Reviews with content warning for Torture - Last Argument of Kings

It was a fitting end to the series and although the end is unsatisfying, the storylines are wrapped up and the mysteries revealed. I saw a couple of twists coming, but there were plenty of surprises too. This isn't my favorite book of the series but it's still very good. As always, the (male) characters have incredible depth and its so interesting to read their POVs. I think this book was more violent than the others and I found myself skimming through the fight scenes.

My thoughts on characters:
Logan: he was my favorite POV in the previous books but he took a dark turn in this one. He had less agency than normal and you can see how he got his reputation. Although he claims to not want to fight and kill, he never makes any decisions to break the cycle of violence. I still think he is a good person but I don't think as highly of him.

Glokta: he is an absolutely terrible person. No redeeming him but he doesn't want to redeem himself despite occasionally doing a single good thing. His POVs were sometimes annoying because they were so self pitying but at the same time, his sarcasm was amusing.

Jezal Luther: he seemed like the biggest character improvement which was honestly surprising and kinda sudden. Who knows if it will stick. He seems like the perfect candidate to be a figurehead. He will be fine.

Bayaz: what a spider with his fingers in every pot. Honestly not sure how he managed it all since it seemed like he only had a couple of people close to him. He also knew so much but also missed some really big points.

Dogman: my favorite character. His falling out with Logan was heartbreaking.

Collem West: a mostly ok person. Tried really hard all the time. He had major anger issues that didn't get shown enough imo. He lost my respect when he hit Ardee, no matter how sorry he was.

Ferro: she doesn't as much character development and her POVs were pretty boring. She seems like she ended up where she wanted to be from the beginning, killing Gurkish people. I thought it weird that she didn't react to Logan. Of all the characters, we know the least about her backstory and she was the hardest to connect with since she has such a one track mind. It would have been nice to get some more personality from her. All she did was kill things, sleep with Logan, and be able to hold a stone.

Ardee West: the women in these books got the short end of the stick. When Ardee was introduced, I thought she would be a major player since she was so smart and outspoken. But instead she became a drunk who didn't impact the story besides being used to advance the storylines of her brother, Jezal, and Glokta. We are supposed to believe that she is happy taking care of Glokta shitty bedsheets now?? Very disappointing.

Queen Terez: I'm going to be honest, the treatment of Terez put such a bad taste in my mouth that it ruined the book for me a bit. I had been so relieved that there wasn't much sexual violence in the first books that what Glokta makes her do is so shocking and disgusting to me. I know the point of the book is that villains aren't usually punished. But even with all the violence and suffering in the book, this was especially vile. The only gay character in the book being forced to have sex with Jezal and have at least four children or else her lover will be raped? Honestly, I found that scene more nauseating than all the death and physical violence.

Women in First Law books: I was honestly a bit disappointed by the female characters in these books. The female representation isn't as bad as other fantasy books, but it's not as good as I had hoped. I don't think they passed the Bechdel test despite the large cast of characters. Ferro was the only one we got a POV from, and although she was powerful and had the potential to be an interesting character, she didn't feel as real as the other POVs. The more minor characters were disappointingly lacking agency or a credible backstory. The only female wizard was bitter and not over Bayaz. The Makers daughter was tragic, bitter, evil, and not over Bayaz. The witch who worked for Bethod had no backstory even though she could have been as interesting as the Feared. The previous queen lost both sons and a husband within a year and is never mentioned again. The female Practical (who's name I'm forgetting) was another physically strong woman but it seemed so weird to make her have a romantic history with the mercenary. She was another person that I thought might play a larger roll than she did.

Content Warnings

ripxw's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Content Warnings

nerdkitten's review

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

maidofbees's review

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challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

jferguson1138's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Odd to enjoy a book where they main protagonists are a torturer, a half demon, a Jekyll & Hyde man, and a coward.

The twist in this book is some solid payoff for a prior book that felt more wandering and it is on a similar level of a red wedding.

I’ll tell you, if we can’t have a Song of Ice and Fire ending, The First Law series is a pretty solid substitute.

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