What the jacket says:

“Springtime in Styria.  And that means war.

There have been nineteen years of blood.  The ruthless Grand Duke Orso is locked in a vicious struggle with the squabbling League of Eight, and between them they have bled the land white.  While armies march, heads roll, and cities burn, behind the scenes bankers, priests and older, darker powers play a deadly game to choose who will be king.

War may be hell, but for Monza Murcatto, the Snake of Talins, the most feared and famous mercenary in Duke Orso’s employ, it’s a damn good way of making money too.  Her victories have made her popular – a shade too popular for her employers taste.  Betrayed, thrown down a mountain and left for dead, Murcatto’s reward is a broken body and a burning hunger for vengeance.  Whatever the cost, seven men must die.

Her allies include Styria’s least reliable drunkard, Styria’s most treacherous poisoner, a mass-murderer obsessed with numbers and a barbarian who just wants to do the right thing.  Her enemies number the better half of the nation.  And that’s all before the most dangerous man in the world is dispatched to hunt her down and finish the job Duke Orso started…

Springtime in Styria.  And that means revenge.”

What it’s about: The story is about revenge. Plain and simple. It’s brutal and bloody with one or two funny bits, but overall pretty serious. It reads easily, I’ll give the book that and though it was tagged as fantasy – there is very little fantasy in the story. There is also no underlying – big picture – plot. The entire story revolves around Monza’s quest for vengeance. Towards the end of the book I got bored with it, though I wanted to see the ending.The writing is not bad at all and there is certainly potential to take the world created here further and to enrich and colour the story of Styria.

Rating: It’s not a bad story and if you are in the mood for some gore and a relatively mindless afternoon of fun then I’d recommend it. Be warned though: the characters were a bit 2d for me with little to no real development in any of them.

What’s better: If you want blood and gore and vengeance the Malazan Book of the Fallen is probably your best bet.

Re-read: I won’t re-read this book any time soon if ever.