I will preface my entire review by saying that I was turned off by the language used in the book. I am not talking of the writing, which was action-packed – but of the conversations/swearing between everyone in the narrative.I understand the world is a very rough one, harking back to a more openly war friendly world than the one we live in, with pirates and looters and the like, but it felt a little excessive at times. It distracted me from the plotline and all the complications of the lives of our characters.
Kinch is a marked man, literally. His tongue and tattoo describe him to people even before he has a chance to do anything about it. He is not precisely the ‘chosen one’, but he finds himself holding the key pieces to a very large puzzle. What begins as an average day where he is trying to find ways to repay his debt to his mysteriously powerful guild turns into something a lot more complicated.
The world-building has depth and a lot of variety. There are different types of beings involved in the overall narrative; there are political affiliations and implications, and last but not least, the guilds play crucial roles.
There have been events occurring in the background before we encounter the people we are to follow on their adventure, but their actions hasten the culmination of the events. It is a long and winding book that took me a while to read all the way through. Even with that and the language issue I mentioned earlier, I would read the next just to see where all of this is headed. The ending only provides more hints, but it is not satisfying enough without the sequel.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.
Superfluous Reading 