I was aware before starting Shadow and Claw that it was not pedestrian fiction. It is not something to plow through, or relax with. It is an allegory-heavy, literary, fantastic tale. Having said that, it's about a torturer who is exiled from his guild, ends up with a mysterious and powerful relic, and then sleeps with a lot of women and compares them. He also oils and brandishes his sword a lot.
