Summary: After a long journey with Bayaz, Logen Ninefingers has decided to return to
the North in order to settle a few scores, specifically with Bethod. Jezal Dan Luther is trying to
figure out how to live a normal life, one that he dreamed about while on the plains, though this
proves to be more difficult than he first expected. Glokta, under the instruction of the Arch
Lector, is doing everything he can to gain votes for their choice of the new king, as the old king’s
death approaches. But the world is about to change, and these men must change with it.
Somebody: Logen, Jezal, Glokta, Bayaz
Wants: Logen wants to find Bethod and kill him. Jezal wants to live a normal life with the
girl he loves. Glokta wants to get enough votes to elect his leader as king.
But: When Logen reunites with old friends in the North, he finds himself also reuniting
with old enemies. On top of that, on their way to Bethod, the group is trapped in a mountain, and
forced to face an onslaught from the entirety of Bethod’s forces. Jezal is suddenly thrust into the
spotlight when he is revealed to be the king’s son, and takes the throne with Bayaz as his
assistant. With this sudden change, Glokta is pressured by the Arch Lector to interrogate the
validity of this heir, but the banks that bribed him in Dogoska threaten him, telling him that if he
continues to investigate, he likely won’t be alive to come to any conclusions.
So: Logen is able to barely defeat Bethod’s forces, and heads to Bethod’s fortress,
where he meets up with Colonel West who is also surrounding the base, preparing for a siege.
Stuck between the grips of two masters, Glokta decides to turn to one of his old enemies for
refuge from the storm of demands. This man, High Justice Morovia, orders Glokta to learn of the
Arch Lector’s plans in exchange for safety from the man. Meanwhile, forces from Gurkhul arrive
in Adua, and a great battle begins. Because of this, Colonel West is called to return to Adua
before Logen gets his chance at revenge.
Then: After convincing Colonel West’s men to stay for one more day, Bethod offers
Logen a duel with Fenris the Feared. After barely winning, Logen kills Bethod and leads the
Northmen to Adua to save the city from the Gukhish. When they reach Adua, they find complete
chaos. Even though the Union is giving the Gurkhish a good fight, it is still a massacre on both
sides. Meanwhile, Glokta discovers that the Arch Lector is using dark magic, and kills him,
saving the world from the grips of the eaters. Together, now Lord Marshall West and the
Northmen defeat the Gurkhish, and the city is saved, though destroyed beyond all recognition.
Opinion: Last Argument of Kings was an excellent ending to The First Law trilogy,
though it certainly had a few downfalls. There were a few great moments, such as when Jezal
was revealed to be the king, or when Bayaz was revealed to be behind everything all along.
There were quite a few huge moments in this book, and many of them with satisfying build-up
and payoff. All of the plotlines in this book were probably better than the predecessors, with one
exception: Logen’s.Logen’s plotline was disappointing to me. Him reuniting with his friends had been built up
since the first chapter of the first book, and when the moment finally comes, it feels awkward.
For a while, he wanders around the North, until he finally decides to hunker down with all the
men he can muster and battle Bethod. The battle scene on the mountain is great–for a while.
However, after around 3 chapters of the same battle scene with no real plot progression, it got
tiring. Then, when he challenged Bethod to a duel, he fought Bethod’s right hand man instead.
And after he won that, he just killed Bethod, without a single battle between the two themselves.
It was a great book, but sometimes the payoff just wasn’t as satisfying as the buildup
promised. But the moments that worked, worked. And those moments were truly something
special.