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A review by jlkenneth
Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie
dark
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
I think subjectively, I enjoyed Before They Are Hanged slightly more than this one. That said, Abercrombie SERIOUSLY knows how to write a conclusion and I was just stunned by the way he draws everything together. There is no author other than Sanderson I’ve seen place little hints of what’s really going on all the way back in book 1, only for them to be revealed much later. You don’t come face-to-face with the villain of this series for a LONG time, but when you do I think it’s one of the most memorable and fascinating villains I’ve read in the fantasy genre as a whole.
For much of TBI and BTAH, I found myself enjoying Abercrombie’s characters/writing, but also thinking this feels a *lot* like A Game of Thrones. Upon finishing this trilogy, I can easily say that The First Law is entirely its own thing. Abercrombie is not trying to be GRRM here; he’s building of the ideas Martin explored, taking them in their own direction. I don’t think I’ve read anything, even A Song of Ice and Fire, that so clearly and intentionally plays with your expectations around epic fantasy, subverting tropes even as it leans on them. Every time I thought I had gotten my head around not expecting what comes next, there was another twist that just set it spinning again.
The thing that’s so satisfying about these twists, though, is how well-earned they feel, while still catching you off guard. So many of this trilogy’s secrets are hiding in plain sight, and Abercrombie is painfully, frustratingly aware of the fact that we’ll be blinded by our own expectations. I say that even though I knew going in that this is a “grimdark” series, where the good characters are morally reprehensible and the evil characters are tinged with pathos. Even expecting grimdark fantasy, he still manages to subvert tropes and use your own expectations against you.
*sigh* I’m gonna be thinking about this series for a long time.
For much of TBI and BTAH, I found myself enjoying Abercrombie’s characters/writing, but also thinking this feels a *lot* like A Game of Thrones. Upon finishing this trilogy, I can easily say that The First Law is entirely its own thing. Abercrombie is not trying to be GRRM here; he’s building of the ideas Martin explored, taking them in their own direction. I don’t think I’ve read anything, even A Song of Ice and Fire, that so clearly and intentionally plays with your expectations around epic fantasy, subverting tropes even as it leans on them. Every time I thought I had gotten my head around not expecting what comes next, there was another twist that just set it spinning again.
The thing that’s so satisfying about these twists, though, is how well-earned they feel, while still catching you off guard. So many of this trilogy’s secrets are hiding in plain sight, and Abercrombie is painfully, frustratingly aware of the fact that we’ll be blinded by our own expectations. I say that even though I knew going in that this is a “grimdark” series, where the good characters are morally reprehensible and the evil characters are tinged with pathos. Even expecting grimdark fantasy, he still manages to subvert tropes and use your own expectations against you.
*sigh* I’m gonna be thinking about this series for a long time.