Published: September 8, 2015
Publisher: Orbit Books
Series: The First Law #3
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 605 (Paperback)
My Rating: 4.5/5.0
Synopsis:
The final novel in the First Law Trilogy by New York Timesbestseller Joe Abercrombie.
Logen Ninefingers might only have one more fight in him — but it’s going to be a big one. Battle rages across the North, the king of the Northmen still stands firm, and there’s only one man who can stop him. His oldest friend, and his oldest enemy: it’s time for the Bloody-Nine to come home.
With too many masters and too little time, Superior Glokta is fighting a different kind of war. A secret struggle in which no one is safe, and no one can be trusted. As his days with a sword are far behind him, it’s fortunate that he’s deadly with his remaining weapons: blackmail, threats, and torture.
Jezal dan Luthar has decided that winning glory is too painful an undertaking and turned his back on soldiering for a simple life with the woman he loves. But love can be painful too — and glory has a nasty habit of creeping up on a man when he least expects it.
The king of the Union lies on his deathbed, the peasants revolt, and the nobles scramble to steal his crown. No one believes that the shadow of war is about to fall across the heart of the Union. Only the First of the Magi can save the world, but there are risks. There is no risk more terrible, than to break the First Law…
Maaaaan, what an awesome way to conclude the First Law trilogy! This book was satisfying on many levels and I’m about 100x more excited to read A Little Hatred when it comes out later this year. I have to see what the Union has turned into after a couple decades.
First of all, the character arcs concluded excellently, though obviously not in a final sort of way since there will be another series set later on featuring many familiar characters. Glokta remains a clear favorite of mine. I NEVER thought I would like his POV so much going into this series, but his internal monologue (and what he says aloud) is one of the funniest (yet dark) things I’ve ever read, provoking bouts of actual laughter. Jezal dan Luthar, who I thought may have been a redeemed man, remains a clueless, self-centered babe in most circumstances. He has occasional bouts of rage or good sense that miraculously work out well most of the time. Ninefingers…. Well, I like him a bit more in the previous books, but he has quite a strong character arc. And Bayaz is a power-mad magi, but are we really surprised? Oh, and Collem West is possibly the most stressed out man in all the Union.
This was an excellent book with many layers of plot. Too many, really, to begin to go into. The Gurkish threaten from the south and Bethod’s northmen are still at war with the Union in the northern reaches. The Union is threatened from all sides and internal politics threatens from within, making for troubled times.
This was a fantastic book and a fantastic series as a whole. If you’re looking for some intense fantasy reading and somehow haven’t read Joe Abercrombie (or this series in particular) you should consider putting it in your TBR pile. This is a perennial favorite amongst fantasy readers and is so frequently recommended on every bookish site I visit that I decided to give the series a read. I had read the first book (a ratty, used library copy) 6 or 7 years ago and I must have been younger and less wise, because I didn’t binge read the series right then. I have now remedied that error and couldn’t be more glad.
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