The world that Scott constructed is really interesting -that's the only reason I gave this book 2 stars-, but it's --sadly-- poorly developed. I found some parts extremelly boring and at some points I just wanted to put the book down, but I forced myself to finish it, which is not a good sign. 
 And about the characters I can just say that If I ever read the next books, it will be only to know how the story ends, to see if the series improves in any way, and to learn more about mythological and historical characters, because I couldn't care less about the characters of the books.