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A review by rg9400
Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Last Argument of Kings is more. More of what I liked, and unfortunately also more of what I really disliked. Overall though, I think the positives outweighed the negatives, causing me to increase the score of this entry compared to the prior two entries and elevating the series as a whole, maybe even convincing me to stick around for the other books.
At a high level, I can say that I enjoyed the storyline surrounding Glokta and Jezal, at times really vibing with it, while hating the storyline around Logen and finding it incredibly boring. Other characters such as Ferro and West are not really given much focus or arcs and feel a lot more ancillary. I think the former focused a lot more on scheming and conspiracies and also just character development, while everything surrounding Logen was extremely drawn out action sequences, often causing me to completely zone out. I'm not a fan of action sequences in general, but I feel like Abercrombie's are particularly dry. A large part of that is the antagonists in this trilogy are so poorly defined, the political threats and actors so vague, that there is no emotional attachment to finally seeing them on page (since their presence is negligible in the first two books). Also, these sequences are just a lot longer in this book compared to the first two, hence the padded page count. I think this is particularly noteworthy in the second half of the book, where the climax of the book runs on for a long time. At least with Sanderson, he drizzles in moments of character growth throughout these climax action scenes to keep you enthralled, but I did not find any such moments within this book. I also found the ending to be a bit strange, with the final conspiracy feeling not as smart as the book actually thinks it is. The place characters end up feels interesting to me though, even if I feel it twisted a few characters to reach there, and that's what has me intrigued to read more.
I have complained in my two prior reviews about female characters, and I would be remiss to not highlight that this book feels the worst out of the 3. Even though I was not a fan of the one female POV in the prior book, she's mostly ignored this book with no real character arc let alone any depth. More worrying is the handling of a variety of female side characters, all of whom feel entirely like objects and defined by their relation to their male counterparts. Of particular note is Addi West. I actually felt like she finally had some personality in this book, and I feel like Abercrombie wanted to give her an interesting arc. Unfortunately, I despise the way her story is written and feel it is deeply misogynistic.
Overall, despite my ranting through these 3 reviews, I do want to highlight that I read these books super fast for my typical pace. Even though this one has a lot of sections that bored me to tears, I still ripped through it. A lot of that is due to the excellent narration by Steven Pacey and Abercrombie's overall prose. At first, I found it a bit repetitive, but it's done intentionally in a way that makes it very readable. I also do like the concepts of the world, and I am interested enough to see how things develop, even if I'm not chomping at the bit to read Best Served Cold.
At a high level, I can say that I enjoyed the storyline surrounding Glokta and Jezal, at times really vibing with it, while hating the storyline around Logen and finding it incredibly boring. Other characters such as Ferro and West are not really given much focus or arcs and feel a lot more ancillary. I think the former focused a lot more on scheming and conspiracies and also just character development, while everything surrounding Logen was extremely drawn out action sequences, often causing me to completely zone out. I'm not a fan of action sequences in general, but I feel like Abercrombie's are particularly dry. A large part of that is the antagonists in this trilogy are so poorly defined, the political threats and actors so vague, that there is no emotional attachment to finally seeing them on page (since their presence is negligible in the first two books). Also, these sequences are just a lot longer in this book compared to the first two, hence the padded page count. I think this is particularly noteworthy in the second half of the book, where the climax of the book runs on for a long time. At least with Sanderson, he drizzles in moments of character growth throughout these climax action scenes to keep you enthralled, but I did not find any such moments within this book. I also found the ending to be a bit strange, with the final conspiracy feeling not as smart as the book actually thinks it is. The place characters end up feels interesting to me though, even if I feel it twisted a few characters to reach there, and that's what has me intrigued to read more.
I have complained in my two prior reviews about female characters, and I would be remiss to not highlight that this book feels the worst out of the 3. Even though I was not a fan of the one female POV in the prior book, she's mostly ignored this book with no real character arc let alone any depth. More worrying is the handling of a variety of female side characters, all of whom feel entirely like objects and defined by their relation to their male counterparts. Of particular note is Addi West. I actually felt like she finally had some personality in this book, and I feel like Abercrombie wanted to give her an interesting arc. Unfortunately, I despise the way her story is written and feel it is deeply misogynistic.
Overall, despite my ranting through these 3 reviews, I do want to highlight that I read these books super fast for my typical pace. Even though this one has a lot of sections that bored me to tears, I still ripped through it. A lot of that is due to the excellent narration by Steven Pacey and Abercrombie's overall prose. At first, I found it a bit repetitive, but it's done intentionally in a way that makes it very readable. I also do like the concepts of the world, and I am interested enough to see how things develop, even if I'm not chomping at the bit to read Best Served Cold.