Author: Sebastien de Castell
Genre: Adult, Epic Fantasy
Source: Jo Fletcher Books via Edelweiss
Goodreads
Falcio is the first Cantor of the Greatcoats. Trained in the fighting arts and the laws of Tristia, the Greatcoats are travelling Magisters upholding King’s Law. They are heroes. Or at least they were, until they stood aside while the Dukes took the kingdom, and impaled their King’s head on a spike.Review by Nara
Now Tristia is on the verge of collapse and the barbarians are sniffing at the borders. The Dukes bring chaos to the land, while the Greatcoats are scattered far and wide, reviled as traitors, their legendary coats in tatters.
All they have left are the promises they made to King Paelis, to carry out one final mission. But if they have any hope of fulfilling the King’s dream, the divided Greatcoats must reunite, or they will also have to stand aside as they watch their world burn…
Traitor's Blade is sort of like a tamer version of The Lies of Locke Lamora, in the sense that there's a similar witty banter and camaraderie between the main characters, and a similar flashback narrative structure, but there's not quite so much violence and swearing and not as many dirty jokes.
(That being said, there are still quite a lot of dirty jokes.
And violence.
And swearing.
Woo!
Actually I can't really remember whether there was a lot of swearing. Been desensitised to it, almost lol)
However, Traitor's Blade is also paced a lot more towards action, and doesn't have the painfully slow revealing of mysteries there is in Lies, which does make it a much faster paced, "easier" sort of read.
Okay, now let's stop the comparisons, and focus on Traitor's Blade as its own book.
One thing that was quite surprising about this book was how emotional it was. Some SERIOUS feels were induced at several points in the book. Some serious and unexpected feels. Which, you know, are probably the best kind.
And the banter. THE BANTER. It was, simply put, the best. The banter begins on pretty much the first page, and it is just hilarious. I don't even want to quote it here to show you an example because you should experience it for yourself and laugh maniacally out loud on the bus and get stared at by the other passengers (what are you talking about...this didn't happen to me...*shifty eyes*).
There actually wasn't too much focus on the fantasy side of things, and I do hope this will be explored in sequels, because it definitely seemed like there were some hints of interesting things to come. (Is there even a sequel to this? I NEED THERE TO BE A SEQUEL TO THIS.)
Random spoilery point I want to bring up: click to read
Gahhh what did Falcio say to Kest that made him win the duel with the Saint of Swords? I WANT TO KNOW DAMMIT.
If you're any sort of fan of epic fantasy, this is a spectacular debut that you should most definitely be getting your hands on. Actually, even if you're not necessarily a fan of epic fantasy, pick it up anyway. It might surprise you.
Favourite
Ratings
Overall: 10/10
Plot: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
World Building: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Cover: 4/5
