The Traitor

By: Anthony Ryan

Narrated by: Steven Brand

Length: 19 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

In this “gritty, heart-pounding” (John Gwynne) conclusion to the New York Times bestselling fantasy trilogy, The Covenant of Steel, Alwyn must make a difficult decide between his heart and his morals as he prepares for his final battle.

It’s been a long journey for Alwyn Scribe. Born a bastard and raised an outlaw, he’s now a knight and the most trusted advisor to Lady Evadine Courlain. Together they’ve won countless battles and helped to bring order to a fractured kingdom. Yet Evadine is not the woman Alwyn once knew. As puritanical fury increasingly replaces her benevolent faith, Alwyn begins to question what her true motives really are. As the kingdom braces itself for one final battle, Alwyn’s conscience fights its own war with his heart. Now, more than ever, he must decide whose side he’s really on.

"This makes a rich treat for George R. R. Martin fans." —Publishers Weekly (starred review) on The Pariah

©2023 Anthony Ryan (P)2023 Orbit

4.5 Stars 🌟

4.5 Stars 🌟

This was one of these books that is the culmination of a huge saga. Unfortunately for someone like me who reads so many books, by the time I get to this book, there have been hundreds of books in between this book and the last book in the series. That is something that I struggle to deal with. Fortunately, it wasn't as difficult as I was thinking it was going to be. The details of the past started to come back to me fairly quickly and I I felt like I could drop myself into the storyline pretty quickly.

In this, the last and final book in the series, we follow the Scribe as he has now become the Traitor. We as readers, knew this was going to happen as we watched him from the beginning, go from the Outlaw, to the Scribe, to being the right hand man of the woman he was falling for Evadine. We knew that he was going to have to eventually make a decision, and we were honestly not sure at various points what direction he was going to fall - but he did not let us down.

This book takes us on this journey. Alwyn has finally had the blinders taken off and he is paying the price. But honestly, I think I loved this book all the more for it.

I listened to this completely on audio and I think because of that I might have missed some of the finer details, but I still enjoyed it. The reason I mention this is because in the second book I'm just now remembering that Alwyn found himself in an odd place of time, in the middle of a battle (as an old man?)....anyway, I think I remember this. But I was hoping that things like this this would have been explained, and maybe it was, but I think it passed over my head, because I don't remember any answers to that.

Regardless, I enjoyed this trilogy and loved being able to be fully immersed into this crazy world of a crazy woman and the effects of a cult like following....

thank goodness for an outlaw scribe.....

almost wasn't 5 stars

a strong finish to a good series. Anthony Ryan and Steven brand showed up and made it happen. the editor however, did not. there were MANY long pauses in narration. You could tell where they clipped audio together, and some lines were even delivered twice. it wouldn't stop me from listening to the book, but it's not great. the only reason I'm giving 5 is because it's a fantastic story and the narration is spot on.

Great end to a great trilogy

Very good ending to a really good trilogy. Really enjoyed the characters and how the story concluded

Great end. Great story structure

It was a great End. I couldn’t stop listening. Greta end for the series. Hope there is more to come.

I need more

as is often when finishing a trilogy of books that I love, I am left with a mix of glee and depression. In the span of a couple months, Anthony Ryan went from being unknown to me, to being my favorite author.

performance: this audible is terrible, volume fluxutions, abrupt cutoffs, missing segments, repeated segments. I have actually never listened to any audible book with as many problems at this one.

Complete rollercoaster

Alwyn's journey was a wild rollercoaster. I found myself fussing at and praising him while listening as if he were sitting next to me telling his story. To find out that all that happened was for an outcome of the birth of a child was shocking. I absolutely loved that Alwyn matured with each bit of knowledge and kept striving for more. Although he was the epitome of love is blind the swiftness of his determination to correct his bad decisions and keep his eyes open was admirable. I thoroughly enjoyed this series and look forward to learning of his son's hopefully in the near future.

WELL DONE!!!

I loved every second of this trilogy and thought this book was well written to wrap it up!

His best series yet

I have listened to most of his books & I have generally liked them all but this series is by far the best.

Great Twists at Every Turn

Just when you think you have everything figured out, boom! it goes left when you think it's going right. I loved how it was written, the new revelations and even the way things sort of ended :) Really enjoyed the series

Captivating

Such a great series, now finished, I find myself wanting to hear more of this story.