This book was oddly awesome. Not awesome but odd, no, it was awesome in a unique, odd and fulfilling way. This book is about characters more than anything else. There is a story, probably a deep story, beginning to be told. But it is the characters that are superbly crafted. The action is good, the story is good, but the characters are real in a way that usually only the main character is. Not all of them are complex, but all of them are real and that was intriguing. I didn't realize how much he drew me in. I wasn't racing to the finish. I wasn't staying up all night, but I was always returning to it. And I was surprised by how quickly I finished it. And while I cannot wait to read the second book the first leaves you with a feeling of satisfaction. The writing and the characterization make it well worth the read. If the term "the thinking man's barbarian" intrigues you you'll love this book.

Very good fantasy book. Very character driven with a great little cast of anti-heroes. The scenes of violence are graphic and bloody. The dialogue, including inner dialogue, is well written and at times darkly humorous. The book moved along pretty quickly and I knew fairly early on that I liked Abercrombie. I am reading the second book of the series now. I went into this series not expecting much (hadn't heard anything about the series) but was completely pleasantly surprised. Not quite as polished or deep as Martin or Abraham but was a completely entertaining experience for me.

You cannot beat a book where the villian is the hero and the hero is a villian. Read this book if you are tired of the usual fantasy pap where all heros are shining paragons and the damsels are always in distress.

I agree with a previous commenter that the characters are masterfully realized, and for them alone, the book is worth a read. None of the characters are particularly likable, but over the first book, you see a seed of decency and compassion in them all. Somehow, Abercrombie pulls this off without making me feel like I'm watching an after-school special. I disagree, though, that the plot and writing are overly done. Sure, we've seen barbarians-threaten-the-kingdom, but does the kingdom look like this? do the characters respond the same way? does the political response look the same? In these ways, Abercrombie takes a typical scenario and makes it very much his own. Although this novel is mostly set-up for what appears to be a great quest in the next, it is fair to say that much more is going on than simply bringing all the characters into one place.

Logen Ninefingers, Glokta, and a handful of others form the unique cast of misfits in this dark fantasy novel. Each of these characters is masterfully realized. In particular, first-time author Joel Abercrombie excels at portraying brutal characters scarred by their violent pasts. On the other hand, the writing is average at best and story is almost entirely formulaic. Joel, we've all read the "kingdom threatened by barbarians" plot a few times before! Overall, the book's tone is dark and gritty, yet often becomes muddled with silly comedy.