This was quite a lot of fun. Good intrigue, good world-building, and the way the characters' backstories emerged organically, while allowing each character to have a unique contribution, sometimes at quite pivotal moments, worked very well. I also liked how they didn't start as a cohesive crew, but had to build that cohesion through the events of the book. It was like the origin story for an established ensemble, except we start with the origin story, rather than go back after the franchise is established. A bit of knee-jerk dude-bro-ness: Only the one single token-girl (I don't count the golem) on the crew who's not like other girls, and Frey really is quite the asshole when it comes to relationships. But then, it's clear from the narrative that he's a complete asshole, that it's a character flaw and not some virtue that he's such a ladies-man. Easy story, and I'll definitely read more in the series.