Reading – Scourge of the Betrayer

I’ve now read Scourge of the Betrayer*, the first book in the Bloodsounder’s Arc by Jeff Salyards (website, Twitter), twice in the last month. The novel kept me entertained while on my trip to Hong Kong last month, and in preparation for this review I read the novel again over the last week.

Trust me when I say that reading the book a second time was no great hardship. In fact, the second reading was even more enjoyable than the first.

A Dark, Gritty Fantasy

Scourge of the Betrayer* is told from the point of view of a scholar and archivist, Arkamondos, a young man who has been hired as the personal scribe/journalist for a military captain. Salyards wastes no time getting into the story, jumping right in on page one with Arki’s having been hired and now really getting to know Captain Braylar Killcoin and his covert force of soldiers. Why covert? Because the men are from another nation and on a secretive mission that Arki is soon — to his constant and ever-increasing regret — a significant part of.

A Series of Harsh Events

From the beginning Salyards shows us that this will not be a pleasant experience for Arkamondos or the soldiers of Killcoin. There are moments of rest for the men — the scenes set in inns are well-crafted and should be studied by anyone looking to run a fantasy roleplaying game encounter in an inn or tavern — but even at the inns there is no true safety. And it’s that sense of “anything could happen” combined with Salyards’ writing style that made me enjoy the book enough to read it a second time.

I had seen Salyards’ Scourge of the Betrayer* compared to the work of Joe Abercrombie — the cover quote comes right out and makes the comparison — but when I read the book I was unfamiliar with Abercrombie’s work. Well, I’m now reading Abercrombie’s first book, The Blade Itself*, and even though I haven’t finished the book I can see the comparisons. And they’re favorable! Both authors write brutal, in-close fight scenes and have a style that keeps me quite entertained and ready for more. I’m pretty confident that if you’re a fan of Abercrombie’s work — at least, his first book — then you’ll be very happy with Salyards’ first novel.

A Warhammer World?

It would be unfair of me to say that the book is inspired by the Warhammer Fantasy (Amazon.com search*) setting — it’s more fair to say that both are inspired by the medieval lands of Europe — but at times, especially when the band enters the city of Alespell, I had strong feelings that fans of any edition of the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay game would love this book. Everything is here — dark and unusual magic, rough soldiers, treacherous priests, and even a foppish Baron and a theater group — that would make for an excellent addition to any WFRP campaign. Seriously, the book is most certainly not just someone’s retelling of a game, but it is definitely inspirational for anyone running or in a dark fantasy game.

So What’s the Tale?

I am not a fan of giving away the story, but I can provide a rough outline that should give you some idea of what you can expect. And let’s keep it very rough; after all, the only thing I had read was the description and a short excerpt before reading the entire book and the writing was engaging enough for me to keep going after I had started. I suggest that you stop reading now if you plan to read Scourge of the Betrayer*.

(This means you should stop reading now and go read the book.)

As I mentioned, Arki has been hired by the captain to act as archivist, recording the deeds of the force of soldiers. Captain Killcoin and his men are Syldoon, men of a warrior state that takes boys from other nations and trains them as soldiers. The Syldoon are mysterious and have a reputation as slavers and warriors, but — unsurprisingly — Arki learns that the reputation and rumors are half-right and, at times, completely wrong.

Shortly after the book starts Killcoin separates his forces to complete separate tasks, and that gives us pages of time for Arki, the captain, and the captain’s mutilated scout, Lloi, to grow to know each other. And for us, as readers, to learn more about all three of the characters. Salyards’ pacing is excellent, leading us through a series of encounters that slowly reveals Killcoin’s magical — some might say cursed — flail is quite special and makes the scout even more important than first expected.

When the band reunites they set off an a night mission that draws us even deeper into the book. Salyards gives us scenes that show the soldiers being solders — the calm chatter before a conflict — and how Arki’s inexperience and nervousness is so unlike the trained warriors. And while earlier conflicts involved blood, this particular mission is one in which we get to see Killcoin’s diplomatic side . . . which is every bit as ruthless and calculated as his approach to fighting.

That encounter leads directly into the third act which, I am going to say, is the site of the largest and bloodiest combat in the book. But I’ll say no more, except to mention that Salyards spends time after the battle to slow down a little and, in the last few pages, set us up for the next book in the series.

And I am reading for the second book today.

Closing Thoughts

Scourge of the Betrayer* is an excellent and fun read and I’m ready for more from Jeff Salyards (website, Twitter). It’s exactly the sort of thing you should read if you like your fantasy brutal and violent with a touch of humor and emotion, and it’s so much better than I was expecting that I’m now worried I overlooked something important before the book’s release. I should have been more excited to read the book than I was.

Who should read this? You. Now. Today. And you will enjoy it.