This was a fun novel--lots of well-paced action and truly original systems of magic...both of which sometimes get thrown at you at breakneck speeds. 
 It is possible my entire star-deduction can be attributed to the over-the-top, balls-to-the-wall, screaming attempt at machismo at every turn. I say "attempt" because it rarely rang true to me, even for the fairly crude and simple target. I kind of imagine the author is a polite, funny, milquetoast man and thought, "This is probably what MEN act like, right?" 
 I appreciate that it never went true "grimdark", which I am not a fan of. But it often just left me scratching my head and chuckling. For instance with Taniel (this isn't really a spoiler as it happens on page 30, as but if you're a purist about that sort of thing), (view spoiler)[he discovers his fiance is cheating on him. He walks in on them in bed together. So he...takes the engagement ring off of her finger, and then...NAILS it to the the guy??? What? Worse, she just sits there watching it, speechless and covering her naked body...she's supposed to be a warrior equal to him! There were so many different ways to handle that scene and demonstrate to me what level of pain Taniel had and what level of temper he has, and that just was not one of them. It screamed of trying to be gritty, but it was just very impractical. He also never acts anything remotely like a calculating psychopath again anyway. (hide spoiler)] 
 A few rape REFERENCES or attempts thrown about, but thankfully not really explored. But apparently it's so common in this world, that it warranted this take on romantic banter: 
 "Why do you come to me? I've no family or connections, and you've not tried to force yourself on me. I don't understand you." 
 The corner of Olem's mouth lifted. "When the time's right, I won't have to force you." 
 lol WHAT? I love ya, Olem, you big goon. But the appropriate response to a girl you like saying "You haven't tried to rape me and I'm not rich, so why do you want me??" is something along the lines of "Why would you even say this?? Are you okay?!" 
 To the book's credit however, there are a handful of female characters that are about as equally dripping with unrealistic machismo, ultra grizzled, looking at life as dispensible, etc. It's just the whole world, I guess! 
 But really, enough venting about what I didn't like. (And I really didn't like these bits, which just kept popping up over and over.) I STILL rank this 4 stars, easily. I think if the characters were a bit more NORMAL, with varying levels of temperament, it would have been 4.5 stars. If the female characters had more development and POV time, definitely. Though on the POV note, I think Adamat was by far my favorite, if only for a different, more thoughtful pace. 
 This was really fun and different--if you don't mind (or love!) cheesy attempts at being grizzled tough guys. I'm a very mild-mannered man with a comfortably average life myself, but I'm sorry, the characterization kept screaming false from this "MANLY" constant theme. 
 (For those interested, I feel David Gemmell's Rigante series really nailed the hard complexities and layers of "manhood", giving what felt like realism to the gritty moments, but also throwing in heaps of comparative thoughtfulness and emotional lessons that juxtapose the difference between tough/world-weary and being a "man"/mature adult.)