Customer Reviews
The entire story / trilogy... well written & superbly told - By: R. Nicholson, 14 Nov 2008 
A terrific finale!
This trilogy came as close to satisfying my fantasy itch for the ongoing 'Ice & Fire' series by GRRM (well, the first three books anyway), & the incredible 'Malazan Book of the Fallen' series by Steven Erikson, as any book (series) ever has.
This final installment of Abercrombie's 'The First Law' series neatly ties up all the open ended threads that where expertly developedin the previous two books. And, it would appear, to also leave a suggestion for a new adventurein the future.
The story continues with the sequential telling of the happenings to the wizard Bayaz, Commander West, Dogman, Jezal, Logen, Ferro & Glokta. And as you might suspect, these 'individual' tales come colliding together at the end.
What I liked:
1.)I loved the tale itself. Epic fantasy featuring magic, interesting characters, great battles & a compelling story line. I could barely put this book down, I just had to read one more chapter.
2.)I really liked the unexpected...just when you think things are settling down...
3.)Abercrombie continues to develop his main characters as he proceeds to the conclusion of his story. I found all of the main protagonistsin this novel easy to identify with & either really like or dislike. One character was especially memorable; I'll say more below*.
4.)I felt that, overall, Abercrombie's writing skills improved with each book.
The only minor concern(s) I have about this book is that I felt the latter third seemed a little rushedin comparison with the pace of the rest of the novel. (one of the strengths I perceivedin the writing of this trilogy was the even tempo with which things seemed to happen & were played out). However,in fairness, multiple events were cascading towards a climax at the end of this novel & this may have given the appearance of a somewhat 'rushed' ending.
Also, as with the first two installments, a map would have been useful to geographically locate persons & events that transpired over the course of this book.
Conclusion:
A fine a fantasy novel as I ever read! Overall, the writing & story telling was second to none.
I can only hope, as the ending of this book suggests, opens the door to more storiesin this series from Abercrombie. 5 Stars, more if I could.
...potential character SPOILER to follow...
*And finally, this...for all their accomplished skill, I don't think either GRRM or Erikson have ever come close to creating an individual character like Sand dan Glokta. Glokta, with his villain-esque persona, is the unforgettable, physically grotesque 'cripple'in this tale; a character whose profession requires him to be the consummate liar (except, excruciatingly, to himself), who has instinctive, self-preserving insight into most 'situations' & provides us, the readers, with regular doses of witty cynicism. There were momentsin these novels (involving Glokta) that were so sad & tender that they near moved me to tears (particularly this last book) & others that made me laugh out loud; of all the wonderful charactersin this trilogy, it was Sand dan Glokta & his tale that I enjoyed the most.
A short excerpt from page 481, book III...Glokta sees his disfigured imagein a reflection & thinks...
"The smile seems to promise horrors more surely even than a frown. Has any man ever looked more of a villain? Has any man ever been more of a monster? Could any vestige of humanity possible remain behind such a mask? How did the beautiful Sand dan Glokta become...this? Mirrors. Even worse than stairs."
His lip curled with disgust as he turned away.
R.Nicholson
You,ll get no argument from me , a fantastic conclusion to this brilliant fantasy trilogy . - By: russell clarke, 05 Nov 2008 With the first two instalments of the First law series s The Blade Itself: Book One Of The First Law (Gollancz S.F.) & Before They Are Hanged: The First Law: Book Two: Book Two of the First Law (Gollancz S.F.) Joe Abercrombie has set himself well on the way to writing a fantasy trilogy to compare with Robin Hobbs Liveship series or her Tawny Man & Assassin trilogy & The Lord of the Rings (3 Book Box set) for that matter. His contemporary sardonically edged take on the genre is refreshing as well with lots of profanity & the fact any character is as likely to get skewered by a verbal barb as by a sword ...well maybe not but it's a close thing.
The final book The Last Argument of Kings continues the character developments propagatedin the previous two books while at the same time expanding the scale of the plot & drawing the reader inexorably towards to the not altogether satisfying conclusion.
As the barbarian Bethod continues to assault the Empire from the north the Gurkish amass to the south ready to attack Adua. Logen Ninefingers joins up with his old mates Threetree,s The Dogman ,Black Dow etc to fight against Bethod while the Empire army is riven by internal disputes with the commoner Colonel West looking on with exasperation. Jezal dan Luthar isn't the arrogant arse of before & is drawn back into the arms of West's sister Ardee but is still unsure of where he standsin the scheme of things .First Of The Magi - the imperious Byaz seems to have a handle on events that alludes to some decidedly dodgy subterfuge while Ferro scowls & longs for Gurkish blood pretty much as she didin the first two novels except there are some residual stirrings from her relationship with Logen. Inquisitor Glotka meanwhile continues to expect to die any given minute while at the same time wheedling his wayin & around the political chicanery & duplicitous power struggles .
No one knows what is going to happen , except Byaz perhaps ,but there is one thing for sure no one can expect what is coming. Some will be invested with more power & responsibility then they are entirely comfortable with & will have to make sacrifices accordingly while others will be cut adrift or even worse become casualties.
There is crackling magic , an epic battle & siege , duels , blood, guts & lashings of charcoal black humour . The narrative threads are tied up nicely & if they are not quite what the reader would expect or even want for some of these characters than as Logen would say " you have to be realistic about these things ". It's also hard to escape the conclusion that although many of the characters have developed into better people as a consequences of the eventsin these books the world it is setin is arguably worse off. How like real life is that ?
Which brings me to possibly the strongest thing about this trilogy - how it cleverly alludes to aspects of modern society without being heavy handedly allegorical . How it lashes out at the power of institutions & enigmatic cabals & individuals & the failures of capitalism ( how apt given recent events) . It does this while being uproariously entertaining & sometimes quite profound especially in aspects to relationships.
Joe Abercrombie has said that The First Law should be treated as one novelin three sections & having read the whole trilogy it's not hard to see why. Here we have a work from a much maligned genre that pretty much rules over anything else I have readin a long time ...apart from the aforementioned works which are also fantasy .A novel that leads us like The Dogman... stood ...wondering on how things used to be better.
Meh... - By: Mr. J. Rose, 02 Sep 2008 
(Contains spoilers)
Unfortunately, a rather disappointing final novelin a series I had been really enjoying. After the first novel I was completely sold on this new, gritty fantasy lark. No poetry, maps or simple working-class orphans who find that they're actually a king....just three-dimensional characters with real contradictions & real concerns. Plus lots of violence, sex & sewaring. Obviously. It was towards the end of the second book that I started getting worried. I mean, an entire novel about a journey to the end of the world just to find out the thing they're after isn't there & they should just bugger-off back home? Unexpected, yes. Un-clichéd, yes. Lazy, irrelevant writing just to cover a few character personality changes...well let's just see how the third novel ties everything together first.
As some people have mentioned, Last Argument of Kings feels annoyingly contrived. After spending so long trying to introduce a bit of realism into his fantasy world, the author then spends the whole of this book throwingin a series of random & coincidental events which almost undo all of his previous work. Well before the end I'd lost grasp of the world & found myself very aware that I was reading a work of fiction. I don't want to critise too much as, on the whole, I enjoyed reading the series - especially the first book. I just would have liked a bit of consistencyin the writing & a lessening of the 'life is rubbish, bad things happen to good people' theme which runs through the story like a river. I got it from the start thanks. Yes, bad things do happen to good people. Bad people DO prosper for no reason other than luck. But all the time? In every outcome of every scene & story thread? Really??
Disappointing!!!! - By: G. Irwin, 30 Aug 2008 
How very disappointing that a series that builds up so well should end or (rather not end)in this way. You get to know the characters well & although there are a bit too many cliches & little hints of other peoples writing it is worth a read. That is until you get to this final book. The story continues after the final battle & although it is a nice touch it leaves you with wondering what actually has happened to the characters. I thought it cannot possible be the end as there is too much left unsaid. I searched for book four.There was so much more that could have been done but instead it leaves you with the feeling that you should not have read any of themin the first place & I will never read them again. Which I think is a bad thing to say about a book.
Black,Bitter and Brilliant - By: Mr. Mark K. Cobbett, 03 Aug 2008 In the week I write these words the "Long list" for the Booker prize has been released.The Booker is the UK's most prestigious prize for fiction, awarded to the best novel of the year,in the opinion of a collection of the "good & the great" of the literary establishment; plus a few "celebrity" names to help with the publicity. This years chairman is an ex Tory minister (God help us). Though I guess Arch Lector Glotka would approve. The list provoked huge rages of scorn from the publishing world because it dared to include a thriller, setin Stalin's Russia.(Can't remember the name: "Boy 44" or some such if you are interested look it up). The point being: thrillers have no place on a list of literary fiction such as the Booker is designed to reward & promote.
Well ladies & gentlemen.............Hold on to your hats...The news is that a mere "Fantasy" writer(a genre even more despised than thrillers) has produced over the last three years a sequence of 3 novels that does all the things that literature is supposed to do, except better! You want to read a novel (A trilogyin fact) that holds up a mirror to society, then read these books. It has profound things to say about love,friendship, responsibility & about duty, politics & the consequent loss of innocence.At times it moved me to tears & never failed to make me think. The joy & achievement of the trilogy is to follow the development of the carefully wrought characters.Just asin real life they make choices, some good,some bad. They make mistakes & learn (or not) from them. As "Nine Fingers" says bitterly :"I learnt a lot from my mistakes. The only thing I didn't learn is how not to repeat them".There are no good guys , no bad guys here. Only real people trying to do the best they canin bad circumstances.For me if there is a hero, it is "The Dogman". It is typical of the authors view point, I think, to make the one wholly "good" characterin the book one who is always buffeted by "the slings & arrows of outrageous fortune".I refuse to apologise for the Shakespearean allusion here. Joe Abercrombie's "The First Law" has a lot more truth about life than almost every book the Booker prize has been awarded to over the past decade.In its portrayal of men & women under extraordinary circumstances some of its scenes rival
the epic quality of Henry V before Agincourt. The description of how "Threetrees" rallies his wavering Northmen & persuades them to charge into almost certain death (told through the scared & reluctant eyes of the Dogman) is a piece of writing that deserves a placein any anthology about men & war & the feeligs it arouses.
Before I finish I would please urge any future reader to look out for the references to the evil of banks & big companies.
Who elsein the last three years has written as well about the evils of unregulated capitalism?
Still, as Ninefingers would say: "You have got to be realistic"....There is no chance that the Booker crew will look at this .....It is their loss but very much our gain.........Thank you Mr. Abercrombie for holding up a mirror for us all. To paraphrase Logen Ninefingers : No reason we can't try to be better.
