This is an excellent book. Very easy to read. I read it in about 4 days although it is a fairly large paperback.
It is not exactly about science-fiction stuff, but about a legion of mercenaries who are hired to fight against an entire empire. It primarily follows to main characters, Rictus and Jason.
Rictus is a defeated warrior from a city that no longer exist. He is a trained soldier that was just on the wrong side of a battle. He survived but his family and his city did not. He is out on his own and must find some way to stay alive.
His only recourse is to become a mercenary and there he meets Jason. Jason is a mercenary General, although young, but battle tested, he sees Rictus as something the perfect mercenary, a man who fights bravely because he doesn’t care if he lives or die.
Jason leads his mercenary army as best he can until his employer dies. Most of this book is about how these mercenaries fight for their lives to get back to their home land.
Again, great book.