I read the first chapter and said excitedly to myself, "This is gonna be really good." I read the second chapter and said to my wife, "This is gonna be really, really good." And so forth. If you enjoyed the first entry in this trilogy, The Blade Itself (and you cannot read this without doing so; it is not remotely a stand-alone affair), it only gets better. Joe Abercrombie writes for each shifting first-person viewpoint so well, it is a joy to get into each character's skin. The nobleman fencer Jezal dan Luthar is such A Idiot, his attempt at personal growth and building character is delightfully pitiful. We see cracks in some hard-case characters' personal armour. Glokta's sarcastic, nihilistic internal dialogue is as good as ever.

My only complaint is that due to the restrictions of first-person view, some action is lost; for example, the crippled torturer Glokta must stand apart from any active warfare, and because of this remove, some events in his arc have less visceral impact. Fortunately, other characters more than make up for the loss of direct physical violence. Way more. As in, fountains of spurting blood more.

I also miss Yoru Sulfur - the mysterious, playful apprentice of Bayuz' who showed up in Adua in the first book, seemingly only to taunt a few people. I hope he reappears in the third book. I am also anxious to learn what, if any, greater purpose Jezal dan Luthar is meant to serve in the expedition party. Ferro and Logen's reasons for inclusion are clear, but his is not.

Onward to book 3!