4.5 out of 5 stars

Really cool start to this trilogy, set in the kingdom of Cenaria. Azoth is a young boy in the Warrens, member of one of the guilds fending their lives as thieves and beggars. One of the leaders of the guild is Rat who likes to rule over the youngsters with the constant threat of rape and violence. Azoth wants out, and he decides he wants to become apprentice to Durzo Blint, the most famous wetboy aka assassin. He succeeds in his goal, but as he grows up becomes enmeshed in prophecy as he learns the truth about Durzo Blint, and fights against the invasion of the Godking of Khalidor.

Yeah, all sounds a bit vague, I know. This book is a fairly low-fantasy story at first, but has an interesting concept of magic with the ka'kari. I thought the character building was quite interesting, though Logan remained fairly bland for me throughout. It's dark and gritty, but not in a way I found repulsive. From the moment onwards that the Khalidorans start their coup, it's very fast-paced, with a lot of stuff going on. I enjoyed it.