"I'm a liar and a cheat and a coward, but I will never, ever let a friend down. Unless of course not letting them down requires honesty, fair play or bravery." 
 Meet Prince Jalan, the grandson of the Queen of Red March. Jalan is tenth in line for the throne but that doesn't bother him. He's more than happy to spend his days gambling and sleeping with any girl that will let him. He's not heroic or noble or kind and he doesn't care what's right and what's wrong. In short, Jalan is exactly the sort of man you would not expect to be the "hero" of a story like this one. 
 Jalan has his moments though. Despite the fact that throughout the book he remains, for the most part, the same lying coward, you do root for him. He judges himself honestly and knows his faults, whether or not Jalan sees them as faults. 
 Unfortunately for Jalan, he ends up stuck with Snorri. Snorri is a brave Viking from the north on a mission to save his family from certain death at the hands of the dead and their living masters. 
 "There's tears enough in the world to drown in, but Snorri and I knew that action requires an uncluttered mind. We knew how to set such things aside and move on. Of course he wanted to move on to daring rescue and bloody revenge in the North whilst I wanted to move on to sweet women and soft living in the South." 
 Despite the fact that Jalan is the last person you'd expect to see on a heroic quest like Snorri's, he holds up rather well. He doesn't grow as a person but I guess that's to be expected from somebody like Prince Jalan. 
 Honestly, this book was wonderful. If you're into fantasy, you should absolutely read Prince of Fools.