The Word is ‘Epic’

I am not in the habit of admitting fault. It feels like loosing, and I hate losing, so whenever I’m wrong about something (which I never am!), I tend to make up silly excuses till the rightful party gives up and walks away. Yes, I know; that’s a terribly childish way to behave, but then I never claimed otherwise. However, in the case called ‘Joe Abercrombie’, I will refrain from degrading myself in such a manner. I will simply just go out and say it as straightforward as it can be said:

I was utterly and entirely wrong about Joe Abercrombie.

He isn’t the height of mediocrity, nor is he an unoriginal, repetitive fart who has made a living by ripping off dead people’s plots in ways done umpteen times before. No, this guy isn’t a pretender to the throne of Promising Fantasy Authors - he’s beyond that now. People (like me) can say what they want to about Scott Lynch or Patrick Rothfuss. For example, they can say that their first efforts were of a much higher quality than what this guy pulled out, but neither of those two has proved they can do it - and do it better - over the course of a trilogy.

‘The First Law’ proves that Abercrombie is no longer playing in that particular sandbox of valid comparisons. He’s been upgraded, ascended to a different level. So ask me not how ‘The First Law’ holds up to the likes of ‘The Gentleman Bastard Sequence’. Ask me rather whether it could take ASOIAF, MBotF or LotR into the ring and come out standing.

And my answer?

I wouldn’t like to see the scorecards… The match would probably cripple ‘The First Law’ for life… But if it could make it into the last rounds I’m sure it could trade punches with the biggest of the heavy-hitters (though I wouldn’t be surprised if it got disqualified for biting off an ear).

‘Last Argument of Kings’ is a translation of what Louis XIV had inscribed on his cannons, and you’d be hard pressed to find a more fitting title for the concluding instalment of ‘The First Law’ trilogy. After a little introductory passage where we meet up again with the old characters, Joe Abercrombie says “Enough is enough” and rams the gas pedal through the god-damned floor. This is a 536-pages long tour-de-force with barely no time for a breather.

In this book you’ll find battles of epic proportions, and Abercombie’s trademarked angle manages to get you up in the filthy grit like nearly no one has managed before. He doesn’t go for the sweeping picture or the strategic deployments; he goes for the muck, the devastation, the bloody kill… And thus he doesn’t manage to recreate the awe-inspiring sieges found in Erikson’s or Martin’s work, and he doesn’t try to either. Fighting isn’t pretty, it isn’t noble and it is always pointless. You won’t find any glorious pictures of charging knights and vanquished evil in these books. Because there are no such things. There are only humans, and humans have never been either black or white.

Shivers got up and took a step away. Then he stopped, and turned back, firelight shifting over one side of his hard, angry face. “It ain’t ever as simple, is it, as just good or bad? Not even you. Not even Bethod. Not anybody.”

“No.” Logen sat and watched the flames moving. “No, it ain’t ever been that simple. We all got our reasons. Good men or bad men. It’s all a matter of where you stand.”

— LAoK, “The Fourth Day”, by Joe Abercombie

So this becomes a work riddled with shades of grey, which is always interesting because you never know what’s going to happen next. I’m not easily surprised by plot twists any more, and I wasn’t flabbergasted at how things transpired in this novel, but I was never sure about what would happen. And that’s enough for me, because you don’t come for the plot with this series.

You come for the masterful characterization. Yes, you heard right. Masterful characterization. I’m even willing to say that I think ‘Glokta’ and his “anti-character” ‘Jezal dan Luthar’ (you can’t mention one of them without the other) are two of modern fantasy’s best characters, and Logen Ninefingers doesn’t come far behind, either. The only character I could never come to terms with was Ferro Maljinn, who always felt flat and too one-sided to me. But then again, maybe she was supposed to… Hate and vengeance personified isn’t something that should be enjoyable and… human.

If I had to nit-pick (and I don’t want to, but there you are) I’d have to mention the world-building, which doesn’t exactly scream with originality. It’s nothing but a back-drop in this series, and that’s okay by me, but when you cut this drastically back on the imagery you’re left with a quite stark picture of nothing but characters and very little of the world they live in. I would also venture that a cut-back on the the character’s catch-phrases would still only help the book, because it could sometimes feel a bit worn out (this goes especially for Logen Ninefingers).

Perhaps the most satisfying thing about this novel is that it ties all the storylines together, solves (nearly) all the mysteries and it still manages to make you scream for more when you reach the last paragraph. I can’t wait to read the next novel in this world, and I’m dying with curiosity to see whether the author manages to recreate an equally interesting set of characters. I’d say it was impossible if I hadn’t just witnessed how insanely much better the writing has gotten for each book of this trilogy.

‘Last Argument of Kings’ is by far the best Epic Fantasy book I’ve read this year, and I would be hard pressed to mention an equally awesome conclusion to a series. I’ve seen Werthead comparing it to ‘The Return of the King’ in that regard, and I can’t but agree with that assessment. It just is that good. So do yourself a favor: The next time you’re in need of a cliché-twisting, morbidly funny and all-round thrilling Fantasy trilogy, don’t buy ‘The First Law’ by Joe Abercrombie. It’s too good for you.

You can’t have it!

It’s mine!

9,5 /10

……………………..

I said in my review of ‘The Blade Itself’ by Joe Abercrombie, that I might change my opinion of the novel after reading the rest of the series. Well, now I have. Here are the final grades for the other the books and the entire series.

The Blade Itself = 7,5 /10

Before They Are Hanged = 8.5 /10

Last Argument of Kings = 9,5 /10

The First Law = 8,5 /10