Last Argument of Kings

The First Law: Book Three

By: Joe Abercrombie

Narrated by: Steven Pacey

Length: 27 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

The end is coming.

Logen Ninefingers might only have one more fight in him, but it’s going to be a big one. Battle rages across the North, the King of the Northmen still stands firm and there’s only one man who can top him. His oldest friend and his oldest enemy. It’s time for the Bloody-Nine to come home.

With too many masters and too little time, Superior Glokta is fighting a different kind of war - a secret struggle in which no-one is safe and no-one can be trusted. His days with a sword are far behind him. It’s a good thing blackmail, threats, and torture still work well enough.

Jezal dan Luthar has decided that winning glory is too painful, and turned his back on soldiering for a life with the woman he loves. But love can be painful too, and glory has a nasty habit of creeping up on someone.

While the King of the Union lies on his death bed, the peasants revolt and the nobles scramble to steal his crown. No-one believes that the shadow of war is falling across the very heart of the Union. The First of the Magi has a plan to save the world. But there are risks. There is no risk more terrible, after all, than to break the First Law.

©2008 Joe Abercrombie (P)2010 Orion Publishing Group Limited

Good book building on more

This book has allot of character development and is pointless in listening to unless you plan on listening to the series.
It took me more than half of this book just to gain some vested interest in the characters, and about the same time frame for the plot to unveil itself.
That said I am deep into the second book and am very glad I slogged through many beginning hours.
This book does not strap itself down to one directed theme. You will get war, politics, magic and deep understanding of the characters and what makes them who they are.

Going, going, going... what?

I enjoyed the listen a great deal, the high climax of the siege of the union was exciting and well written. The characters change and come around to new roles, some good some bad. Parts are equaly riveting and laugh out loud funny, while others are depressing and tie your stomach in knots.

This series of books should have had a better ending. I am not saying I wanted everything to wind up sunshine and daisies, as is said often in the books "people dont often get what they deserve", but a more developed conclusion would have been nice. The ending felt forced, terse and blunt. Its much like listening for 60hrs to the story and then in the last two sentences saying "and then it all went to sh!t. The end."

Well Written, dark and very detailed

Abercrombie does an excellent job of weaving at least 4 stories together, plus some minor characters. The book starts slow, I was wondering what the connections were but he slowly brings them all together. I would not recommend the book if you listen aloud with minors. Very coarse language, graphic torture, brutality, and some sexual content. At times I got tired of listening to the characters whine, but overall a very descriptive picture was created that actually has you rooting for the torturer. I give 5 stars to the narrator.

A great conclusion

Unlike some authors, Abercrombie truly wraps up his trilogy in - shocking - 3 volumes! :)

He wraps up the main storyline while leaving enough loose threads handy for followup stories (which are also excellent by the way). I'm very happy I was tuned in to this author.

As for the story, we see the various plot lines for the Cripple, the King, the Wizard, and the Bloody Nine and his gang, come to somewhat surprising conclusion. We learn the true nature of the Bank, and the true villain is....!

Great dialogue, clever lines, and some great, over-the-top violence.

I have since gone on to consume the next three books set in the same world, and each continues the tradition of bloody excellence!

Perfect in every way…

Story, narration, production… everything! This whole trilogy is fantastic. Looking forward to reading/listening to the next offering.

Hanging threads

This third book in the trilogy is just as wonderfully written as the first two, with compelling character stories, intricate but entirely convincing plotting and a dark but often comic vision which will delight some readers and alienate others. The language is often coarse but always on point. The action is, by turns, gruesome, shocking and thrilling. It may or may not be your cup of absinthe, but if you read it you will not soon forget it.

That said, I really felt let down by the lack of a satisfying ending. I realize that Abercrombie continues to write tales in the same world which share some of the same characters, but the threads which were left hanging, very much in his "nothing is neat or pretty" style, seemed too numerous and too frustrating to allow him to walk away from this as the concluding book of a trilogy. There was a distinct strain of cruelty in the decision to leave his readers hanging with the threads.

Wonderful Trilogy (including the ending)

I read this trilogy a few years ago when it first came out (going so far as to purchase the final book from England because I just couldn't wait). When I saw that this had been put on Audible I held off listening for awhile, but finally I decided to give it a try and it did not disappoint. Steven Pacey does a masterful job bringing Abercrombie's world to life and considering how detailed, gritty and messy that world is this is no mean feat. Pacey's narration captures the dark humor of Abercrombie's observations, the quick, brutal, often surprising pacing of his battle scenes and lends another dimension to already incredibly vivid characters. If you like your fantasy more than a little dark, your humor on the black side and your morality uneasy at best, Abercrombie's world is a place you want to visit and Pacey is a fine guide.

Now the ending. There have been a lot of comments on here about it, how it's abrupt and how it just ends. This is one of those rare times, where I think I might blame the narrator and/or the format in the slightest. Yes the ending feels abrupt on audio, but in written format it doesn't at all. You can feel the book decrease in your hands you know you're getting to the end, and something about that helps you to understand how very, very deliberate Abercrombie's ending is. There's a thematic line in this trilogy about the patterns men fall into, about how when aspirations run head long into the reality of choice sometimes the winner isn't pretty, and as a consequence there's a circularity to how the trilogy ends for all the character versus how it begins. In other words I think the ending works on the written page very well, but something about the audio format about the narrative pacing makes it feel more abrupt and consequently a little less satisfying. So when it does end, please take a breath, take a step back and go back and listen to the last two chapters again. It will make sense.

Great Ending to a Great Series

Be warned. The ending to this series has seriously ticked of and bothered a lot of people. Personally, I love it. Say one thing for Joe Abercrombie, say he knows how to end a series.

All the characters I've come to know and love from the series make a return, and some have slightly happier endings than others. From what some of the other reviews said, I was expecting some charactercide on the order of GRRM, but quiet honestly it is no where near that bad.

As for the girt and darkness of this fantasy, it is there, but I find that at the same time there is quite a bit of hope and character growth. Few of the characters are inherently "evil" or "bad" and multiple times I found myself sympathetic for an antagonistic character.

As for the ending, well it did end in a bit of a cliffhanger, but I have my suspicions as to what happened.

Once again, Steven Pacey's narration was out of this world. I would listen to this man read the operating manual for a John Deere tractor. He does such a sublime job creating distinct voices for each of the characters. Wonderful wonderful job.

Overall, this is more a tale about a place and time than it is about any one character or event. It is a worldbuilding extravaganza and it gives us some perfect examples of how characters live and act in this world.

Just like in our own world, I got the sense that this was a conflict that didn't necessarily threaten the entire existence of the world, but rather was a conflict between two nations, that will soon pass into history.

Great book, great performance

this is the secod time I've listened to this trilogy. was very enjoyable both time. narration was reallt well done, adding to the enjoyment.

The ending....

Great series. Dark humor and the plot develops as it would in life....the best outcome seldom happens. To all those complaining about the ending........you've got to be realistic about these things.