The Traitor: Book Three of the Covenant of Steel

Product Information

In this “gritty, heart-pounding” (John Gwynne) conclusion to the New York Times bestselling fantasy trilogy, The Covenant of Steel, Alwyn must make a difficult decide between his heart and his morals as he prepares for his final battle. It’s always a better reading experience to see characters struggle and grow. And we see Alwyn forced use all the tools in his arsenal—his wit, street smarts, and drive to survive—to defeat the woman he had a hand in building up. From personal struggles to epic battles, the book offers it all. I was invested in Alwyn’s personal journey, but not just him alone. Some supporting characters shined too in this one, despite never getting the spotlight. I do begrudge Anthony Ryan though for that one character’s death that truly pained me who deserved a better death than what he/she ultimately got.

Alwyn was there, blood, then here, then death, then over there, betrayal, more death, no they alive, caged, wait, they are not, more betrayals, more blood, and on and on... When I was reading The Pariah, I noticed that each Part of the story was preluded by a quote 'from the Pretender's account to Sir Alwyn Scribe'. And I kept asking myself:

I am first to tell you that out of all significant figures in Alwyn's life in previous novel, Evadine was the one I was most baffled with. It's pretty clear she was inspired by Joan of Arc due to religious aspect of her convictions and the fact her sanity was questioned several times in previous novel. It's not the first time Ryan brings up in his writing cult of personality theme, zealotry and devotion charismatic figure can inspire in others and dangers it brings with it. He's touched upon it in Queen of Fire and Raven's Blade duology, but in this novel he's done the best job jet. Because of the role he played in her resurrection, Alwyn is constantly surprised by the number of people Evadine's martyrdom/sainthood seems to attract and why they follow her. And because there is no Toria ( shut up, I'm still dealing with it) to ask Alwyn why is he doing the same thing, you figure out the answer on your own. Evadine still remains the most detached character to me, because you can see in his own words as he describes the events, she is this, almost mythological figure and you actually realize he fell under her spell just the same despite knowing the secret behind Risen Martyr. In this way Ryan showed that Alwyn's cleverness doesn't mean he's immune.

Cover illustration by Jaime Jones ( www.artpad.org). Cover design by Lauren Panepinto (@Panepinto). Alwyn Scribe was never meant to be a soldier. A thief? Yes. A scribe? Certainly. But a soldier, well, this becomes his nightmare!

Customer reviews

There is an interlude where Alwyn finds himself among the Caerith, a seemingly- more primitive people with a land few outsiders ever venture in. His fate is intertwined with theirs, but it is a fascinating interlude. I was worried you wouldn’t be able to match its excellence with Tower Lord, but you did and if anything, you topped it! I re-read Blood Song just before Tower Lord was released and after reading Tower Lord, I couldn’t let the story and characters go. I had to do another re-read of both books. They are so good, I feel I need to read them again. They are like a drug, I can’t get enough of! LOL.

Internationally bestselling fantasy author Anthony Ryan – writing as A. J. Ryan – delivers a nerve-shredding thriller in which seven strangers must undertake a terrifying journey into the unknown. It’s always hard to review a book 3 of a series. How can you talk about it without giving spoilers to books 1 & 2? You can’t, is the answer.

I read this book's first installment, The Pariah eagerly and really did enjoy it however I don't think I got quite swept up in the character and world as much as I wanted. The Pariah had just so much plot driven developments that it was hard for met to keep up and to understand why the developments mattered. I enjoyed the main character but he really just seemed along for the ride. Now after reading The Martyr do I understand what Ryan is doing. The entire first book was all set up for the developments that occur in this second book and wow I can say that it was all worth it. There is not middle book syndrome going on here. The Martyr is a major achievement in not only character development but in fleshing out the arcane lore that binds this entire story and world together. You mix that lore with amazing first person prose and Ryan's abilities at wordcraft, and you've got a compelling and fresh fantasy tale on your hands. This series became better and better with each book, the testimony of Alwyn the outlaw who became a scribe, then a knight is genuine and his journey is more tragedy than triumph. I stared at him, baffled but also fearful, refusing to prompt him further, but he told me anyway. Evadine, he said, serves the Malecite.” The New York Times bestselling Raven’s Shadow Trilogy was a perfect read for “fans of broadscale epic fantasy along the lines of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series and George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire novels.”* Now, Anthony Ryan begins a new saga, The Draconis Memoria… Words have power," I agreed with a shrug, "Especially when you write them down. As for lies, I learned long ago that you can only really sell them to a willingly gulled audience."

Continuing the saga of The Seven Swords, Across the Sorrow Sea is a fast-moving tale of seafaring adventure and dramatic revelations from the New York Times bestselling author of the Raven’s Shadow and the Covenant of Steel trilogies. I would like to thank Netgalley, Little, Brown Book Group UK, and Anthony Ryan for an advanced copy of The Traitor. All opinions are my own. And then, when he unwillingly became Evandine's infantry fodder, it was: "But, how did he come so close to the Pretender?" Although this is a fantasy series, magic does not really take centre stage. In the first book, there was a mere glimpse of magic, but it begins to play a slightly larger part in this second book.Overall, I loved this book. This book was everything I was hoping for and looking forward to for the past year. It ended in a bittersweet way, but it left me content. What happens then when a woman preacher begins to find a following? What happens when her voice and sermons cause huge numbers of people to follow her? What happens when a man in her company has a gift that tells him when people lie? The last tale of Alwyn Scribe is now beyond vengeance, many are not here anymore to see what he's going to do, at heart, he is still an outlaw and, among outlaws, betrayal has but one punishment.