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

I Want More

This is one of the best fantasy trilogies I have read. While I anxiously wait for GRR Martin to conclude Game of Thrones I stumble upon this series. Now, it is no G O T but it will hold you over. The writing is raw and graphic and leaves little to the imagination. When a battle scene is described I felt as if I was transported to the point of wanting to be off the field LOL.

The characters are loathsome, repugnant, yet enjoyable - go figure. My emotions were all over the place in this series. I went from liking a character, to hating, then back to liking. It shows how humans are.

The fantasy aspect was there, but I found it more focused on the human side of things and that was fine by me

Enjoyable read

If you could sum up Last Argument of Kings in three words, what would they be?

Intriguing and enjoyable read

What does Steven Pacey bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Stephen Pacey is an excellent narrator. The times between the voices and the rest of the text are seamless. It is hard to believe only one man read the entire series. Loved hearing his voice and pronunciation of words.

Any additional comments?

I found myself sitting in the car to hear what happened next.

So good.

I love these books, but the audio books, narraratrd by Steven Pacey, are even better - best narroration I've ever heard. It is absolutely worth the money and time to listen to the main trilogy.

Great ending for the trilogy

I have lugged this audio on my iPod to doctor's appointments and tracked the story as it unfolds with the book copy. I can't get the story or the characters out of my head, and I'm sorry to see it end. I thought the resolution was realistic and I appreciated not having a fairy tale ending. Steven Pacey is awesome! I'm now looking for other books on audible that he has narrated. He's a perfect match for Abercrombie. So I've now discovered a new author in Abercrombie and a great narrator in Steven Pacey.

I'm now on to Abercrombie's "Best Served Cold" and was relieved to find one of the characters from the First Law series continues on in it. I wish Steven Pacey had also narrated Best Served Cold; Michael Page has a hard act to follow.

absolutely loved it

not at all what you night expect un the plot twists storyline and ending.
excellent! !

Now I am a Joe Abercrombie fan

Abercrombie wrapped this trilogy up as neatly as I could ever have hoped. I was not a big fan of the fantasy genre before, but I'll definitely be reading / listening to more Joe Abercrombie in the future.

Great Performance of a Depressing Book.

I assume that if you're looking at this review, you've read the last two books. If not, don't worry. I won't judge you for wanting to know how it ends before you get there. I'm going to try not to spoil anything.

Anyone who had read Joe Abercrombie before knows not to expect a happy ending. My introduction to him was Best Served Cold, so I knew to not get attached. There's nothing, though, absolutely nothing that could have prepared me for this trilogy. Best Served Cold is a single book. You read 700 pages and are done, and the whole way through you know it's not going to turn out well. This trilogy, though...

The first two books are triumphant. Sure, bad things happen. Bad things happen to good people, and bad people alike, but you know there's at least one or two more books for the protagonists to succeed. Even at the beginning of this book, you can delude yourself by saying "I still have 600 pages" or "I have 500 pages," or even "I have 200 pages." It doesn't get better, though. Successes are fleeting. The ones who end up in the best positions are the ones who deserve it the least, and the people you might find yourself rooting for, the people with a shred of good hidden somewhere in their personality, don't get their time to shine. Not fully, at least. It's always a double edged sword. Power at the price of freedom, triumph and glory at the price of health, etc etc. I found myself with about 2 hours left not wanting to keep listening. It just kept going downhill. There was no climax of victory as a reader, just constant stress as the characters failed over and over again.

But I did keep reading. Because, the characters deserve to have their whole story told and witnessed. That's what really makes this journey worth it (and it IS worth it). The characters are real. They're in a terrible world, and it's made many of them become terrible people. They have power, and that corrupts them. Plus, they're just so unique. At 2 hours left I didn't want to continue, but at 1 hour left I couldn't put it down. While your favorites may not end up better for the journey, they do all have an ending, and I found all the endings rather satisfying.

As far as performance goes, it was top notch. All the voices are spot on and really hellped me keep track of the many scores of named characters. The pacing was perfect, the timing was impecable. The voices really became the characters. I'm having a little trouble with Best Served Cold because of this. Michael Page reads it well, does great voices, but there are a couple cameos that just sounded wrong to my ears for having listened to Steven Pacey for three books.

So; if you've come this far, keep going. It's worth it just to see the end of these great characters. If you're just starting out, don't worry about the ending. The journey up to this point is awesome (and then the end is worth seeing).

great listen wonderful series

If you could sum up Last Argument of Kings in three words, what would they be?

intrigue mystery magic

What was one of the most memorable moments of Last Argument of Kings?

when Ferran got her supernatural powers

Have you listened to any of Steven Pacey’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

always a good listen

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Sam Glockters private insights

Any additional comments?

pretty easy to tell early on Jezzel was going to be king in series but still plenty of great surprises and twists

Pretty good

Met my expectations, but no more. A bit too much repetition of some characters' favorite lines. Way too much repetition of Gloctor's pains & thoughts.

Great series

Very good book and the narrator was fantastic. Well worth the money. If you liked the other two books in this series you will like this one