Traitor's Blade

 Series: Greatcoats #1

Author: Sebastien de Castell

Genre: Fantasy

Original publication date: February 10, 2014

Book Description (from GoodReads):

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.

Thoughts:

A great first installment of a series. 

Initially, you are thrown into the world and might be a bit lost. Falcio and his companions are traveling and they have bad luck. People treat them horribly. You are just getting the gist of it. It took me a bit to get into the story as I was not sure what had happened. There were a lot of references to the good old days, the king, the majestic nature of the greatcoats. But the end of the era was not explained initially.

We follow Falcio and his friend s as they are still trying to accomplish the last mission their King gave them. They seem to be the only ones who actually care about the late King. Everyone in the country seems to mock him and them especially. 

I came to care for the characters so fast, that it hurt to see how the people around them look down upon them. 

Falcio is supposedly the best, he was the first, the very top of the Greatcoats, and yet he is not holding up as well as he wants to. He is not doubting the late King's words but he seems to take it very hard when people insult their companions. Everyone left and went their own ways, and their fate is unknown.  The hard life they have now is making them waver on their destiny. They take shitty jobs, often underpaid, and people insult and humiliate them even if they try to help them out. 

In one of their missions after it goes south and they have to hide, they get dragged into a political gamble. They get hired as guards for a spoiled rich young lady. When they discover who she is, Falcio and his companions are faced with a dilemma. Should they protect or kill their charge?

What can you expect to find here:

• Found family.
• Honor bound men, fighting for what is right.
• Humor
• Pride, men make very poor decisions when they feel honor-bound to defend their ideals. 
• People just can't be that good of fighters, that's surreal. 
• The plot twist is not what I had envisioned.
• There is one plot device I find a bit annoying but it's a huge spoiler so I can't really say it. When you read the book, on almost the last very page. Be aware something is coming. Also the magic here, I do not understand it. 

I make very little sense. 

I have told you nothing, yet I loved this book. I finished it and immediately wanted to pick up the next one. I did not, why? Not sure. I am really looking forward to reading this series, it is already complete so that's an added bonus. 

I had planned to wait for a bit before writing the review while I gathered my thoughts, but then I waited too long. Now I just remember my feelings while reading it. Instead of becoming more objective, I am moving on to fangirl mode. Not necessary to explain again, I am not a good book reviewer, not sure if I'll ever be a decent one. I am sharing my love for this book, you might not get much from my "review" but it is such a good story, the characters are so compelling, I want everyone to read it!!

So that's it for now, I'll try to catch up and get the rest of the reviews missing by the end of the day or tomorrow. Wish me luck.

See you later, stay safe!