So then, I will write this review more as a series overview so that new readers can ponder if this is for them.

Alwyn Scribe is still at Lady Evadine’s side as protector and adviser. Aside from her cult-like following, most, including the Crown, believe Lady Evadine and her prophetical visions of the coming of the Second Scourge to be a fraud. So, in a bid to get rid of her, King Tomas sends Lady Evadine and her company on what he believes is a hopeless mission of putting down a rebellion in the Duchy of Alundia. As war threatens to erupt, Alwyn will have to harness his skills as a soldier and, once again, don his outlaw hat. I read the three books of Covenant of Steel this year and I can honestly say that this was one of the best fantasy series I ever read! Alwyn Scribe is a rare character I think I know him, became like a friend to me. Yet Evadine is not the woman Alwyn once knew. As puritanical fury increasingly replaces her benevolent faith, Alwyn begins to question what her true motives really are. But, there is something bothering him about Evadine, her followers and her war, something creeping on him that will lead him to make the hardest decisions of his life. 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.

Customer reviews

This book had a battle-heavy focus and Ryan really excelled in making his scenes of action understandable and readable. I was never lost in what was occurring and this was, in part, due to the vivid depictions and, also, how both sides of any skirmish were portrayed. The Scarlet Zigguratis an exciting prequel adventure to the highly acclaimed Seven Swordsseries from New York Timesbestselling author Anthony Ryan. A man awakes on a boat at sea with no memory of who he is or how he came to be there. He’s not alone – there are six others. None of them can remember their names, but all bear the scars of recent surgery. THE SORROW SEA—THE MOST FEARED REGION IN ALL THE FIVE SEAS—PLAGUED BY STORMS, PROWLED BY A MURDEROUS PIRATE KING, AND HOME TO INHUMAN TERRORS. 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.

Who wrote the book?” Alwyn asks the local oracle, and “Will it stop any of this ?” he continues when he witnesses in a dream the massacres of the First Scourge. Much of this story is Evadine’s swearing loyalty to the Crown and doing its bidding, which means being put in a trap in an indefensible castle from which her forces are to be annihilated. Surviving that siege places further obligations on her company as they move to ruthlessly crush rebellion in the South taking no prisoners and laying waste to the land. Evadine has fully embraced her role as the Risen Martyr. Perhaps she has embraced it too much. She, too, has changed from when we met her in The Pariah. Evadine has changed from the woman giving nightly sermons to her followers, to an almost cold woman who feels the need to cleanse the land of those who would question her. As I mentioned, her arc brilliantly speaks to the idea of fanaticism. There are those who can whip a crowd into a frenzy because of their “beliefs”, which may or may not be what they actually feel. They simply want the power. Then there are those like Evadine, who truly believe what they are and feel it is their duty to carry out what they must in the name of those beliefs. Gone are the nightly sermons, replaced by a woman who will do what she must to those who do not believe in the Risen Martyr of the Seraphile. She has gathered thousands of followers who join her cause, and in her name, will do whatever she asks. Again, the fanaticism of whipping a crowd into a frenzy using her words, was something Evadine always excelled at. It is watching this change that Alwyn wrestles with. I think the main reason I didn't enjoy this book as much as book 1 was Alwyn as a character. In book 1 he had such a cheeky, charming, loveable vibe but in this book he literally just felt like generic fantasy dude bro no78. I'm not sure if it is because he is older in this book but he just seemed a completely different character from book 1. 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...My huge thanks to Orbit via NetGalley for giving me a chance to read The Traitor, Book Three of the Covenant of Steel by Anthony Ryan. I have given my honest review. The answer, at least for me, lies in understanding idolization and cult of personality-something that has a very intriguing connection with religion and religious fervor throughout history- and these are the themes Ryan decided to explore through fantasy setting. Alwyn knows the truth behind Evadine's resurrection. He is not really a believer- he is pragmatic more than anything, the result of his upbringing. He knows the difference between good and evil and more than not lands on the side of good, again result of the time spend with Sihlda in the mines and strategically and politically he knows her actions are neither smart nor longterm. So why is he in her corner? When following someone is rendered simply to a blind faith into that person, that doesn't really explain why someone stays devoted to the cause despite knowing that this elevated image of is manufactured, not real. This is the more complex question, in terms of characterization about the whole thing and this is what Ryan did so well through Alwyn's first person point of view narration. Finally, I think what I enjoyed the most though is just the overall sense of friendship between Alwyn and his core group that has followed him really since the first book. We get to catch up with some characters that were not in the second book and of course lose some to the wars but in the end this book simply wouldn't be as good without the bonds Alwyn forges with Wilhun, Julihana, and Ayin. Ayin especially, I love that girl!

A fitting end to a fantastic series, though I felt curiously disengaged at times for reasons that I’m not quite sure of. Continuing their quest for the Seven Swords, legendary warrior Guyime and his companions must brave these perilous tides to find the mythic Spectral Isle, where once a demon named Lakorath was captured by a sorcerer of great power. Here ancient plans will be unveiled and the secret purpose of the seven demon cursed blades may finally be revealed…The first glimpse of the divide between Alwyn and Evadine is a scroll setting forth the true story of her healing by a Caerith witch, meaning she was never as claimed a Risen Martyr. The second is the child she is carrying, who she claims was created by divine conception. Alwyn is declared a traitor fir he is at the heart of the truth of these things, but she cannot bear to kill him as she still loves him.

A man who isn't truly a king stands ready to greet a woman who isn't truly a Martyr, I mused, wondering if all noteworthy moments in history might in fact comprise a grand, mendacious pantomime. This second instalment solely follows Alwyn’s perspective. I enjoyed the second half much more than the first. Ryan has such an alacrity in writing battle scenes. He is one of the few authors who manages to capture my attention for lengthy times, similar to John Gwynne. Expect gruesome descriptions, dark comedy, and gritty, bloody deaths. Alwyn Scribe started out small, in the best tradition of the baker boy hero from the 80s’. He was born in a whorehouse and raised as an orphan by a band of outlaws in the forests of the kingdom of Albermaine. After a stint as a convict in the slave mines, where he learned to write, Alwyn is joining the Covenant Company, a mercenary unit raised by a controversial figure in the kingdom. Lady Evangeline Courlain, also known as the Anointed Lady, is an ardent believer in the Second Scourge and an inspirational speaker, a sort of prophet for the Second Apocalypse that in this setting will pit the Seraphile against the Malecite [some sort of angels that interfere in the affairs of mortals]. The Anointed Lady has assigned herself as the kingdom’s champion, but until the time of the Second Scourge she takes the newly formed company to fight in the Albermaine’s ongoing civil war.

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The truth is people only want to know one thing. Did it get the ending right? Did the story carry you through to the end? The Pariah is Anthony Ryan at his best. A fast-paced, brutal fantasy novel with larger-than-life characters and a plot full of intrigue and suspense' Grimdark Magazine Such a mass of contradictions you are. A cut-throat outlaw of savage reputation who can wield a quill as well as he can a blade. A man of great knowledge matched only by his facility for deceit. He has done the foulest deeds in service to a woman who's as mad as the most rabid bitch, yet he harbours concern for a little girl he once saved.” 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 also felt like 90% of this book was battles about things I didn't really care about. My favourite bit was when Alwyn ends up in the care of the Caelish people and befriends a young warrior called Lilat but this was quite a minor part of the book. Other than that dynamic there wasn't really any relationship between two characters in the book that I really cared about - even Alwyn and Evadine's interactions felt so surface level. (Also I missed Toria :'( )