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A review by luckyshmo
Traitor's Blade by Sebastien de Castell
4.0
Traitor’s Blade is a pretty decent first entry into a Swashbuckling fantasy adventure stylized after some certain Alexandre Dumas characters. A group of “Greatcoats” are on mission to fulfill their King’s last wish when they uncover a sinister plot that would change the lands forever. Some things were wonderful about this book and others missed the mark for me.
The Good: Three Musketeers for a new generation. The characters were strong and their banter even stronger. Falcio, the main Muskete…Greatcoat, is loyal, compassionate, and has a strong sense of justice (with some vengeance mixed in). Kest and Brasti are pseudo main characters and compliment Falcio really well. The world lore feels easy to understand. The action sequences are wonderful; the sword-fighting is a lot of fun.
The Meh: Never been a big fan of switching viewpoints from past to present within a chapter or in the next chapter so consistently. Sometimes it felt so abrupt that I had to make sure which time I was in. I completely understand the need to tell the backstory in the moment for clarity but it just never has been my favorite. Also, there is magic-like stuff in this book but it really doesn’t surface until the last few chapters which feels like a slight miss. Speaking of chapters, there is one in particular, you will know it when you read it, that seemed so out of left field and felt like an add-on by the author for transition purposes only. The direction of that chapter was weird, confusing, completely unnecessary, and unrealistic in every way. In that same vein, there were some situations that were buttoned up a little too neatly for me with little to no explanation, especially the fight at the end.
Overall, the book is enjoyable enough to continue the series but this first book didn’t overwhelm me.
The Good: Three Musketeers for a new generation. The characters were strong and their banter even stronger. Falcio, the main Muskete…Greatcoat, is loyal, compassionate, and has a strong sense of justice (with some vengeance mixed in). Kest and Brasti are pseudo main characters and compliment Falcio really well. The world lore feels easy to understand. The action sequences are wonderful; the sword-fighting is a lot of fun.
The Meh: Never been a big fan of switching viewpoints from past to present within a chapter or in the next chapter so consistently. Sometimes it felt so abrupt that I had to make sure which time I was in. I completely understand the need to tell the backstory in the moment for clarity but it just never has been my favorite. Also, there is magic-like stuff in this book but it really doesn’t surface until the last few chapters which feels like a slight miss. Speaking of chapters, there is one in particular, you will know it when you read it, that seemed so out of left field and felt like an add-on by the author for transition purposes only. The direction of that chapter was weird, confusing, completely unnecessary, and unrealistic in every way. In that same vein, there were some situations that were buttoned up a little too neatly for me with little to no explanation, especially the fight at the end.
Overall, the book is enjoyable enough to continue the series but this first book didn’t overwhelm me.