Well-crafted but the plot and characters follow the genre standards. Abercrombie follows the new style of trying to break stereotype (the Vikingnorthman beserker is introspective, the torturer has been on both sides of his profession, etc.) but never manages to leave the awareness that a character is from central casting with an after-market upgrade and the effect comes off more as “Look how serious and modern I'm being compared with old cliched epic fantasy!” than an actual improvement.

I'm in favor of depicting violence as unpleasant rather than glorified but the author was inconsistent in this – while one character shows severe lasting effects in general you have the usual fantasy trope of people being some of the best fighters in the world rather than half-crippled from their past escapades. This works better in the high-magic fantasy worlds with freely available healing magic but clashes oddly with the attempt at a more realistic style.

That said, the world-building and writing are above-average quality and the story is entertaining, if not ground-breaking. I wouldn't spring for a hardcover but would definitely consider paperbacks the next time I'm heading to the airport particularly since this is Abercrombie's first book and I suspect subsequent efforts will benefit from increased experience.