Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie
"Power is always dangerous. It attracts the worst and corrupts the best….Power is only given to those prepared to lower themselves to pick it up" – Ragnar Lothbrook.
Joe has a real talent for disappointing a reader in a way that lures them deeper and deeper into the world he has created as opposed to cutting them off and it's a skill he wields it as well as the Bloody Nine does a sharp edged weapon. We should know better by the third book but you cannot help but get your hopes up as character after character tries to be better than what they have previously been, often finding only disappointment and turmoil when they either achieve their goals or find them torn from them at the very last second. The amount of times I found myself saying “Oh no...just no” is countless and all the more meaningful for the fact that the “Oh YES” moments I could count on one hand. This is a very dark and unfulfilling landscape, punctuated by rare moments of brightness that you cannot help but be elevated by in in the hope it will lead to a lovely wrapped up moment of complete fulfilment. I held that desperate hope that every sacrifice made would turn out to be worthy and actually mean something but sacrifices don’t always mean something and more often the not the difference between one man going into the mud and another was just time and place.
I read the First Law series in just under a month and I have to say that it reads so fantastically well as one complete book that I have to imagine it is better done this way than in three individual instalments. I know many readers would not have had this choice but the whole thing read like such a rollercoaster that I’d have hated to had a year between volumes. Blade Itself felt like an entirely upward climb, the first leg to get to the top, a small dip to deceive you and then a resumption of things building up and up. It did not have the conclusion I wanted but as I was able to jump straight into the next book that did not matter so much. Before they are Hanged starts with a continuation of the ascension with the tension and stakes growing ever higher and than about a third of the way through we hit the first massive downhill and things just go ape shit with twists, turns, corkscrews and moments of weightlessness that thrust us into the middle of Book three. By now we should be down low but for some unfathomable reason we are higher than we ever were and we realise the rush down to the ground is just beginning. The Last Argument of Kings and the way Joe tied up all his threads was a truly impressive feat.
I cared most for the Northmen and so the moments of horror were plentiful as they brutally despatched their enemies, their friends and most sadly each other. Having read Heroes a few years ago, Dogman, Threetrees, Black Dow, Grim and Thunderhead all felt so familiar I at first thought they would all make it. I wish this was the case but Joe does not pull any punches and lets us feel little in the way of straightforward joy. It’s strange that those that say so little can feel like the cruellest loss and leave the biggest hole when they are no longer able to even bear witness.
I genuinely enjoyed the paths of Jezel and Ferro, and by enjoyed I mean I only felt sorry for them for about 90% of the time. Bayaz is a prick I never liked, but, you have to be realistic. Glotka is somehow a hero and a criminal and one of the most divisive characters I have ever encountered. Logan is a testament to the fact the still waters run deep and his journey is the most fleshed out and the most desperate and I simply loved the way his story wound up.
The first book in the series was a 5 star read for me but I have no doubt Joe’s writing improved throughout the series so I wish I could give it a higher recommendation. If you get the chance to have all three books in front of you at once do so. I’ll be taking a break and opening myself up to something a bit lighter before tackling Best Served Cold.
Half the World, the second book in the Shattered Sea series, recently released and you can find my review for it here.
