u/AstonMac

For context, Ippo's opponent was trash-talking Kamogawa and bragging about his punching power. This is Ippo's response when a reporter asked him about his own power.

Ippo would later beat this guy so badly that he doesn't even remember the fight.

Crazy to think 8 months ago I read about some nine-fingered dude falling off a cliff, and now the whole series is completed.

Glokta being the Weaver was perfect. For some reason everyone else is cool with an immortal wizard secretly running the Union, but not my GOAT, he was playing the long game all along. Then seeing that smug git Yoru get his face ripped off, that's my favourite scene in the book. Leo, Savine, and Vick also had great arcs and ended up pretty much where I expected. Rikke's was good too, though it felt separated from the others, and I was more interested with how it reflected on Shivers. Broad and Clover, eh they were fine.

It wasn't all great though. Orso had no agency at all this time. He gets captured by Judge, released, captured by Leo, escaped, captured again, then dies. I'm fine with a character's choices leading to bad outcomes, but Orso didn't get any choices here. You could argue he's the main character of AoM, so to see him sidelined was disappointing. At least he got a sick final line. (How's your leg?)

I wasn't as invested in the battles here as I was with Stoffenbeck. Back then, there were characters on both sides that I wanted to see survive, and a victory for either side would feel bittersweet. This time, there's the good guys vs Calder and Judge, two of the biggest assholes in the entire series that we're obviously supposed to root against. LAoK had this problem too, but it also had the spectacle of moments like Logen v Fenris and the Bayaz nuke, but this time the fights felt smaller in scale.

My final Top 10 is:

1/ Glokta

2/ Shivers

3/ Bayaz

4/ Morveer

5/ Logen

6/ Savine

7/ Gorst (died for nothing but at least it was badass ;-;)

8/ Leo

9/ Cosca

10/ Tunny

Despite the flaws, this has been an incredible experience, right up there with Stormlight and Discworld as one of my favourite fantasy series. Might not be realistic but I hope Joe can return to this world soon.

The Blade Itself - 8/10

Before They Are Hanged - 8/10

Last Argument of Kings - 9/10

Best Served Cold - 10/10

The Heroes - 10/10

Red Country - 7/10

A Little Hatred - 9/10

The Trouble With Peace - 10/10

The Wisdom of Crowds - 8/10

Like really, nobody cared enough to help Phos? Not even some panels of a few gems trying to reach Earth and Enma stopping them? I know Phos went a little nuts beforehand, but this is such a comically evil fate that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

I know it worked out for Phos in the end but man, that was brutal. After 10,000 years, I would not have blamed Phos for telling them to get fucked and then yeet them into the Sun.

Best of the trilogy books so far

My favourite aspect is that the POV characters are fighting each other. It's not just the barbaric North or the evil Gurkish like in the first trilogy; it's all characters you've grown to care about. The Heroes did this too, but this time we're following their journeys across two books instead of one, so the build-up is even greater. It might be predictable since we know the lamb eats the lion, but how we get there and who actually ends up dying is still a mystery.

Leo might be the most tragic character in all of First Law. You've got this man who has the potential to do so much good in the world, with friends and family who love him, and with a child on the way... and then you see him proceed to make every wrong choice he possibly could until he ends up a broken mess waiting to be hanged. I thought he was a Jezal parallel at first, but really he's a Glokta parallel. Whether he screws up his second chance at life remains to be seen.

Pretty much every character got a chance to shine though. Shivers opening up to Rikke, Tunny shielding Orso, Glokta lowkey being proud of Savine for the rebellion etc. Even Broad and Vick felt more interesting this time, though I suspect their arcs will really pay off in book three. Clover's still a piece of shit, don't care that he's with Rikke now, will never forgive him for killing Wonderful ;-;

This book might have the most memorable individual chapters too. You've got the classic multi-POV chapters, one in Adua and one in Stoffenbeck. The chapter of Rikke's visions going backwards in time. The chapter where Jappo meets Leo and Orso on the same day. Any of these could be a highlight in any other book, but this one is stuffed full of them.

My Top 10 now is:

Glokta

Shivers

Bayaz

Morveer

Cosca

Logen

Savine

Gorst

Tunny (for defending his king)

West

I think The Heroes is my overall favourite, but TTWP is definitely up there. Have high hopes for the finale.

The Blade Itself - 8/10

Before They Are Hanged - 8/10

Last Argument of Kings - 9/10

Best Served Cold - 10/10

The Heroes - 10/10

Red Country - 7/10

A Little Hatred - 9/10

The Trouble With Peace - 10/10

Great start to the new trilogy.

My favourite so far has to be Savine dan Glokta. This is a character that could not have existed in any of the previous books. The industrial setting is the perfect chance to write a female character that can be relevant without being some kind of fighter, and Joe took full advantage. The PTSD she has from the Valbeck uprising (The Little People gets the award for the best chapter) gives her a lot of potential for character development going forward.

I liked Leo aswell, goofy himbo that he is. Unlike Savine, he doesn't seem to fit in this world at all compared to other scheming characters, but it's a contrast that works for me. I actually thought Stour was gonna kill him and the prophecy would be full of shit like with Whirrun, so I'm glad he survived that. Also the guy is 100% gay for Jurand and I hope he comes out of the closet at some point so they can be happy together.

Even the characters I wasn't a big fan of still had something going for them. Clover felt like discount Craw, but after that last chapter, I realised he's actually evil Craw and I would like him to die horribly. Feeling hatred for a character is a lot better than just indifference. Broad feels like discount Logen, but that chapter with the kid in the chimney was haunting, and his anger at the system is a good contrast to Vick's resigned acceptance of it. Speaking of Vick, did you know she grew up in the camps? Don't worry, she'll remind you every chapter. But I can't deny a conflicted undercover Inquisitor could make for a great story in the future.

I had Rikke's prophecy in the back of my mind the whole time. The lion was obviously Leo, and it seems like the lamb will end up being Orso (I thought it might've been Logen at first). Not sure about the owl though. Maybe Rikke, since she has big eyes like an owl? Bald weaver has gotta be Bayaz, no clue about the rest. (no spoilers please)

My Top 10 as of now:

Glokta

Shivers (switched sides yet again lmao)

Bayaz

Morveer

Cosca

Logen

Savine

Gorst (still trains 3 hours a day, what man)

West

Jezal (rest in peace)

The easiest comparison to make is with TBI, the other 1st of a trilogy. I think ALH does a better job of telling a more complete story with the pages it gets, while also getting you hyped for the rest of the trilogy. Also, Joe is at his best when juggling many different perspectives at once, and this book has more POV characters than any other so far, so I've got to rate it higher.

The Blade Itself - 8/10

Before They Are Hanged - 8/10

Last Argument of Kings - 9/10

Best Served Cold - 10/10

The Heroes - 10/10

Red Country - 7/10

A Little Hatred - 9/10

Well, I know whodunnit. I assume there are other important twists later, but I'm glad I didn't get the big one spoiled for me.

So who predicted this? I admit I didn't for a second suspect the real culprit, maybe because it was the darkest possible option for Laura's rapist/murderer and my mind just didn't wanna go there. But then again, it wasn't really Leland, it was Bob. I'm kinda disappointed that the killer didn't end up being one of the townsfolk hiding in plain sight, it was actually an evil demon possessing one of them. And I guess we're supposed to view Leland as nothing but the victim in all this? At least that's how Cooper seems to see it. Idk man, I doubt Bob was in control the entire time.

I'm surprised there's still somehow 13 episodes to go this season. What story is there left to tell? Bob taking over someone else to kill again? I do love the Twin Peaks vibes, it's weird and charming, but it's not going to be the same without the hunt for Laura's killer being the main focus.