Traitor's Blade

The Greatcoats, Book 1

By: Sebastien de Castell

Narrated by: Joe Jameson

The Greatcoats - legendary heroes, arbiters of justice...or notorious traitors? The Greatcoats are travelling magistrates bringing justice to all...or at least they were, before they watched the Dukes impale their King's head on a spike.

Now the land's heroes are reviled as traitors, their Greatcoats in tatters. Facio, Kest and Brasti have been reduced to working as mercenaries, but when they find their employer dead - and are forced to watch as the killer plants evidence framing them for the murder - they realise things are about to get even worse.

For the royal conspiracy that began with overthrowing an idealistic young king is spreading to Rijou, the most corrupt city in the land, and the life of a young girl hangs in the balance. When every noble is a tyrant and every knight is a thug, the only thing you can really trust is a traitor's blade.

©2014 Sebastien de Castell (P)2014 Quercus Editions Limited

Delightful - Outstanding Swordplay

Having a background in swordplay made this an even more enjoyable experience, but regardless it’s a very compelling read. I burned through the first book and am picking up the second presently. The story has a few conveniences thrown in, but what great story doesn’t? All in all, a delightful time.

Loved the story telling!!

Excellent addition to fantasy lovers collection. Rich storytelling, compelling characters and solid writing. I was delighted have this tale match the recommendations.

Excelente Historia y narrador.!

Historia contada desde primera persona, todo a través de los. Ojos de Falcio lo cual lo hace muy interesante. Las voces, expresiones y la narración en general es muy buena, a veces te hace sentir dentro del libro.

Superb!

Traitor’s Blade is a great adventure with some small messures of fantasy, and the sudio book sports a great narrator.

A worthy listen

Great story, great narration! Give it a listen.
I loved the characters and the writing.

great store, just let down by naration

i liked the story and concept, but the narration was as if from a but of stroppy teenagers. For someone whats been a Magistrate for 10years and makeing life or death judgements the Great Coats voices didnt fit.

Nice Story, If Unchallenging

The review title sounds critical, so why five stars? Because I seek unchallenging entertainment. My work is intellectually challenging. My personal life is emotionally challenging. To relax, I need something to take me away from all that.

Creating unchallenging entertainment can't be easy: plot, character motivation details all have to make sense without being so predictable as to bore the reader or listener. So, the book must be stimulating enough to amuse, without continuity issues that distract from the stitch or row count as I keep my hands engaged in needlecraft.

And the voice actor can't be doing weird things with inflections, pronunciations and pauses whilst giving a unique presence to each character - with not just the purely physical voice traits, but also with attitude consistent with each character's personality in each circumstance.

Sébastien and Joe deliver flawlessly, and I'm always up for more from either of them separately or both of them together.