Monday 10 March 2014

Traitor's Blade - Sebastian de Castell

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.

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…

My thoughts:
Ok so think Three Musketeers set in a fantasy land and everything is going to hell there.

The book had a lot of flashbacks and they worked cos they had a meaning. Instead of beginning at the beginning we began 5 years after the Dukes killed the king and took power. Thanks to Falcio's flashbacks we see why he became a Great Coat, how his life began and small things that happened during those 5 years and before. So the story kept on building. In a way that just felt like building and building, and it took a while for things to get rolling, but either way we still had to know.

The book starts with Falcio and his two friends being framed for murder. Then we see them on the road and then, well I have to say it cos a lot happens there. Something that takes place in a city where something truly F up is going on. That was the first time I really saw what the Dukes where really about. Sure there were things before but this was just wtf? And people think the king did badly? He did nothing bad! He was good, these assholes are psychopaths.

Conclusion:
So I guess we will  hopefully see  the country to come together, see that the Dukes should all die and for the great coats to be great once more. But that is yet to come.

Cover
eh

Hardcover, 384 pages
Published March 6th 2014 by Jo Fletcher Books (first published February 10th 2014)
Greatcoats #1
Fantasy
For review

52 comments:

  1. I kind of like the cover - big splash of color.

    I'm glad the flashbacks worked. those can be annoying if not done right.

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    1. They can be sooo annoying, but here, well I got to know what made him tick

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  2. I love the cover art too and what an interesting setting. I love the three musketeers!

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    1. Maybe just like this it's meh for me cos in hand it looked cooler

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  3. I love that cover! And I love the Three Musketeers. Thanks for the review :)

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  4. I kind of like the cover, but I'm not sure about the book. I think I'll wait for second book to decide.

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  5. Building and building and building some more. Accurate. And death to all Dukes. And all for one!!

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    1. Haha, all for one :)
      damn those Dukes were nasty, I do love nasty dukes, but death to them!

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  6. I like the idea of a refashioned Three Musketeers!

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  7. I'm not crazy about the cover either, but then again, I also do really read books like this so I'm not the target audience.

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  8. Interesting...I will have to see what you think of the second book before deciding one way or the other. I do enjoy the three musketeers and fantasy lands are always fun to visit...but the fact that there is so much bad, I'm not sure if I could deal with it. :-)

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    1. No idea when that one is out though :/

      Oh there is always bad stuff going on, how else could we have a story?

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    2. So true Linda! So true. :-) Without the drama of bad...we wouldn't enjoy the good times right?! :-P

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    3. Exactly, I do not want a fairyland where everyone is skipping around singing songs, we need a bit of war and drama

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  9. "these assholes are psychopaths." LOL

    I'm so curious about this one now. I do love a good retelling so this one is now on my list.

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  10. Sounds like you'll definitely have to check out the second one B =D

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  11. I do wonder what will happen

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  12. "Three Musketeers set in a fantasy land"? Sounds interesting! lol about the psychopaths

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    1. I know, it sure sounds promising doesn't it <;)

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  13. That's great that the flashbacks worked and had meaning - those can sometimes be tricky to pull off.

    Sounds like an intriguing book! Nice review :)

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    1. So tricky, in a way I am against that way cos they fail a lot, especially if used a LOT. But then they are those that cn pull them off and I liked them here. We saw how he met the king, how...something bad happened and more

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  14. I like the idea of this one, but flashbacks don't really work for me, so perhaps I'll be better off skipping this one.

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    1. Without the flashbacks we would not really know what happened 5 years ago

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  15. I wasn't crazy about the cover either, it made me think the book was something COMPLETELY different, more specifically I thought this was going to be a much darker, grimmer story. Glad it wasn't though! I enjoy some humor in my fantasy.

    ~Mogsy

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    1. Yeah I can see why you thought that. The red sure spreads

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  16. ha..I love your picture the three musketeers in fantasy-land!

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  17. That's an interesting cover for sure. Huh. Not sure this one would be for me but it does sound kinda interesting. That's great they made the flashbacks work. Those are so iffy sometimes.

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  18. I confess I'm not sure it's for me...

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    1. THen again you do not read much fantasy so I get that

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  19. I love the three musketeers, and the premise sounds interesting. Hmm I'm on the fence about this one. I quite like the cover art, it's weird, but in a good way. :-)

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    1. In a way yes I like it, but then I am a bit meh, cos it's so white

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  20. Okay when you say, "think Three Musketeers set in a fantasy land and everything is just bad" do you mean everything about the world-building, or the book itself, b/c a fantasy version of the Three Musketeers sounds awesome.

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    1. I should change that cos yes things are going to hell in the country ;)

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  21. Wow. I think it's safe to say you are not a fan of the Dukes:) I love to hate a good villain, so I think I would enjoy the fact that they inspire that kind of response!

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    1. Haha, yeah, they were eeeevil. But it was good, cos I love those truly evil ones that I just loathe

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  22. That cover looks bloody. O.O

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  23. I need to brush up on the Three Musketeers story. I automatically think of the chocolate bar. ;-)

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  24. Glad you liked it, but I don't think it is for me.

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  25. Poor king. :/
    But yes this sounds fun!

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    1. When you are good you die, when you are bad you die, cruel fantasy lol

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  26. Hahaha, loved the review. I'm really curious about this one now. lol. I don't know why I've not heard of it. Huh. Thanks!

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    1. Hm..maybe you have seen the US cover though...might have

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  27. I've heard good things about this one so I know I should totally read it. Three musketeers but in fantasy land...psychopaths? ehhh ok yes I'm in.

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    1. Haha, psychopaths are always good to have in a book, and throw in a few sociopaths too

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