Well, that wasn't what I expected.
I was expecting grimdark. I was expecting a book that would put me through the emotional wringer. I was expecting blood and torture dripping from every page. I was expecting to have to sleep with the light on. This is a book I've been putting off reading for years because I thought it was the kind of book you had to creep up on, making sure that you had the psychological and emotional strength at hand to cope with an onslaught of pain, terror, and atrocity.
What I got was...
...kind of cute.
The rape and pillage and torture I was expecting nearly all happens off-page, which reduces the shock value quite considerably. Jorg is just a little bit too successful, as well - a few reverses would have heightened the suspense somewhat.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. It was a nice, fun read, and a lot better than many. I liked young Jorg (although a certain revelation towards the end that is supposed to explain his behaviour at the beginning had me rolling my eyes a bit), and it was a pleasant change to read about a young protagonist who is intelligent, driven, and ruthless. It reminded me a lot of Tamora Pierce's The Song of the Lioness Quartet - although the latter has a lot less burning of peasant villages. I suppose the similarity is mostly that the protagonists of both are young people whom who can actually imagine succeeding in their goals.
The setting is quite interesting - a post-apocalyptic Europe - and I have some curiosity regarding what Lawrence will do with it next. I'm not a post-apocalypse-fiction reader in general, and this aspect had rather put me off - but it turned out to slip in rather nicely, and I found that it added to the story rather than taking away.
Essentially, if the prospect of having to read your way through graphic descriptions of rape and torture is putting you off - don't worry. Get stuck in and enjoy.
Will I read the rest of the series? Yes, probably. Maybe not immediately - it didn't quite grab me that hard - but Jorg is an interesting and likeable protagonist, and I'll enjoy seeing what he does next.
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