This was such a delightful experience!

That being said, I'm going to start with an attempt at an objective review.

The book is boring. More than half of the book consists of traveling from one place to another. Nothing happens there, only the landscape changes.

You have to be willing to suspense your disbelief at almost everything. The main character boasts about his skills as a thief, but you see no proof of that. And what's worse, you have no reason to believe that a magus, the person who chose him for the mission, had any proof of that too.

The dynamics of the group are strange as well. The main character does nothing but complains about being tired, being sleepy, being hungry all the time, and no one challenges him. He travels with people high above his status and he doesn't pay them any respect—and they let him. What.

I could guess the ending miles away so no element of surprise here.

All of it means I should hate this book, right? Wrong. I enjoyed it so much. Gen is such a precious boy, a silly dumbass at times, he was so funny.

I decided early on I wouldn't dissect the text too much and just enjoy the ride. And ride it was! I clearly remember a scene where Gen complains about being tired. No one listens, no one cares so he just slides from his horse, lays in a ditch beside a road, and goes to sleep :D It was ridiculous, borderline absurd, and I laughed aloud.

All the characters grew on me, especially magus. I hope there is more of him in other books in the series because I'm definitely going to read more.

Would I recommend the book to anyone? Probably not. But I still have an urge to give it five stars, I enjoyed it that much. I finished reading at 1:30 a.m. because I didn't want to part with the characters... I can't remember when was the last time this happened to me.