Last Argument of Kings (The First Law #3)[June 5, 2019]

[Chris]

Zaara wrote: "Chris wrote: "Starting this today, though we haven't set a date yet. It's huge, so not like I'll finish before we "start""

😬 NO WAY I'll be ablestarting this anytime this month...
What with my cha..."

No worries. With my current outlook/schedule of overcommitted BRs, I'll bog down before long. So good to get a bit ahead before that happens.

[Kathrine]

Zaara wrote: "Chris wrote: "Starting this today, though we haven't set a date yet. It's huge, so not like I'll finish before we "start""

😬 NO WAY I'll be ablestarting this anytime this month...
What with my cha..."

I'M HERE!!

But fear not! For I am also not ready to start this book yet xD I haven't even commented on my final thoughts on the second book but I have finished that and it was glorious! My boy Glokta survived and seems to be doing alright and that's all that matters <3

😂😂😂

[Zaara]

@Kathrine...haha, yea we all love Glokta....Feb 1 it is then!!

[Chris]

I'm going to switch over to some other audio stuff when I finish this, so y'all can catch up to me. Then we can move on to the stand alones.

[Kathrine]

Yay! :D

[Chris]

Finished last night. Wow, how did....

1. ...I not remember so much of this story? It's fantastic and heart wrenching.
2. ..I only rate these things 4 stars on the first pass?

Maybe the audio added that much more to it. I really felt more attached to the characters.

When do we start Best Served Cold? Hehe

[Zaara]

Chris wrote: "Finished last night. Wow, how did....

1. ...I not remember so much of this story? It's fantastic and heart wrenching."

Uuuuhh Kath? He finished...he says...😂😂😂

@Chris....re #1 with ya on the heartwrenching...

[Kathrine]

Oh dear, hahahaha 😂

But glad to see that it was a good reading experience, Chris!

Zaara, are we still up for Feb 1? I can probably start tomorrow already, but I'm also finishing up Blood of Elves so might be slow going in the beginning xD

[Zaara]

@Kath Feb 1 is perfect....I too have some unfinished BRs...

@Lann...we'll try to be done as quickly as possible....

[Chris]

I'm good until y'all catch up. I started a 29 hour book about drug cartels to tide me over...

[Kathrine]

Chris wrote: "I'm good until y'all catch up. I started a 29 hour book about drug cartels to tide me over..."

Hahaha, enjoy! :D

[Kathrine]

Zaara wrote: "@Kath Feb 1 is perfect....I too have some unfinished BRs...

@Lann...we'll try to be done as quickly as possible...."

Perfect! I'll be here xD

[Zaara]

How're you going, Kath?
At 10%

(view spoiler)[
1: I love Glokta's blackmail face...

2. 😂 when the Dogman was actually confused at people living in "houses"....seemed a strange way to live, sleeping in a box, waking all your days in the same spot

3. Re poulder and kroy...I love what's eventually coming to them but won't spoil it for you...

(view spoiler)[
Any thoughts on Ardee? She got under my skin a fair bit in that scene in The New Man...in an *smh* way... (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Kathrine]

Okay, I'm at 71% and I got a LOT of thoughts and feelings but man, I just love this book so much. I remember being pretty meh about the first one and couldn't understand the praise for the series but now I totally get it!

My favorite chapters are without a doubt Glokta's chapters. He's such a cool character, pretty despicable at times but you can't help sympathizing with him. I also love his dynamic with Ardee, like in the chapter "Greater Good". Re: your comment about Ardee: I'm starting to like her quite a bit! But I think that's definitely due to her scenes with Glokta. Her scenes with Jezal just.... ugh, no thanks...

Speaking of Jezal: (view spoiler)[I love his character arc so far. I don't like him much as a person, but it's really entertaining in a kind of cringy, embarrasing way to watch him bumble through his ascension to King. One minute he's like "why are they cheering for me, I'm a nobody?" and the next he's like "wait I actually do kinda deserve this, don't I? Yes I do!" and then back and forth. I hope he'll manage to gain some success (hopefully along with some self-awareness) because I actually think he can do some good in the role as king, if only that horrible wizard would leave him be.! (hide spoiler)]

And on to.... Bayaz... yuck.... (view spoiler)[UGHHH HE FRUSTRATES ME SO MUCH. What an asshole! He's got no empathy at all and is incredibly selfish and a liar and just in general a horrible human being. I rarely say this about characters but I hope he comes to a painful and bitter end before this book is done. He truly deserves it. Poor Yulwei :( (hide spoiler)]

Ferro: (view spoiler)[She's also started to grow on me a lot in this last book! I remember really disliking her in the first book (possibly because I couldn't take Steven Pacey's voice and narration of her seriously) and I feel like she might be the only character that reads better in writing than through narration. For all the other characters, I keep hearing Pacey's voices for them but in my mind Ferro sounds way different, and that has made me enjoy her character a lot more. (hide spoiler)]

Logen: (view spoiler)[Poor Logen :( I feel really sorry for him, because it's clear that he's got so many mental health issues and possibly PTSD triggering the Bloody-Nine personality that he can't really control. Poor guy could use some therapy, a cup of warm tea and a hug :( (hide spoiler)]

I've been speeding through this book and I forgot to write down notes so I've probably forgotten a lot of my thoughts so I might come back and add more when I remember them! xD

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I loved reading your summary comments about the characters... they mirror many of mine... I could rant for days about Bayaz... but you've got so many books before I can contribute much to the discussion...

The end of this trilogy, the 4 standalones/anthologies, and the first of the sequel trilogy that came out last year... by the time you read all that, the next book will be on the horizon...

[Chris]

Great to read your thoughts, Kathrine! I finished last week and I'm missing it.

I agree that the dynamics of these characters and their growth is pretty amazing.

[Zaara]

😱 at 71% hehe....I spent these four days on other books....will give time to this and London moro..

[Zaara]

Thanks for these beautiful spoilers, Kath! Really enjoyed reading your thoughts...took me right back to the first time I read these books. Yup, Abercrombie really does know how to trigger the feels, no? Its funny because his prose is so very gritty and unsentimental (like the biggest romantic moment in this book is (view spoiler)[ Glokta and Ardee finally coming to undertand each other and bonding over the bedpan moment when he sh!ts hisself (hide spoiler)] 😂😂😂
I'm waiting to read the reunion scene (9 and the boys)...haven't quite got there yet, feel like I should be doing much more here but I typically tend to comment less on rereads and I'm still not done bcuz I stumbled upon and lost a whole day (ohk five hours) watching Kitboga, Merlyn et al destroy tech scammers. You'll get sick of my prattling notice the difference once we start the standalones, I guess.

Gimme a (very) few days to finish this one, and I guess Chris too wouldn't mind a few to complete his review commitments and...(if ok with you both) how about we begin the standalones this weekend? That's Sat the 15th...
Just read The Seventh Day and my main takeaway from this second time around is (view spoiler)[ how well Abercrombie understands rage. (hide spoiler)]

[Chris]

I'm in for the weekend. I've got roughly a bloody 9 hours left in my cartel book, so will be finished and ready for some revenge served cold.

Though really this cartel book is more brutal than First Law...

[Zaara]

:) "bloody" 9 hours...

[Kathrine]

Might have to skip the standalones for now, budget's not really working out for buying them and my library doesn't have access :( But you guys ahead and I'll try to catch up next month maybe! It's been so much fun reading these with you, wouldn't miss it for a thing :D

[Zaara]

Done. This time I was braced for the (view spoiler)[ final betrayal/back to square one endings all round so didn't feel as hopeless/wretched.
I already spoiled myself checking if we get more of the Bloody Nine because I didn't want him to die.
(hide spoiler)]

Kathrine wrote: "Might have to skip the standalones for now, budget's not really working out for buying them and my library doesn't have access :( But you guys ahead and I'll try to catch up next month maybe! It's ..."

Oh don't worry, you can deffo jump in late whenever you wish Kath. I hope you do, we will stick arnd to chat till you finish. And also, I haven't yet read the Yarvi books....I hear they're excellent too...so if you're eventually looking for a partner for those...hit me up.......