Meh. I made it halfway through, but nothing was happening. The characters themselves felt less like real people are more like archetypes (Glokta was the only interesting character for me, but I wouldn't call him sympathetic exactly!) It was all rather grim, with unlikable characters and a slightly distressing amount of gore. I get what the author was going for, but I think it's just not my type of fantasy. I don't mind realistic fantasy (love the Song of Ice and Fire, for instance) but I want to have someone to root for.