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

Great fiction

I totally fell in love with this series. Joe Abercrombie is outrageously witty and cunningly brilliant. Steven Pacey, however, made these books come alive like no other narrator I have listened to before. His delivery and interpretation of Abercrombie's written word kept me laughing out loud half the time and on the edge of my seat the other half. Thank goodness I have a job where I can zone out and drink in every single word uttered with very little interruption. This last book in the series is every bit as delicious as the first two. I can only say that my tendency to get attached to characters colored my feelings when it came to rating the story.

One of the Best Trilogies I've read...

I’ve read a lot of books over my life, and this series, of which this is the last book, stands out as one of the best I’ve had the pleasure to read.

While fitting the fantasy genre, this book is so much more. Every character is complex, and none without their dark side. Others have criticized the fact that the ending is not as “clean” as it could have been. This in a way is true, but having worked my way through the three volumes, this is in line with the entire series. Most of the story lives in the grey, and nothing is ever black and white.

As I’ve mention in the reviews of the first two books, Steven Pacey is a first rate narrator. His acting here makes the work really come alive. The books ore solid on their own, but with this narrator, they are magical.

Highly recommended!

Best Fantasy Trilogy Ever!

Smart writing, well developed characters, exciting story, great narration. What more can you ask for?... Simple a perfect tale.

Best Narrator

The narrator brought this book to life and yet was transparent, allowing the story and characters to shine through. Well done!

Best in the series so far.

Great addition to a good series. Many good characters developed well. Excellent fight scenes especially with the bloody nine.

They say one thing about Joe Abercrombie they say is amongst the best

Amongst the best trilogy I have ever listen I cannot imagine having laughed so much my reading an epic fantasy book some fantastic dark humour and a very very well written book very highly recommended to people who love humour and epic fantasy

Superior entertainment, thank you!

Abercrombie creates a vivid world with unforgettable, moving characters. Pacey gives a faultless, superb performance.

Real life characters

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

No ferry tale heroes with pristine behavior, no totally bad villains, but characters with virtues and flaws, where the good ones are flawed and the bad ones are not bad at all but just the other side. We find coward heroes, fool wisemen, good harted villains, etc.

excelet vocal interpretation

great book, sucks you in to the fantasy world and keeps you there for a long time. Excelent character building as well as extremely realistic power relations

Great characters, great narrator, okay plot

Probably my favorite narrator ever. Characters are unique and compelling. Plot was good but forgettable.