Traitor's Blade (Greatcoats #1) in Fantasy-Faction.com

Apr 28, 2015 Lynn Williams rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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I loved Traitor’s Blade – I read it in a day and a half and just ignored people and didn’t socialise until I’d finished! I literally picked up a copy of this book ages ago and I have no idea what kept me from picking it up – other than that strange thing that sometimes occurs when everyone seems to love a book and it almost makes me nervous to read it – foolish really.

Anyway, Traitor’s Blade. Being so late to this story I’m sure I don’t need to elaborate t https://lynnsbooks.wordpress.com/2015...
I loved Traitor’s Blade – I read it in a day and a half and just ignored people and didn’t socialise until I’d finished! I literally picked up a copy of this book ages ago and I have no idea what kept me from picking it up – other than that strange thing that sometimes occurs when everyone seems to love a book and it almost makes me nervous to read it – foolish really.

Anyway, Traitor’s Blade. Being so late to this story I’m sure I don’t need to elaborate too much on what really takes place. We basically follow the exploits of Falcio and his two companions Kest and Brasti. All his life Falcio dreamt of becoming a member of the famed Greatcoats, unfortunately not long after his dream became reality the King that he served was executed and the Greatcoats named traitors. They’re now spread throughout the kingdom, some have been murdered, others turned against their ideals and become bandits. This is a terrible turn of events given that the Greatcoats used to formerly dispense justice throughout the kingdom.

At the start of the story Falcio and his two merry men are thrown into the middle of a tricky situation – one that is going to cause them some serious bother. As a result they need a quick exit out of town and without directly wishing to become engaged in work accompanying a caravan that’s exactly what happens. I’m really not going to go into the plot furher as it really isn’t necessary. It’s a very engaging story, I think if you read a lot of fantasy it won’t particularly astound you with anything particularly new in that area but be prepared to be bowled over nonetheless. This is a romping, swashbucking story packed with swordplay and bursting with fun.

I really liked Falcio. He has a dark story of loss that will slowly be revealed during the course of the early chapters and yet in spite of his pain he still retains this wonderful way of believing in things – I’m sure that if he was told to clap his hands quickly and say ‘I do believe in fairies’ he would. The only thing he now has left is the mission he was given by his King before he was executed. It’s a strange mission and not even Falcio understands the true meaning. I think what makes him stand out as a character is he makes a great leader and this isn’t because he’s the best at everything – as Kest is clearly a better swordsman and Brasti is a better archer – what puts Falcio above the rest is his ability to think on his feet, under stress, to come up with the oddest strategies to get him out of a fix and to basically talk people into an all out muddle to distract them.

Kest and Brasti also make good companions and although they don’t get as much time as Falcio I liked both of them.

There’s plenty of action – in fact we pretty much bowl from one situation to the next in quick succession, there’s an underhanded plot, a tad of magic and a rather nasty character who you’ll have no trouble hating. Undoubtedly though, for me, the dialogue and the sense of fun throughout the book are what won me over. Which isn’t to say this is a comedy – just that it’s not afraid to poke fun and come up with some cheeky banter that will simply make you giggle.

I have no hesitation in recommending this book – although I’m not sure who to as I think I’m quite possible the last one to read it. The good news, book two is out and I have a copy already lined up!

A wonderfully entertaining read. ...more

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Apr 14, 2017 Miriam Michalak rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Swashbuckling fun! An easy and fun read - with fabulous characters and super nasty baddies. Looking forward to spending more time with the Greatcoats.

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Feb 08, 2014 Steven Poore rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, signed-copy, owned

Falcio val Mond was the First Cantor of the Greatcoats, passing the King's Justice across the land. But the Greatcoats are no more, disbanded by the venal and power-hungry Dukes, their symbolic - and armoured - coats reduced to tatters along with their reputations, and the King himself is dead. And Falcio, along with his friends and fellow Greatcoats Brasti and Kest, have just been framed for murder...

The debut from Sebastien de Castell, as well as the first in the Greatcoats series, Traitor's B Falcio val Mond was the First Cantor of the Greatcoats, passing the King's Justice across the land. But the Greatcoats are no more, disbanded by the venal and power-hungry Dukes, their symbolic - and armoured - coats reduced to tatters along with their reputations, and the King himself is dead. And Falcio, along with his friends and fellow Greatcoats Brasti and Kest, have just been framed for murder...

The debut from Sebastien de Castell, as well as the first in the Greatcoats series, Traitor's Blade sets up a world of betrayed ideals and dreams gone sour quickly, and then proceeds to make Falcio's life progressively worse. It'd be very easy to say "It's like Mark Lawrence writes the Musketeers!" - and even though that'd be a brilliant book in itself, Traitor's Blade is even better than that. This is the fantasy genre channeling Clint Eastwood - in particular, The Gauntlet (as Falcio takes responsibility for an orphaned girl in a city that wants her dead) and A Fistful of Dollars (the armoured coats themselves, as well as the scenes featuring Ugh).

The more familiar fantasy tropes are for the most part taken care of in a fresh style (gloriously OTT bad guys, wannabe Greatcoats who aren't what they seem, hard-bitten caravan guards won over with derring-do), and thankfully glossed over where they threaten to bog the fast-moving story down, though the overly helpful priestess who gives Falcio his post-torture pick-me-up is just a little too old-school wish-fulfillment for comfort. And the reader does need to ignore the nagging question of exactly how the Tailor can get to where she needs to be so damned fast. The solutions to the mysteries riding on the tails of Trin, Aline and Valiana - the three main female characters pushing and pulling Falcio to the journey's end - are signposted quite early on, but the characters themselves are fleshed out so well that it doesn't actually matter. Plus, they have progression - they ain't just there to look pretty.

And the sword-fights. Yow. It's not often a writer can get away with putting so much detail into his sword-fights, but de Castell is actually a fight choreographer - and he can make it work on the page as well as in the imagination. Damn good fights. The only fight he doesn't detail is the climactic one between Kest and a summoned opponent, and that one is best left to the imagination. Speaking of summoning, the use of magic is kept on tight reins, as much as are pistols. Magic isn't allowed to spoil or overwhelm the story, instead allowing the swords to do their work.

Conclusions? A good start, promising much more, and a delightfully fast and thrilling read. If Goodreads let me give 4.5/5, or 9/10, Traitor's Blade would get that mark. Because it doesn't, I'm rounding down, but this is a heck of a debut. ...more

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Mar 09, 2014 Dee rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: a-kind-of-magic, hijinks, ninjas-get-chicks, loanage, world-fantasy

There's a lot to recommend this book. It has a strong voice for the first-person narrator, and does a great job of showing the inherent problems of an unchecked power system like feudalism. Plus, the story rollicks along.

However, a number of personal mehs got in the way of me enjoying it more. The book strives mightily for a mythic feel, which stretched my connection with the material at points, and the handwavium it introduced in places to said first-person narration was doubly a problem. (Extr ...more

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Feb 02, 2015 Nino rated it really liked it · review of another edition

'But most of the terrible things that happen in this land don't happen because of evil men, not really. They happen because of people who just don't know any better.'

Although this book deals with some very dark themes it is written with a lot of humour in between. The characters are fun and I enjoyed watching them develop. The plot moves along fast with lots of action. The flashbacks tends to be nice and short and adds a lot to the story.

The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because ...more

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