"The King is dead, the Greatcoats have been disbanded, and Falcio Val Mond and his fellow magistrates Kest and Brasti have been reduced to working as bodyguards for a nobleman who refuses to pay them. Things could be worse, of course. Their employer could be lying dead on the floor while they are forced to watch the killer plant evidence framing them for the murder. Oh wait, that’s exactly what’s happening…
Now a royal conspiracy is about to unfold in the most corrupt city in the world. A carefully orchestrated series of murders that began with the overthrow of an idealistic young king will end with the death of an orphaned girl and the ruin of everything that Falcio, Kest, and Brasti have fought for. But if the trio want to foil the conspiracy, save the girl, and reunite the Greatcoats, they’ll have to do it with nothing but the tattered coats on their backs and the swords in their hands, because these days every noble is a tyrant, every knight is a thug, and the only thing you can really trust is a traitor’s blade."
Described as a swashbuckling epic reminiscent of Alexander Dumas, this certainly evokes memories of the famous French author. The Greatcoats are de Castell's musketeers, and they fill that role with aplomb. Falcio is a slightly older, more experienced, and jaded d'Artagnan with Brasti and Kest taking on the roles of loyal companions, much like Porthos, Athos and Aramis.
But it is from this inspiration that the book takes on its own life, and leaves seventeenth century France behind. de Castell has created a rich world with great depth of history and social order, and it is within this landscape that Falcio and his Greatcoats are struggling to survive. Battles with evil dukes, vicious and cruel aristocratic ladies and politics to rival anything GRRM has conceived, this truly is an epic tale just beginning.
There are genuinely funny moments too among the intrigue, the relationships between Falcio and his two companions strikingly real, and honest, with the author not holding back from revealing both sides to an argument without forcing one view upon the reader. Kest and Brasti are foils for Falcio, with each of the three having a unique perspective, and not backward about expressing their opinions. This gives the reader an opportunity to see the politics unfold from more than one perspective, while the story is told from Falcio's point-of-view, Kest and Brasti have enough meaningful dialogue to be fully rounded characters, who exist to provide this complex world with more than black and white, good versus evil, but with various shades of grey.
With book two just released, this complicated world and its fascinating political landscape looks like getting bigger and better!
Published by JoFletcherBooks in the UK.
No comments:
Post a Comment