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Cover of Last Argument of Kings
The First Law trilogy · after Before They Are Hanged

Last Argument of Kings

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The trilogy finale: war in the North, an invasion at the capital and everyone's bills coming due at once. The longest and most brutal of the three. Adult fantasy, with heavy violence, torture and some sex scenes

Pages656 pagesWhere to buyAmazonIn your readingnot read yet
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Do you need to read it?

Yes. It's in the Main story, the list of only what moves the plot forward to the end of the saga.

Where it falls in the order

  • Main story3 of 3
  • Everything3 of 10
Spoilers for this title

Quick recap

Logen returns to the North and joins the Union against Bethod. Jezal comes back to Adua a hero, and Bayaz pushes him onto the throne. Glokta is caught between Arch Lector Sult, the bank of Valint and Balk and the orders he gets. Bethod falls, and Logen becomes King of the Northmen. The Gurkish invade Adua and nearly take it, until Bayaz uses the Seed in a massacre that kills enemies and citizens alike. In the end, Jezal is a figurehead king stuck in a loveless marriage. Glokta becomes Arch Lector and learns that Bayaz controls everything. Ferro leaves alone. Logen faces the Dogman and his old friends and falls out a window into the river, and the book never says what became of him.

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3 trivia

Trivia

  1. Behind the scenesEngraved on cannons

    The title comes from Louis XIV, who had the phrase ultima ratio regum engraved on his cannons: the last argument of kings.

    source ↗
  2. Behind the scenesThe biggest of the three

    It runs 603 pages in the first UK edition and 656 in the Orbit US trade paperback, the longest book in the trilogy.

    source ↗
  3. Behind the scenesRookie finalist

    In 2008, the year this book came out, Abercrombie was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

    source ↗
No spoilersThe easter eggs give away parts of the title. They open once you mark it as seen.

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