Last Argument of Kings

by Joe Abercrombie

Info

Date Finished: 5/24/2026

First Sentence: Superior Glokta stood in the hall, and waited.

Last Sentence: It hit him in the side like a charging bull, punched the air out of his lungs, knocked the sense out of his head, sucked him in and down into the cold darkness...

Companion Album:

New Cover

A book cover for "Last Argument of Kings" by Joe Abercrombie, part of a "First Law Trilogy" cover set. The layout features a plain cream-colored band at the top containing the title in large green gothic script, with the author's name and series info in smaller text. The main body of the cover is a black-and-white photo of a ruined stone castle tower. Superimposed over the castle is a large, graphic outline of a stylized axe filled with light green and dark green diagonal stripes.

A Few Thoughts

I'll say this straight out, however you think Last Argument of Kings will go, it won't. But, if you've been paying attention in the previous two books, The Blade Itself and Before They Are Hanged, you'll have a good idea of who will come out on top and who won't.

I almost don't want to write much more than that and spoil the experience of this book for anyone interested. But I don't want to oversell it. It's not the best book or series ever written, but it's unique, brutal, and, most of all, fun.

Related:

Cover Notes

Smaller version of previous cover image I'm completing the series with the same format I set in place with Source for the castle image and source for the axe svg.

Previously On Cover2Cover

November

The Heroes

October

Ancillary Mercy ᛫ Ancillary Sword ᛫ Alloy of Law ᛫ Light Bringer ᛫ Dark Age

September

Iron or The War After ᛫ Iron Gold

August

Morning Star ᛫ Haiku in English The First Hundred Years ᛫ Golden Son ᛫ Blood Meridian ᛫ Bat Kid ᛫ Igaguri ᛫ Best Served Cold

July

Red Rising ᛫ Oathbringer

June

Cloud Atlas ᛫ Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep ᛫ Piranesi ᛫ The One Hand and The Six Fingers

May

Hobbit Virtues ᛫ Last Argument of Kings ᛫ The Tomb

April

The Wrestler ᛫ Before They Are Hanged ᛫ The Blade Itself ᛫ Abhorsen ᛫ Pet Semetary ᛫ An Invitation from a Crab

March

Tokyo These Days

February

Words of Radiance ᛫ The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction ᛫ Lirael

January

The End of Burnout ᛫ The Sword of Shannara ᛫ Enshittification ᛫ Ubik ᛫ The Way of Kings