Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Last Argument of Kings

Say one thing about this book, say it's a bloody masterpiece.

I'll be honest, going into this book with everything I had heard, I strongly suspected this book to be a 6/10 from me. I let myself hope it would be a 7/10. But man oh man was I absolutely not prepared for this, in more than one way. I confess I'm still hesitant to give this a 10/10 given I find the pessimistic and borderline nihilistic view on human nature a touch far too unsuitable with me, but I'll still give this the next best thing I can give on my scale, a 9.5/10.

This book, to me felt very much like its contemporary concluding volume of an epic fantasy trilogy, The Hero of Ages. Both are like masterful and tightly plotted final acts of a story with nonstop calamitous and world-shaking revelation. And when I say "final arcs" and "nonstop" I do mean them in the most literal way possible. This (and Hero of Ages) WERE the endings as a whole, a complete volume detailing a story's final arc. The entire book was simply an avalanche of an ending, just picking up more pieces as it went, till I guess just a bit of cooldown at the end. Just a bit. Why this comparison? Well, The Hero of Ages is doubtless my favourite conclusion to any series ever (I haven't read a whole lot yet, but it's still...something). So to be placed next to that even for examination, at least by my standards, is very high honour indeed. As high as it gets, really.

Overall, I'm blown away. I am in shock. I am in awe. And I bow down to this wretched majesty. I was not sure if I would pick up the sequel trilogy when I read the last two books, given I found them decent with hints of greatness at best and just cumbersome at worst, but this ends all doubts. I simply can't wait to see more of this story.

Edit: Nope, 10/10. Let's go.

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surdiablo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Hands down the best book in the series so far. While I loved the previous books, finding them hilarious and entertaining on a vast scale, I still had an inkling of doubt about the series as a whole, wondering if it's a tad overrated due to the praise I saw it received everywhere referring to it as mind-blowing, which I didn't feel at first, regardless of my consistent enjoyment. After reading this book however, I realized that the first two books were mainly a setup for the final clash but they still masterfully connected every piece of the puzzle, some of them had been dangling in front of my nose the whole time. I wasn't prepared for the final showdown at all, and it went above and beyond my expectations. It's one of the most depressing novels that I have ever read, leaving you alone with the faintest glimmer of hope at the end, and I still loved it..

The characters of course grow further, or at least some of them thinks to themselves that they do. It leaves you with such conflicted feelings wondering who to root for, as even the nicest one among them was a

physically abusive asshole with anger issues

, yet they remain to be captivating all the same. Some of them strives to be better and fails miserably as they make the wrong choices still, while the rest of them do change, but still remain the same at their core. It was honestly a struggle to witness it, all of their lives intertwined together

and at the control of one person who was never what he initially appeared to be, who ultimately wins at the end.

It reminds you of the fact that people don't always get what they deserve, whether it's good or bad, also the fact that some people ultimately reverts back to their base instincts, when under extreme duress.

All the doubts or questions I had throughout the series were answered and it was so satisfying to see everything unraveled, although it obviously didn't always lead to pleasure :') The whole part II was such a wild ride for me that each chapter left me breathless. It had some of the best action scenes I have ever read

holy shit, that duel was fricking amazing!!!

along with horror, distress, mystery, heartbreak and of course the humor, which this time was overshadowed by bleakness. It had moments that had me cheering at first, which soon turned into horrified gasps. As for the ending itself, pretty much

all the main characters lived which I didn't expect, and yet they are in no better position than when they started, in fact some of them are at their worst.

I can see people hating it, I definitely feel depressed about it, but it was the right ending. All in all, it was very close to a masterpiece if you ask me, almost tied with my favorite book of all time so far. I feel like I need a cigarette after finishing it and I don't even smoke.. Gonna need a palette cleanser before starting the remaining standalone novels.

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bookbelle5_17's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Review of The Last Argument of Kings

By: Joe Abercrombie

In this final installment in the First Law trilogy, our characters find themselves at war with the Gurkish. Each of our characters are in places they never thought they would be and having to make difficult decisions.

This is a great finale that just pulls no punches as so many surprises and twists and turns happen throughout the story. Jezal dan Luther has had the most character growth and finds himself in a leadership position that forces him to be selfless rather than self-centered. I felt bad for him a lot throughout this book, because he is struggling and feels so alone. Logen also finds himself in a leadership position and has accepted that he has a dark side. My suspicions, are confirmed about Bayaz being an antagonist. This goes in a direction of having a bunch of secondary antagonists and revealing one major antagonist later. I like how this shows a hierarchy of enemies and there’s not always one bad guy. This also reflects how everyone has their own definition of righteousness. In the real world, things aren’t black and white and there are no true villains or heroes We do finally get an appearance of Bethod, but I wish he had more page time and we got more of his side of the story. Of course, Bethod is just a secondary villain and just villain they have to take care of to get to main villain. . This story has no heroes, just people trying to do good, and villains, who feel like they are doing what is best for running things. Abercrombie continues to describes things in graphic detail, like the scenes where Glokta is torturing people for information, or the brutal battles between characters. I love how the trilogy continues to show how there is a solution, but not always one you will be completely happy with.

Content Warnings

tmidge22's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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marthadude's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.25

Content Warnings

coulro's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

kylieqrada's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Say one thing for Joe Abercrombie, say he's one of my new favorite authors!!!! I really was living for the character arcs in this installment. I am still such a Logan Ninefingers stan, though. I love Glokta as much as the next person, but Logan just does it for me, idk. Also THE REVEALS?! C'mon. Nothing less than perfection. And it really couldn't have ended any other way. Stunninggggggg!

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