Book Review: Last Argument of Kings | Joe Abercrombie (The First Law #3)

WARNING: SPOILERS. The end is nigh: the war in the North is coming to its conclusion and, in the Union, the peasants are revolting, the King is dying, and war is approaching.

Published in 2008 by Gollancz Books, the third and final book of The First Law, which I have been reviewing. The previous two books of the trilogy were The Blade Itself and Before They Are Hanged.

I expect it has been quite apparent to the reader that my favorite storylines have been Glokta's and Jezal's and that does not change in this, the conclusion to Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy.

Battle after battle follow one another, each attempting to be even bigger then the last.

In the North, Colonel West becomes General West and, alongside Logen and the other Northmen, leads them to victory against Bethod, who, after so much build-up in the previous books - including an appearance in The Blade Itself with his sons! - is somewhat underwhelming. But it's intentional, and we get some backstory into Logen and his role into bringing Bethod to power, which has been hinted at previously.

In the Union, there are two separate strands of story and a couple of subplots. For our purposes we'll stick with the main threads: Jezal and Glokta.

The former finds himself the unfortunate pawn of Bayaz, First of the Magi, who is using Jezal to reestablish his grip over the Union. The latter, mine own favorite from the moment he appeared, who dives even further into the treacherous politics of the Union.

One thing I really liked - and I didn't mention this in the previous two reviews - was Abercrombie's skillful handling of point-of-view, especially during large-scale, climactic events. Namely, his habit of switching between them at just the right moment to provide new and different perspectives of what's happening. It's magnificently effective, I think, and one of the great advantages of not restricting to one viewpoint per chapter.

Instead, we're restricted to one storyline per chapter: you'll get Glokta in one chapter, Jezal and Ferro in another, and Dogman, Logen, and Colonel West in another. Or, you might get just one in a chapter. It varies and I couldn't help but appreciate this handling of viewpoint.

The ending is not a happy one, alas. Jezal and Glokta find themselves under the heel of a new and more powerful master. Ferro goes off to kill the Gurkish emperor. Dogman returns North, Logen finds himself betrayed, and West is afflicted by an illness.

In the end, my favorite book is still Before They Are Hanged. In fact, I'd say that in my opinion this is the weakest of the books. Glokta and Jezal's storylines remain the ones I am most interested in, with West bringing up a solid rear. But I was never particularly interested in Logen or Dogman or Ferro's ends of the storyline. My interest in the former two has declined with every book and Ferro's, after interesting development in the previous, goes back down.

Darkness makes The First Law unique: Bayaz, our wise mentor wizard, is practically a villain in his own right and by the end of the book we're left wondering whether or not he's worse than Khalul. I loved Glokta's storyline, oh yes, but he does awful, awful things, whatever his minor acts of mercy. And Logen? Logen has a split personality and the other half is killer, not cold-blooded but hot-blooded, reveling in the act of murder whether or not the blade itself is being stuck into man, woman, or child.

And, I of course, enjoyed Abercrombie's wit. But despite this I have, in the end, only enjoyed half of the trilogy: Glokta and Jezal's storylines. The rest I was not fully sold on or invested in. Even so, I look forward to reading some of Abercrombie's standalones set in the First Law universe.

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Next, I think, I'll be finishing reading, and then reviewing, the rest of Elizabeth Bear's Eternal Sky trilogy and then take a sabbatical from fantasy for a time, to ensure I don't get bored of the genre.