Anthony Ryan’s epic and sprawling continuation of his analog-medieval fantasy is superb, sprinkled throughout with court intrigue and excellent battle scenes.
Dire villainous machinations from both the Crown and Council of Luminants abound in this final installment to the Covenant of Steel series as the premier spymaster, Sir Alwyn Scribe, purports to understand and possibly stem all the tragedy and bloodshed that’ll follow from his Anointed Lady’s crusade, now claiming upon herself the title Ascendant Queen.
“I’m a lord now,” I muttered back, which earned me a waspish, snorting laugh.
“Let me tell you something, oh my wayward cub.” Her voice became an urgent hiss as she leaned closer. “The sum of what I’ve learned about lords, ladies, and all others who claim nobility in this realm: it’s all shit, and they know it. Titles mean nothing. Blood and kinship mean nothing. There are three things that matter in this realm: coin, land, and the ability to summon soldiers to fight those who would seek to take the first two from you. Everything else is a farce played by folk born into their role or come late to the stage, like me and you. Your divinely ordained bitch may have the most complex role of all. But it’s still just that, Alwyn, an act, even if she doesn’t know she’s playing.”
The writing is quite engaging, and the world-building improves as the plot unfolds from book one until this conclusion. T characterizations are also painted on well and blend with their respective plot threads. The pacing and seemingly endless plot twists are executed with a masterful touch of expertise and a flair for the dramatic.
The Traitor is a sordid tale about the lengths that uninformed and ignorant nobles, holy clerics, and churls alike are fervently willing to undergo hardship and depredations of the body, soul, and mind to achieve their blessed, divine, and holy crusade. Whereupon further pondering, they’d have soon seen it revealed that all is to be a grim and macabre-filled farce and the lure of a spectacle to their staunch belief systems just so that the capitalist nobles can keep enjoying the fruits of their greedy hold on power from their mostly unworthy and cruel endeavor.
So I suppose although lacking in my favorite tropes in fantasy, the meticulously researched writing and plot given within and the thoughtful sociopolitical laments about our current era in this series provide ample analogical food for thought. The Traitor is a heart-pounding and exciting ride that’ll leave readers rooting for both the heroes and villains from start to finish.
I highly recommend the whole trilogy for fans of epic fantasy set in a medieval universe.
