The Sins of Steel and Shadow is the novel that kickstarts the grimdark fantasy series The Turned, written by Steve Pannett. A gritty low fantasy proposal, action-packed and blood soaked, which throws the reader into a complicated and merciless world, following Bail, a Turned (half vampire, half human, hated by both sides), who becomes part of a group to execute a difficult task in order to get the impossible as reward: giving back his humanity.

Bail has been a Turned for 50 years, surviving by trading human military secrets for vampyr artifacts, and those for coin, a cycle that allows him to continue his life, a task that has become increasingly difficult; so when another Turned, Vesca, approaches with an offer he can't refuse, he ends together with Vesca and another Turned, Merle in a task that promises to give them what they craved for in exchange for killing 4 individuals that are conspirating against the king. A really difficult mission, but with a reward that deserves taking the whole risk, recovering their humanity, something that was believed as impossible.

As you can imagine, with this premise, we have a plot full of well-written action and intrigue; each assassination becomes a mini quest by themselves, but also gives us enough space to enjoy the marvelous characters that Pannett gives us. For once, we have Bail, Turned for 50 years, who is tired of simply surviving in his condition and desires to become human again; however, he also has his doubts about the mission and the price they are paying for the reward. On the other side of the coin, Vesca wishes to become a vampyr, as she only found acceptance among those; her past marked her position about humans, and with both characters, we have enough information to understand why they embarked on this mission and for what reward.
Merle is the third in discord in our group, a good-hearted character that also acts as the moral compass for them, but still being part of the task; a really supportive character for Bail.
The rest of the cast is relatively colourful, being relatively large for the length of the novel, giving us glimpses of the world and how the people think, from the fanatical vampyr zealot to the magicker that offers this mission; they are less developed that our three characters, but still suits well with the world.

The setting is quite interesting, a gritty and low fantasy world (with some exceptions); we are given some details about how the relationship between the humans and the vampires evolved along the time and how we have arrived at the current climate, with Turned being hated by both sides and a great pressure to interrupt the conciliation between human and vampire sides. In this context, our story suits quite well; the pacing is in a great spot, fast and with plenty of actions, keeping the reader engaged until the very last page.

The Sins of Steel and Shadow is an excellent first instalment, a novel that I recommend if you love gritty low fantasy in the style of Abercrombie's First Law, with an ambitious plotline full of action and twists. There's so much potential in The Turned as a series, so do yourself a favour and pick this book before the second one is released!