Traitor's Blade (The Greatcoats, 1)

How could I possibly express my love for this epic book? No seriously, why am I always at a loss for words every time I need them most?! *takes a deep breath* When I was a little kid, I used to play these games where you need to create a character specializing in one of the mentioned powers. I remember being terrible at making trivial decisions (still am) and I remember asking everyone what I should choose. Trust me, nobody gave a damn. So, I decided this was a very serious issue and I needed to analyse each and every power before I make the final choice. My last two choices (after eliminating the rest) were a Mage and a Swashbuckler. At that time, I honestly didn't know what 'Swashbuckler' meant and I only kept it because it sounded nice. Then, I googled it and I decided that's what I'm going to be. In virtual life and in real life. That was my dream career path. I also then decided that I would learn a bit of magic so that I'd surprise everyone when they were expecting only swords. (I'm brilliant like that, I know.) It would have been nice if someone, at that point of my life, gave a little damn and told me 'Sweetie, that ain't a suitable career path any more.' Oh well. Now, imagine me, after all these years, finding a book about swashbuckling and magic. Yes, I was speechless and a part of me thought this book was going to be a major let down. I mean, how can life grant you lemonades instead of lemons? But, oh dear lord, this book got me hooked from page one. I wanted to devour it that instant but I decided to be wise and read it slowly, savouring every bit of it. This book was , hands down, the best book I've read this year. I'm pretty sure life won't give me another lemonade this year. (It's crazy like that, I know.) The Summary Consider yourself inhabiting the land of Tristia. You hear the King is dead and the Greatcoats (Travelling Magisters who bring justice) have done nothing to protect their King. You're mad at them, you're mad at everyone because you're scared. The Dukes are rising into power and that's not good, not good at all. They're, to put it plainly, bad and extremely corrupt. You wish someone would bring justice. You wish the Greatcoats were still around. Falcio Val Mond, Kest and Brasti are the ones you're looking for, though you don't know who they are. Not yet. These three Greatcoats still feel it necessary to uphold the King's laws and bring justice to everyone but the only problem is, everyone mistrusts them. Some outright hate them. And of course, they are banned and it would be treason if you're seen with them and then, you'll be put to death by the Duke's men. These are dark times, reader, dark times. The King has left the Greatcoats a mission and these three are trying very hard to fulfil their King's last wish. I'm not going to tell you what it is, reader. I'm afraid the summary kind of abruptly ends here and it is absolutely necessary for you to pick this book up and read it. But I will tell you what you might expect: Action Humour Epic adventures You feeling extremely happy The Fantastic Characters Falcio, Kest and Brasti are just awesome in epic proportions. Yes, they're flawed and that's what makes them so awesome. The story kind of alternates between the past and the present and you can see how much Falcio (the narrator) has changed and grown. So, there's a lot of character development too. These three are extremely witty and funny and just amazing with their weapons. You'll love them, reader. You will and you must or you might have a sword stuck in your belly. “I rolled my eyes at Kest. We'd heard this lecture many times before, but Trin hadn't, so she stepped right into it. "Is it really so hard?" She asked "My dear, not one man in a hundred can be a proper archer. And not one in ten thousand can become a master." "And you are one? A master archer, I mean?" Brasti smiled and contemplated the nails of his right hand. "One might fairly say so, I believe." "One says so frequently," I observed.” This book made me laugh, shed tears, laugh again and have the best time reading it. I know this is going to be one hell of a book hangover because I still feel like I'm in Tristia. This book is going to blow your mind away and it's going to make your heart feel extremely happy and content. I wish I could use flary words to describe it better but to be honest, you will feel happy and content in the end. As simple as that. I want more, please, Mr. De Castell give me more of this and I promise I will give you lame reviews that really don't do your books justice. Or, I shall be your faithful sidekick, pretending to help you, but really just reading everything you write and nodding appreciatively while on the inside I give this maniacal laugh and die in happiness. Dear reader, you better read this book soon.

What a great book. I absolutely loved the three main characters, Brasti, Kest and Falcio (though I think Kest was my favorite) and the banter between them. It reminded me a lot of the game Dragon Age and I could just picture the "party" wondering around on their mission to find the King's Charoites sniping at each other and kicking ass. I loved the way the story unfolded. Falcio val Mond, the leader of the group and the Greatcoats (the King's magistrates), has been trying his best to fulfill the mission his King, Paelis, gave him five years ago. The twist? Nobody knows what exactly the King's Charoites are. The mission was given to him right before Falcio stood aside and allowed the treacherous dukes to murder the king who he loved. Now the land is ruled by the nobility, there is no king, and the Greatcoats have been disbanded and labeled traitors. This story is told in both a present timeline, and flashbacks to the past. We learn how Falcio and his group came together, how the Greatcoats were reassembled by King Paelis, and how they were disbanded again. The flashbacks felt really natural and were inserted at appropriate times in the story. This kept them interesting and they never once felt like long boring bouts of complicated backstory. I enjoyed reading those parts as much as I enjoyed reading about what was happening in the present. I did feel like the middle of the story was a bit slower than the rest. The action was ridiculously non stop, to the point where Falcio hasn't slept in like 48 hours straight, at least. It was almost comedic how many fights he left only to stumble into another one. The action is told well and is in no way boring, and Falcio has enough tricks up his sleeve to keep it interesting, I just felt that the magic of the book was truly in the world building and the banter between characters. So when Falcio is on his own protecting Aline from the horrors of blood week, I was just kind of reading along hoping for him to get back on the road. The ending was fantastic and I did not see the twist coming. Looking back there was some subtle foreshadowing but other than Feltock I loved how everyone's story ended. Even though this book is part of a series it has a definite conclusion (with no massive cliffhangers). I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys snarky characters and gritty fantasy!

After seeing people post about Traitor’s Blade, written by Sebastien de Castell, in a discussion group I am a member of, I decided to give it a read. I’m definitely glad that I did because it was an enthralling and exciting read. In Traitor’s Blade, the protagonist Falcio and his friends Kest and Brasti are members of the Greatcoats, an organization dedicated to upholding the laws of the land. After the death of the king they served, the Greatcoats have been left disbanded and disgraced. Falcio, Kest, and Brasti have taken a contract to protect a noble, but when they are framed for his murder, they are forced to flee. In their effort to escape, they fall into the middle of a conspiracy by the corrupt dukes to place someone that they can control on the throne. From the beginning, I was hooked. The aspect that caught me immediately is the quick and witty writing style. The sharp banter between Falcio, Kest, and Brasti is often hilarious and feels like you’re eavesdropping on chatter between close friends. Action scenes feature a dynamic flow that captures the spirit of any given fight. What really stood out to me during those scenes was the inner monologue of Falcio as he problem solved his way out of tough situations. Those moments provided both insight into how he thinks and an injection of humor that I enjoyed. There are also frequent flashbacks to Falcio’s past that tie into the what’s happening in the main story. These serve as good bits of character development and world building without coming across as blocks of information dumping. The story itself flows nicely and stays engaging throughout the book. I especially enjoyed the middle section of the book where Falcio is protecting an orphaned girl during a weeklong event where the laws are not enforced, reminding me of the Purge movies a bit. In addition to some excellent fight scenes, this provides Falcio with some interesting character moments as he is reminded of why he became a Greatcoat in the first place: to protect and help people. This also effectively sets up his character direction heading into the rest of the series. Between the sharp writing, fun characters, and engaging story, Traitor’s Blade has become one of my favorite recent discoveries and I can’t wait to read the rest of the Greatcoats series. I highly recommend checking it out and personally give it 5/5 stars.

I heard this book advertised as a version of "The Three Musketeers" and I think it's a great comparison. If you like a tight, fast adventure with action, intrigue, and magic alongside a swashbuckling, adventuring storyline, you'll find lots to enjoy here. Much of the novel explores the reasons behind our protagonist's vagabond lifestyle and the factors which caused the general malaise of his country. Multiple flashbacks help deepen and broaden our understanding of his psyche, and while this storytelling strategy sometimes gets vilified, I thought Castell handled the format extremely well. I always enjoyed the flashbacks and I would've enjoyed more of them because they showcased the true underside of the witty, valiant hero I thought I knew. This novel is the best kind of adventure (at least in my opinion) because it offers sorrow alongside the thrills. There are deep, aching regrets and fears to balance the blazing ambitions and giddy laughs. The cast is full of people who struggle for redemption, those who gambled everything only to lose more. I found the dialogue frequently poetic, and I highlighting multiple quotes to reference amid future setbacks. Characters find reasons to hope, believe, and fight when their world looked bleakest, and that dynamic will always empower a fantasy novel for me. My biggest complaint regards the overall momentum of the novel, which seems to stutter about three quarters through the novel. There's a genuinely thrilling (and somewhat terrifying) sequence before members of the cast reunite in a strangely anticlactic rendezvous. They're not out of danger yet, but the following plot points felt strangely drawn out and disjointed because the tension suddenly dropped. I can't say much more without spoiling anything, but suffice it to say that if you're reading the novel for the first time, be prepared to push through the three-quarter mark so you may encounter some of the truly epic scenes at the novel's conclusion.

I love this series. This author is great. I was struggling to find something that drew me in, not only with great story telling and an excellent surprising plot, but with humor as well. Always trying to find something like Abecrombie, and that is TOUGH. This isn't the same, but it is excellent. The characters each have their own personalities and the banter is great. I am now looking to read all this authors stuff.

This was a solid debut for me. I enjoyed the banter and the swashbuckling sword fights. Falcio is clever and his speeches were rousing (in a kind of manipulative kind of way) but I did get swept up emotionally so I decided to give the rest of the series a try. I should have stopped with the first one. The first one is enjoyable enough but in the subsequent books the author shows his weakness in writing female characters— seriously, he’s about on par with George Lucas and Patrick Rothfuss on this one. ****spoilers**** Already, in this debut novel we have the rape of Falcio’s wife but it’s written in a vague enough way that I was able to gloss it over with the excuse that this rape was realistic for the feudal system being depicted. But then we meet the character of Ethalia who is a prostitute healer who uses the sexual act to draw the darkness out of Falcio. At this point I’m still somewhat charmed by the banter so I let that pass too. But it just gets worse in book two. Never for a minute do I buy Falcio’s supposed love for Ethalia- I cringed every time he talked about the crinkles around her eyes. And the character arcs given to Valiana and Aline ring just as false. Its like the author wanted to insert some strong female characters into the story but didn’t actually believe in it enough himself. Because I as a reader did not find it believable. I know this is supposed to be a review of the first book so I’ll stop there. The first book is enjoyable enough if slightly problematic bu I would still recommend it. However, be aware that the following book is again enjoyable enough but the problems become far more glaring such that I lost any desire to continue with the series.

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!

I went into reading this series knowing absolutely nothing about it (other than that it had been on special at one point, which is when I bought it). I have heard it compared to the Three Musketeers by Dumas, and I can't speak as to the accuracy of that comparison because I have not read Dumas. In the fantasy genre, I might compare this most closely to the Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. It is not exactly the same, by any stretch -- it lacks the same sense of humor, plus there is more brute force and less cleverness involved -- but the "era" of the fantasy world, the structure involving flashbacks, and similar features are reminiscent of Lynch's book. (That is not to say fans of one will absolutely like the other, but the possibility is there.) I finished this pretty quickly after I started, and I neglected some other duties last night to read the final scene. So it gets points for that. Granted, I saw a couple of the revelations coming from a mile away (and usually I am not so good at predicting things), but I'm all right with that here. There are a lot of fantasy tropes here, including the horrible death of the main character's wife (happens off the page, early in the book, in a flashback), rule by a handful of Dukes who are severely abusing their powers, and characters repeatedly coming back from the brink of death to fight yet another battle. They work, to varying degrees, because this is a fantasy adventure story, and those are the sorts of things you expect to see in a fantasy adventure story. I've heard others complain that this book contains a lot of deus ex machina moments. I will say, there are some strange coincidences, and they cluster more towards the end (and some of the ones at the end strain the limits of credulity). But in a fair number of these (say, an arrow coming through a window at a particularly opportune time, or the identity of the character Aline's childhood nanny) were clearly set up hours (or months or years) beforehand. Others, including chance encounters with characters from the formative years of the main character's youth, are less supported. There is a lot of sudden recognition of people from years back. Some of it works (e.g., the leader of the caravan guardsmen is doing a job that makes sense, based on his background), and some of it is pushing things just a little bit. Even most of the narrow escapes from trouble work, though there is a part with a prostitute that I could do without. Her motivation is kind of sad and pathetic and she is able to do more to help our hero than really makes sense. I have found lately that it is the characters who keep me going in most books. I can put up with tropes, I can put up with slow/dragging parts (this book doesn't really have those), etc., if I care about the characters. And I do. The main POV character, Falcio, is set up to be an underdog, from the beginning of the book. He is not the best at everything, and has some serious flaws, and he has to work hard to achieve things. And then the things he achieves are often taken away by people in power. He seems bitter and angry a lot of the time, and I can't say I blame him. But I do still want him to succeed. His two best friends and companions are very good with the sword and the bow, respectively, and they seem more suited to comic relief and or dashing in to Falcio's aid at appropriate moments than as developed characters in their own right. But, this is really Falcio's book. I don't feel he undergoes any major transformations in this book (even considering the flashbacks from his youth) but we do learn more about him and I think the stage is being set for something else, so I am happy to wait. (Sometimes he is blissfully unaware of important information, e.g., along the lines of the revelation at the end that I saw coming from a mile away, but I actually like that about him.) The writing is decent. It does its job of moving the story along without being distracting. There are a few attempts at humor and/or banter among Falcio and his friends, and they are far enough in between that they mostly work for me. The author is not constantly trying to make jokes, and I thank him for that. The pace is fast and the main characters do get themselves into dangerous situations quite often -- enough so that you feel they are really in peril. They can fight off a couple of men each, but not 40, when it's just the three of them, for example. It is definitely not smooth sailing for them. Even though Falcio has been living in this world and is a product of it, he is a good proxy for the reader because there is a lot he does not understand. During the times when there is the most description, you get the sense that he is telling you, the reader, what you need to know to understand his story, and not thinking about things that would be out of place for him to consider. Anyway, in the end, I did read this quickly and was interested enough to go on to the next book right away, so I can't rate it too poorly. But, it was not without flaws, including some of which I have discussed above. 3.5 stars.

Haven’t enjoyed a book as much in ages. Great story and characters and lots of unexpected twists. I highly recommend it.

Awesome book. Loved it. Paper quality is good. Dont miss the series

Libro terribilmente divertente, impossibile da chiudere finché non lo si è terminato (sì ho fatto le ore piccole), che ha comunque qualche pecca non indifferente. Un re idealista in un mondo corrotto vuole ristabilire la legge e la giustizia, e lo fa ripristinando l'ordine dei Greatcoat, i suoi uomini più fidati, magistrati combattenti che girano il paese ascoltando la gente e aiutandola al meglio delle possibilità. Ma tutte le cose belle hanno un termine, le persone giuste di solito fanno una brutta fine, e infatti il re viene giustiziato dai nobili (i Duchi) e i suoi fedelissimi Greatcoat obbligati alla resa e alla vergogna. Ma c'è chi non si è mai arreso... L'autore, attraverso la narrazione in prima persona del protagonista principale, riesce a coinvolgere il lettore, a divertirlo, persino a commuoverlo, nonostante la non poca retorica (messa giù bene però) e i roboanti ideali. L'ironia, i dialoghi affilati come le lame dei protagonisti, aiutano. Per quanto improbabile, la vicenda scorre e ci presenta una serie di personaggi che, se non originali, sono ben delineati e di cui ci importa (almeno a me). E' solo l'inizio di una storia che promette di ampliarsi e complicarsi e che, una volta chiuso il libro, fa venir voglia di cominciare il secondo... Detto questo, devo ammettere che la facilità con cui i nostri tre eroi, Falcio soprattutto, riescono a vincere qualsiasi avversario, farebbe invidia ad Iron Man. Troppi duelli, troppi scontri, che comunque l'autore descrive in modo efficace (essendo un appassionato di scherma), ma che in un libro non hanno lo stesso effetto che, ad esempio, in un telefilm. Inoltre, se sappiamo già che qualsiasi sia il nemico, qualsiasi sia la situazione, i nostri eroi se la caveranno sempre e quasi senza neanche un graffio, la storia perde di suspense. Se George RR Martin avesse fatto così, le sue Cronache avrebbero avuto lo stesso successo? Non credo. E' ovvio che de Castell non vuole imitare Martin, anzi, vuole fare il contrario, ma mi auguro che nei prossimi libri possa concedersi un po' più di realismo, almeno in questo. Per il resto, si tratta di un romanzo d'esordio ben fatto, ma c'è un margine di miglioramento e di approfondimento. Quindi bene, vediamo poi come procede. Ah, dimenticavo: indipendentemente da tutto, ho trovato impossibile non innamorarmi dei tre "moschettieri" e del loro disperato idealismo, un po' masochistico ma con anche una punta di amaro.

Um bom livro que nos prende do princípio ao fim ..com uma boa narrativa … é um nível de inglês acessível e de fácil compreensão..

Absolutely loved this book, it was amazing to listen to the audio cuz it gave so much depth to the characters.. Brasti is my new book bf lol