Traitor to the Blood

The fourth book of the Noble Dead series continues the soul-searching, at times seemingly, soul-destroying journey of Magiere, Leesil, Chap and Wynn. This piece of the story takes them back into the Warlands, into Leesil’s past, to find if his parents survived his original flight from home: at the least, to allow Leesil an answer to this mystery; at most, to gain some closure to his previous life and painful memories. Other answers surrounding the conundrum which is Chap, and the purpose of the pairing of a half-blood elf with a 'half-dead' human, are also more forthcoming. But the riddle of the “Enemy” and the part the company must play in the solution continues to thread ominously throughout; often the cause, or effect, of show more actions taken and decisions made in spite of the consequences.

I don’t know what it is about these books, but I am hooked from the very first page every time. The complexities and relationships between the characters become both more transparent and more enigmatic as the story progresses – often posing a greater question once a long awaited answer is supplied. Always surprising, ever entertaining, the story is a dark mystery filled with poignant, dramatic, and uplifting events, ensuring a page-turning, thrilling, answer-seeking read! And the characters grow – remaining steadfast to each other even as loyalties and allegiances are tested to their limits.

I am enamoured of these books: and this maintains the standard of those previously written. The series is an impressive take on dark fantasy – innovative and original. I anticipate the next part gleefully, and despite my great desire to reach the conclusion of this strange journey, I will enjoy the voyage more!

(Jan 5, 2008) show less

Reviewing the middle books in a long series (and this is book 4 of the original series 6, and I think 12 or 15 of the expanded universe) is hard. They either settle down into a formula, like monster of the week episodes of a tv show, or the plot is still moving along but the worldbuilding is done and the characters familiar but still developing.

Except here, this is a meh filler book. The worldbuilding is still going on apace, but the characters are the same old same old. We got a bunch of new throwaway characters (who seem to get more development than the main characters, but we'll never see them again). Margiere is grumpy, Wynn is stupid, Leesil is self-destructive and sad. Welstiel is still an ass with an agenda all his own, and show more Chane as utterly pointless as ever. Chap at least gets filled out quite a lot here, and we learn a bit more about Leesil's heritage.

At this point, I'm going to finish this series (and admittedly, the next book is looking more interesting, it's all about the elves who have been singularly mysterious until now), but I can't see myself reading the rest of the universe books. Particularly since Wynn is apparently the main character in those.

I think my real problem with this series is they are basically good reads, but too long. Every single one of them has felt like they could have shaved a good 50-100 pages off, and tightened up the story a lot. The endless running around town in the dark, for instance, or the 3 pages it took to describe Margiere fooling the town guards by opening a window in a stable while in fact hiding in a cellar under a hatch. A cellar with two barrels in it! that she didn't see at first! that have absolutely no point, but get a half a paragraph to themselves! Or the fact that she can smell the guards as well as hear them clomping around above her. Ok, sure that could be to point out just how close they are to her, but there is description for "flavour" and there is "clutter" and these books tend to come down rather more on the latter. If you want to describe the guards aftershave, maybe skip describing the unimportant barrels in the cellar. But what do I know, I'm just a reader. show less

This was an exciting and action-packed installment to the Noble Dead saga. The series' heroine is Magiere, but the half-elf Leesil is ever by her side. Now, he needs answers and Magiere embarks on a quest to find his mother, and his heritage.

Intrigue and mystery abound in this novel. The Elves are not well known and very secretive. Their clan of assassins is highly regarded, nearly worhsiped, by their people and they feel Leesil's mother betrayed them. When Leesil discovers she may be alive, he risks treacherous weather, evern more treacherous Elves and Magiere's doubts to find the truth. Our band of heroes, Chap, Leesil, Wynn and Magiere grow much closer in this novel. Leesil is DRIVEN in his quest, but they stick by him no matter the show more danger. Readers learn a lot in this book - a bit more about Chap, and how the Elves view him; why Leesil's mother trained him, what his "true" name is, and how the ancient elven spirits react to him. But what surprised me was what we learn about Magiere herself when they enter the eleven homeland.

The book has a good ending, resolving much of Leeil's heritage, but keeping Magiere still a mystery. I can hardly wait to read the conclusion! show less

Traitor to the Blood is the forth novel in the series by Barb and J.C. Hendee which follows the adventures of Magiere (a dhampir, half-human/half-vampire), Leesil (a half-human/half-elf), and their equally unique companions. In this story, former-assassin Leesil tries to track down his parents that he left behind years ago. Meanwhile, he and Magiere are trailed by her half-brother, Welstiel, who is trying to use Magiere for his own gain. They also face many foes: a ruthless overlord, a woman that Leesil orphaned set on revenge, a group of elven assassins, and a mysterious shape-shifting couple forced into servitude, just to name a few.

This installment delves deeper into each character, but especially Leesil since this book focuses on show more his tortured past and what has shaped him into the man he is. And each book in the series gets better with more character development, more complex storylines, more mythological lore, and more action. Any fan of vampire stories or the fantasy genre in general will love this series. show less

I really didn't like book 3 in this series, but enjoyed the first one enough to give #4 a chance. And it wasn't bad. Not a new favorite, but worth having read - once, at least. I'm not sure whether I'll ever re-read it. But it did keep me going in the series to read the fifth...

This is very much the mirror of 'Sister of the Dead.'

This time rather than exploring Magiere's childhood we look more closely at Leesil's. We find out quite a bit more about the Anmaglâhk and a bit more about all of the other characters.

It's set in another culture obviously, and again it's nicely drawn although the drawing apart and back together that seems almost inevitable between the two main humanoids is starting to grate a little - they've both got some truly horrible things in their history but they love each other regardless. Yes, adding stressors to their lives can make for drama, but it's the thing that's most repetitive in the writing and I find myself hoping they'll do something different next time.

Magiere has learned more than she ever wanted to know of her own origins, and is now helping her comrade Leesil learn of the fate of his parents. This requires that they venture into the balkanized Warlands and the realm ruled by Leesil's extremely paranoid and downright evil former master. This leads to getting mixed up with rebels, elven assassins, and yet more manipulation from the opponent who is tailing Magiere the whole way. And do they really need to save the evil bastard just to prevent even worse chaos from ensuing?

After the complexities of the earlier books, the party begin to earn each other's trust, while two of the opposition get to deal with complexities of their own.