Tyrant's Throne

I keep wondering how Sebastien De Castell works so freaking fast. Just reading his books makes me tired. He just released this, Spellslinger AND the publication date is already out for the next, which is happening THIS YEAR. I swear to god, the man is a beast, at age 120 his great grandkids will have to remove the half done manuscript of his 21378th book from his hands by force. Not complaining, though, it's impressive.

Falcio and Co. will have to face issues of Tristia and even an outside force in this one, because this place simply can not have enough issues. At this point people don't even really seem to be willing or capable of fighting for it, as the conflicts managed to make everyone miserable. Twists happen, characters come and go. It's hard not to spoil, because so much of it all depends on those twists, they are not just for shock or anything cheap like that. Here everything matters.

I will go there and say it; I found this book the weakest in the series. Ridiculously entertaining, with the signature great humour. Seriously, this guy makes me laugh in a really unattractive, stupid way. Snorting happened. The action was fast and cool, while easy to follow. I love that. I'm the least violent person ever, I have no idea how a fight happens, but I can follow things just fine when this author does it. The protagonist and his buddies are awesome, you want to have a drink with them, because their awkwardness is just so human. They are not characters, they have life of their own. Even the different groups (the Greatcoats, the Bardatti, the Dashini, etc.) are fantastic, I really want to read some more stories about them in some way.

So what is the thing that makes me feel this is the weakest in the series? Trin. I absolutely loved how freaking deranged she was, how ridiculously horrible and evil she managed to be without trying to blunt it in any way. But then... this book happened.
Look, I totally understand characters who are morally grey, I even like that. At the same time you simply can not make a character giggle in joy as she tortures people, then back out and say "well, she is really just the victim of her circumstances". She didn't just do what she needed to do, as much as we were told, because we all remember that time in Knight's Shadow. That was not her doing bad things for the country. That was a profoundly EVIL person. I understand one of the motifs of this book was doubt in one's morality and the thin line between doing the thing that feels right and what is legally right, how you will wonder if you are doing the TRULY right thing, but don't freaking cross the line on me.

(Another minor thing. At one point they claim the dukes have an issue with Aline because she is a female potential ruler and how they can't deal with a strong queen. Paelis was not a woman and they executed him to shit. They don't want a royal of either gender who will take steps against them. Weird to claim it is her being a woman, instead of the fact they see the signs of her being like Paelis.
Then at one point some guy, I think a knight says it's horrible to let women fight, even though one character mentions his grandma's grandma was the village knight. Just like the Greatcoats have a bunch of women. Just like the Dashini. It's really not some new scandal, so... I have no idea why we are supposed to believe this character was surprised.)

All in all, I LOVED this whole series. It manged to make fantasy tropes feel fresh and full of life. It blended known, familiar things with masterful touches of originality and it was all spiced up with the extremely entertaining personality of the author. He made everything right, so far it seems like his instincts are working great when it comes to this. (Did anyone else read his amazingly hilarious bio?) We would lose out on something fantastic if he did not jump ship with the whole archaeology thing.
I definitely recommend this to people. Actually, I bought books for my best friend for his birthday, one of which was Traitor's Blade. He didn't get around reading it yet, but I do everything I can to spread the word and get more on board with this. It deserves it.

Now I am definitely reading Spellslinger, because I need to. This is out of my control. I'm hooked.

Good night and try keeping up with this brilliant, amazing madman. Sleep is for the weak.