Traitor's Moon

My favorite book of the series by far. This book takes place in Aurenen. Seregil, who returns to his home country for the first time since he exiled, as a member of the Skalan delegation that is trying to ally themselves with the Aurenfaie.
The relationship between him and Alec has developed into something deeper between the last book and this one, but he still has trouble sharing his worries with Alec. We learn more about his past, we meet his family and old friends. For Alec, learning more about Seregil and seeing all the magic in Aurenen is all exciting. There's tensions because of the war (and the time constraint that the Skalan delegation works in due to the war going on) and because of Seregil's past crime (which not everyone has show more forgiven him for). While Princess Klia and Thero have to navigate Aurenfaie politics, Seregil pends time with his family and tries to come to peace with his current status.
When Klia nearly dies, Seregil and Alec have to use their nightrunning skills to find the culprit and save the alliance talks from failing.

This book developes the relationship between the main characters a lot. Having Seregil in a more vulnerable position helps with Alec becoming more of an equal despite their age difference. Thero is now a much more enjoyable character and a good addition to the watcher group, it's good to see the results of the character development that was started in the last book. I miss Micum but Beka is wonderful as well. A well rounded book, that made me feel a lot of things. show less

This installment in the Nightrunner series is excellent—more than simple sword and sorcery—as Alec and Seregil travel to Aurënen as part of Princess Klia’s diplomatic entourage. Seregil’s exile complicates the mission, and there is plenty of duplicity and mystery.

Flewelling adds more depth to familiar characters, and Aurënen becomes more than a storied land populated by long-lived, magical folks. This is a rich and satisfying story that still managed to leave me wanting more.

I got stuck to this book. I couldn't stop thinking about it. And not in a bad way. I wasn't trapped in Aurenfaie, I just liked it there, a lot.

That said, I should say that i like my books with more night running and much less politics, but I didn't even mind all the politics.
The story came to a nice close, not exactly an ending, but a glimpse of new beginning, and I liked that. It's not a cliff hanger, I don't have to read the next book, but I'll probably do it.

With just as much political intrigue, and character development as the previous two installments of Lynn Flewelling's Nightrunner Series, this third book did not disappoint.
I loved that this novel took us to a new land in Flewelling's world, and allowed us a deeper dive into Seregil's mind and past. It was a nice change of pace from the previous two novels, and took the series in a newer direction. It was refreshing to see a newer side to Seregil than the previous books had shown.
This installment to the series is definitely a much slower paced story, and dealt far more with the political side then the nightrunner side, and that in the end was where it faltered for me in comparison. I appreciated the story and the character show more development, but the entire time I longed for Alec and Seregil to do what they do best. The reason I fell in love with the series was the whole concept of the Watchers and their nightrunning adventures. In this book they were too far and few between, and it felt somewhat lacking for that.
The other part that really upset me, was that we never got to see Alec and Seregil's relationship grow. The end of book 2 has them realizing their feelings and book 3 picks up 2 years later when they are fully realized and they are now lovers. I felt cheated. As invested as I am in the two characters I would have loved to have watched that relationship grow and develop, rather then just picking up with them already have figured it all out.
Though I really wanted to read about the development it didn't take away from the novel itself, and in the end is just a personal complaint.
Overall, this felt like a strong addition to the series that pushed the narrative forward, and builds on the world and characters Flewelling has so endeared me to. Still one of my favorite fantasy series I have read to date. show less

After the rapid-fire pace of book 2, this third Nigthrunner seems almost plodding in comparison. That said, the story is just as rewarding if requiring more patience from the reader. Here our heroes are sent to Seregil’s birth country of Aurenen to negotiate the reopening of ports and trade to assist Skala in the war effort. Politics and diplomacy take a lot of time, but are no less deadly than Seregil and Alec’s previous adventures. We also find out the details surrounding Seregil’s exile, meet his family and his enemies. The first half of the book spends a lot of time on detailed world-building since the long-lived Faie are so different from the humans. Alec has another mission while in Aurenen – to learn more about who his show more mother is. Though Alec gets an answer of sorts on that front, it is mainly to lay the groundwork for a future story. Most of the resolution is focused on Seregil, and the ending is intricate and conspiracy-laden. If he had to choose between Aurenen and Skala, where would his loyalties lie?

Overall, though I didn’t find this as exciting as book 2, I enjoyed it very much. The characters grow from their experiences, I love spending time with them, and the plot was interesting with some surprises here and there. Highly recommended series that leaves me anxious for more. show less

Traitor’s Moon is the third book in the Nightrunner series, however it is a stand alone that the author says can be read independently. If you want to start from the first book, look at Luck in the Shadows. This installment is more diplomacy and political machinations than the prior novels. Skala has not been fairing well in the war, and Alec and Seregil are recruited on a diplomatic mission to Aurenen to request aid.

My major problem with Traitor’s Moon lay in the pacing. This is a 540 page novel, and it took 300 pages for me to get truly into the book and excited about what was going on. Because of this, it took me much longer to read than normal, since for a long while I was only picking up Traitor’s Moon during wait times show more before classes and such. It didn’t help that the book involved a ton of characters and made up fantasy words (with apostrophes!) and didn’t have a glossary.

As I’ve mentioned in my reviews of the first two books, I’m a bit iffy about the age difference in Seregil and Alec’s relationship. I know it’s a very common trope, but it’s not one I like. There was a two year time gap between books, so thankfully Alec was eighteen for the events of this book.

Seregil is an emotional wreak for a lot of this book since going back to Aurenen is bringing up all sorts of bad memories and emotions. I tend to like when the protagonists are a complete mess, so this was actually one of my favorite aspects of the book. It also helped me warm up to Seregil again since it’d been over a year since I’d read the second book.

I don’t know if I’ll go forward with this series. I feel like I spent too much time slogging through the beginning of the book, and from what I remember of the first two, that’s not an isolated incident. I like the characters, but I don’t feel invested enough to keep reading purely for their sake.

Originally posted on The Illustrated Page. show less

The third book in the Nightrunner series, Traitor's Moon is a slight departure from the previous two. The previous two books were focused on various plot threads, spying, mysteries, etc... This one sets a completely different pace. For one thing, it takes place, for the most part in Seregil's home country of Aurenen, and there is a fair amount of political hand-holding, though there is a slight bit of mystery. The backbone of this story isn't in the action, it's in the connection with the characters and in getting a deeper understanding of the intricacies of the Aurenfaie, the different clans and how they value things like Honor and truth, and how they interact with one another.

We also learn the true circumstances behind not only show more Seregil's exile, but Alec's birth, though I suspect there is more to the story of the Hazadrielfaie's exodus from Aurenen than we have learned thus far. Not to mention the the strange prediction telling Alec he would "father a child of no woman". All mysterious things that I think we won't see answers for just yet.

I also I liked Nyal and was pleased to see Beka find someone. Thero grew on me a lot in this book. In the previous two books I didn't *dislike* him exactly, but I wasn't overly fond of him either. We also see more of Klia and Beka's Turma

Still, overall I enjoyed this book quite a lot, just in a different way than the previous two. show less