The Traitor by Anthony Ryan – Review

Published: July 11, 2023

Publisher: Orbit Books

Series: Covenant of Steel #3

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 576 (Paperback)

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:
Alwyn must make a difficult decide between his heart and his morals as he prepares for his final battle.

It’s been a long journey for Alwyn Scribe. Born a bastard and raised an outlaw, he’s now a knight and the most trusted advisor to Lady Evadine Courlain. Together they’ve won countless battles and helped to bring order to a fractured kingdom.   

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.   

As the kingdom braces itself for one final battle, Alwyn’s conscience fights its own war with his heart. Now, more than ever, he must decide whose side he’s really on.

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I have been pleasantly surprised at how much I’ve enjoyed this entire trilogy. I’ve read most of Anthony Ryan’s books, aside from several novellas that are on my TBR (I’m waiting for them to go on sale in one format or another) and the Covenant of Steel is by far the strongest whole series of them all. I’ve given each installment, including this one, 4.5 stars.

At the beginning of The Traitor, Evadine Courlain, Risen Martyr, is set on destroying the last remnants of the opposing religious traditionalists who deny her claim to martyrdom. Alwyn, being stupidly in love as he is, continues to support her and is intent on turning on the young Algathinet King next so that his lady love might become the Ascendant Queen. He has spent so long building up Evadine in the eyes of her followers, despite knowing the truth of her miraculous healing AND the source of the child she carries, that I was truly surprised when he finally turned against her even though the book is literally called The Traitor. And oh, what a glorious betrayal it was!

This book provided some extremely satisfying character arcs, settings ranging from glorious and ancient to bloody and swarming with flies, and enough battle scenes to cause any dark fantasy fan to have palpitations. I feel like if you’ve read the series up to this point you obviously appreciate our dear Alwyn Scribe for the complicated character he is, but there are a melange of wonderful secondary characters that get a chance to shine and most of them are women. Juhlina, formerly known as the Widow, has several pretty epic moments in this installment and I really began to appreciate her for the damaged badass that she is. Ayin, who we met as she cut off Ehrlich’s balls in the first book, has somehow begun to heal even amongst the brutality surrounding her. And, mild spoiler alert, but we get to reunite with Toria who left the Covenant Company in the first book of the series. Now that I take a mental inventory, many of the most notable characters are women – Leannor, Shilva Sahken, Duchess Lorine, Lilat, the Sack Witch. This is a story narrated from Alwyn’s point of view, so they can’t be the main characters, but they are certainly given their due. 

The Traitor is one of the best series conclusions I’ve read in a long time and I have to say, I’m completely satisfied by it. If you’re craving an excellent medieval fantasy story that spans the course of years and follows a likable character as he rises from bandit to Lord I’d highly recommend the Covenant of Steel trilogy. This also has a proper female villain and Evadine isn’t villainous from a distance, no, she’s down in the blood and guts with everyone else. I wish there were more female villains who’s evil wasn’t just political machinations, petty insults, or distant magical oppression.