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

Ending (light spoilers)

First, let me say I'm an avid reader of negative reviews. I want to find out what people don't like about a book when I bother to find out anything at all beforehand. That having been said, most of the bad reviews of this brilliantly written and performed series are aimed directly at the ending Mr. Abercrombie gave us. And I must point out to anyone who might read my glowing review that we are warned a couple of times in this book that it's not going to be pretty. But that's the point of the whole thing, at least to my mind. Ardee says "No one gets what they deserve," or something close thereto, and that sums up the whole thing.

I guess my point is that anybody that's looking for a fairy-tale ending should probably read a fairy-tale and leave off the grown-up fantasy. They'll just be disappointed.

I also particularly enjoyed the very end. (BEGIN SPOILERS) I think dropping the Bloody Nine off a cliff into a river and leaving it there is an awesome way to come full circle and let the reader's mind fill in what happens next. I can just see him washing up somewhere--"Still alive..."--and charging into another several months of butchery to pay back Black Dow. Or maybe he'll head south and find Ferro. It's up to me and which aspect of Logen I want to root for how it all turns out. I'm thankful for that.

In all, a superb work of fantasy by one of my new favorite authors. Thanks Joe.

You have be realistic about these things.

If you like happy endings where the hero gets the girl or the hobbit returns home to sit by the fire then you need to look elsewhere. However, if you have enjoyed the first two books of this trilogy then chances are you aren't looking for those kind of endings anyway. If you are wavering on reading book 3 because of the darkness of the first two then be warned that it only gets worse. It is likely something bad will happen to whatever character you are rooting for.

Abercrombie is ruthless in the way he resolves his story arc and no character gets through unscathed. You will have to take comfort in the fact that you do get a full reveal of what's been going on behind the scenes from the beginning because you will find little comfort in what actually happens. Things go from bad to worse for most of the characters and even those who win big in the end are actually losers. The big reveal didn’t make all the pieces fit together perfectly for me, but I am going with 5 stars anyway because I totally enjoyed the series and I wasn’t left guessing.

When I step back and think about the series and the characters I still wonder why I like it. Each of the main characters has a dark side and does some truly evil things, female characters are treated pretty poorly by the author, and the world itself is pretty bleak and almost without hope. Then I think upon Steven Pacey’s reading and I wonder no longer. I enjoy almost every character in the series and it is simply because of the way Pacey reads them. They feel like old friends that I trust and therefore I am willing to look the other way when they do something I despise. I have listened to a lot of audio books and I would now list Steven Pacey as one of my favorite narrators.

So if you liked the first 2 books, bust out your antidepressants and get ready for more of the same. Although the ending does leave things open-ended enough for a continuation of the series, I am quite satisfied with the way all of the threads came together and don’t feel like I was left hanging. After all, you have to be realistic about these things.

Great Trilogy; No Ending to Speak of...

This third installment of The First Law trilogy is great. Loved it until the end. At that point, I was checking my iPhone to see if it somehow stopped playing before the end of the file. There was no ending... or, if that was the intended ending, it didn't do anything for me. I was literally thinking that I may have gotten a faulty download because it just seems to stop in mid-narration without ever gaining closure on the active storylines.

Engrossing, but a disappointing ending

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

A bit unsatisfying

Would you recommend Last Argument of Kings to your friends? Why or why not?

If would probably recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the fantasy genre. It is well-written - great characters, good foreshadowing, excellent plot twists - but I would be more likely to recommend it as an audiobook than as a novel to read. The battles in the book would have gotten quite tedious for me if I were reading, but I think I could enjoy Pacey reading the phone book to me. He is amazing.

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

I've only heard Steven Pacey on the 3 First Law novels, but he's got to be one of the best and I will look for other books he narrates.

Any additional comments?

Pacey is perfection and the novel is well-written. However, I found the ending disappointing. Abercrombie wrote the First Law series as 3 books although none stands alone. And, then this last one leaves you hanging. That seems a bit unfair and sort of manipulative on the author's part. If I have spent the time and money to go through three entire books which constitute the whole series and some of the central characters are left hanging still...not quite right if you ask me.

What's wrong with the ending? NOTHING...

What made the experience of listening to Last Argument of Kings the most enjoyable?

Joe has written one of the darkest fantasy stories I've read to date... the world is gritty and dark... its characters are gritty and dark... and the story is more of the same. It was fairly typical of modern storytelling (which cost him a star) but the characters were brilliant (which will likely have me listening again).

What did you like best about this story?

GREAT characters, deep (though not particularly subtle) and photo-realistically communicated. Joe took the typical fantasy archetypes and added another dimension to each of them... asking the question 'what would a REAL barbarian hero, or noble brat, or centuries old conjurer act (and THINK) like?'

What about Steven Pacey’s performance did you like?

Great character separation, delivered solid performances on some challenging 'damaged' characters. A great voice performance doesn't draw attention to itself... and this was a great performance.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

'Say one thing about Joe Abercrombie, say he's got a few things he could teach George RR Martin about dark fantasy'

Any additional comments?

Don't listen to the 'ending critics'. The book ended perfectly fine. After reading the reviews I was expecting some horrible open ending (like HBO ends every series they've ever made)... and Joe ties this up as neatly and cleanly as this story demands (nearly as good as it could be). Of course this story demands a messy ending, so don't blame Joe for delivering... but all the primary plotlines are properly concluded, so have no fear and buy the series.

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.

Love the series, but......

Joe loves to stick it to his characters. Series leaves you with "Well..there must be another coming...there just has to be." But there is not. One of the other books mentions some of the characters and his latest book apparently mentions Black Dow, but in general you come out of this series feeling like you've been punched in the stomach. While I loved the books I don't think I'll be reading anything else of his.

Great series but disappointing ending

I was very pleased and enthralled with the majority of this series of books, but the ending was very anticlimactic and left a lot to be desired. The authored created an interesting world and intriguing characters and I have seen some crossover of these characters and this world in his other works, but the end of this particular series just left me disappointed and wanting something a little better. It almost seemed like after creating such a vivid story, he could not figure out a good way to end the series. Overall I recommend the series as a good read (or listen as the case may be) for those who like fantasy with a dark edge.

Well read. Disappointing Ending

I commend Pacey for his voice characterizations. They are distinct and creative and obviously require a nimble tongue and imagination. This fits well with a character-driven novel.

As to the story, my assessment is quite mixed. I understand that a lot of the appeal of this series is that it is dark and isn't concerned with the white night slaying the dragon and getting the girl. I appreciate the departure from the regular Joseph Campbellesque heroic fantasy architecture.

This story relies heavily on character development and interaction. The plot is a solid fantasy story, not sweeping or epic, but solid. It is the characters that really draw you in. They are sympathetic and very human (also, once again, at least a partial credit to Pacey for voicing them so well). The characters are what really engage you about the story. This alone is not a problem, but when you finish the book and take stock of where the characters are and what they are doing, you realize that it is like nothing happened. They spent three books going on an adventure of a lifetime, being forced to work together under strenuous conditions, to grow together, only to renounce all they had learned and regress to square one.

Logan begins a hated and feared monster. He discovers his second chance only to let it go and become the hated and feared monster once again. Jezal goes from self-centered jerk to budding altruist, back to egotist. Ferro goes from zealously chasing her revenge, living like a sub-human, to discovering true kindness and genuine human relations, but throws it away to chase revenge again. Glokta goes from being a self-loathing tool of a vain, powerful master, and for all his discovery of true friendship despite his deformity (and genuine loathsomeness), ends up being a self-loathing tool of a vain, powerful master. Even Bayaz, for all that his actions are challenged and appeals are made to his humanity and sense of honor, simply resets the clock to zero.

The characters learn nothing. It's like watching a child grow to adolescence then age backwards to childhood again. And I understand the critique, that often in real life, people fail to learn thus making the characters more human. How true. But I would respond to this in two ways. First, even in real life, not all the characters experience the exact same positive and then negative growth. Second, If I were looking for real life, I'd pick up a newspaper. If I were looking for believable, I wouldn't be reading fantasy.

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.

I miss it already.

Just finished the 3rd in the First Law Trilogy. Where do i go now? Dammit but that was good. Didn't Adams have 5 books in his Hitch Hickers trilogy? Had a listen to Heroes but you'd miss the magic and skill of Pacey. I might just have to read that one. Say one thing for Joe Abercrombie, say he's a damn fine writer.

The trilogy gets better

I need to review this trilogy in a oner....

Initially, I found the first book too slow. Too much scene setting and character building for me - I needed more action and kept waiting for it all to come together. However, having completed the trilogy, I now understand why the first book was like it was - and it certainly has its place.

Loved the second book - all good action and great pace.

Third book (this one) - again great story, and lots of pace, BUT, it ends with too many loose ends. Whilst I get why it ended like it did, I needed more.....I was left feeling as though there needs to be a 4th book where the wrongs can be righted and the bad get their come-uppance.

I'm a massive fan of epic fantasies, and this is just that. It's got loads of action, lots of battle scenes, and plenty of blood and swearing. Not really a "girlie" book (although I have to caveat that with an "I'm a girl and thoroughly enjoyed it" statement). All the characters are well developed, and fairly complex. Interesting how my feelings towards each of them changed as the story progressed and I got to know them better. Is it bizarre that my favourite characters turned out be a torturer and a schizophrenic killer???

If you're a fan of epics, and have a reasonably strong stomach, then this is highly recommended.
But if you start with book one, be prepared to go through all three, and then still feel like you haven't got to the end...

not your typical fantasy novel

This book takes gritty realism to the fantasy genre. The point-of-view characters are all flawed in just the ways you'd expect of them living in this excellently described corrupt land. It manages to make heroes of of the vain, the uncaring and the bullies. Some struggle with their nature, trying to be better people, but never quite having the chance to.

It is a fantasy world devoid of the usual black and whites, and instead populated by utterly refreshing shades of grey.

Great trilogy

I really enjoyed this trilogy - excellent writing and flawed characters whose lives you feel compelled to follow. However huge praise must also go to the narrator, who plays no small part in giving the world and its characters life. If only there was more to come about the Bloody-Nine......or is there???

Splendid finale to a fine trilogy

What a super trilogy and I am very sorry that after 70 hours of listening it's all over.

Well if you are reading this I assume that you have read/listened to parts 1 and 2 (also on audible if you haven't and do listen in order) and want to know if part 3 measures up to the high standards as before. the answer is resoundingly yes. There is a lot more action in part 3 but the same strengths apply - very good writing, excellent plot and characters and quite brilliant narration by Stephen Pacey. I wont give a hint of how it all ends as that might spoil things; suffice it to say that the ending is quite in keeping with what has gone before!

A five star listen without a doubt.

awful ending

awesome narration, amazing characters but completely ruined by a terrible ending where nothing is resolved and the writer basically gets bored mid paragraph and draws a line under it. has ruined the trilogy for me

Excellent Audio

Would you listen to Last Argument of Kings again? Why?

Yes - Pacey is an excellent narrator and his characterisations are amazing,

Who was your favorite character and why?

Glokta - menacing, unintentionally funny but with a certain warmth. Ferro is great as well.

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

I read the first book myself but Pacey's audio just brings the book to life. He's very good at doing different voices and he has excellent command and pace. Was good to hear the pronunciation of some of the names as well.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

27 hours in one sitting?! I don't think so. However, the length was not an issue at all as I only listen whilst at work anyway so been very good to dip in and out of the audio.

Dissapointing

Despite a great performance by Steven Pacey as with the previous two books in the trilogy, I found myself dissappointed with the ending to this series. The first two books were great. Gritty, dark and harsh. This last book though just left me with a sour taste in my mouth and feeling unsatisfied. I appreciate the authors attempt to show us things don't always end happily ever after but this ending just felt too bleak, losing some great character development potential along the way.

stunning, brutal, cant wait for more!

the whole trilogy is not to be missed. a very raw and gripping story from start to finish. unlike many books, this has no periods of tedious narrating, it is gripping from first to last page. Characters that are so well defined it is easy to identify with them and understand them. i would say that any self respecting fan of fantasy must definanely read this series!

Fantastic

This is my first Abercrombe book series. I really enjoyed the book and look forward to his other books. Steven Pacey is indeed an excellent performer. I didn't want the narration to end. What a series.