Wow, I really enjoyed this. An interesting way to start the book, I mean after the prologue but before we meet Gorm, who as our central character and de facto leader. The whole work seethes with cleverness and humour, and I must confess to being allowed to laugh loudly at certain bits (the Stone Drake is a good example).

There's a lot of social commentary beneath the adventuring, and not a little playful poking at more typical adventurous work, and just a sprinkling of solemnity in spots to make you feel that things do actually matter, humour aside. So yes, a book that makes me laugh in spite of myself, whilst tearing up typical hack and slash tropes and dishing out poignant asides on all sorts of issues has to go far with me, and this one certainly failed to disappoint.