Friday Reads: Last Argument of Kings, by Joe Abercrombie
While the King of the Union lies on his deathbead, the peasants revolt and the nobles scramble to steal his crown. No-one believes that the shadow of war is falling across the very heart of the Union. The First of the Magi has a plan to save the world, as he always does. But there are risks. There is no risk more terrible, after all, than to break the First Law…
Warning: contains spoilers!
I’ve reviewed the first two volumes of the First Law trilogy (The Blade Itself and Before They Are Hanged) already, having enjoyed both of them, and I was anxious to find out how my favourite characters would fare in this final instalment. In truth I was a little anxious, having seen a forum post by someone saying they were disappointed with the ending and felt that Abercrombie had shat on his characters (the reader’s words, not mine). Having read it, I have to disagree. I felt that this was a great conclusion to the series which nonetheless leaves most of the characters with room for more adventures.
Like many a third book in a trilogy (including my own), Last Argument of Kings has the unenviable task of tying up a number of separate plot threads. There’s the war, of course, still being fought on two fronts; Glokta’s continuing mission to survive the intrigues around him, made worse by the fact that he’s deep in debt to a powerful banking house; and then there’s Bayaz’s plans to wipe out Khalul and the Eaters, with scant regard for anyone who gets in his way. This being the finale, there are of course more fights, explosions, and double-crossings…and Glokta gets to do some serious on-page torture. It’s not all grit and gloom, though; a number of characters enjoy moments of triumph, and at least some of them end the book as happily as one could reasonably expect in a series with such a cynical tone.
I confess that, as with the previous book, I skimmed some of the fight scenes. As a writer I understand why they’re there—they’re necessary to the plot and Abercrombie does them well—but as a reader I find fight scenes of more than a few paragraphs really dull. I’m not interested in the messy details, so I just skim to find out if anyone significant dies 
Apart from that I found the book engrossing, and it really had me on the edge of my seat on a couple of occasions—because with flawed heroes, you’re always afraid they might take that final step across to the Dark Side. As to whether any of them do or not, I guess you’ll have to read it and find out! All I’ll say is that the chapter “Patriotic Duties” made this Glokta fan-girl very happy indeed…
Big old spoiler ahoy!
Some people have had a go at Abercrombie for the treatment of the character Terez, Jezal’s wife who turns out to be a lesbian. I admit that Glokta’s internal monologue did feel off-key in this chapter, when throughout the series he’s shown himself to have a soft spot for women. The fact that he threatens Terez’s lover with gang-rape, therefore, didn’t bother me too much, because that’s all it was: a threat. A nasty threat, admittedly, but Glokta makes a lot of threats that he does not (and in some cases, cannot) follow through on. Perhaps I’m biased by my fondness for the two men at the centre of this episode, and no doubt it could have been handled more subtly, but to me at least, a woman being blackmailed into sex because it’s politically vital for her to produce heirs, and a woman being brutally raped for the pleasure of her rapist have very different emotional impacts. Also, Abercrombie has admitted he could have done better, which is more than I’ve ever heard of GRRM.
I’m a little sad that I’ve reached the end of the trilogy, especially as the sequels seem to focus even further on the combat side of things. I know Joe is planning a new trilogy at the moment, and I hope this will feature more intrigue and cynical humour, and a move away from the lengthy swordfests. In the meantime I guess I have a good excuse to read some more K J Parker…
