Conor’s Reviews > Last Argument of Kings > Status Update

Approaching the end of this trilogy now which I've been dreading since I started the re-read. The endings for pretty much every character we've grown attached to are at best bitter sweet and in a lot of cases just straight up bitter. This is gonna be rough

My only complaint about listening to this trilogy on audiobook is I can't post all the great 1 liners from it on here

Jezal (aka the Jez-meister) is more sympathetic in this book than I remembered. I mostly just remembered his major screw-ups but he does have a really nice arc in this trilogy (especially the 2nd and 3rd book) where he goes from spoiled, selfish nobleman to a decent man trying to do the right thing

"Who cares who killed who a thousand years ago" - Ferro

World-building has always been Abercrombie's weakness. Aside from the North, all of his settings (the Union, Red Country etc.) feel pretty shallow and generic. With that said I do really like the world-building he's done around the Juvens-Kanadius-Bayaz betrayals and killings in the "old time" and how the initial story of how it went down is slowly peeled away

Ardee West is more prominent in this book than I remember and more sympathetic. Even though she's an angry drunk (who debatably assaulted Jezal) on this re-read I have a better appreciation for the difficult and isolating position she's been thrown into and her banter with Glokta is top tier

On 1st read through I thought Dogman and especially Ferro were the weak links among the main characters. But both have grown on me significantly on this re-read (especially Dogman). They're effectively the straight men who don't have any complex, hidden motivations or major character change arcs like the Big 3 main characters

I think the Northern War arc in this book is my favourite storyline in any Abercrombie series and is up there for my all time favouite from any series. Cinematic set piece battles/duels, a great cast of main and secondary characters and the slow horror of Logen gradually turning back into the Bloody nine

"The crew" is a common trope in about a million different books, films etc. but I think Logen's/Dogman's crew in this series might be my all time favourite even though they're not really central characters. They all have unique backstories and personalities and their dynamic as a group is really well written

It's interesting how Logen and Ferro continue to think about each other after their "breakup" (if you can call it that) at the end of the last book. It's vintage Abercrombie that the 2 characters who worked so well together and brought out the best in each other were ultimately kept apart by their own stubborness

I say this everytime I listen to an Abercrombie audiobook but Seven Pacey is a master of narration. Best in the business imo