Inquisitor Glokta, a crippled and increasingly bitter relic of the last war, for
mer fencing champion turned torturer extraordinaire, is trapped in a twisted and
broken body - not that he allows it to distract him from his daily routine of t
orturing smugglers. Nobleman, dashing officer and would-be fencing champion Capt
ain Jezal dan Luthar is living a life of ease by cheating his friends at cards.
Vain, shallow, selfish and self-obsessed, the biggest blot on his horizon is hav
ing to get out of bed in the morning to train with obsessive and boring old men.