The Faithful Traitor: #2

I began reading the author's book when I happened across Wizard in Waiting in a bookstore - years ago. Loved it and the rest of the series too. I realize it is incredibly hard to write a prequel without dismantling or changing the points made in the books that follow the story. The author did a pretty good job. Admittedly, it took a couple of times to get into the story (Book 1), but once I did - I'm was glad to have made the trip. The follow-up book, I kept wondering how he was going to tie things up and still leave room for what we know are three more books that come a long time later. He does manage to do it and nicely so. The books are almost stand-alone - and that to me defines a good series. You do not have to have read the other books or read them afterwords (though I highly recommend all of this author's books). There are moments in the book that are almost poetical in the writing style. Moments that touch your heart and for a brief moment you KNOW this story took place somewhere and the author is simply relating what actually happened to you. It is a truly enjoyable read - and a pleasure spending time with the characters. One caveat - there were a couple of times, I was taken out of the story, but plunged on ahead anyway. Especially the far southern island events. Little odd - but this is a fantasy story and if you give him time, he'll make it up to you. He did for me. This is one book that is on my reread list.

"The Faithful Traitor" continues the story started in "The Forging of the Dragon." The first tale was a very solid prequel, explaining why Vicia-Heinox was created and what happened in the aftermath.Unfortunately, in that aftermath, the wrong man, Seagryn, was blamed for creating the dragon. Instead, it was Sheth who had conceived of the idea (Seagryn's contribution was due to another individual, a tugolith -- a sort of elephant-like animal with rudimentary intelligence and speech -- sacrificing herself for him, as he was intended to be the other sacrifice as his altershape was/is a tugolith), but instead of catching the blame, Seagryn is wrongly accused.This accusation has some basis in fact, mainly because Seagryn is probably the only person who can stop the dragon from feeding on people due to the unusual bond he has with one of the two souls that makes up that dragon. (In the forging, the two tugoliths lost their old identities, but the souls are still distinct. Basically, one of the dragon-heads hates humans and wants to do them dirt, while the other just wants to talk with the humans and get to know them as people. The second head is the good soul who sacrificed for Seagryn; the problem is, she, too, will eat humans as her preferred dish basically due to the other soul's influence.) He can sometimes stop them from feeding, and attempts to do so after the dragon attacks his village. He's seen trying to stop them, but that's misinterpreted.The comedy of errors continues throughout the book, but it's interwoven with far more dire elements. In addition to the dragon, the remnants of the One Land have fallen under the sway of rogue traders, and the economy everywhere is miserable. (Bad enough to have a dragon randomly feeding, when the rest of the time you can't make a go of it anyway.) And many people are out to get Seagryn, including some of his erstwhile friends, and Seagryn's new wife isn't really safe, either . . . . This is a very entertaining story on one hand, and a very moral tale on the other. Seagryn attempts to right wrongs that he didn't create, mainly because he can see that they need to be righted by someone -- and he's the best candidate for the job.In addition, the minor characters (including Dark the Prophet and Paumer the former head of the trading combine/Conspiracy) have much more weight and heft than in Hughes' earlier trilogy about Pelmen the Powershaper.I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys moral and ethical fantasy.Five stars.Barb Caffrey