Traitor of Redwinter

The Redwinter Chronicles, Book 2

By: Ed McDonald

Narrated by: Samara MacLaren

Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Traitor of Redwinter is the second in Ed McDonald’s Redwinter Chronicles, full of shady politics, militant monks, ancient powers... and a young woman navigating a world in which no one is quite what they seem.

The power of the Sixth Gate grows stronger within Raine each day—to control it, she needs lessons no living Draoihn can teach her. Her fledgling friendships are tested to a breaking point as she tries to face what she has become, and her master Ulovar is struck by a mysterious sickness that slowly saps the vitality from his body, leaving Raine to face her growing darkness alone. There’s only one chance to turn the tide of power surging within her—to learn the secrets the Draoihn themselves purged from the world.

The book can teach her. She doesn’t know where she found it, or when exactly, but its ever changing pages whisper power that has lain untouched for centuries.

As the king’s health fails and the north suffers in the grip of famine, rebellious lords hunger for the power of the Crown, backed by powers that would see the Crowns undone. Amidst this growing threat, Raine’s former friend Ovitus brings a powerful new alliance, raising his status and power of his own. He professes support for the heir to the throne even as others would see him take it for himself, and desperately craves Raine’s forgiveness—or her submission.

But the grandmaster has her own plans for Raine, and the deadly training she has been given has not been conducted carelessly. In Raine she seeks to craft a weapon to launch right into her enemy’s heart, as Redwinter seeks to hold onto power.

Amidst threats old and new, Raine must learn the secrets promised by the book, magic promised by a queen with a crown of feathers. A queen to whom Raine has promised more than she can afford to give.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.

©2023 Ed McDonald (P)2023 Macmillan Audio

Deep and emotionally engaging

This was a very impressive book 2 that moved the story along in unpredictable ways. This series is written beautifully and in a way that is emotionally quite heavy.

Samara McLaren rises to the occasion as the narrator, delivering an extremely raw and gripping performance. Can’t wait for the finale!

A Slow Burn

It’s a slow approach, but worthwhile and beautifully written.

Can’t wait for the next book…

How does this not have more ratings?

Beautiful story and performance. You won’t be disappointed in any of Ed McDonald’s work, but this series is my favorite of his thus far.

Great all around

Unique, eerie, and beautiful. I’m a huge fan of Ed McDonald’s books and the worlds he creates. This book was better than the first in the series and I’ll look forward to the next. The narration is great.

Original and Surprising

A deep exploration of human emotion and human ambition in a unique and otherworldly setting. Original story telling with engaging characters, both lovable and enviable. Narration is superb and brings this book to life.

Not quite as good as Daughter but still a worthy listen.

Great story, characters, worldbuilding, and an excellent sense of wonder. I enjoyed the story but I have a few gripes. First, the main character spent a lot of time in a melancholy funk. The author develops tension in the romantic subplot(s) by annoyingly and frustratingly delaying. Lastly, it seems like a few of the characters were changed from the originals in the previous book to fit the new story.

this guy's has not written a bad book

one of the most original authors you will find. I hated waiting for this book and the wait for book 3 is going to be worse.

Masterful!

I enjoyed The Daughter of Redwinter quite a bit but this second installment was in a whole different league! Truly masterful! Well done!

Nothing happens for large majority of book.

In my review of Daughter Of Redwinter I stated that the book started off great before becoming a tedious bore of teenage drama and romance. It did have a decent ending though, so I decided to move on to Traitor of Redwinter, hoping the story would progress beyond the YA themes. The answer to that is it definitely did not.

Traitor of Redwinter doesn't even offer the good send off of it's predecessor to get the story rolling, instead diving right back into the teenage POV's internal dialogue of self loathing, doubt, and failed romantic relationships. A good 90% of this book is filled with her mind numbing blathering and whining. Any advancement of the storyline is drawn out and frustratingly slow.

Overall, I don't know how many times I considered just giving up on this book while waiting for something, anything, to happen. The narration by Samara MacLaren continues to be top notch and is this audiobooks only saving grace. Once again, author Ed McDonald comes up with a good ending to the book, but by the time you get there you really don't care. I may someday listen to the next part of this series considering I've invested the time of two books already, but it won't be a priority.