The Traitor's Daughter

The Veiled Isles Trilogy #1

by Paula Brandon

Here’s the beginning of a lush, epic, wholly original new trilogy that shines with magic, mystery, and captivating drama.

On the Veiled Isles, ominous signs are apparent to those with the talent to read them. The polarity of magic is wavering at its source, heralding a vast upheaval poised to alter the very balance of nature. Blissfully unaware of the cataclysmic events to come, Jianna Belandor, the beautiful, privileged daughter of a powerful Faerlonnish overlord, has only one the journey to meet her prospective husband.  But revolution is stirring as her own conquered people rise up against their oppressors, and Jianna is kidnapped and held captive at a rebel stronghold, insurance against what are perceived as her father’s crimes.

The resistance movement opens Jianna’s eyes―and her heart. Despite her belief in her father’s innocence, she is fascinated by the bold and charming nomadic physician and rebel sympathizer, Falaste Rione—who offers Jianna her only sanctuary in a cold and calculating web of intrigue. As plague and chaos grip the land, Jianna is pushed to the limits of her courage and resourcefulness, while virulent enemies discover that alliance is their only hope to save the human race.

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance, Steampunk, Historical, Science Fiction Fantasy

415 pages, Paperback

First published October 4, 2011

About the author

Paula Brandon lives in New Jersey

A pseudonym of Paula Volsky

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uh...so, I can see why this didn't fly as romance. Paula Volsky, writing as Paula Brandon, still pens intricate alternate historical fantasy with a certain flair for revolution. And torture, death magic, and morally ambivalent characters. Romance is a side plot at best, and while the author maybe plays it up a little compared to previous books, anyone going into this expecting a romance will be disappointed.

Instead, this is about an encroaching magical shift that will upend the world and the role of humans in it. A 20-year-old political coup that still hasn't stamped out its rebels or their scions. Deeply unpleasant people who, despite said unpleasantness, are capable of love, kindness, and affection (to a select few). And their kids, caught in the crossfire of a war they didn't create.

Also, since this is Paula Volsky / Brandon, her plagues are supernatural and inarguably worse than ours. At least Covid-19 doesn't turn us into zombies? Yet?

The Traitor's Daughter is not a whole story in itself. It sets the scene and introduces the players, but does not resolve any conflicts or even bring the characters together. I'm mostly okay with that except for the stupidity of NOT killing an enemy who has already come back once to cause you grief - seriously, why?? Now's not the time to be merciful, man! and on board for the next one in the trilogy. 3.5 stars, rounding up because of all the low ratings from people who were expecting a bodice ripper.

[Liriel27 · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not that the book was badly written, exactly, but having just finished it, I'm left with a number of issues.

1. As others have noted, the blurb is misleading. If you are looking for raging zombie action OR romantic fantasy, this is really not the book for that. Perhaps both will show up in later books. The most you get are tiny little hints of things (which works quite well for building subtle menace about the zombies, but not so well with the romance). If you actually read the cover blurbs, however, they are accurate - this novel is way more about the complex people, relationships, and politics in this world than anything else.

2. Jianna is not the most engaging of protagonists. I mean, I don't want her to be lit on fire and dropped in a ravine somewhere, but if it weren't for how intentionally cruel her treatment is once she is kidnapped, I don't think I'd care about her at all (and I'm pretty sure the romantic lead wouldn't, either). When your only recommendation is that you are nicer than the people threatening you with violence and gang rape, well, that isn't very much. She's meant to be all spunky and independent and still touchingly human, but it doesn't work for me - she comes off inconsistent, less clever than she is supposed to be, and a bit thoughtless (like, maybe she could escape her unwanted marriage by, say, telling the magistrate who was there to perform it that she didn't want it and having him help her escape. It would be easier than her subcellar plan.)

3. Falaste Rione (aforementioned romantic lead) seems to be a decent guy...but that's about all we know about him. And, quite frankly, the fact that he is dithering about loyalty to his patroness when the heroine is being threatened with being passed around like the neighborhood bike makes him seem at best, willfully self-deluding, and at worst, monumentally stupid. You expect me to believe that someone of his intellect and experience of the world wouldn't know Yvenza's true character, after having grown up with her? I get that he's the favorite and all, but really. Is he that self-absorbed? Jianna at least has the excuse of being 18 and massively, actively sheltered from the realities of life (though times of crisis are no occasion to be coy. I have a feeling if she had told him exactly what she was threatened with, and how often, this would have all gone a lot smoother).

4. This book is pretty much unremittingly dark, which is fine for some people, but makes me feel like I have to grind through it. There are some moments of humor (unlike some reviewers here, I didn't see the automaton as one of those. It came off really menacing, and I kept expecting it to go into existential robot rage), but at least twice, Jianna's idea of wit is to say...exactly what she just thought in narration. Which gets old after, oh, the first time.

5. I wish the book hadn't felt the need to beat us over the head with the dysfunctional family theme at the expense of the actiony plot bits. The book's most common setting is the inside of someone's skull, which does get old, after a while.

6. Seriously, we're buying back Orantino's death? I mean, I get that there's a trilogy to write and all, but given how severely he was beaten, he's not realistically going to be whole, or mobile, or, y'know, conscious for the rest of his life. Cheap shot. I predict by next book he'll be shambling about, leering threateningly, just when Jianna thinks she's safe...

(and obviously, the little band of rebels will be arrested at some point, and because she's under an assumed name, no one will believe her when she's in jail, and her father will once again just barely fail to save her [probably by looking at the list of names and not seeing hers on it], but then the rebels will bust them out, and she will have a heavy reckoning to face, but people [Falaste, possibly his sister, who will see that they are in LOVE] will defend her because she helps the doctor, and the zombies are too much of a threat for us to let old grudges get in the way anyhow, and so on...)

Sigh.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Happy Halloween! I figure since it's Halloween I ought to review a novel with some kind of horror element. Well let's see, The Traitor's Daughter, "is a dark, rich feast, rife with plagues, kidnappings, political intrigues, bloody crimes, bloodier revenges, arcane upheavals, and the threat of zombies.” Zombies! Perfectly Halloween or so the writer of that blurb would have me think.  Unfortunately, my quest to review something horror was a complete failure.  While there is something akin to zombies in the novel, albeit not in a traditional sense, they manage to only garner 10-20 pages of 'screen' time. As much of a red herring as 'zombies' are, it's nothing compared to the outward appearance of Paula Brandon's debut novel which reflects almost nothing of what she actually wrote.

See, Traitor's Daughter just doesn't look like the kind of novel I would enjoy.  I try not to read reviews before I pick-up a novel, it's hard to articulate my thoughts clogged up by other people's, but I wasn't going to read Brandon's novel blind.  To allay my fears I sneaked a peak at the Goodreads reviews to get a feel before giving it a shot.  Quite a few of the reviews were lukewarm or negative in large part based on the incorrect assumption that Brandon's novel was historical fantasy romance - which was music to my ears.  Looking at the cover and the overt Jacqueline Carey blurb, I think those expectations were reasonable.  So much so that Amazon filed it under Romance.

At first glance, Traitor's Daughter looks like Gone with the Wind at best and Fabio on the Plantation (pretty sure I made that one up) at worse.  The long flowing dress, the articulated 'D', and  soft blend of a house emerging from a cloud with star pinpricks all over, screams: this is a book for CHICKS!  Unfortunately the back cover (below) isn't much better:

On the Veiled Isles, ominous signs are apparent to those with the talent to read them. The polarity of magic is wavering at its source, heralding a vast upheaval poised to alter the very balance of nature. Blissfully unaware of the cataclysmic events to come, Jianna Belandor, the beautiful, privileged daughter of a powerful Faerlonnish overlord, has only one concern: the journey to meet her prospective husband. But revolution is stirring as her own conquered people rise up against their oppressors, and Jianna is kidnapped and held captive at a rebel stronghold, insurance against her father’s crimes.

The resistance movement opens Jianna’s eyes―and her heart. Despite her belief in her father’s innocence, she is fascinated by the bold and charming nomadic physician and rebel sympathizer, Falaste Rione—who offers Jianna her only sanctuary in a cold and calculating web of intrigue. As plague and chaos grip the land, Jianna is pushed to the limits of her courage and resourcefulness, while virulent enemies discover that alliance is their only hope to save the human race.

So, other than the first sentence and the last clause of the last sentence, Traitor's Daughter sounds like a romance story between the kidnapped Jianna and the healer Rione.  It's not.  Brandon debut is high fantasy with a sprawling plot, political machinations, complex systems of magic, all of which manifest themselves in themes that both men and women will very much enjoy.  To someone looking for romance they're going to be sorely disappointed.

That's not to say there isn't a love story - there is sort of - but it's far more in-line with what a typical fantasy reader would expect in a non-Joe Abercrombie novel.  All told, it probably occupies a quarter of the novel leaving the rest of the time for Brandon to flesh out Magnifico Aureste Belandor, Jianna's father.  The fact his name isn't even mentioned in the novel's blurb boggles me.  Most of the novel is spent on his ongoing political struggle to rescue his daughter without destroying his tenuous position as a Faerlonnish lord ruled by the Taerleezi conquerors.

The society of the Veiled Isles is one akin to Apartheid.  An ethnic minority (Taerleezi) rules by way of conquest, oppressing the indigenous population (Faerlonne) and elevating those few willing to work for them.  Those elevated have become a lightening rod to their oppressed brethren diverting much of the unexpressed anger and resentment from the true oppressors.  Aureste, one of these 'betrayers' has spent his life securing his house's place under the Taerleezi government.  He has hidden his activities from his daughter, sheltered her, and now she'll pay for his crimes.  Brandon examines the lengths to which a father will go to protect his child as well as the sins a child's unconditional love can ignore.

A distinct lack of moral certitude permeates Traitor's Daughter.  Aureste and his daughter's captors both feel wronged and view there causes as right and just.  To them the ends always justify the means.  Jianna and Rione, representing the next generation, become Brandon's moral center, setup to become the reformer of their predecessors whom are stuck in the memory of past wrongs and outdated world views.  It all works spectacularly well creating an emotional investment not just in the characters, but in the political and familial structures Brandon puts in place.

If there's one black mark, aside from its marketing, it's that much of Traitor's Daughter feels like a prologue to a larger arc.  The novel is framed by chapters from Grix Orlazzu, an arcane practitioner who's clearly pegged to the larger story line of the world's wavering magic.  His chapters demonstrate a state of technological advancement that is far ahead of that present in the rest of the world.  Jianna and Aureste's narrative only tangentially touch on this framing, leaving me to wonder how everything is connected, a fact that's a little frustrating having finished a third of trilogy.  Given that the series is already completed and on an accelerated release timetable, I'm willing to give Brandon a pass despite my strong preference for every novel to have a beginning, middle, and end.

This is a long review that does a bit of a disservice to Brandon's novel.  As a novel, I definitely recommend it.  It's unquestionably one of the better fantasy debuts this year and the series holds a lot of promise.  I compare it favorably to Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet (not quite that good) for its audacity to write a fantasy series that focuses on politics instead of war without relying on the crutch of romance and sex.  Fans of epic fantasy that enjoy a slow build, ambitious world building, and political intrigue will absolutely eat it up.

In terms of marketing, I have to give it a big F.  It's not romance, or horror (zombies, ha!), or steampunk, or science fiction, or pure fantasy - it's a mix of all them making Traitor's Daughter a genre novel, but one that's hard to pigeonhole in a business that demands the opposite.  There's a possibility the next two installments are a lot more romance that the first.  But somehow the skeptic in me thinks that branding the novel as romance was a conscious choice and I find it a bit intellectually dishonest.

Long story short: buy the book, read it, and ignore the cover and the reviews that have a lot more to do with a poorly conceived presentation than any failing of Paula Brandon's.  The sequel, The Ruined City, is due out in early 2012 with the third installment to follow before year's end.  I look forward to spending a lot more time in the Veiled Isles.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this some time ago as a LibraryThing Early Reviewer book, and I'm very very sorry that it's taken me this long to finish it … I lost it, is the plain simple truth. If you saw my house you'd understand. It's a cross somewhere a small local library and an episode of "Hoarders". Happily, it appeared on NetGalley, and my request was approved, and vi-ola: two reviews with one stone. Or something.

It took some time for this book to click. One aspect of that was the cover: it looks almost typical of the run of historical fiction and historical romance in recent years, and as this is very much not either of those genres it was a bit of an adjustment to take in robots and Sishmindri. It's a whole new universe this is set in, with a new form of magic, and new species. I didn't really notice when the click came, but at a certain point it all suddenly made excellent sense: the Sishmindri are the bipedal amphibian race who are enslaved by the humans, considered by the vast majority to be far, far subhuman; next highest on the totem pole are the human Faerlonnish, who have been conquered by the human Taerleezi and who – except for the Magnifico Aureste Belandor, who acted in a manner he considered expeditious, saving his family – but which his fellow Faerlonnish considered vile treachery.

As the book begins, we meet Jianna, Belandor's daughter, who has been sheltered from all of the politics of the past. She is eighteen, lovely, spoiled, and an almost unsympathetic character who is being sent off for a strategic marriage. She never gets there. While her father's past actions have provided a safe and privileged life for her up to that point, they also created a lot of enemies, and some of those enemies stop her carriage and take her captive.

It's a dark story. There's the horror involved in the kidnapping – Brandon pulls very few punches for her characters. There are all the draconic laws of the society which lead to horrific punishments and retaliations: it is a land being ruled unwillingly, and it isn't pretty. And there is something else going on behind it all. Most people experience it as a terrible plague; people get sick, and then the authorities come in and quarantine the house or the block or the section of town. What most people don't realize is that the reason the quarantine is so viral is that the dead don't stay dead. What even fewer people realize is that the reason for the plague is that the Source, where all arcane power originates, is undergoing some serious changes, changes which could have cataclysmic consequences. I like that. I like that the concerns of each character are all in all to them. The resistance fighters working against the Taerleezi are concerned solely with trying to make an impact on their oppressors; the plague is a distant trouble, and they couldn't care less about the Source. They, and everyone else, are going to have to become a bit more open, or they might not survive.

I liked the characters who populate this alien world. They are not the most cuddly of people, but I liked the way they move through their landscape and made decisions with weight. Nothing comes easily, and there are consequences to everything. Yet there is a sense of humor to the writing which is a big part of what makes the characters not be hateful and leavened the harshness of the world. While the book didn't end on quite a cliffhanger, there are many situations left very much unresolved, and I look forward to the rest of the trilogy.

[Obsidian · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Traitor's Daughter was a struggle to get through. The prologue was very confusing. I almost gave up reading this book, but it started to pick up half way through.

When I read a book, I need someone I can relate to. Someone that I cheer on. However, it was very hard to find a likable character. Jianna sounds like a spoiled brat. (Although I did not like her, I didn't think that she should have been subject to kidnapping and cruelty). Aureste does not blink an eye at the cruelty that goes on before him. I do admit that he cares greatly for his daughter. The Belandor family at Ironheart seem equally cruel. Basically, it came down to choosing the most likeable out of the non-likeable characters (if that makes any sense). Falaste seems like he could have been a good character, however, he is not given much development. Everyone seems to love him, and Jianna is drawn to him, but I just did not warm up to him. I understand the loyalty he feels, but how does he not see Yvenza for who she is? I understand strong and iron-willed, but she will hit anyone or inflict cruelty on a whim. All the characters just seem to be so ruthless. They turn a blind eye to murder/brutality/basically anything wrong. Where is their moral compass?

As for the story. If you understand the Prologue, it seems to me that the world is going to end for the human race. However, this can be stopped. So I continue reading and hope that at some point this plot development will show up, however it is not until the final chapter that this comes to light. The final chapter!! Jianna is kidnapped. I get that. However, I also know that she will at some point be rescued. Well at least I hoped so. I really couldn't bear to see her hit for no reason. Falaste, being the good character that he is, cannot just leave her. How long does it possibly take for her father to mount his forces? He was so adamant to get moving. I wish that Jianna's kidnapping and rescuing could have moved on a bit faster. When they finally reached camp, it seemed like here were the interesting characters, but again, this is towards the end of the book.

I do admit I was hoping for some romance (I thought it hinted at some on the blurb from the book), but there is none to be found. And I really cannot understand Jianna's agreement to the marriage. She was worried about the repercussions of saying no, but even if she refused, she would still be treated the same. For someone who is supposed to be strong-willed, she gave up pretty easily. Her actions sometimes just seemed at complete opposite at times. She shows a fighting spirit, but then submits. I just don't understand. She completely does not want the marriage, yet goes through the marriage ceremony meekly!! It's frustrating.

I did find the arcane world interesting, however, it is given little book time. One interesting character was Nissi. Again, she was not given much book time. I just thought that more time should have been spent discussing the impending doom upon the human race.

I will not be reading the next book.

[Jessie Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read This Review & More Like It On My Blog!

3.75 out of 5 stars

What to do, what to do? First of all, I have to admit I've had this ARC for months - I won it in the First Reads program in 2011 - and just haven't gotten around to reading it. My bad GoodReads, you were right - this is a book for me, even if I'm not quite sure what to do with it. I'm torn about a lot of this fantasy novel - so much so that I couldn't even decide what range of rating I want to assign The Traitor's Daughter for a while after finishing - there's a lot to take in over the 415-page length.

Pro: excellent, fully original, alien, complex and layered worldbuilding.
Con: very stilted dialogue, constantly weighed down with exposition or repetition
Pro: strong, spirited, conflicted heroine (Jianna)
Con: remote characterization, slightly stereotypical in voice/personality
Pro: a unique and fresh idea as a 'source' (ha) for magic/ the "arcane ability"
Con: the slow-moving first hundred pages before the plot fully kicks in, starting with the three-chapters long introductory infodump
Pro: a greyly moral/complicated character in Aurest Belandor (his "kneeser" ways as opposed to his love and devotion to his daughter)
Con: the overlong and very-articulated abuse of a main, though thoroughly repellant, character
Pro: Overarching themes and unresolved plotlines that lead naturally to the next book (The Ruined City) without overextending the plot of book one
Con: certain aspects of the 'arcane art' can come off as terribly convenient (the "Distant Exchange" and so on)
Pro: it's a fantasy, but the love interest isn't the prince/Magnifico, and nor is the "romance" any sort of focus for the heroine He's got brains! He's a doctor!

All in all, for a debut novel in a high/dark fantasy series, The Traitor's Daughter is uneven but highly imaginative. Without a doubt I have to credit the author for the scope and breadth of the worldbuilding of this book - it truly is the most impressive aspect of the entire novel. The writing is serviceable, if exposition-heavy but it is the thinly-Italian-influenced history (warring island city-states with languages overly fond of vowels, and the letter "z", the titles of "Magnifico/Magnifica" as form of address to nobility) of the Veiled Isles that intrigued me the most. Author Paula Brandon has a wide an creative vision for her strange land of men and "quasi-men" to inhabit, and once the ball gets rolling, it's fun to join her there. It does take a while, but the payout is rewarding through the twists and turns of Jianna's story,

This isn't a novel afraid to get dark, gritty and murdery. Though some of the advertising blurbs out there for this advertise "the walking dead" as a selling point, and they do play some (small) part in the events of The Traitor's Daughter, the main horror of the book are the torture scenes. This is a dark fantasy - there's the practical slavery of a "lesser" species, rape is hardly worth mentioning, women are required to be subservient, several characters die or are murdered, others are tortured as a matter of course. Jianna is a serviceable main character and the third person omniscient POV probably does her a substantial bit of favor - she comes of as spoiled and ignorant (the whole city hates her dad and she has no clue? Despite 18 years of living there, and according to Nalio, wandering around town unattended?) - but it certainly would've been much worse to her overall impression had it been a first person perspective. To her credit, Jianna does gain a tiny shred of perspective through her prolonged interactions with Dr. Rione, but there's yards more to go.

I was surprised and impressed by the antagonist of the book - Yvenza. She uses her brain rather than force of arms to maneuver Jianna riiight where she wants her; it's formidable, especially in direct view of how her opponent operates. She's cold, calculating, intelligent and resourceful. I've said it before and it still holds true, a compelling and smart villain is miles better than a obvious and overdone stereotype. If I liked The Traitor's Daughter in spite of its deficiencies and flaws, the same could also be said for my opinion on the Dowager Magnifica. For all her hatred and cunning, she's at least reasoned out in her motivation, understandable at her desire to set right what has been taken from her. If her methods are harsh and cruel, so too is the world that turned on her and the man that did it. Her sons are bit more trope-ish and stereotypical - I didn't feel even a hint of individual presence from Trecchio and Ontartino was pure, unadulterated malevolence without his mother's cool intelligence to balance out his brutishness. Rione, too, for much of the novel is a bit blandly perfect though he branches out against his patron eventually. Besides the delightfully flawed Aurest and Yvenza, the cast is in much need of individual attention and diversification.

I found myself very surprisingly wrapped up in the events of The Traitor's Daughter; theories about the Inhabitants, the sequel and more abound in my head and prove that the good outweighs the bad for this one. I'll be continuing with the Veiled Isles trilogy and can't wait to see what Paula Brandon thinks up next for her sophomore fantasy effort.

[Kate Anders · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can read this review and more like it on my site www.ufreviews.com

I really like the cover for this book, and I have to admit it did attract me, and made me want to find out more about the actual content of the book. The book blurb wasn't the most intriguing blurb I have ever read before but it had enough of pull for me to want to try it out.


Regardless of what I was expecting, this book was not at all my kind of book. To begin it started off kind of bizarrely. It started off with what I assume was suppose to be one part humorous and one part background information that would want the reader to want to know more. I'm not sure it accomplished either. The man it starts out with has built an automaton and this, essentially clone, believes he is superior to the man who built him. He is demanding, short, and arrogant. I think his offhand comments are intended to be humorous, and maybe they would have been if the situation itself hadn't been so confusing.


From there it immediately leaves that scene, which is somewhat jarring, and then turns to what appears to be some kind of political power struggle between families who are always vying for power over each other. My first real bone to pick, is the author is constantly introducing new places and people, and they all have completely unpronounced names, which makes it hard to remember who is who. So by the end of the first chapter, I was decently confused as to what was going on and what was the point of it all.


The writing style in general was fairly unimaginative, and did nothing to really draw me into what was going on. I wish I could give specific reasons as to what with the writing style was not appealing, all I know is that about a quarter of the way through the book, I really wanted to stop reading.


I struggled to find any characters I could really pull for or identify with. Jianna is probably the character who came closest to me liking, but fell short. Jianna is pulled from her sheltered life into a bad situation early on in the book, and in other books where a main character is kidnapped or something similar, I almost always feel myself pulling for that character, this was not the case with Jianna. I mean I felt bad for her, but her reactions were not organic, and because I didn't really believe in the character it was hard for me to want to pull for her or have empathy for her.


Perhaps there is an audience for this book, I suppose it leans more towards sci fi than historical fantasy. Honestly it reads more like a political thriller with bizarre magical elements thrown in for kicks. This is not a book for the urban fantasy fan, nor a book for anyone looking for romance.

[Bonnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Traitor’s Daughter was kindly provided to me by Netgalley for Random House Publishing Group .

Interested in more of my reviews? Visit my blog!

I was really anticipating this as the summary made it sound incredibly original and enticing. The prologue was a really rough start and I wanted to abandon it from the very start. Immediately delving into this strange and complex world with some serious lack of explanation was not the way to go. I found myself going back and re-reading large portions and still being unable to understand what was going on.

As if the prologue wasn’t enough to turn me off from reading this, it immediately goes into this political power struggle between two families and only succeeded in confusing me further. I have a hard time wanting to continue a book that is a huge info dump in the very beginning of the book and continues to introduce more characters and more information without slowing it down to explain it all. I felt an overall lack of interest for this book as a whole and for the characters as well. The writing fell flat for me and I felt that if the story didn’t have such a rough start and/or possibly explained things better I would have enjoyed it more than I did.

Considering that I read half the book and had to force myself to scan-read through the rest of the book to determine whether it was truly worth continuing or not (it really wasn’t) I will unfortunately not be continuing with this series.

[holly quigley · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be fair, my 2-star rating is completely a matter of personal taste. I received this book from NetGalley, and had requested it based on the fact that it was classified as a romance. This is NOT a romance novel. Maybe there are romantic elements, and maybe a romance happens within the walls of the overall story, but I'm pretty sure this is really a traditional fantasy structure. Which is not my thing, and that definitely colored my impression of it.

Coming from more familiar ground as a reader and writer, I couldn't help but feel like a lot of the exposition and various threads were just too long and probably unnecessary. But again, I could be wrong, and this could be due to a difference of genre. Then the dog got beaten to death, and frankly, that's a deal-breaker for me. Again, it's just a personal taste thing.

So, sorry - my 2 stars isn't a "THIS BOOK SUCKS!" but more of a, "Gee, I really wish the publisher had had the foresight to correctly categorize this book on NetGalley." I'm sure female fantasy readers will enjoy this one. I can't.

[Donna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Based on the back cover blurb, I was expecting political intrigue, adventure, and a little romance. What I got was an unfocused, draggy mess that wandered between hints of backstory, bland portents of magical doom, and the heroine being brutalized and repeatedly threatened with sexual violence.

There was no real hook at all, and the characters were all pretty bland. I stopped reading at the midway point, when the love interest showed up and immediately did something unforgivable.

[Kristin (MyBookishWays Reviews) · Rating 5 out of 5]

You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2011/12/...

When I started The Traitor’s Daughter, I immediately knew that I was in for something a little bit different. The book begins with an inventor, Grix Orlazzu, that is confronted by his own creation, an automaton that decides to take on his creater’s identity. However, his creator has discovered a disruption in the Source, a mysterious underground power from which magic originates. He leaves his home, and his automaton, determined to make his way to the Wraithlands to hopefully find out what’s happening with the Source. We don’t meet Grix again until the end, and you may be wondering about just what’s going on, but I promise, it gets much clearer throughout the story. We then meet Magnifico Aureste Belandor and his beautiful 18 year old daughter Jianna, who will soon make the journey to meet her betrothed. This journey will prove to change her and her father’s lives forever.

As Jianna travels to meet her new fiancé, her party is attacked by rebel forces and she is taken to a rebel stronghold, where she meets the formidable Yvenza Belandor, and her less-than-charming sons. Yvenza tells an outrageous story that puts Jianna’s father in the role of traitor, but it may not be quite as outrageous as she thinks. To add insult to injury, Yvenza plans to make Jianna her daughter-in-law by marrying her to her oldest son, Onartino. Let’s talk about Yvenza and Onartino for a moment. If Yvenza’s claims are true, you can understand her motivations, if not her methods. Onartino on the other hand, is a true sociopath. He’s no stranger to rape and murder, and his plans for Jianna are anything but romantic. I hated Onartino with a vengeance and had to keep myself from skipping ahead to find out Jianna’s fate. Luckily, there is a light at the end (maybe) in the form of a young doctor, Falaste Rione, who arrives at the stronghouse to administer to the rebel wounded. Kind and a little charmed by Jianna, he may be her only hope for escape, but his loyalties also lie with Yvenza, so convincing him to help will take all of Jianna’s wits. With Jianna, the author did a really, really good job of painting a portrait of a girl that has been raised very sheltered and pampered, but has hidden reserves, which she discovers slowly but surely, especially while helping Falaste administer to the wounded rebels. I loved the idea of the Source, a mysterious underground font of magic that may be ready to shift, and not necessarily for the better, and the author did a wonderful job of creating an atmosphere of magic and intrigue. Oh, and did I mention there are zombies? Or rather, the constant threat of zombies, for there is a plague loose in the Veiled Isles, but there may be more to the walking dead than meets the eye, and I’m hoping we’ll find out more about this in the next book. The Traitor’s Daughter shifts back and forth from Jianna’s plight to the goings on in her father’s world, and I’ll admit, while those passages were certainly entertaining, I found myself wanting to get back to Jianna’s story. I was riveted with The Traitor’s Daughter and can’t wait for The Ruined City, the next book in the series. If you like fantasy full of intrigue, drama, and magic, with a fascinating and unique setting, you’ll love The Traitor’s Daughter!

[Kayla Beck Kalnasy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Traitor’s Daughter by Paula Brandon is an adult fantasy that is also the author’s debut. It is filled with moral exercises, magic, impending doom, and a damsel in distress who is not one to wait around to be rescued. The book centers around the Belandor family (two branches) mainly, with some scenes focusing on their sworn enemy the Corvestri family, and Grix Orlazzu.

This book is completely different than anything that I’ve read before. The rules of the world are not immediately introduced and while it is annoying, it is understandable because magic doesn’t play a huge role in the story (at this time). There are two sets of antagonists, with one set being characters that I hate so much that I wish I was holding the pen so I could write them straight into the loving hands of the Spanish Inquisition. That is no small task for an author to make me feel so strongly about imaginary characters. The book is different in that there is a race of humanoid amphibians that do not get nearly the attention that they should – what fantasy novel these days doesn’t dwell on the non-humans?

Overall, it was an interesting read that I think anyone who loves hard-core fantasy and unique world-building will enjoy. (2.5 Stars)

[Stacy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was terrible! By chapter 5, I started skipping ahead just to make sure Jianna wasn’t raped and that she escaped her brutal kidnapping. I searched for a review to tell me what I needed to know, but there were none. So, if you find yourself only a few chapters in, lost with so many characters and situations, and you only want to know what happens to Jianna, here you go: She is betrothed by her father to someone in another place, he sends her to him with guards, they are attacked and everyone is killed but her. An evil woman, I don’t remember, nor care what her name was, has this plotted out, Jianna is to marry her son and give him children, so he can take over her father’s wealth and position as her father supposedly took all of that from the evil woman’s husband. Jianna is told she will marry, or she will let her son (who beats and rapes women as he sees fit) rape her until she is pregnant, and then pass her on to others for the same treatment. The evil woman’s son will get Jianna’s father’s position and wealth, or her unconceived grandchild will, just to get back at her father. Jianna ends up married to the monstrous son, but before consummation the doctor helps her escape. After escaping, Jianna’s father arrives, kills everyone but the evil woman, and returns home looking for his daughter. She is not there, they ran a different way because the evil people are excellent trackers, and would have suspected that she would run to her father. They arrived at a camp, safe and sound. Jianna’s father wants nothing but to find her. The evil woman had her dead sons brought with her so as to bury them, when a little girl that can do magic says she can bring the cruel son back (the one that is married to Jianna). She succeeds. That is basically the end, and I will not be reading the next book. There is something at the beginning and end about an annoying robot, no clue why or how that fits, that makes no sense. Everything else was like Charlie Brown’s teacher.

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I will have the FBC review very soon and I will c/p here, I want only to remark that this has been so far the best (more or less) traditional fantasy debut of the year for me - lots of misfires with other noted such - and I was surprised that it is not really a romantic fantasy novel as I expected, but a pretty traditional one with the expected tropes, though it has some sfnal elements too.

Full FBC Rv:

INTRODUCTION: The blurb below raised my interest quite a lot in The Traitor's Daughter who is a series and authorial debut that has just been published in early October. After reading the available sample from Amazon/Kindle to see if the book's style matches my taste, I got and immediately read it.

"On the Veiled Isles, ominous signs are apparent to those with the talent to read them. The polarity of magic is wavering at its source, heralding a vast upheaval poised to alter the very balance of nature. Blissfully unaware of the cataclysmic events to come, Jianna Belandor, the beautiful, privileged daughter of a powerful Faerlonnish overlord, has only one concern: the journey to meet her prospective husband. But revolution is stirring as her own conquered people rise up against their oppressors, and Jianna is kidnapped and held captive at a rebel stronghold, insurance against what are perceived as her father’s crimes.

The resistance movement opens Jianna’s eyes―and her heart. Despite her belief in her father’s innocence, she is fascinated by the bold and charming nomadic physician and rebel sympathizer, Falaste Rione—who offers Jianna her only sanctuary in a cold and calculating web of intrigue. As plague and chaos grip the land, Jianna is pushed to the limits of her courage and resourcefulness, while virulent enemies discover that alliance is their only hope to save the human race."

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Based on the blurb, I have expected "The Traitor's Daughter" to be a romantic fantasy with emotional scenes, exuberance, some darkness and the other usual characteristics of that subgenre. To my surprise, the novel turned out to be a pretty traditional secondary world fantasy set in a city-states milieu. The novel has a detached - and quite dark on occasion - style that worked very well and made it the best traditional fantasy debut of the year for me so far after lots of misfires and ok'ish but nothing spectacular such in 2011.

The blurb above gives some idea about the content though things are subtler in some ways. Beside Jianna - the privileged daughter of an aristocratic father - there are two more main characters whose pov's we also follow. Magnifico Aureste Belandor who for twenty years since the conquest of Faerlorn by neighboring Taerlezzi, sided with the occupiers of his city state in order to preserve his fortune and power, while in the process losing the respect of his peers and the love of his fiancee who married his most hated rival, Magnifico Vinz Corvestri, a magician on his own and head of the foremost enemy house of the Belandors for both political and personal reasons.

So 20 years later, Aureste who married a daughter of the minor nobility after he lost his fiancee to his rival, has only Jianna to cherish, while also respecting his younger magician brother Innesq who is crippled but can practice his "art", technically forbidden by the brutal conquerors.

This background sets the two main threads of the novel. As the blurb implies there is the adventure of Jianna who needs to travel to another city state to make a match worthy of her class and fortune - as no Faerlornnish Magnifico would marry a son of his house to the daughter of the despised "chief kneeser", while even Aureste would not countenance the idea of marrying her to a noble of the brutal occupiers Taerlezzi.

But also there is the constant plotting of Aureste and Vinz to undo one another, one using his connections to the hated enemy governor, the other his link to the feared resistance. And besides all the big picture and ominous signs loom, there is a mysterious automaton, a reptilian servant race - the Sishmindri - and the pitch perfect atmosphere of causal brutality, poverty and opulence, etc..

As the title character, Jianna is quite interesting - smart and occasionally resourceful, but naive and petulant too - and I think the author did a great job in both her initial portrait and in her later evolution, when things start happening...

I also liked Aureste - though seemingly despicable for his many misdeeds, seeing the action from his pov, reminds one that everyone is a hero of his own story, while in many ways said actions just mark him as a person of his times and class and his devotion to Jianna is unmistakable as is his respect for Innesq.

Vinz Corvestri is less well portrayed for now, mainly because he has less pages, and while outwardly he is the "virtuous patriot" relatively impoverished by his "principles" - after all he still lives in an opulent mansion and orders his servants and wife around - and in his actions we see the essential similarity between him and Aureste, while the author does not really take sides which is another thing I liked about the novel.

The world building is just starting in this novel and I liked a lot what I saw but of course there is much more to be understood, there is a lot of action and some magic, while the ending is at a very good point with some little twists too.

I also liked a lot the author' style - detached, a little cynical, a little ironical, and with no compromises to our 21st century way of seeing things. The world of the novel reminds one of the Italian city states of the 15th century with the Borgias and the Medicis and their little brutal wars, assassinations, feuds, poverty and glamor and the writing style matches that impression very well.

Overall "The Traitor's Daughter" (A+/A++) is the best traditional fantasy debut of 2011 so far and its sequel "The Ruined City" has become a highly awaited fantasy of early 2012.

[Deirdre · Rating 1 out of 5]

First of all, I think I may have been mislead by the cover of this book, which got us off to a bad start. I have been fairly thoroughly conditioned to believe that any YA book with a picture of a Big Dress on the front cover will be fairly light, pleasant reading. THIS WAS NOT SO. I WAS DECEIVED.

I would have been able to forgive the marketing team (after all, I enjoy other kinds of books as well) except for the wholly gratuitous violence that punctuates the novel and the exceedingly unpleasant, uninteresting characters that populate it. In a book I can usually handle either unpleasant or uninteresting, but not both. The characters were all caricatures of either themselves or stock archetypes, you choose, and I didn't even like the heroine all that much to make up for it.

Also, the zombie-producing magic never felt well-explained or well-integrated into the rest of the fantasy world. It was all a little disjointed and vague. I wasn't even like, wow, zombies and magic? What an intriguing idea! I was like, do I have to finish this? No! It is my vacation! I do not!

Thumbs down, way down.

[Abigail · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't actually finish the book... I didn't like it. While I could understand that there was a plot and I can appreciate the effort that goes into creating an entire world like this, this book was not my style whatsoever. It felt incredibly slow-moving and the characters felt very flat. There was very little comic relief (if any at all in some parts) to juxtapose the harsh and depressing plotline. I got about halfway through the first book of this series before deciding to put it down. It was difficult to read and I didn't resonate with the characters.

[Chas Bomgardner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Between the confusing pieces of the story was a good plot of damsel in distress but it had so much else around it that didn’t seem to make sense and had me skipping most of the last 100 pages to just see how it ends. This also had more crude insinuations of things- while not considered spicy to some it crossed a line for me.
Maybe for a different reader this would have been more stars?

[Laurie D'ghent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this book and the story, but the occasional violence was too graphic for my taste (I can never stomach torture). There was one brief, but severe, scene of innuendo and anatomy talk. I would read more of the series, but I hate being blindsided by the violence.

[Capricious_Reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book via audiobook, I believe had it been physically read I would've enjoyed it more.

I can't say I disliked it but I also can't say I liked it. I also don't know why I'm proceeding to the second book also via audiobook. Oy.

[scarlettraces · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unmistakably a Paula Volsky book, but I have to admit I didn't like it as much as earlier ones.

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was very good and I liked it a lot.

[Leigh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hated the narrator. Just couldn't finish it.

[Andreana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I lost interest and stopped reading half way thru. There were some interesting concepts, but I hated all the characters. At times the back story was hard to follow, and had to reread at some spots. I wouldn’t recommend, too many other books out there.

[Colleen Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reviewed the book for www.luxuryreading.com.

In a land known as the Veiled Isles, the eternal energy called the Source is beginning to reverse. With the last reversal mankind was able to inhabit the Veiled Isles and banish the previous Inhabitants, a race of sentient, bodiless creatures that operated as one Overmind to control all manner of living things in their path, to the area known as the Wraithlands.

Since then man has created its civilization and many have forgotten the power of the Source and what came before. But now the signs that the Source is once again reversing, allowing the very laws of nature and arcane magic to change and the great Overmind to once again assert its power, are beginning to show. The only way to halt this change is to cleanse the Source and keep it on its current path. This can only be done with the combined assistance of the arcane powers held within the six great houses: Belandor, Corvestri, Steffa, Orlazzo, Pridisso and Zovaccio. These houses have been at war or been slowly dissipating for years, but they will have to find a way to come together or they, and all of mankind, are doomed.

In the city of Vitrisi, the wealthy Magnifico Aureste Belandor is saddened but resigned to marry his beloved daughter, Jianna, to a prominent family far from the city of her birth and the hatred that he has kept her sheltered from. Jianna idolizes her father and has no idea he has long been considered a traitor to his Faerlonish brethren and has spent his life conniving and bribing his way into favor with the current administration.

On the ride to her wedding, Jianna’s carriage is attacked and all her attendants viciously murdered before her eyes. Her captors soon show themselves to be a branch of the Belandor family that Aureste brought to ruin, allowing himself to become the Magnifico of the family after his predecessor, Onarto Belandor, was killed in exile. Onarto’s widow, Yvenza Belandor, has hatched a plan to marry Jianna to her brutish son, Onartino, hoping to once again establish her lineage as the head of the house.

As Jianna waits for her father’s rescue she soon discovers she will need to use her own resources and intellect to try and save herself. At the edge of despair help comes from a Dr. Falaste Rione, a man who has lived his life loyal to Yvenza but cannot justify the pain she seems set to lavish on Jianna.

While Jianna lies in the clutches of Yvenza and her vicious clan, Aureste sets out to indeed try and rescue his daughter. As he uses his brother Innesq’s arcane powers to locate her, he also sets about to destroy one of his enemies, Magnifico Vinz Corvestri , the man who married the only other woman Aureste ever loved, Sonnetia Steffa. But before Vinz is arrested, he uses his own arcane magic to assist the Faerlonish resistance in an attempt to murder Aureste and burn down Belandor House, injuring Innesq in the process. By the time the smoke clears, Jianna and Dr. Rione are in hiding with the resistance, both Yvenza and Aureste’s homes are in ruin, Vinz has been arrested and Innesq lies on the brink of death. Will they all survive and, if so, how will they ever begin to work together to save the world as they know it?

The Traitor’s Daughter is the first in an epic trilogy that promises to be exciting. Not usually a fan of fantasy stories, I was thrown off at first by the talk of magic; as the story progressed I became enamored with Paula Brandon’s writing. It reads like a classic historical fiction novel that stretches its boundaries to include the mystical. The twists and turns keep you turning the pages and while there are a lot of plot points and characters to absorb, it isn’t hard to become thoroughly invested in the story. The ending is left at the tip of a cliff hanger and I cannot wait to read the second book in the series, The Ruined City, which comes out in February 2012.

[Wicked ♥ (Wickedly Bookish Reviews) aka Bat-Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed for Wickedly Bookish
http://wickedlybookish.blogspot.com/

The intriguing first installment of the Veiled Isles Trilogy gives readers a taste of its rich world and the cataclysm to come. Jianna is the spoiled daughter of Magnifico Aureste Belandor. While on her way to a new land and a future husband, Jianna is kidnapped by an enemy her father discounted long ago. Jianna must overcome her pampered upbringing and naivety of her father's past deeds in order to escape the fate that awaits her.

The whimsy of this book caught me right away with the prologue and the humorous banter between Grix Orlazu and his automaton I never felt forced to read this as the style and quality of writing were wonderful, however I felt like there was a veil between myself and the characters. Although I wanted to get to know them better I could never really connect or relate to any of the character except Jianna. Jianna annoyed me at first with her bratty attitude and complete dependency on her father to rescue her, however as the story progressed and it become more and more clear that her father would not be coming to her rescue, I was pleasantly surprised at Jianna's development. . I especially enjoyed her nursing of the patients with Falaste Rione. Instead of complaining and getting grossed out, she rose to the challenge and helped heal the battle injuries of her patients. I loved her growing sense of responsibility and her eventual willingness to devise her own way of escape. It was nice to read about a heroine who tries to save herself rather than just waits for someone else to do it. I look forward to seeing how much she grows in the next book as well.

There was were very little romance elements in this book. You could tell the author is setting up Jianna to have feelings for Rione, but instead of focusing on a romance, the Paula Brandon focuses on her world building, characters, and story. Although I felt the chapters focusing on Vinz Corvestri slowed down the pace of the novel quite a bit, I still enjoyed getting to know the characters. Rione was my least favorite character in this story, mostly because he was a complete and utter wimp until the last couple chapters. I absolutely hated that he just stood around and let Jianna be hurt and treated as a prisoner. If Jianna does develop feelings for him and he becomes the love interest, I hope the author gives Rione a way to redeem himself because he is still on my shit list.

Readers will find this first installment to be more of a precursor to the main story which seems to be set to unfold in book 2. While reviews I have read complain about this, I was compelled to find out more and actually excited by the way it all ended. The end perfectly sets up book 2 for readers and gives them a pretty good idea of what is happening to the world around its characters. As a zombie fanatic, I am not completely convinced about the zombies of Brandon's world, but am looking forward to finding out more about them. I think Brandon had the right idea when she set up The Traitor's Daughter to mostly set everything up so that she could get into the meat of things in book 2 The Ruined City set to be released February 28th of 2012.

Recommendation: Fantasy fans will recognize the elements of an epic tale, but will want more clarification. Not for readers looking for a romance novel, this is pure fantasy and adventure.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't recall where I got the recommendation for this book, but I started reading it while fighting my way through the last book club book as a break and finished it up this past weekend. The setting is small geographically, comprising just one island and two cities that are about three days travel by carriage apart, although later books will likely expand the scope. The main character is Jianna Belandor, the pampered and sheltered 18yo daughter of Aureste Belandor who is widely reviled in his home city for cooperating and kneeling to the conquering overlords. Due to public opinion of him and his family, Aureste makes a marriage contract for Jianna in a neighboring city, but she is kidnapped during her trip there by another sect that has serious problems with Aureste. The woman in charge of that group plans to marry Jianna off to her cruel oaf of a son, using cruelty and beatings to get her way with Jianna as well as her own sons and retainers. Meanwhile, Aureste has his own problems with another one of his longtime enemies, and the Source of magic is starting to have problems as known natural laws are breaking and magic is not working properly.

So the book has several plotlines, some of which are clearly long-term and some which provide the story for this book. The prologue and occasional vignettes starring Grix Orlazzu have minimal relation to what happens in this book, and they feel very out of place because of it. The storyline of Jianna's time in the wilderness stronghold feels flat and one-dimensional at times, as while Yvenza appears to be quite smart at plotting, there is so much exposition and explanation at her it left me looking for the plot holes. Falaste Rione is a character with promise, but other than his stated "goodness" that finally spurs him to save Jianna at the last minute, there isn't much there to work with. The best part of this storyline was the overnight work to save Yvenza's youngest son, which was interesting and very well written. Moving back to Aureste, there's a whole lot of political schticking going along with him, and a lot of it seemed overly contrived rather than flowing naturally. I found his enemy to be a more interesting character, although his treatment of his wife showed such a startling change I found it to break character completely, even if he spent the rest of the book trying to justify it.

I'm not sure whether I will read the next books in the trilogy. If I do, it will likely be due to wanting to learn more about Falaste's sister and Aureste's enemy's young son, not due to any of the primary characters.

[Nikki Wilde · Rating 2 out of 5]

Talk about a futuristic historical novel. Honestly, I was completely caught off guard when I started reading this one. It started with a gentleman and an automaton that he made from spare parts. To be honest, I wanted to double check that I had the right book. There were a few funny parts with the robot making fun of his maker but it just didn't feel right.

It was a bit difficult to follow at first. I have to say, I was a bit bored. If I wasn't required to review this one, I probably would have stopped reading it. To be honest, I'm happy and disappointed that I had to finish reading. There is no ending in sight. Just a small beginning. Meaning, if you're looking for a conclusion there isn't one. I find there's also no connection with any character and I cannot figure out what some people are thinking or feeling. There is no romance to be found. Only hate, and more hate. Everyone hates each other.

It really had a lot of setup to get through but I feel that it was at a detriment to the characters. Or at least Jianna and Rione. Although, I felt for Jianna, I really couldn't connect with her character as well as I wanted to. While Rione is a complete mystery and I have not really grown to like him.

I'm not sure how any of this is going to play itself out but it's not looking promising for anyone. If you're looking for a romance I'd step away from this one. If you're looking for more of a fantasy then this could be the answer. Between amphibian like slaves, arcane abilities, plagues and zombie like beings this one is full of fantasy.

In my opinion this is categorized wrong. The cover looks lovely and like something altogether different from what I read. It was a tough read with all the different names and words that I struggled to pronounce. Not to mention the dark feel of the novel. It seems like everyone either has a dark side to them in this. I was constantly worried about Jianna and wondering if and how she'd get away.

I would have liked a little bit more of a conclusion or at least something to even suggest a spark between any of the characters, unfortunately, I did not get either and was left with a feeling of dread.

[Anjana · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me so long to get through this book - 4 days - which is highly unusual for me since I tend to read/finish a book at one go. I requested a copy of The Traitor's Daughter because the cover seemed appealing but I'm sorry to say that the book was ordinary at best. I hate writing negative reviews so I'm apologizing in advance.

From the beginning, The Traitor's Daughter was all over the place. Let me start with the prologue - I felt like I was thrown in the middle of a scene and had no clue of what was going on around me. Then the story abruptly shifts to a completely different situation that involved some kind of historic mafia or in this case, a mafia-like guy. It looked like Paula Brandon didn't know which path to take - big bad historic family leader or modern mafia - and got stuck in the middle. I noticed a lot of awkward phrases that didn't go well with the book. Really, it could've just been written better.

I had to literally force myself to get through A Traitor's Daughter. Maybe if the characters were better, I would've been okay with a not-so-great plot/writing. Or if there was some romance. I needed something to make me like it! Jianna is an annoying protagonist. She bugged me from the second she entered the story. I didn't care that she was spoiled but I sure as heck didn't want to read about a brat. What made it worse that her father, Aureste thought she was 'high spirited' and liked her for it when frankly, he should've told her to grow up. There's nothing that made any of the characters special and that's a major reason why I couldn't enjoy the book.

The writing, frankly, lacked creativity and didn't manage to keep me engaged. I felt that the author was trying to write a unique historic novel but didn't know how. Instead, the entire novel was a confused story misrepresented as historic. I felt like reading the script of a bad, amateur film where the characters were a little too obvious.

I'm giving this book two stars because really, it was okay . If the writing had been brushed up a little, the book could've been a decent read.

[Patrice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, where to begin…let me start by saying I originally picked up the second book in this series at my library (before I realized it was a series). Then I put it back and got this book. I realize that the writer has to “set the stage” and introduce the characters and any back-story that is required, but it took me a little while to warm up to this book and get into the story. It is very interesting to imagine a world that can “reverse itself” to the detriment of any species that is currently residing in that world. If you had to classify this story I would have to say it is fantasy/dystopian society.
There is force referred to as THE SOURCE in this story that certain people have a connection/affinity too and they are known as those that possess arcane abilities. In the current society any use of or “dabbling” in the arcane arts is forbidden, so people are forced to do it in secret. There have been wars that have led to the separation of the main families that are the major benefactors/hosts of the power of the SOURCE. This story introduces most of these “families”, in particular the Belandor family. Aureste Belandor is the current head of the Belandor family in Vitrisi and is known as the kneeser king to those who detest him and believe him to be a “sell-out” to the current Taerleezi government. Aureste’s brother Innesq is a practitioner of the arcane arts in the family. Aureste’s daughter Jianna is betrothed to a young gentleman in the neighboring “state” of Orezzia. On her journey to meet her bridegroom and his family, with her Aunt and her ladies maid, while they are stopped for a break, they are attacked and everyone except Jianna is killed. Thus begins Jianna’s abduction and her living nightmare and the balance of the story….

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this book courtesy of the goodreads-first reads program! Thanks goodreads!

I feel really bad about the review I am about to write, but I want to be truthful. This book is a rarity in that I just could not read it! I always try to finish any book I start no matter how bad, but I knew it was going to be bad when I had trouble getting through prologue!

I just want to say up front that I think the blurb describing this book (that was on the advertisement as I registered to win it on goodreads) was extremely misleading as is the cover of the book. This description is also listed in the front of this copy I was sent. Publishers, if you don't change this and the cover you will have some very unhappy purchasers who think they have bought a nice historical fiction until they read the first page and think the wrong book has somehow been printed in the cover. I literally checked it over 3 times before I realized that it was the indeed the right book. This book, to me anyway, is a very hard core science fiction/fantasy but to me is trying to be make itself out to be a historical type fiction which it is NOT.

I am sure if this targeted to the right audience it might be well received. I am just not the right audience for it. It was very difficult for me to follow, throughout all that I read. I tried skipping ahead a bit in parts but that did not help either. I hope goodreads will forgive me but I had to break my unbreakable rule and not waste any more time trying to follow this book. I promise to be more selective when registering to win,but I think the publishers had the most to do with me "wrongly" registering for this one. Sorry goodreads and Ms Brandon.