With Sebastien de Castell, I'm thinking I found my latest must-read author. Were Alexandre Dumas still alive I've no doubt there'd be a quote from him lauding the hell out of this book. Traitor's Blade is de Castell's jaunty tip of the hat to him what wrote The Three Musketeers. But given the current climate de Castell doesn't hesitate to inject a measure of political intrigue à la Game of Thrones, only done from a street-level perspective. This had better be the first in an ongoing series or I am going to kick a puppy.

Fancy a history lesson? Cool. See, the nation of Tristia cannot catch a break, rocked as it's been by a century of chaos and corruption. Once upon a time (or maybe five years ago), the Greatcoats (identified by their protective trademark leather coats) roamed the realm, them doughty, sword-fighting magistrates what administered justice in the King's name, each one well-versed in the martial, diplomatic, and judicial arts. But then the ambitious Dukes deposed the king, in fact, planted his head on a pike above his very own castle. And there went the Greatcoats, disbanded and disgraced and universally vituperated. And here's our point-of-view character, Falcio val Mond, First Cantor of the Greatcoats, him who ordered his elite corps of 144 men and women to stand down whilst their king was getting that very close shave.

The book opens five years hence. Falcio and his two best friends and fellow Greatcoats, Kest and Brasti, are barely eking out a livelihood by hiring out as lowly armed escorts. Mocked as one of the Trattari ("traitors") and as a filthy "tatter-coat," Falcio has spent the past five years trying to fulfill the geas with which the late king had burdened him, but so far no luck.Read more ›

Traitor's Blade was a swashbuckling read, albeit with some shortcomings that left me unsatisfied at the end. But first, the good parts:

This was a fast-paced book that sucked me in right from the first page. Falcio makes for a very likeable protagonist, and refreshingly, this is not a black-and-white tale - there are plenty of shades of gray in the story. The witty banter is well balanced with bouts of dark flashbacks, and this makes the story just flow along, inexorably pulling you along for the ride. The author's expertise as a fight choreographer is evident from the many spectacular & unpredictable fight scenes that occur throughout the book.

But alas, it's not all roses. The second half of the story is filled with very random turns of events, much of which I'd term deus ex machina. And the plot ends up being a bit too predictable. The ending felt quite abrupt, and I heavily disagreed with certain plot elements in the latter portions of the book.

Overall, this started out a promising read, but petered out a bit at the end. Nevertheless, I will be watching out for more of the author's books. Plotting can be improved upon, but writing style and ability is something innate, and de Castell has that in spades.

My rating: 4.5/5

This is definitely one of the best books that I have read this year. The novel starts out light in tone, and with an incredibly entertaining narrator with a wonderfully sarcastic sense of humor. About halfway through the book the tone changes to dark and gritty, but surprisingly I was not bothered by the sudden change in tone. In fact, de Castell's writing is so fluid that the darkness of the latter part of the book seemed like perfectly logical conclusion to the lightheartedness at the beginning.

This book also has wonderful character development, and Falcio is one of the most sympathetic protagonists I have ever come across. He is also an unpredictable character, and even though he is a man of morals in a country full of depravity, the reader is never really sure whether Falcio is entirely sane. After reading Robin Hobb I never thought I would come across a writer that is harder on his/her characters, but de Castell almost makes it seem as if Hobb's characters have an easy life. Falcio constantly gets in increasingly impossible situations, and at time the plot brings him to some extremely dark places.

This book is full of detailed fight scenes, and the plot is fast paced and absolutely packed with action. There is so much action, in fact, that I am not quite sure how de Castell got so much character development into the story, but I really enjoyed the characters, the setting, and how engaging the novel was. This is a low magic fantasy, and the world building is secondary to the plot, so if you are looking for a more typical epic fantasy, I advise you look elsewhere. But if you enjoy fascinating characters, humor, action, and detailed fight scenes, then I would definitely recommend this book. I will certainly be re-reading this novel in the future, and I cannot wait to read the rest of the Greatcoats series!

"Traitor's Blade" tells a tale that is at once both familiar and exotic. Comparisons to "The Three Musketeers" will rise quickly to the reader's mind, but this is "Musketeers" seen through a prism of fantasy & imagination.

Tristia is a land once governed by a just king, but the greedy, rapacious Dukes who rule over the various duchys which make up the country murdered the king, who had no (known) heir, and these lesser nobles now lord it over their individual lands with fists of iron. Under the king, Paelis, a corp of elite lawkeepers, the Greatcoats, meted out justice, upholding the King's Law by the use of diplomacy, wisdom--and when necessary the point of a sword. The Greatcoats were disbanded and scattered across the country after the King's overthrow, scorned as traitors to the ruling Dukes and called "trattari" or "tatter cloaks".

In "Traitor's Blade", three of the greatest, and most loyal, of the Greatcloaks -- Brasti, a great archer, "The King's Arrow"; Kest, the most skilled swordsman in the land, "The King's Blade"; and Falcio, former leader of the Greatcoats, "The King's Heart", are on a quest to find a hidden treasure, left behind by the king, which will help subjugate the Dukes, reunite the country under the King's Law, and bring peace to Tristia.

The settings, language, weapons, and customs in "Traitor's Blade" have a sense of the familiar about them, harkening to something along the lines of 15th to 16th Century Europe, but with a taste of magic and enough differences to keep the reader in mind of the fantastic setting of the tale. The story is complex without being confusing, with layers of plot and backstory that are revealed with very satisfying effect. The characters are well-drawn; the dialogue quick, witty, and often ribald.Read more ›