Sebastien De Castell: Traitor's blade (2014)
372 pages
English language
Published April 5, 2014
Reduced to demeaning work when the Greatcoats are disbanded after the king's death, swordsman Falcio Val Mond and his fellow magistrates are framed for murder by a scheming adversary who would destroy everything they once worked to create.
This book was recommended for in an article with other fantasy series that I had liked, so I picked it up. It’s dashing and full of dramatic fights, and Doing the Right Thing. I found it rather shallow.
This is a very fun and straightforward book. Wonderful characters you can root for, who do amazing things, if a bit predictably. I thoroughly enjoyed myself regardless.
This series was a complete surprise. I had never heard of the author or the series before stumbling on the audiobook. It will likely rank in my top 10 list for being thoroughly entertaining. Having read and listened to hundreds of fantasy, Sci Fi and Swords and Sandals novels it is a rare treat when I can be carried away by a story and a group of characters. This was a rare find indeed.
Okay, with a plot that makes less sense the more you think about it and a strange rape scene in the middle. Kind of surprised that I finished it.
It's been some time that I was hooked so badly on a book. I should have done more updates with quotes along the way because there were so many memorable ones.
"I am an archer [...] that's like a swordsman only faster."
Falcio, Brasti and Kest are three very different characters, that imbue their somewhat strange names with so much meaning. I love Falcios black humor, Kest's strange non-humor and Brastis brashness.
Also the plot is quite interesting and the flashbacks are well-done in the way they always connect to what is going on in the main-timeline. Most of the plot-twists aren't that big of a surprise I kind of expected that one reveal about who the assassin (from scene one) was from the beginning but how that fit into the bigger picture still surprised me.
I can't wait to get started with the next book.
Edit: This is how …
It's been some time that I was hooked so badly on a book. I should have done more updates with quotes along the way because there were so many memorable ones.
"I am an archer [...] that's like a swordsman only faster."
Falcio, Brasti and Kest are three very different characters, that imbue their somewhat strange names with so much meaning. I love Falcios black humor, Kest's strange non-humor and Brastis brashness.
Also the plot is quite interesting and the flashbacks are well-done in the way they always connect to what is going on in the main-timeline. Most of the plot-twists aren't that big of a surprise I kind of expected that one reveal about who the assassin (from scene one) was from the beginning but how that fit into the bigger picture still surprised me.
I can't wait to get started with the next book.
Edit: This is how I tried to sell the book to a friend
"It's a fantasy version of the 3 Musketeers. And the three guys are totally adorable. It's got everything: cute guys, black humor, evil nobles, sword fighting (maybe a little too much of that), delusions of grandeur and a "grand quest" ...."
