** spoiler alert ** 
 Last Argument of Kings gets a 3/5 for me - still superb writing, excellent character development, but yet it falls flatter than Before They Are Hanged. Such a build-up from the first two books seemed destined to end in a climatic, satisfying ending... and in a lot of ways it was, but the weaknesses throughout the series unfortunately caught up with Abercrombie and became just as evident in his strengths when it counted most. 
 The book again splits into different perspectives - with Bayaz's group now dispersed, Abercrombie does an admirable job at keeping the reader experience coherent, guiding the perspectives in a quick and understandable way whilst still not sacrificing the pacing of the different storylines reaching their climaxes. Unfortunately, this does mean some viewpoints are condensed whilst others are given the necessary 'screentime' - one of my favourites that I felt fell to the wayside in Before They Are Hanged, Ferro, is unfortunately shifted even more to the side until her penultimate moment... which altogether makes her character seem like an excuse for further despair in the altogether underwhelming conclusion of the book. Luckily Glokta can almost be called the protagonist of this novel, although even he seems to be rushed into a predetermined ending, which felt rather squashed and unprepared for given the length at which other smaller plot points were expanded upon in comparison. 
 Ultimately, the book is paced well for two-thirds - then it seems Abercrombie sinks into the glazed eyed look only an author can have when he sees the ending in sight, methodically typing out the execution blocks for his characters with much less of the care we have seen in the rest of his work within the First Law trilogy. The chosen consequences also seemed remarkably thoughtless at times - Logen Ninefingers is left on a cliffhanger, Jezel is left in apparent miserable ignorance despite his character development leaving us hoping for any slice of redemption, and worst of all is West, who suffers an off-screen death. Is there anything worse for a pov character than that? 
 All is not lost, and I did like the insight into the politics surrounding Bayaz and the other Magi, as scant as it was, and Ferro's fate, however rushed it ended up being. Abercrombie's decision to include Glokta and Ardee's friendship was also a nice round-up of something that had been growing since the end of book one even if how they ended only contributed to the 'rushed' aspect of the novel. However it was not enough to completely save this for me, with the book delivering just as much a flat, disappointing ending if everyone had survived and joined together for tea and biscuits - it felt pointless. That was most likely Abercrombie's aim, but unfortunately it felt so pointless that I was left wondering if some characters were best left back in Before They Are Hanged to save them from Last Argument of Kings taking their careful development, chewing it up, and spitting it back out at the reader's face. 
 Nonetheless, I did enjoy most of the book and I cannot deny that Abercrombie kept his trademark style throughout the book, whether I liked it or not. I will still be following up with other books in his work with anticipation.