This book has many things to like about it, and some not to like, which might very well be appropriate as the story revolves around the combination of opposites. There are two main characters in this one - Prince Jalan Kendeth, a womanizer and self proclaimed coward, and Snorri, a Viking warrior out for revenge against those who attacked his homeland. Snorri and Jalan form an odd couple dynamic as fate thrusts them together and sends them out on a suicide mission where they must find a way to get along or they will both end up dead. With their opposing personalities playing off each other they both face obstacles in their own unique way while never really knowing the bigger picture of what is going on.

As in the Broken Empire series, Mark Lawrence starts the book by presenting the reader with an anti-hero in Jalan. (If you have read Prince of Thorns from the Broken Empire series know that Jalan is infinitely more appealing than Jorg.) Unfortunately I never found myself getting behind the whole "coward that gets lucky and winds up being considered a hero" story line that formed the basis for Jalan's character. However, Snorri, on the other hand is a great character and carried the day for me. I wound up liking the book and looking forward to the next one simply because of Snorri and his overall quest for revenge. Snorri has a great attitude and an entertaining, bigger than life viking personality and rooting for him to succeed is easy.

Since this is the same world as the Broken Empire series there remains a bigger game being played here by powerful background figures and our two main characters are just pawns in that larger game. Jalan and Snorri are manipulated by a spell cast by the Silent Sister giving each of them intertwined but opposing powers and they find that in order to remove the spell they must carry out its purpose. The Silent Sister being one of those powerful beings manipulating the world from within the shadows with her true motivations unknown. Despite the Broken Empire tie-ins it is not necessary to have read that series first as this stands alone nicely. This is not as dark as Broken Empire and the lead character is a more likable anti-hero so this series will likely appeal to more readers.

Snorri ver Snagason is a fun character and his presence more than makes up for his less interesting counterpart Jalan and makes this a good book overall. The Red Queen's War trilogy continues with The Liar's key, which makes Snorri's story line more of the focus as he and Jalan continue their odd couple adventure. For audiobook fans, Tim Gerard Reynolds is as good as they get when it comes to narrators and he is excellent as usual. As with most of his work, this audiobook is worth picking up simply for his performance alone.