Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie

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.

“Rules are for children. This is war, and in war the only crime is to lose.”

What is there to say at this point? Maybe that this book delivered even more than I expected. My jaw dropped at the beginning with unbelievable plot twist. Then again at the end when I was wondering if

Now I can see the work of ‘Lord Grimdark'. While the first two books were mild imho this one dives right into the dark, the gritty, the bloody. I kind of criticized previous books for having such a big grimdark reputation while having very little of grimdark content. Well, here the reputation is deserved.

With exception of Jezal there is no character left who could be considered good or morally gray. Sure they do good, or try to do good but in the end even the book asks: “Does the devil know he is a devil?” It's still nowhere close to Malazan but it finally earned the moniker.

Simply put, phenomenal end to a phenomenal trilogy.