Barb and J.C. Hendee
Traitor to the Blood (Noble Dead Saga, series 1, book #4)
ROC
ISBN-10: 0451460901
ISBN-13: 978-0451460905
Fantasy
January 2, 2007
Warning: even this book’s official blurb is a spoiler for previous books. I will be revealing some as well.
Born a half-breed to an elven mother and human father, Leesil was raised in the Warlands as assassin, spy, and slave to Lord Darmouth, ruler to one of its independent provinces. But Leesil’s mother trained him too well, and he used his skills to escape, leaving his parents to suffer Darmouth’s wrath for all such traitors and their kin. Now, with newfound purpose in the company of his beloved Magiere, Leesil returns to confront the sins of his past and uncover his parents’ fate.Unable to turn him from this dangerous course, Magiere follows Leesil into the darkness of his past in the Warlands. Knowing what may happen should Darmouth learn of Leesil’s return, she is prepared to slaughter any who may try to take him from her. But Magiere’s own past may well pose a more deadly threat. Two creatures of unfathomable power continue to stalk her — one who believes she’s the key to his salvation, and one who seeks to destroy her… and all those she loves.
The Noble Dead saga takes a turn, focusing not on Magiere and her past, as we’ve seen in the previous three books, but more so on Leesil now and answers to his own dark past. Wanting no part of what they discovered about her birth, Magiere seems all too willing to put those twisted, sickening experiences behind her. Fully committed now to supporting Leesil, she, Leesil, Wynn and Chap prepare to enter the unstable domain of Leesil’s former master.
I have to admit right up front that Leesil’s dilemma of finding out if his mother is indeed alive or not isn’t quite as interesting a conflict as Magiere’s past. Still, Traitor to the Blood does manage to keep up the tension and suspence as Welstial and Chane are relentlessly trailing the group, determined to use Magiere for whatever dark purpose they have in mind. The only question I have still at the end of the book is how does this all tie into Magiere’s past. Because as we’ve seen from the beginning, the two have clearly been manipulated from their first meeting. The only burning question, still, is who and why.
Leesil takes on a different persona in this one and it’s not a change for the better. He’s facing head on, for the fist time since he ran away from home, all the evil he performed for Darmouth as an assassin. He’s lived with a guilt that’s driven him to drink, to be less than what he could be. Magiere’s confidence in him and her love enabled him to break free from it all for a time, but the moment they step into the Warlands, Leesil withdraws to a place that no one else can really follow. Being forced to kill lest his family be killed is a terrible, mind twisting burden for anyone, but especially so for a child. Leesil’s own mother is the one to force her son into a life as an assassin, though. On top of being a half breed and therefore outcast amongst the elves, her training him in the arts of an Elvin assassin have made him doubly suspect. In fact, once anyone, elf or otherwise, learns of his skills, he’s immediately treated with cautious suspicion.
This is all to hopefully find some closure for the stoic elf, who’s remained the strong one for Magiere’s sake. Now it’s Magiere’s turn to be strong for him. I don’t think this was ever a problem, as we’ve seen her be as solid as a rock for most of the series now. Even when she was at her most self-doubting worst and learning to deal with her growing dhampir powers, she’s always been the strongest of their group. She takes a bit of a step back from the limelight this time and acts more like an exotic bodyguard for Leesil, as determined to protect him and watch over him as he was with her in her homeland. Her feelings are more gruffly given, but it’s clear these two have formed a strong bond, but one that will be severely tested this time.
Wynn has to deal with the stigma of mistrust this time, as Magiere discovered the secrets she was hiding regarding Chane, the Noble Dead they fought back in Bela. As thick as the tension is between her and Magiere – the two constantly bicker now – Wynn has managed to insert herself into their mission so as to be indispensable. Her knowledge of languages, customs and history makes her an invaluable member that will save their skin more than once with her resourcefulness. What I loved about her this time, though, was the backbone she grew somewhere between leaving Magiere’s homeland and the Warland borders. Magiere has always grated a little bit with her rude, rough attitude and it was honestly quite refreshing to see someone standing up to the cold dhampir instead of placating, something I think Leesil tends to do a little too much. I said it about Wynn in Sister of the Dead, but it is once again clear why the authors chose to move on after this series’ finale and on to a new one featuring Wynn as the main character. She is really growing into her own with this book, becoming more than a scribe that can be useful to her companions.
And the character that I was most looking forward to at the end of the third book – Chane. There’s a great cliffhanger at the end of that book that I didn’t want to spoil in that review, and I’ll only say here that I was a little disappointed in how Chane was able to continue on in the series. It was a bit anticlimactic and I felt a little cheated in that we’re not given much detail at all about how Westial “saves” his Noble Dead traveling companion.
Still, Chane does end up being the most interesting character for me this time. Normally I’m turned off by secondary characters that interest me more than the main ones, but it works here I think because we’ve already been given significant reason to become invested in his character: his fascination with Wynn and a singular determination to protect her however he can. Why does he, a Noble Dead supposedly caring of only his next kill so that he may feed, try so hard for the little sage? We’ve seen how he respects her intelligence. He himself is a confessed lover of ancient histories and was drawn to her like a moth to the flame in Bela, pretty much seeing her and the sages as the only humans worth abstaining from. In other words, valuable for more than just blood. He is aware of her in a way that is completely different from anyone else he knew or knows now. The mystery surrounding his slow evolution is yet another plate to add to this entire party of mysteries, and one of the better ones in my opinion.
Wynn herself is not nearly as sure as Magiere that all Noble Dead are without honor, ethics and the like. She sees something else in Chane, and for that, he is changing somehow, and he’s doing so despite Welstial’s demands on him. Welstial begins to seem more like a childish man whose narrow minded path makes him entitled to anything he wants of those around him. He manipulates without a thought or blink, and he treats Chane like a servant to do all his truly dirty work. For whatever reason, Chane doesn’t seem to be bothered by this. What does bother him is Magiere, especially after what she does to him in the swamps surrounding her village in Droevinka, and he’s taken to fixating on women that look much like her for food. Chane is really quite the quandary, one minute Wynn’s savior, the next a ruthless, single minded Noble Dead intent on tearing a woman’s throat out. As easy as it may seem to paint him a villain, it’s clearly not as easily done. Can a Noble Dead be more than a predator, as Wynn suspects? Can the vampire, who’s been prey to a dhampir, learn to move beyond his rage? Because even though Wynn sympathizes with him, she has chosen Magiere, Leesil and Chap over him.
Even though they’ve moved on from Magiere’s homeland, we’re nowhere near done with what was discovered there. Instead we’re turned now to Leesil. And even though they learn much by the end of this leg of the journey, we still don’t know every part of his particular puzzle either, but we learn a lot and it is invaluable (if not a little bit…stilted, even still at this point) and leads them on to the next stage of their discoveries. It will take all of them to the forbidden lands of the elves, Leesil’s mother’s people. Where they go no Noble Dead can travel, and I was sad to realize that Chane’s continuing development might have to wait, too. The series is still packed with plenty of action and loads of great page-turning detail that’s doled out just enough to keep one interested.
I’m starting to see that even as each individual member of the group is increasingly impatient to get some real answers, so am I. As a result, I’m driven on ever more to keep reading and to finish this series. The plot, while I’m sure it will become more clear why it all happened later in the series, wasn’t quite as satisfying because we didn’t come to know details about Leesil’s past that were on the same level as Magiere’s, who I feel is still the ultimate protagonist in all of this. Thankfully, the series is increasingly character-driven, and this usually makes for a more enjoyable read for me anyway, especially given that the worldbuilding is still firmly rooted and supporting it all.
The journey is fast becoming arduous and not a little hopeless feeling, and I wonder a lot about how Leesil’s past will tie into Magiere’s, but Traitor to the Blood manages to keep my interest high, if not a tad disappointed that more wasn ‘t revealed at this point. The odds are stacked against our protagonists now, and it’s a battle I look forward to continuing on with. Having come this far, as they have, there really is no turning back now.
Rating: Four and a Half Scoops
Series 1 order:
- Dhampir
- Thief of Lives
- Sister of the Dead
- Traitor to the Blood
- Rebel Fay
- Child of a Dead God
Series 2 order:
- In Shade and Shadow
For more information visit the authors’ site.
February 21, 2012
May 1, 2012
May 1, 2012
February 28, 2012
April 3, 2012
April 3, 2012
May 8, 2012
February 28,2012
May 1,2012
July 3,2012
Hmm… KMont, those middle books can be killers. They keep you on your toes but, if they’re good ones, leave you hungering for more. This one sounds like a good one.
Still following your reviews re: this series and it still looks verrrrrry tempting. :)
Next up is my favorite in the series. And if you like Chane… I think he continues on in the series that follows this one, which I haven’t read. I agree, he is a very interesting character–complex, not completely evil, but not good either, and you can clearly see the factors in his life that have shaped him. Great stuff!
Hils, this was very much at times like one of those middle books. Way ahead of most as far as content, yet still a little lacking considering that there’s only two books left in the series. Still, for all that, I am continuing to love this series!
Jory, I remembered that you liked Rebel Fey best! So far it’s very…strange. I feel like the gang has stepped into the Land of the Lost! Thank goodness it’s not the Will Farrell version. :) I did read that Chane continues on into the second series. I’m excited to see how he and Wynn interact without Magiere’s stigma against him interfering.
Well, I confess, I have a major thing for elves (of the tall, magical kind). I absolutely love what Wen Spencer did with them in her Tinker books. Now if I could only figure out a way to work them into a paranormal romance series concept of my own.