I loved this book! 
 The story is told from the point of view of Falcio. Falcio is highly intelligent and a skilled fighter. He tries to always do the right thing and help everybody he comes across. His dad left when he was a little kid and he and his mom were always poor. His wife was tragically murdered. Everything he once stood for is now being mocked, and he is viewed as a traitor by pretty much everybody. 
 Blah, blah, blah. Basic hero backstory. Somehow though, Sebastian de Castell takes this very typical hero and makes a wonderful story out of it. There are incredible fight scenes, intelligent schemes, and twists that may or may not surprise you. I could not put this book down. I read it in a day and I'm just itching to get my hands on the sequel. 
 I gave it four stars instead of five because I felt that at times the humor just didn't fit, especially in the beginning. This didn't hurt my enjoyment of the book much though. Sometimes it did fit, and made me chuckle, but even when it didn't I was too wrapped up in the story to care much.