Of Blood and Fire - Thoughts?

Thinking of trying this one, and want some opinions. I tend to like slower, classic, tropey fantasy (particularly hero’s journeys and farm-boys), so this one seems like it could be good.

However… I really don’t like bland characters and bad writing/prose. And, whenever I hear people constantly saying that book one is bad but the series gets way better, I get kind of weary. (I’ve been burned with so many series from following that exact same advice, when often it just didn’t actually get that much better… It makes me skeptical.)

Anyway, what does this series do well and what does it not?