I wanted to like this book more than I did. Lawrence has a good way with words and his story is easy to follow. I think what turned me off more than anything was Jorg himself. The summary describes him as charming, and while I find him intelligent and witty, I was never actually charmed by him. While certainly set in a world that conspired against him, I found him too much like an angry teenager too eager to see the world burn, knowing I came to this opinion because that is literally how the author crafted him. I'm assuming my own personal distaste colors my read, so take my rating for what it's worth. It is a well written book, but just not my speed at the moment. Perhaps I'm a bit overfull on grimdark at this time.