Last Argument of Kings
Ratings601
Average rating4.3
So I read this after finishing Lord of the Rings and geez it's probably as far as you can possibly get from Tolkien vibe-wise. Don't misunderstand though: I loved every grim, gore-y detail. The writing style, humor and characters are standouts so despite the fact that I think the plot and world-building could do with some fleshing out, I can't wait to continue with Abercrombie's other works.
This exceeded my expectations. There was never a dull moment and it was hard to put down at times. A lot of grim action that kept me turning the pages.
What an ending! I won't get too far into this review because I will be doing a full series review soon on my YouTube channel.
This series really went in a direction I didn't expect grimdark to go in. I'm relatively new to the subgenre, and I always assumed it was all blood and gore and dark themes. While there was some of that, this story was overall just really hopeless. I appreciated the way this story wrapped up in some ways because it really hammered home that this story was hopeless from the beginning and doesn't really get better. But for that same reason, it almost felt like I read a whole lot of pages for there to not really be much of a resolution. I'm torn on my feelings for it. Overall, these are incredibly written books. But I mostly feel apathetic upon finishing.
Man I just really enjoyed the hell out of this book series and all of its asshole characters! Glokta especially, he's probably the most lovable evil bastard I ever got to follow in a book. His chapters and paragraphs definitely were my favorites and I'm a bit sad that that's over now. TwT
But oh well, at least I have a good reason to reread The First Law trilogy at some point ehehehe.
One of my new favorite books of all time. Top four, for sure. I'm sad my journey with these characters has come to an end.
Another masterful book and a fitting end to this trilogy.
Brutal and realistic (for a fantasy novel that is).
The author managed to make me like and dislike the same characters within the span of 2 pages.
And effortlessly at that.
This was the fastest paced book in the trilogy, and the final battle sequence was masterfully done.
(Book 2 is still my favourite though.)
Many questions were answered and many still remain, so I'll be looking forward to the next books set in this world.
Great trilogy! I am so happy I read it!
P.S.: Bet Bayaz killed Juvens after all...
If it was half as long it would have been better, the end drags on and on and on and on.
Very disappointing compared to the other 2.
Que final, estoy casi sin palabras, no me esperaba un final así tan agridulce. Una maravilla el desarrollo de personajes, es de los mejores autores que he leído de fantasía en este aspecto, un realismo y unas ideas tan bien plasmadas que uno siente que conoce casi de la vida real a los personajes. Increíble final, increíble la sensación de miedo que deja, une experiencia totalmente distinta a lo que uno está acostumbrado, un abrecrombielanche jaja
Como detalle, al principio me costó encontrarle el gusto a su forma adornada de escribir, pero bueno, creo que estos libros sin ese tipo de narrativa o escritura jamás podrían haber existido, Abercrombie es un genio.
Wusste bis dato nicht was so ein typisches Grimdark Buch ist, aber dies ist wohl ein Musterbeispiel. Kein Schwarz oder Weiß. Nur grau und rot.
This trilogy has been the first in my foray to the world of audiobooks and I could not ask for a finer introduction. Pacey has done an amazing job in giving everyone such distinct personalities! I genuinely believe I would not have enjoyed the books more than listening to him- he truly brings each and every individual character to life.
I was sad to see this trilogy come to an end, and I miss them all already! Clever, resilient Glokta, clueless, bumbling Jezal, fierce, fiery Ferro, and of course, thoughtful, brutal, cursed, Logen Ninefingers. It's hard to pick a favorite, but I'll have to say Glokta's POV, with his biting, wry inner monologue, was always the most entertaining.
My goodness. I seriously made it through this whole series expecting for something good to be at the end.
Even with an ending I hated, this was a good series. Throughout, the characters are colorful and full of flaws, the plot drags you along, and there are mysterious powers to keep you guessing.
Takeaway - society is terrible, people need to be herded by almost-omnipotent-not-so-benevolent-rich-men. < I reject this takeaway completely - I still think people can change, good things do happen, and society is not terrible >
I have to admit I downloaded this trilogy illegally. It is so good I ended up buying the boxed set and an audiobook subscription to listen to the Steven Pacey narration. Amazing story.
Overall a fantastic series, a 5 out of 5. The final book loses some points from me for some convenient plot things, but overall I enjoyed it immensely and am definitely intrigued to read more Abercrombie in the future.
This series was a definite case of “I understand why people like it so much, it just wasn't for me.” Abercrombie is a talented writer, his characters are complex (if all bad people, I struggle when I have no one to root for) and the dark humour was very much appreciated, but I found the constant subversion of tropes in an attempt to be surprising wound up being just as predictable.
I don't know what to say. I just freaking love this trilogy! And Logen is my favourite.
What a conclusion!
By far one of my favorite book series, and such an excellent narration by Steven Pacey. I only started getting into audiobooks after listening to the first book in this series and now I can't stop.
Abercrombie is a master storyteller.
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Audio read by: Steven Pacey
I honestly wasn't as taken with the first two books of the trilogy as I'd hoped—they were very solid and I greatly enjoyed the characters and tone, but was less impressed with the pacing or plotting. Last Argument of Kings has far better momentum, making it a much satisfying a read, in my opinion. After its more sluggish predecessors (that I'd argue don't really have proper arcs), I loved how the various threads of the trilogy—and all of our colourful cast—converge in Last Argument of Kings. I give the book extra props for its ending, which I'm assuming may have disappointed some. It felt much like how many non-Hollywood films end, never a simple black-and-white “good triumphs over evil and all loose ends are neatly wrapped up” affair, often melancholic and open-ended. I'm a big fan of greyness in characters and storytelling, so the trilogy's pretty ballsy conclusion is the icing on the cake for me.
Also, though it hardly needs any more saying, Sand Dan Glokta is really such a fantastic character. His story was the biggest pleasure the trilogy offered me, both due to the man himself and the intriguing plots he always seems surrounded by.
Surprisingly satisfying genre book. After a somewhat wobbly first book I lapped up 2 and 3 and greatly enjoyed the flawed characters, some of which you love to hate, others you will hate to love. He takes his time developing the plot and personalities and it shows, transforming my frustrations in the first book into clear lines in the subsequent books. There are certainly loose ends but there is an overall circular narrative arc that works. I will be looking into the stand-alones.
4,5 stars The thing about this series was that when I was reading it I had a blast, but a few months later I always kind of... forgot why. I'm not saying it's for the lack of value, not at all, but the whole thing is written in a way that works so well together that it's kind of hard to point out that one or two or three elements that are the reason why the series is worth a read. It's so effortlessly easy for me at least to read that I have a hard time saying the best features of it. In general, the book is just very fluid. Sometimes I sat down to read for a bit, I looked up and I was 60 pages in. The prose and the story itself are created in a way that doesn't feel like it takes much of an effort for you to get into it. It's dark, genuinely, but something I enjoy about it is the fact that it's not shock horror kind of edgy dark. Those things can become too much very fast and then I have a hard time taking any of the work seriously. The characters are also still great. In the not good people way, of course, by now everyone should have realised that this book is a big pile of total fucking jerks. I mean hello, one of our protagonists is an inquisitor. A very witty one with dark humour that made me chuckle more than once, but Sand dan Glokta is one fucked up individual. Logen is actually really nice. When he doesn't snap and go into a superhuman rage to just murder whoever is closest to him. At least he tried. Bayaz... is a profoundly shitty person, who basically treats the Union as his plaything against his old enemy in the worst feud of history, because he can. Ferro just want to murder. Then there is Jezal. My sweet, sweet boy Jezal, who used to be the single most stupid, selfish, ridiculous idiot on the planet. And fuck me, I actually managed to genuinely care about him, because he became such a vulnerable man who just can't handle not trying to help. He can't really make a difference when everything is going to shit, but he tries so hard. I have no idea how Mr. Abercrombie managed to make me like Jezal so much, but the dude needs someone to protect him. (Ardee can go to hell, though, they deserved each other when Jezal was a dickbag, but now that he became such a genuinely caring person that alcoholic psycho woman of profound “nobody gets me” doesn't deserve him) In the end he is like Quentin Clearwater from the much less loved series of [b:The Magicians 6101718 The Magicians (The Magicians #1) Lev Grossman https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1313772941s/6101718.jpg 6278977]And then there is West, who I love. I don't care, I just... love him. And now for the reason why I took away half a star from a series I loved. What the fuck was that ending? WHAT? I am not going to lie, I was a bit disappointed in how nothing really got resolved, other than the war. Sure, some good things happened, but everyone is being fucked by Bayaz, Logen being fucked over, Ferro going to FINALLY actually take her revenge... I just don't feel like anything got resolved for anyone. Now you can say that this gave the series a unique flavour or whatever, but I don't think all of the things happening paid off and that bothers me. We had so many story lines and characters and conflicts and then we end up with "ehhh, whatever"? So at this point I would definitely recommend this series to many, many people, as it's truly great. I know there are short stories or such still left that add some things to the main body of the thing, but the issue is, I am not a lover of that format, so for now I consider myself to be done with this series. It was definitely one of the highlights of my reading of 2017 and I feel content with starting out the year with finishing this one. Good night and... what now? Are we done? Is this the end of it?