A Man Betrayed

A fantastic follow up to the first book. The author keeps the story going strong with enough twists and turns to keep the reader hooked.

A Man Betrayed is the continuation of the Book of Words trilogy by J.V. Jones. The first seemed to end poorly, but I was still determined to read the series because of the numerous praises I have heard. Once I picked this one up, I could not put it down. Betrayal evokes the most primitave of emotions, and this book was able to do just that. I felt for the characters and went through their pain and pleasure with them. Jack, the main character, is separated from Melli and told that she is dead. He uses this as fuel to light his fire for revenge. Jack is taken under the wing of a bad trader, Rovas, who teaches him how to fight so he can kill the man responsible for Melli's supposed death. While being taught, he falls in love with a seductive older woman, Tarissa. It isn't until his downfall that he realizes the betrayal. Melli is captured and sold to a flesh trader. Although, the flesh trader finds out that Melli could cause trouble for his business, so he sells her as soon as possible to the Duke of Bren. Each time she tries to find out a way to escape captivity, but all she has is a knife, which ends up being her downfall. As for the others, Tawl is sent into despair, and it is only Nabber who can bring him back. Maybor and Baralis travel to Bren to set up King Kylock's marriage to Catherine of Bren. Kylock, as the newly crowned King, is destroying the Halcus. And Catherine is not exactly what Kylock believes. It all adds up to one great story. I normally think of the middle book of a trilogy as just a bridge to gap the first and the last, but this one stands alone, and is even my favorite of the series. Master and Fool, here I come!

This is the second volume in the Book of Words trilogy (following The Baker's Boy and followed by Master and Fool).Melli and Jack, fleeing for the second time from Castle Harvell, take refuge in a chicken coop. While Jack is taking a morning stroll in the snow to stretch his legs and bury the corpse of the Halcus man he's just killed to defend Melli, a group of soldiers kidnap the girl to sell her to a flesh-trader. On his way back to the coop, Jack is captured by Rovas and taken to his house. There he meets the smuggler's makeshift family: Magra and her mysterious daughter Tarissa, two noblewomen, exiles like him from the Four Kingdoms. They'll make him believe that Melli has been raped and slaughtered and enroll him to kill the Halcus captain responsible for her death.In the North, Lord Maybor and Baralis are both travelling to Bren, acting respectively as king and prince envoys to arrange the bethrotal between Prince Kylock and the Duke of Bren's daughter, the young and beautiful Catherine. But in the meantime, Kylock murders his father and therefore becomes king of the Four Kingdoms. He won't wait long before dismissing his mother and invading Halcus in order to put an end to the war.In this middle volume, the protagonists are all steadily converging to the city of Bren for the third and final act. As J.V. tries not to reveal too much of the plot in itself, with this book she digs deeper into the various characters' personality, and as a result I was surprisingly starting to feel pity for a character I used to loathe, or be just as confused as the hero about another one. I'm definitely looking forward to reading Master and Fool!

The continuation in the series is fantastic. Baker's Boy was good but this is all that and so much more. The plot twists and turns wonderfully and there is a real difficulty in deciding who the good guys and the bad guys are with some characters managing to be both at the same time. Some wonderful charcters can be found and iot is good to find that they are not the main focus of the book but side characters help to increase the wonderfully told tale

Okay, okay. So, I picked this book up a lot and put it back down. Who wouldn't? Sitting right next to Robert Jordan on the shelves, and with Mr. Sweet for the cover artist, who could resist? Finally, I did buy the first book, and promptly returned the day after to by the next two. Ms. Jones creates a very clear, exciting and vivid picture, right from the start! I equally rate the other books just as highly! In fact, it was her that persuaded me to give hardcovers a chance - no way was I waiting for the Barbed Coil to be released in paperback, and I am quite pleased with it all. Can't wait for Cavern to come out.... And, Ms. Jones is incredibly friendly, to boot! She's got a webpage, guys, and she's just really nice in her emails. One of my favorite story tellers!! :)