to find out what was happening. Characters are unique and each are likable in their own way, despite each of their major flaws.

**Spoiler Alert**
Unfortunately, by the second half of the book, Joe took a decidedly nihilistic turn. This wouldn't be such an issue if it worked both ways, where some characters ended in a better state than they began and others in worst state. Instead, every single character was screwed. By the end of the book, each character either ended up exactly as they began or even more miserable than the start. I can perfectly agree that life takes turns for the worst, but it can also take turns for the better. A really good book knows how to make an ending bitter sweet. This one just left a sour taste in my mouth.

There's a lot of raw honesty surrounding war, money, and politics in this story, delivered with smooth clever prose.

The violence is sensational.

The ending left me shocked, but there is a lot to take in and contemplate. I've really enjoyed thinking about it since finishing the tale. I see small pieces of the world a little differently now.

I would recommend this book for anyone looking for a read that reaches out of the mold.

It was with much excitement that I opened the box that months ago I had pre-ordered and had rapid-shipped from the UK.

As with the first two books, Last Argument of Kings has superb cover-art. It's a very dashing trilogy displayed on your bookshelf appropriately.

But to the story:

In the first two installments, in particular the first, action took a back seat to characterization. You can check out my critiques of both those books if you like. Some of the most interesting and original-yet-archetypical characters in fantasy were made flesh and earned high-praise for me for that feat.

In Last Argument of Kings, action definitively steps to the fore. All of the plot-lines that were set up like dominoes in the first two books are tipped, and before you know it you're swept up in a tide of the little black bricks like Mel Brooks' entrance in the computer-animated 'Robots'. From climax to climax, Mr. Abercrombie charges you through exciting conclusions to every plot and sub-plot introduced before-hand.

This is a difficult review to write because, even more than usual, I would be loathe to give away even the slightst hint of what happens, but most of those characters from the first books that you felt needed some comeuppance get it in this book. But Joe Abercrombie isn't sentimental, and by the end of this book it will be plain that some of those that got a comeuppance didn't deserve it as much as others or as much as you might have thought they did, and those that deserved good certainly don't get it, and many of those that you used to want good things for you'll find you no longer do.

The character Sand Dan Glokta has a saying not quite as ubiquitous as Logen's "You have to be Practical", but far more descriptive of Last Argument of Kings: "Nobody gets what they deserve."

In a manner of speaking, no character gets justice in this book. None of the character arcs end in a way that conventional fantasy norms indicate they should but are nevertheless ended with integrity. In a way, this is a masterful feat. I took JK Rowlings unsentimental killing of characters like the owl Hedwig or the house-elf Dobby for ungraceful, gratuitous acts included in the story simply to showcase her unsentimentality. I perceived none of that artless hackery here. The story concludes as it should, consistent with the world Joe Abercrombie established in the first book.

True - not everything is perfectly graceful. Some of the surprises that are inevitable in any tale - characters thought gone turning up in new guises, etc. - seemed a little forced, but these are small concerns. As a work of art, Mr. Abercrombie stayed true to his original vision.

Ironically, this is as much a source of dissatisfaction for me as a reader as a source of admiration for Mr. Abercrombie as a writer. These are great books. This is great writing. These are amazingly whole characters. What a flipping depressing way to end a great tale though - I get enough dissatisfaction about how things turn out by reading the news. It's not that everything ends badly for every character, but I would have loved to end the tale with a swelling of joyous emotion for just one of these perfectly crafted characters receiving a truly wondrous reward for all of the sacrifice they endured through the three books.

No such luck. Joe's broader message is really that all the struggles we endure, as the struggles of characters like Dogman, Colonel West, Sand Dan Glokta, or Jezal dan Luthar, mean essentially nothing at the end of the day, at the end of the struggle, at the end of their lives. We endure the futile struggle and are not rewarded.

Joe chose to not be kind to his characters. As the god that divines their fate, he implies our own fates are as forsaken. So depressing. I could hope he'd write a spinoff of one of the surviving characters that ends in showers of good fortune, but by then that would seem a cheap device. The moment has passed to lift the reader's heart with inspiration, or to at least lift one of these characters out of the mud and gore of a miserable world.

I think this series is a work of literary art - all too rare in my favorite genre. But like watching a great but basically bleak cinematic drama, I only watch it once. Or like driving through South Dakota in the wintertime - I recognize the majesty of all that flat land, but am eager to be done with it. My ultimate position is that I think Mr. Abercrombie got carried away with his own cynicism and left on the table what might have been a great opportunity to inspire and uplift - and ultimately what might have been an unforgettable tale is instead one merely superbly crafted.

I really enjoyed the trilogy until the third book. When I got to the ending I thought someone had ripped pages out of the book. It was like the author didn't want to write anymore or someone got a little heavy handed with the editing.

The first two books were good, great character development and intrigue and lots of layers to keep you guessing, this book, however, seems to try to finish the story all in one go, a story that could easily have a another book to tie up all the lose ends. It's almost as if the author got tired of the story and wanted to move on, settling for quick, half baked conclusion that left everything up to the readers imagination. A shame really, this series could have been an epic! But still worth reading:)

The first two were passable attempts at bloody fantasy; nicely drawn up characters, very distinct from one another, good action. But this one was much better as far as plot is concerned. Abercrombie follows the lead of George RR Martin by not allowing happiness and hopefulness to get in the way of a good story, so (**spoilers**)Logen doesn't get the girl, or peace, Ferro barely finds vengeance, the wizard is not the blanket of safety like all the other wizards in fantasy, Glotka doesn't earn a conscience or a death, and Jezal's slight brush with danger doesn't permanently make him a noble and humble soldier. Goodness doesn't prevail, life is pretty unfair, and there really aren't any true resolutions, only an ending moment of slight forced peace, for the time being. Hope he reuses some of these characters for his next one.

Probably the worst ending to any trilogy I have read. Leaves endings open for all main characters, all plot lines lead back to one person in a rushed, uninspired way. Completely let down. Wish I could get my time back and forget that I read this.

Someone has appropriately mentioned cynicism and antidepressants, but before you read this series, consider whether you can endure a story that (a) takes us across a world for no reason (get it, get it?), (b) is punctuated by scintillating dialogue such as "uh" (for yes) and "gugh" (injured sound effect), and (c) is content with a lesson that in the end we are the very least of what we could be. The writer mishandles his plot, finds one or two traits for each character and runs these into the ground, and brings us full circle with all the subtlety of the smell of overcooked cauliflower filling the kitchen. You can return a book and ask for your money back, but it's harder to get your time back.

Pretty good; however, as with the first volume, it was too long and would have benefited from being edited more thoroughly. As with the first two of the series, the book was very dark, and is definitely not for someone who likes a character or characters to find redemption.

Joe can write, the characters are human, all with virtue and flaws. The narrative pulls you into the story, you are there, you feel the cuts, the slashes, the stabs and the pain. Your arm will hurt after a vicious fight. The blood flows and splatters, you will feel the sweat and the cool breeze on the back of your neck. If you are a fan of this genre, you will not regret reading his stories.

Seriously, the best a book can get. Some events were clearly foreshadowed, and some blindside you briliantly. Read the first two in the series first -- "The Blade Itself" and then "Before They Are Hanged." I cannot wait for the next Joe Abercrombie book - this series has absolutely spoiled me! Graphic, dark and surprisingly funny.

The good:
It is a good ending. The story ties up well, and the writing style is fiendishly good. The way Abercrombie ties certain parts of the story together is very entertaining and well done.

I really enjoyed the way he unfolded the story. It reminded me of the movie Snatch at times.

The irony Abercrombie weaves at times is extremely delicious. As a certain character gets whats coming, while another one doesn't see it coming. I've laughed out loud a number of times at reading the unexpected twists.

The battles too are great. Very entertaining.

The bad:
The characters seem though to take sudden and drastic turns, completely different from the first two book's development. Logen, and Bayaz stick out in my mind.
I wanted so badly for the character to go a certain way... when it didn't happen or something completely unexpected came up, it feels like Abercrombie just stuck it in there to bring that kind of situation up.

Or he got a different idea about how he wanted it,... or maybe he just had a bad few months while writing the book.

Over all it is a good book, and I recommend the series to everyone.
The first two were great. The third is good, while still being a good ending.

Overall:
If the third had had a bit more polish it would have been fantastic.

I look forward to what Abercrombie writes in the future.

A very satisfying end. As with the previous two installments, the focus is on the characters, not the plot. While the plot certainly heats up, more importantly, the characters reach their inevitable conclusion to their development. For better, or for worse. And as the plot slides neatly into place, so too do the final unseen facets of the characters you've been following slide into place.

While the last installment dipped a bit, the conclusion doesn't disappoint.

Alright, I'll confess: I loved this trilogy and I enjoyed the third installment every bit as much as the first two. This is an unconvential fantasy epic that stands typical fantasy stereotypes on their heads and I had a blast reading it and would unhesitatingly recommend the entire series. This is fantasy with dirt under the fingernails and pus festering under ragged scabs though. Sure, you have your traditional cast of characters...barbarian warrior, old wizard, handsome young captain, and a fearless warrioress, etc. but Abercrombie takes these archetypal characters and gives them deep character flaws, dodgy pasts, and poor attitudes. They must face hard circumstances in a complicated and morally ambiguous world. His books are complex and extremely well-plotted, the characterization superb, the dialogue excellent, and the writing is involving and keeps you riveted to your seat. Even though this finale ran over 600 pages I managed to bang it out in a day, partially because it is so deliciously readable but equally because I simply couldn't put it down until I finished it.

The Last Argument of Kings is a grand finale too. Abercrombie satisfactorily ties up most all of the major plot points but there is enough ambiguity at the end that additional books would not necessarily be precluded. Personally, I would have preferred a tighter, less ambiguous ending but I wouldn't be surprised if elements of the ending weren't driven by the editor/publisher. I'll forgive Abercrombie for it and, I confess!, I still loved the book and think it is a wonderful five star read.

I'd hazard a guess though that there will be some readers who may not like how this series ended...because it isn't necessarily pretty and it certainly isn't a fairy tale ending. Unlike those tidier fantasy stories, Abercrombie doesn't forget that battlefield corpses don't just magically disappear and besieged cities aren't magically made whole at the end of the day. His is a dirty, gritty world every bit as nasty as medieval Europe and the story and the endings reflect this adherence to realism. As Logen Nine-Fingers often says, you have to be realistic. Abercrombie definitely is realistic and the story reflects it. Wounds come at the price of disfigurement and death, people will do awful things to accomplish their goals, and people aren't charitably motivated. The weak get squashed, soldiers get maimed, the powerful do horrendous evil to hang onto their power and the more things change, the more they stay the same. You have to be realistic about these things dear reader, and that realism is what sets this trilogy apart and makes it such a great read.

The first two novels present enough character development that a reader could hope that the books would end on a high note in a Tolkienesque fashion, but they also provided plenty of clues that there could be a grim ending indeed. I won't give away any of the plot and ruin your enjoyment, but I will say that this book did not disappoint me, was just as compelling a read as the first two, and the story gets the ending that fits it even if it may not be exactly what most readers expect. It is the ending the story deserves though.

It's a fast paced fun read. Joe Abercrombie throws out the old bad guy vs. good guy routine. Instead you have people with deep flaws that more or less are trying to be 'good.' But the good path is not always so clear- even in hindsight. Do most villains in real life think that they are villains?

It was a very good series. I am assuming this third book is the end, but I haven't checked yet. It wrapped up the story lines well. All the characters came to a conclusion, if not all of them good ones. Highly recommended, and I will be looking for other Abercrombie books for sure.

I loved this series. All the main characters were interesting and engaging. The last part of this book however... how can I put this... I wanted to like what the author was doing, which was making it more realistic and less fairy tale ending.... and the idea sounds good enough..... but somehow I was left disappointed. Some will no doubt disagree and think that this is the right way to finish a fantasy novel. Personally, I think this is an excellent trilogy and would be the first in line for more, despite the ending.

In the end, there are few books that are as powerful as The Last Argument of Kings.

Deep, complex characters, far and beyond the black and white tropes one sees in the genre today are in these pages. A poignant sense of realism clashing with an uplifting sense of idealism and fantasy defines the conflict of each character. Deep questions, "such as can we change who are?", are posed, the answers left to the readers.

Follow a complex plot, full of twists and reversals of perceptions, with the most intricate characters and evocative imagery, and arrive at a powerful conclusion -- that is The Last Argument of Kings.

This trilogy is well written, complex, imaginative and . . . I wish I liked it more. While the story is deep and rich, almost all of the characters are unlikable and never improved or developed like I had hoped they would. I know it is the author's right to do whatever he wants with the series, but I was left unfulfilled -- like I had been teased.

I was thoroughly disappointed with this book. I'd go so far to as to say that it is not worth reading. Life's short, so why waste your time with this one?

One reviewer wrote, "this series is a work of literary art." I disagree. Abercrombie is a good writer, but he isn't writing literature. The series feels like a long-form writing assignment on trying to make unlikable characters likable enough to sustain a story. And that's the problem--in the end, the characters not to likeable. Who cares about what happens to Logen, Glokta, Bayaz, or Jezal?

I cared some about the characters in the two previous books, but in the third book I just quit caring. After I quit caring about the characters, their travails do not matter and there was nothing to carrying the plot along.

Abercrombie has accomplished an impressive writing feat by crafting a trilogy based on unsympathetic main characters. But in the end, and especially in the third book, it does not result in interesting or engaging reading. The first book was worth reading and maybe the second, but there's no reason to read this one.

Calling all females- forget the romantic vampire books, this series is all you can want! Easy to read, romance, action, fighting, not too much magic. This book is so good that I can't stop reading it at night. The character development is unusually good, with unique characters. I care about all of the story lines. The action is so well-written, I don't want the chapters to end. I am only halfway through, but expect a great ending. The last time I felt like this was for George R.R. Martin's latest (except the last book), and didn't have to wait so long for him to write it. Thank you, Joe Abercrombie, for the hours of pleasure.

I thought this was a fitting end to the First Law Trilogy. Thank you for a fun read Mr. Abercrombie. The characters remained true to themselves even though it was not what was expected. The Bloody Nine made a great appearance or two and the story followed a pretty traditional fantasy course, but with plenty of surprises.

4.5/5 and The Stamp of Approval

Seak (full review -[...])

Wow. I have NEVER found a book (and series) more disappointing. Well-written doesn't save this dismal, sour, hopeless pile of bleakness.

I want my money back.
I want my dozens of hours back.

SPOILER ALERT
Any character redemption you are longing for...ain't happening. That moment where you say, "Ah! NOW I can get behind this guy," nope.

The fact that people out there give this five stars is literally amazing to me. Ugh.

The final summary: three books full of people you mostly dislike (because they're foul/stupid/evil etc) and who you look forward to connecting with at some point (and then never do)...who all pretty much hate each other, hate their world and hate themselves...all of whom are, at the end of 90 thousand words, NO better off...in fact are pretty much their same dismal selves...just hating more.

The point of writing this series escapes me entirely. The same impact could have been achieved by typing "everyone sucks" 50 thousand times and called it a day.

PS. Worst. Ending. Ever.

Best fantasy trilogy ever and I'm not just saying that because there's no stupid songs... Everyone I have ever recommended this to has loved it and if you don't like it, you probably have no sense of humor and should probably just switch to reading pre-teen novels stolen from a famous Japanese book.

I found the final book to this series to be just as good as the rest and ties many of the threads up nicely, if not all predictable. For those that are tired of waiting on George Martin to finally finish another book,
this is a great way to fill in the years. Looking forward to Abercrombie's next.

I just finished the series. The first book was interesting with good character development. The second book was a big pointless circle, but still interesting. The final book seamed to be going nowhere and actually didn't go anywhere. All that was accomplished within the story of this series was undone. It was a tragedy that left me feeling broken and hollow after allowing myself to be invested in the world. Joe Abercrombie's first series sucks. I hope he can do better.

Sadly this book just isn't as good as its predecessors.

There are some great action scenes and a lot of tension as well as some great twists. but the pacing is all wrong. The book peaks about 3/4 in and then just sort of keeps going until it stops. I appreciate the author wanted to wrap everything up but it seems like it could have been done a lot cleaner and quicker, instead the book kind of meanders from one character to another until it just ends suddenly.

All in all it was a decent trilogy but this book left me a feeling of "Oh, okay. So that's it I guess?"

"The Last Argument of Kings" is a sensational tome that ties together all the loose ends and characters from the two previous books, and still left me craving more at its conclusion. I want to see where the future takes the remaining characters (who will go nameless, unlike the Bloody Nine, Threetrees, and Dogman, who have all earned their names). In this book you'll see two characters ascend to royal positions, weddings, magic, and lots and lots of fighting and death. Abercrombie is not an author to shy away from conflict.

The humor is present in full force, as are the plot twists we've come to expect. Unlike other authors, the fighting in this book does not linger and linger over 100s of pages (like Brent Weeks did in the Shadow trilogy finale).

Long live Galokta! Long live Logen Ninefingers! Long live Joe Abercrombie, and may he giveth us more novels at this level of quality.

Well written, engrossing plot, tragically flawed characters, but for reasons I don't quiet understand they are likable and sometimes lovable. Great twist, you may think you've figured it out but don't be to sure. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves action, drama, fantasy, and can stand tragedy and disappointment with a touch of hope.

As the title says. I have read and reviewed this whole series. I advise you to read it, and read it now. I reviewed it because quite frankly, there is too much mediocre dross out there desperately clinging to stereotypes. This book does nothing of the sort. It is creative, well written and...novel. Abercrombie and a few other writers (Richard Morgan, Steven Erikson et al) are blowing those stereotypes apart.

Be part of the solution, not the problem.

I finished listening to The Last Argument of Kings...First Law: Book Three. All three books are great... except when you get toward the end of book three...it ties up some loose ends, yet is still open ended for potentially another book... my question is..Will there be another book? I only gave it 4 stars for that reason. If I know another book is coming down the pipe... 5 stars.

The wretched state of modern fantasy in one book: mediocre prose, an unrelenting fascination with a "gritty world" that produces tedium instead of horror, and a middle school boy's sociopathic view of human nature.  Everyone is terrible! Nothing ever changes! No one ever improves, no one is ever kind or decent, everything is soaked in a gory blood bath of senseless betrayal and yawn-worthy deaths. If I am to be invested in the darkness of a world, I need some sort of light in it to mourn. Sadly, all this book gave me was a great desire to read something with a less lazy moral spine.

P.S What was the point of reading the first two books when at the end of the series, everyone is excactly where they started? That's just shoddy authorship.

Read these waiting for next Game of Thrones book. In ways I like these characters better, the fight scenes are incredible. Plus Abercrombie doesn't kill off all you favorite characters. Would love to see the Bloody Nine on the screen. I'll be reading more of this authors books soon.

Vivid scene-painting. Great, gruesome action pieces. Some compelling, complex characters (& a couple less-successful characterizations). Laced with blackest humor, bleakest hope. Highly recommended.

I liked how Abercrombie developed interesting characters (sympathetic antagonists and flawed protagonists). He told his story well and included clever lines that gave me some occasional chuckles. However, I found the ending too cynical; his point seemed to be that no matter what people do, they can't really change things. I'm not saying everything should end happily ever after for everyone, but the whole thing just seemed over the top.

Mature, fantasy readers must read this. If you haven't read The First Law trilogy, go buy it. Now. Abercrombie has an amazing style, characters and plot development, and more importantly...the entire series doesn't have a single character or word more than it needs. Absolutely the best I've read, in any genre, for a long time.

The first two books in this trilogy was brilliant. Absolutely magnificent. Then this... it is as if it was written by someone else. Everything turned bad, no heroes left!!
Still, one of the best trilogies ever written, due to the absolute brilliance of the first two.

I really enjoyed reading this series! I'm a huge Game Of Thrones fan and found this recommendation on a forum about GOT. It wasn't on that level (not many series are) but it was definitely worth the read! Dark at times, but then isn't life?

I see what you did there Joe- and while some people might think it is oh so clever it really was just jarring, abrupt and left the reader wanting to throw the book.

I'll never read anything of yours again.

Loved the entire series.

The important thing to remember is that he is realistic. There is no simple explanation of good and evil and quite frankly the greyness of his characters is a breath of fresh air.

Highly recommended

Loved all 3 books. Honestly, I have not found a book where eventhough the characters are all flawed on some way there is a sense of honor and goodness in them that is unique. Very full characters set in tough situations. Highly recommended

This whole series is pretty much about nothing. I know that you could put this all into one book and make it a whole lot more interesting because something other than killing would happen. The only reason I kept reading them is b/c the one char. Is outstanding, and b/c there is lots of violence. Most of the violence is completely pointless but still kind fun. The writing is smooth and easy to follow to the point you could call it young adult level reading. All of the characters are all complex their still kind of boring only the one is in anyway likeable and he has a split personality, one side is loveable the other half is a super human sociopath. I finished the book and I'm still not sure who the good guys were meant to be.????

To be blunt, I didn't finish reading this novel. The cover blurb for each volume in the series has quotes like "Delightfully twisted and evil". (A quote from the Guardian.) The plots are dark - but dark plots I can handle. What I didn't like was that none of the characters had redeeming qualities. There was a cast of villans and unsympathetic anti-heros. The character I felt most sympathy for was the torturer!

The trillogy started well, and I was expecting at least some of the cast of characters to grow in a way that redeemed them. I enjoyed the first novel and on the strength of that volume I purchased the rest of the series. However the second volume was reasonable but not great, and the final volume of the series just turned me off. By the middle of the third volume, I just had to put it down. These novels are just too dark for me.

This series started out great but in his attempt to avoid "cliches", the author sucked all the joy out of the series in the last book. This series is now a classic for depressives and/or misogynists. So if you truly want to ruin a series make sure you accomplish the following.

- End the last book with a whimper

- Make the complicated and difficult to like characters truly despicable

- Make the likeable characters despicable as well, leaving the reader no one to identify with, empathize or even root for.

- Reward all evil characters and destroy any sense of hope

- Have the heroes go on a totally pointless long journey to the ends of the earth for an important object that just shows up later in the middle of the big city. (sorry, that's from book two).

Clearly I cannot express how befuddled I am by this series. Perhaps the real world does turn all people into mewling syncophants or evil manipulators. I guess that's just not what I look for in my FANTASY books.

I also loved the first two books, and had this one rush shipped from the UK, and could not have been more disappointed. It appears that the author had to finish somehow, and quickly, so he did so - with no regard to consistency of plot, themes, and storylines.

Anyone who read the first two books should have known better than to expect a happy ending, but one consistent with the story, and reasonably true to the characters so painstakingly established, was not too much to hope for.

There is certainly room for another book to tie up the ends still very much left loose, so I hope this is Abercrombie's intent. This reminds me of the weaker volumes of "The Wheel of Time", except without Jordan's attention to detail.

I really liked the series...Mr Bloody Nine was a real character. "Still alive" I enjoyed his perspective. Some of the characters were much less savory than he, some were definitely "characters". I have it in my Kindle and will probably re-read the series a few times.

Excellent completion of the series, but I think the writer with this book just opened a fantastic world in which live characters from the book. I love writing Joe Abercrombie and high-maintenance I think I'll read a few more of his books. Honestly, sometimes a writer does not have any mercy on the main characters, but in a world that they live anyway no mercy for anyone. The book is so much upheaval, lies, and deception that you simply have to enjoy reading. I've enjoyed. If you like fantasy books, then this series not to be missed, a world that was created by the writer, is fantastic. The main characters such as the supreme magician Bayaz, Logen, Glokta, Jezal, Feero, simply can hate or love. The characters are so well-woven and complex, simply, if you hate them and sympathize with them. Even minor characters have a story that is perfectly integrated into the whole book. Now a little about the third part of the series; The war in the north is in full swing, an expedition organized by the Bayaz is infamously ended, Glokta returned to Aduu. Logan goes to the north to take part in the war, although not so sure that it wants, Jezal hopes to appease from Bayaz, but he has completely different plans for him, Glokta still dealing with the search for traitors of empire, that is increasingly as a new threat hangs over the empire the threat Gurkhul empire, a wild Feero finally comes to collect all debts to Gurkhul empire. But who will survive in this way is questionable. With pleasure, I read all three books and I would recommend it to all fans of fantasy. I think it's a great series and could appeal to a wider audience of readers.

I really enjoyed this series as a whole, and this book as well. It’s definitely not a conclusion to the story. This is a setup for many more books to come. If you’re looking for a neat wrap up to the series in this book you’re going to be disappointed.