When I initially started reading, I was reminded of Gene Wolfe's The Shadow of the Torturer, but probably just because Sand dan Glokta is employed by the Inquisition. Glokta is such an excellent name! It seems perfectly suited to an expert torturer, somehow. They may practice the same profession, but Glokta could not be more different from Wolfe's Severian. Glokta has undergone severe torture himself and as we follow his thread of the story, we learn how physically damaged he is and that he is quite willing to display his infirmities to make others uncomfortable and afraid. He is also much more intelligent than Severian and has a ragged, ironic sense of humour. (“Well, if I'm poisoned up here on the upper floor, at least I won't have to go back down all those stairs.”)
Truly, it is Glokta's ironic internal dialog which made the book for me. His inside voice is hilarious, his outside voice is careful. We get to witness his stubbornness about his life (he has difficulty getting out of bed, but insists on locking his bedroom door). But he is also pragmatic, making sure he doesn't offend the Arch Lector, much as he would like to. His battle with stairs, which seem to be everywhere in his surroundings, show his absolute determination.
Of course there are other story lines: the young captain who is reluctantly training for a fencing contest, his superior officer's sister who snags his attention, a huge Northern berserker who finds himself recruited by a wizard, the band of fighters who think their berserker friend is dead, a woman searching for vengeance. If you are very squeamish, you should maybe bypass this series, but I didn't find it as grim as many of these fantasy war epics.
I was unsure how much I would like this novel, but I was pleasantly surprised. Far from having to fight myself to finish, I found myself looking forward to each reading session (and shirking household duties in order to facilitate reading). Now perhaps grocery shopping and laundry will be back on the schedule!
Book Number 464 of my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project
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