Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by vaxildidi
Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie
dark
funny
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I mean. Its...fine. Which would more or less be my review of the series overall. I dont get the effusive praise for it, nor do I understand the vitriol for this book or the series (outside of the first half of the first half of The Blade Itself. That was an utter waste of time.)
The plot is, as ever, incredibly glacially paced, as Abercrombie seems to want to spend more time on his characters than his world. As a result, for me this book, and series as a whole is a mixed bag of good and bad resulting in, overall, a 2.5/5 experience, rounded up to 3. I do wish I had found time to read the last ~250 or so pages in one sitting instead of having to split it down the middle, the last third of the book is by far the best and I do feel like the immediacy of it suffered by me putting it down for a few days. From here on Im gonna get into some specific spoilers so yeah.
Spoiler
The good:
- Excellent fight scenes. From the siege of the fortress in the High Places, to the duel between Logan and The Feared, to the battle with the (plot twist) alive Tolomei, to the final large battle for Adua (which dominates the last third of the book) are all fantastic, visceral, and really the most engaging parts of the book.
- The magic. I genuinely dont know why we spent so much time with specific characters (i will get to that in a bit) when we have such a fantastical magic system that couldve been explored in greater detail. From touching the Other Side, to Eaters, to just the (for this universe) simple act of immolating a person, the magic in this book was terrifying and engrossing in equal measures.
- Arch Lector Glotka. I find him completely unlikeable and completely miserable, but he is very clearly Abercrombie`s Special Little Guy, so he has the most character development and is the most clever guy. I wouldve liked if we cut back a bit on his inner monologue, and if he was more directly engaged with Bayaz`s plot earlier as opposed to working on the borders of it, but overall he was an engaging character.
- The plot twist that Tolomei was alive, touched by The Otherside, an Eater, and had killed Quai at the end of The Blade Itself and assumed his form. That legitimately shocked me, along with the implication that she killed Kanedias and Bayaz had attempted to kill her (potentially for her Breaking The First Law).
The Unsure:
- The reveal that Bayaz had been the mastermind pulling the strings behind basically all of Glotka`s story. While it was a great reveal that he was behind the bank that funded Glotka`s defense of Dogoska and he was responsible for the prince`s death, I am left unsure if I enjoyed it or if Im just shocked by it...in that I am not sure that it makes practical sense that Bayaz would be able to see all the moving pieces involved with Glotka from halfway around the world with nobody but Jezal, Ferro, Logan, and The Navigator for company.
The bad:
- Imo, Jezal is a completely useless and superfluous character. His arc wasnt bad, and by the end I didnt mind the little shit, but I dont think he was necessary at all. Bayaz`s plot would have worked as well, if not better, if Gustav (or whatever the late King`s name was) had just stayed an invalid old man. Also, his relationship with Terez was...pointlessly cruel. Sticking Terez in just to reveal she was in love with her lady at court and to have Glotka kidnap her lover to help ensure she gave Jezal an heir was, again, pointlessly and needlessly cruel to do to the only queer character in the book.
- Ferro wasnt given nearly enough to do, not just in this final book, but in the series overall. She was the only POV character who was a woman, and was the only one that was a victim looking to enact vengeance on her abusers at that. And she just...disappears for large chunks of the book, only reappearing towards the very end for the last trip into the House of the Maker and then disappearing again to appear for her and Bayaz to confront The Hundred Words. If so little was going to be done with her, why not just let her go north with Logan and take part in that instead of her twiddling her thumbs in Adua for 400 pages?
- Logan doesnt really grow at all throughout this book. After beginning to see himself in a new light in Before They Are Hanged and actually taking steps forward towards becoming the better man he claims to want to be throughout the first two books, he backslides in this book becoming the man he was prior to the events of the book the second he steps back into the north...and its incredibly frustrating. At no point does he take action to move the Northmen forward into a more peaceful way, nor does he actually talk to Dogman or any other member of his inner circle about changes he wants to make in himself/in their way of life. He just sullenly bemoans how incapable of change he is, and whenever it looks like he MIGHT take a step forward he gets bonked on the head and The Bloody Nine comes out. Something he never addresses or attempts to explore or try to fix.
- There is way too much dead air in the front half of this book. While the action of the Siege in the High Places is good, its drawn out for an excruciatingly long time. Between that, Ferro twiddling her thumbs for 400 pages, and Jezal not really being necessary, I think there was enough space in this story for another POV character, which brings me to my biggest criticism of this story:
- The point of this series, best that I can tell, is that there is no black and white good side in a war that spans nations. And thats a fine and good message, the only problem is we are only given one half of that. We only see the bad or complicated of Bayaz/The Union`s side of the confrontation. I think some of the dead space in the novel, and series, and all of Jezah, couldve been replaced by somebody on Khalul/The Gurkish`s side of the conflict. If youre going to have multiple perspective characters, not using one to interrogate the antagonists side of things seems like you are robbing yourself and the audience of a grander perspective.
The plot is, as ever, incredibly glacially paced, as Abercrombie seems to want to spend more time on his characters than his world. As a result, for me this book, and series as a whole is a mixed bag of good and bad resulting in, overall, a 2.5/5 experience, rounded up to 3. I do wish I had found time to read the last ~250 or so pages in one sitting instead of having to split it down the middle, the last third of the book is by far the best and I do feel like the immediacy of it suffered by me putting it down for a few days. From here on Im gonna get into some specific spoilers so yeah.
Spoiler
The good:
- Excellent fight scenes. From the siege of the fortress in the High Places, to the duel between Logan and The Feared, to the battle with the (plot twist) alive Tolomei, to the final large battle for Adua (which dominates the last third of the book) are all fantastic, visceral, and really the most engaging parts of the book.
- The magic. I genuinely dont know why we spent so much time with specific characters (i will get to that in a bit) when we have such a fantastical magic system that couldve been explored in greater detail. From touching the Other Side, to Eaters, to just the (for this universe) simple act of immolating a person, the magic in this book was terrifying and engrossing in equal measures.
- Arch Lector Glotka. I find him completely unlikeable and completely miserable, but he is very clearly Abercrombie`s Special Little Guy, so he has the most character development and is the most clever guy. I wouldve liked if we cut back a bit on his inner monologue, and if he was more directly engaged with Bayaz`s plot earlier as opposed to working on the borders of it, but overall he was an engaging character.
- The plot twist that Tolomei was alive, touched by The Otherside, an Eater, and had killed Quai at the end of The Blade Itself and assumed his form. That legitimately shocked me, along with the implication that she killed Kanedias and Bayaz had attempted to kill her (potentially for her Breaking The First Law).
The Unsure:
- The reveal that Bayaz had been the mastermind pulling the strings behind basically all of Glotka`s story. While it was a great reveal that he was behind the bank that funded Glotka`s defense of Dogoska and he was responsible for the prince`s death, I am left unsure if I enjoyed it or if Im just shocked by it...in that I am not sure that it makes practical sense that Bayaz would be able to see all the moving pieces involved with Glotka from halfway around the world with nobody but Jezal, Ferro, Logan, and The Navigator for company.
The bad:
- Imo, Jezal is a completely useless and superfluous character. His arc wasnt bad, and by the end I didnt mind the little shit, but I dont think he was necessary at all. Bayaz`s plot would have worked as well, if not better, if Gustav (or whatever the late King`s name was) had just stayed an invalid old man. Also, his relationship with Terez was...pointlessly cruel. Sticking Terez in just to reveal she was in love with her lady at court and to have Glotka kidnap her lover to help ensure she gave Jezal an heir was, again, pointlessly and needlessly cruel to do to the only queer character in the book.
- Ferro wasnt given nearly enough to do, not just in this final book, but in the series overall. She was the only POV character who was a woman, and was the only one that was a victim looking to enact vengeance on her abusers at that. And she just...disappears for large chunks of the book, only reappearing towards the very end for the last trip into the House of the Maker and then disappearing again to appear for her and Bayaz to confront The Hundred Words. If so little was going to be done with her, why not just let her go north with Logan and take part in that instead of her twiddling her thumbs in Adua for 400 pages?
- Logan doesnt really grow at all throughout this book. After beginning to see himself in a new light in Before They Are Hanged and actually taking steps forward towards becoming the better man he claims to want to be throughout the first two books, he backslides in this book becoming the man he was prior to the events of the book the second he steps back into the north...and its incredibly frustrating. At no point does he take action to move the Northmen forward into a more peaceful way, nor does he actually talk to Dogman or any other member of his inner circle about changes he wants to make in himself/in their way of life. He just sullenly bemoans how incapable of change he is, and whenever it looks like he MIGHT take a step forward he gets bonked on the head and The Bloody Nine comes out. Something he never addresses or attempts to explore or try to fix.
- There is way too much dead air in the front half of this book. While the action of the Siege in the High Places is good, its drawn out for an excruciatingly long time. Between that, Ferro twiddling her thumbs for 400 pages, and Jezal not really being necessary, I think there was enough space in this story for another POV character, which brings me to my biggest criticism of this story:
- The point of this series, best that I can tell, is that there is no black and white good side in a war that spans nations. And thats a fine and good message, the only problem is we are only given one half of that. We only see the bad or complicated of Bayaz/The Union`s side of the confrontation. I think some of the dead space in the novel, and series, and all of Jezah, couldve been replaced by somebody on Khalul/The Gurkish`s side of the conflict. If youre going to have multiple perspective characters, not using one to interrogate the antagonists side of things seems like you are robbing yourself and the audience of a grander perspective.