Cindy Vallar's Blog - Posts Tagged "intelligencers-series"

Pirates & Privateers by Jane Glatt

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


After a decade of training, Dagrun Lund returns from her first assignment only to learn from spymaster Joosep Sepp that her twin sister has gone missing. Dag’s value as an Intelligencer is her Unseen Trait, and she quickly figures out that her boss is involved in Inger’s disappearance in some way. Dag has always looked out for her sister, whose trait of always being noticed makes her accepting of all others without comprehending their motives. For her to run away means that someone upset her and, from what Dag uncovers, that person is none other than Tarmo Holt, the Grand Freeholder of the Fair Seas Treaty Alliance who only has three months left before he must relinquish that title and its authority to another. He wishes to mate with Inger so she might bear children with other Traits – ones he might use for his own purposes even though it’s against the law to have personal spies. When Inger refuses, he threatens Dag with future assignments of great danger, but Inger’s Trait prevents her from understanding that these are idle threats. To save both herself and Dag, she runs away and now Dag must find her.

Joosep Sepp regrets discussing his Intelligencers with Tarmo Holt, but never before has a Grand Freeholder attempted to usurp his authority as spymaster. Dag’s return provides no useful information about the next man who will become his boss, other than to confirm his identity. Past transitions of the office have gone smoothly, but Holt’s questions and Inger’s disappearance arouse Joosep’s suspicions. Then another of his Intelligencers learns that Holt may have dealings with pirates. Somehow all these separate issues are connected, but how? He requires Dag’s Trait to discover the truth, but she’s off looking for her sister and he has no idea where. What he needs is a trusted agent with luck to find her and Inger and bring them back.

Calder Rahmson’s Lucky Trait has kept him alive for many years, first during his childhood, then as a privateer, and for the past decade as an Intelligencer. His return from his last mission coincides with Sepp’s need to find Dag, but there’s no telling how long his search will take. He learned long ago not to force his Luck; it leads him to places where he will learn something he needs to know when he needs to know it. His first success comes when he overhears a conversation that tells him that someone is looking for children with Traits, especially twins, whose Traits are stronger than those in individual children. Although this doesn’t seem relevant to his mission of finding Dag and Inger, it must have importance else his Trait would not have revealed it. Next, he comes across a woman on the docks who has knowledge of two women boarding a privateer ship heading for Strongrock Island at two different times. He dons a disguise, signs aboard an outbound ship, and follows. But not everyone aboard the vessel is pleased with his presence and the captain seems more concerned with speed than the safety of his ship and her crew. Aside from those dangers, there’s also the risk of pirates, for a number of ships – some with crew members whom Calder considers friends – have gone missing.

Pirates & Privateers is the fast-paced, gripping first entry in Glatt’s Intelligencers fantasy series. Dag and Calder are intriguing characters and their back stories are intricately interwoven into a maze of twisted, but seemingly unconnected, threads. Reminders of who has what Trait and how these work, as well as frequent repetition of questions needing answers may annoy some readers, yet these elements also keep the complicated plot and main characters front and center throughout the story. While a resolution is reached and Dag, Inger, and Calder evolve by story’s end, remaining questions and a budding romance keep readers hooked for the sequel, Traits and Traitors, slated for release in 2019.




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Sailors & Spies by Jane Glatt

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The machinations of the former Grand Freeholder of the Fair Seas Treaty Alliance (FSTA) have left their world in chaos. All but two ships have been destroyed and, with winter soon upon them, there isn’t enough food to sustain everyone. Worse, the evidence suggests that someone else was behind Tarmo Holt’s failed attempt and the danger remains.

Dagrun Lund and Calder Rahmson, both Intelligencers, are sent to find much-needed supplies before the seas freeze. That is their primary mission, but Dag has a second. She pursues Holt in hopes of reuniting with her twin, Inger, whom Holt manipulated into doing things that have labeled her just as much a traitor to the FSTA as he is.

Nadez Norup is forced to become the new Master Intelligencer. It’s impossible to know who to trust, since Dag and Calder are away, and clues suggest that someone has been acquiring some of the Intelligencers to work against the FSTA. Some do so freely, but at least two – Janni and Jarri Breck, who should never have been trained as spies in the first place – are held against their will and compelled to use their Traits to do unspeakable things.

The last thing Lauma Strauskas wanted was to become the Grand Freeholder, but Calder’s mother has accepted the interim position. Somehow, she must lead the FSTA out of the mess left behind, but not everyone agrees that she is the best person for the job. The more she and Nadez work together, the greater the danger – a fact that is soon reinforced when assassins try to kill her. Both women, however, are determined to unearth the mastermind and help everyone survive the coming winter. If necessary, Lauma will dissolve the treaty, a dire step that might be the only available option, but doing so will also disband the Intelligencers.

The journey to purchase supplies provides Dag and Calder with essential clues that eventually necessitate they separate to accomplish their missions. Before then, they interdict a ship in distress. Dag’s Unseen Traits warns that the pirates aboard are merely playacting and Calder knows one of them. That man is Rahm, Calder’s father Rahm. He pretends to be a pirate, but Dag figures out that he is actually a spy and a man whose secrets have secrets. He can’t be trusted, but her pursuit of Holt and Inger necessitates his help. It also brings her into the realm of the Resolutes, the most feared of all assassins. Nor is she alone in pursuing Holt. A rich, powerful, and ruthless pirate seeks him and will kill anyone who gets in his way.

While Sailors & Spies may seem anticlimactic, the sleuthing connects dots that provide invaluable clues for the two volumes yet to come. It serves as a way-stop in answering two key questions: How and Why. The many single threads in this third book in The Intelligencers series are intricately woven into an unfinished tapestry yet to be resolved. After the last chapter, readers will crave the next installment.



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Dinghies & Deceit by Jane Glatt

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Rescued to do someone else’s bidding, Pia prefers to hide in plain sight and keep a low profile. Her only goal now is to protect her younger sister, an innocent victim in the same person’s manipulations. She works hard and learns new tasks, each of which may prove valuable in being able to become self-sustaining. At the same time, she and Frieda help in the global need to provide food during the upcoming winter. Pirates alter her perspective when they invade the warehouse where she works and take her co-workers hostage. Never a willing Intelligencer, she must implement her training to rescue them. Together with Gustav Gunnarson, another Intelligencer, they use traits of Concentration and Charisma to find out what the pirates’ end game is and prove that they have once again formed an alliance with one of the Freeholders.

With winter fast approaching, Intelligencers Dagrun Lund and Calder Rahmson must return to the Sapphire Sea once more to gather food and supplies for the Fair Seas Treaty Alliance. But Dag’s trait keeps warning that something is not right. First, the pirates have divided into two factions and abandoned their longtime base of operations. Second, her twin sister Inger has disappeared. Third, Calder’s father has again lost his assassin’s token. No longer is his target a notorious and dangerous pirate named Pinho; it’s a man whom Inger cares about. Then Dag discovers that children with traits have been taken from their parents and imprisoned. Determined to find and protect them, she follows that trail while Calder attempts to stop his father. If he fails to safeguard Inger, Dag will never forgive him and their love will be lost forever.

In the meantime, the Freeholders gather to determine how to proceed in light of the devastating pirate attack that destroyed the alliance’s ships and placed their people on the brink of starvation. Lauma Straukus, Calder’s mother and the Acting Grand Freeholder, will dissolve the alliance and protect her own people rather than allow another corrupt Freeholder to assume the office. Dag’s suggestion of changing the treaty is a worthwhile one, but getting enough votes for that to happen proves difficult. It doesn’t help that Lauma and Master Intelligencer Nadez seem to be working a cross purposes, especially after Nadez unearths rumors that one of the Freeholders gained their title through murder.

This fourth book in The Intelligencers series is perhaps the most complex. Myriad threads dealing with piracy, human trafficking, corruption, and power are interwoven to create an intricate web, but the tension one might expect from this never quite reaches the mark. The primary focus is on Pia and Gustav’s journey, which is so vividly portrayed that readers will find themselves shivering with cold and yearning for hot soup to regain some warmth. Those new to the series may want to first read the earlier titles to gain a better understanding of who’s who and what traits are. Fans of the series will definitely be intrigued by some of the mysteries left unsolved.




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