Wow, this ended up really surprising me. I walked into this book having heard some of the more common criticisms, namely the almost complete lack of plot. I'm more of a character reader myself, so I wasn't terribly worried. But even though interesting character work is important to me as a reader, I also really REALLY don't like it when the first book of a series exists solely as an introduction without its own story to lean on, so I started this off This book expecting to be really critical of that. However I knew that Abercrombie's character work was very well regarded, so I was curious to see how that tension panned out. And I have to admit, the characters won me over hard.

We follow several different POV characters as they move about their own individual adventures without any real consistent through line or story. There are hints of a larger conflict brewing, but it's kept hidden away from the reader for the most part. Each character is dynamic and interesting in unique ways: a pompous noble-blooded soldier who starts to grow a heart for "commoners", a mutilated and discarded war veteran turned cold blooded investigator, a violent one-track minded brute, a frenzied rage fueled former slave, and a cryptic and cynical wizard. Each have their own motivations and goals which rarely overlap with each other. But each story was so compelling on its own that I found it really fascinating to follow, even without a strong connection between them. While the book didn't have a compelling story alone, each of these characters had a compelling, fully fleshed out story, lending to a satisfying reading experience. The ending I also found compelling enough that I am now motivated to jump right into the sequel. Maybe I'll resist that urge to push through some of the rest of my TBR, but maybe not!