weird one. abercrombie is undoubtedly a very talented author - the prose in this was great and his environments were lush - but this has a weak plot with ultimately uninteresting and unlikeable characters. im intrigued to know out what the story is actually leading to, but it feels unimaginative and i really thought the characters would grow more on me than they have. i'm gonna finish the trilogy + bc i'm on holiday and have the books with me i'll probably read the stand-alones but. yeah. i don't know. kind of a let down i suppose. maybe the third book will magically turn everything around? dunno. i also think the portrayal of the gurkish is just. racist. to be honest.