The Telastrian Song

Society of the Sword #3

by Duncan M. Hamilton

The final part of the Society of the Sword Trilogy.

A remote farm and meagre crops are a far cry from Ostenheim and the life of a banneret, but they are not far enough. For Soren to be free of Amero, there is only one answer.

In Ostenheim, Duke Amero presides over a war-weary population and an empty treasury, but still he hungers for more.

An Intelligencier uncovers the disturbing resurgence of sorcery in the city, while an avaricious colleague sees the chance to prove his worth to the Duke.

Enemies and allies emerge from unexpected places, as Soren must face his former patron and idol for a final reckoning.

The Telastrian Song follows The Huntsman’s Amulet and is the concluding part of the Society of the Sword Trilogy.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Fiction, Magic, Adventure, Politics, Action

280 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2014

About the author

Hi, thanks for visiting my page. I’m Duncan, a fantasy and science fiction author from Ireland. I love to blend my passion for Medieval and Renaissance history with the freedom of fantasy environments to create fast paced heroic fantasy adventures with compelling characters and high stakes—exactly the types of stories that I love to read, so I hope you’ll like them too.

You can find more of my online hangouts and my work at the links below. Don’t forget to sign up for my news letter if you want to keep up to date on all my news and new releases!



I’m delighted to announce my most recent trilogy with Tor, Dragonslayer - a heroic fantasy tale about redemption, revenge, and megalomania. Oh, and dragons. Plenty of dragons! The entire trilogy - Dragonslayer, Knight of the Silver Circle, and Servant of the Crown - is now out in the wild, and available to purchase. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.



My next trilogy is already well under way, and I've a couple of new projects that occur in different worlds (and genres!) that I'm very excited about, and hope to start releasing this coming Spring 2021.If that’s too long to wait, then please check out my other books, all of which are currently available!

Society of the Sword



The Tattered Banner was one of Buzzfeed's 12 Greatest Fantasy Books of 2013!

In a world where magic is outlawed, ability with a sword is prized above all else. For Soren this means the chance to live out his dreams.

Plucked from a life of poverty, he is given a coveted place at Ostenheim's Academy of Swordsmanship, an opportunity beyond belief.

Opportunity is not always what it seems however, and gifts rarely come without conditions. Soren becomes an unwitting pawn in a game of intrigue and treachery that could cost him not just his dreams, but also his life.

Wolf of the North



It has been generations since the Northlands have seen a hero worthy of the title. Many have made the claim, but few have lived to defend it. Timid, weak, and bullied, Wulfric is as unlikely a candidate as there could be.

A chance encounter with an ancient and mysterious object awakens a latent gift, and Wulfric’s life changes course. Against a backdrop of war, tragedy, and an enemy whose hatred for him knows no bounds, Wulfric will be forged from a young boy, into the Wolf of the North. This is his tale.

If that’s not enough, I’ve a standalone novel, and some shorter work to give you a taste of what I write. You can get a free digital copy of the Marcher Lord if you sign up for my news letter!

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow what a great trilogy. Great fast paced action and plot. Very enjoyable read. Very recommended

[Blaise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back on form with the first book in the series. Overall a enjoyable trilogy for those who love sword and sorcery

[Steve Naylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 3.5 stars

Overall this was a good trilogy. I think the author missed quite a few chances to make it great though. There were many things that happened throughout the series that were never fully developed. The magic system is one of them. While Soren did know more about the gift of grace at the end of the trilogy, he by no means had it figured out. There were too many things hinted at that were never fully developed. It also felt like there was a long buildup to a few confrontations in the story that turned out to be resolved either too quickly or were anti-climatic the confrontation with the mage was one of them. After Soren killed the mage and found out he was one of the 12, I thought there would be more to that story. I also though there would be more to the fount-blooded. The author brought up these interesting ideas and then just let them dangle out there unfinished at the end . Overall though it was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it, especially the first book.

[Soo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars for Story, 3.5 Stars for Narration by Derek Perkins

Mini-Review:

I'm a bit disappointed by this book in the trilogy. It was not as cohesive as the first story and there was a lot of repetition of overused phrases to describe or state the obvious. It seemed like there was zero growth by the main character and suddenly there was a surplus of other POV's flooding the story in a manner that did nothing to truly add to it. Definitely felt like the story the author meant to tell was more convoluted and unwieldy than the story that was told. The series had a lot of promise. It just didn't quite meet that potential.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The overall series was decent. I really enjoyed listening to the first and second books, but the third one seemed like it dragged a bit. There were just too many new characters filling the whole book, and I found my mind wandering and not really caring about the storyline. The series was wrapped up nicely, and I liked the ending, but don't think I'd read it again.

[Miles · Rating 3 out of 5]

3☆

[James Tomasino · Rating 2 out of 5]

See my review of The Tattered Banner

[Evil Secret Ninja · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel this whole series was just average. It is just a easy predictable series. I would suggest it for someone new to fantasy who is not used to how vast the genera is .

[Himanshu Modi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Series Review: The series started with a lot of promise. It does not quite hook you the way the best "series" do, where you know you are in for a long-winded adventure and even look forward to it. Still, the poor, wretched, underdog who is invariably going to master his domain and vanquish baddies is a theme that can have enough twists to be fun.

Unfortunately, the series plays out like a video game story, in which the hero is plodding on from one stage to the next till he reaches a boss fight with a lackluster story in between stages. The world-building is all right. I will grant Hamilton that. It's no Wheel of Time, but then neither is this series a 14000 page tome. For the scope and volume of the story, the world building is not bad, even if it's all feels a little dumbed down.

It's the story itself however - both the plot and the structure - that makes it a really, really boring read. First of all, Soren - the protagonist, the swashbuckling swordsman, is what he is because of a "Fount" which makes him as special as he is. That irritated me the same as it irritated me when Bourne legacy suggested Jason Bourne was what he was because of a pill. The "gift" that Soren had, would at least have been a useful device if there were more people who had it. In the whole of the series, there's only one random assassin dude who has it. So basically Soren was overpowered for every single fight that happens in the book. In some instances, he is so overpowered, that he kills people accidentally. Except for that one assassin, who gets killed with lesser difficulty than a subsequent assassin who doesn't have the gift. That second assassin was more difficult to kill because apparently Soren was out of practice.

The other problem of course is the video game narrative. Where no one else in the whole world matters except Soren. In the whole story, there is Soren, his girlfriend, his one best friend who shows up a few times after college, and the sequential villains that get thrown at Soren. Soren does meet different people in different episodes, but that's only for the duration of that episode. It's a story that has absolutely no depth whatsoever. Most of those episodes are pretty mundane too. For e.g. Soren visits some mysterious island to understand his "gift" better, but I don't really think he learnt anything that could practically be useful. Felt like some of those gas-filled training sessions people are made to sit through at their workplace.

The other big problem is that the fantasy element is pretty superficial. The magic truly shows up only in the last book. We are told too little of it for it to have any significance. And as a major worldly element against swordsmanship, it ends up being far too inconsequential. When magic does get pitted against sword, it is like someone getting into a knife fight, or a sword fight, with a balloon.

For that matter, there is zero thrill to any action through the whole series. One on one fights can anyways be very limiting. (and there are no battles, except one with a pirate, but that's a fairly short skirmish too.) But even the ones that are there lack any intensity whatsoever, simply because all fights involve Soren, and he is overpowered af. The assassinations are like a walk in the park for Soren. He kills some 5 or 6 high powered people and he all but just walks into their palaces and dens and kills them off and walks away.

The villain then, you'd think there's some redemption there for the book. Nope. None at all. The villain for most part doesn't give two hoots about Soren. He literally seems to have forgotten about Soren when the final confrontation happens. He's merrily going about his plans of world domination. Heck, even the whole rant Soren has against Duke Amero seems to be because of an accidental slight on the part of Amero. Not a battle for the ages at all.

The hero is even worse. He doesn't have that many qualities that make him a shining example for heroes-to-be. But hey, we live in the age of anti-heroes. Unfortunately, Soren isn't that either. He is just a confused bloke, lacking any initiative whatsoever, who wouldn't really do much in his waking time if the author hadn't forced him all over the map.

Only good thing about the series is that it's a short read. The writing is flamboyant and world building is all right, so at least that keeps you going. But beyond that, there's nothing that is worth talking up. In the end, I'd rather not have read this series.

[Aaron Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of promise but a few things that let it down. The pacing is off, for me. It seems as if the plot is something to continually push through, and this is at the expense of any serious character development, barring the main protagonist. In fantasy there can definitely be a tendency to bloat books unnecessarily, but in this case, I think some attention to character development - particularly ancillary characters - would have made the impact of some of those plot points stronger. As it was, interesting side characters come and go too quickly to care enough about them.

Apart from that, the action scenes are great, and the sense of adventure does carry you through to still be entertaining.

Review is for the whole series.

[Ruby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable.

From beginning to end this book was enjoyable. I can see where other stories and series could branch off and am hopeful of that coming to fruition

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking forward to more

[JM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Using the huge reward he got for rescuing the southern princess stolen by pirates at the end of the last book, this one starts with Soren and Alessandra living as farmers under assumed names in some small Estranzan village, when once again assassins strike.

Soren has had enough and decides to go back to Ostenheim to kill Amero once and for all, so he takes Alessandra to Venter where his old friend Ranph is living in exile as the last living Elector Count of Ostia, and then makes his way back to Ostenheim to have his revenge, only to find himself embroiled in local politics as several groups are trying to topple Amero for being a shitty Duke while he's trying to train his own mages in secret to have an edge over his foes now that he's squandered all his money during the war with Ruripathia. This last part is reminiscent of an important plot point in the author's later "Dragonslayer" trilogy, which seems a bit odd because it's pretty much a rehash of the same idea.

And just like we never got to learn just what the title "The Tattered Banner" meant until almost the end of the first book, nor the importance of "The Hunstman's Amulet" until the second book was also almost over, this time around we also don't get to find out just what the "Telastrian Song" in the title is, nor why the hell the series is called "Society of the Sword" when no such thing is ever mentioned unless you're supposed to assume it refers to the Academies where the bannerets study and from which they graduate with the right to carry swords inside the walls of the important cities.

Anyway, I did like it better than the second one, especially because the story circled around to getting revenge on Amero like I wanted it to, and it ends with Ranph as Duke and Soren being made a nobleman. I also liked that Amero's retainer, Emeric, was instrumental to Amero's defeat in the end, and that Soren let him go.

However, I think the first volume was the most fun of the three and I do agree with some of the reviews that mention that the prequel, "The First Sword of Ostia," seems strange if you read the books in publication order because Amero and Brynn's backstories don't seem to matter much in the grand scheme of things for the purposes of this trilogy, whereas if you read them in chronological order, you already know Amero is a huge piece of shit and you expect him to be as bad as he ultimately shows himself to be, but Brynn seems badly underused and doesn't have as big of a role as you would expect him to have.

Overall, the story for the whole trilogy was fun but the books in general felt a bit video-game-y because Soren basically does a bit of everything (joins factions, travels to different lands, finds magic, plays soldier and pirate, etc), but it often feels like the main quest is on pause because he's doing side-quests in order to get 100% of the game on his save file.

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a decent book. Similar to the others. A book that would appeal to YA, except for all the swearing. Fun to read. I will say there were a lot of unanswered questions. Not once does the super special orphan with powers that haven't been seen in centuries, that are usually inherited, ever wonder who is parents are. We never learn how he became an orphan. He's must Mr. Orphan. that bothered me a lot, as him being an orphan, and his powers being inherited, were major aspects of the story. Yet he never wonders, or questions, or looks.

I also wish the author had gone more into the island, but I suppose that would push the series more towards epic fantasy instead of a fun adventure story with some magic.

[Richard Radgoski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt Book 3 was a slight step down from the first two novels. Some might argue that the book was more complex to write, as it employed 3 POV characters instead of just one, but I tend to like my trilogies to keep with the same style, and moving to multiple POVs was an annoyance for me. Its probably the single biggest reason for the drop from 5 stars.

But 4 stars still means it's a good novel and I enjoyed getting to the end of Soren's story. It ended in a manner I'm good with and I enjoyed the book.

The basic plot is Soren has been the target of several assassination attempts and he decides to deal with the Duke once and for all. He's tried to run and keeps getting found and he wants to make sure he can settle down with his girl in relative peace...

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's difficult to believe how much happened in the course of this novel. The pace was fast, even by the standards of this trilogy, which itself easily contains five books worth of content in three. Each volume was also a different kind of story, which was an interesting and refreshing trait. "The Telastrian Song" was more intrigue than coming of age or adventure, as the previous two had respectively been, and there was not a single instant during any part of the trilogy where my attention wavered. I only wish it were longer. It lacked in large part the world-building, thematic depth, and scope characteristic of the fantasy genre, but as pure narrative, it was well-done indeed.

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this but it wasn't the strongest ending to the trilogy I could've imagined. Alessandra is almost immediately sidelined, which is a shame, and a lot of the plot hinges on new characters and not the skills and wit of the protagonist Soren. I also slightly disliked the neat wrap up of the ending. Too much happily ever after for a series that was always quite dark in its direction. Oh well. There's nothing hugely 'wrong' with it as a novel, and in fact I very much enjoyed much of it. I'll look out for more by the author anyway.

[Katrina Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audio review

This was a decent, if unsurprising end to the trilogy.

Like the first two, this isn't a deep story with tons of world building details and characters to remember. What is there is well constructed and colourful, combined with excellent narration this book and series is perfect for long drives.

I thought this book was the weakest of the three, some elements of it felt rushed while other elements felt forced in to set up future stories.

Overall I'm happy I listened to this trilogy and I'd happily listen to more by the author.

[Alexander Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wishing it wasn’t over!

I wish that this series didn’t end after only three books. I absolutely loved the conclusion, don’t get me wrong, but I would have preferred more stories involving our protagonist.

The magic system is well crafted and enjoyable. The sword fighting is masterfully written. I also appreciated that the protagonist wasn’t crippled by the self doubt that usually plagues fantasy heroes.

[Rick Ecclesiastes 12:12 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Appreciated

Well, I finished. But it was like taking the slow boat to China. I enjoyed the characters but the plot didn’t really develop and grow, reaching its crescendo at the climax. It just seemed to meander, from point A to point Z. Too much time reflecting on the past. Too much time reflecting on the context. Too much time reflecting on possibilities. So that, by the end, there had not been enough time ploughing the plot forward. Meanwhile, likeable characters were bogged in the “too much”. Anyway, Onward and upward.

[Joseph Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another delicious ride from Duncan Hamilton! As I listened to the audiobooks of the ‘Society of the Sword’ trilogy, I walked a little farther each day just to give myself more time with Soren and his trials. The author’s infectious writing style is so deeply satisfying that I often broke out in a verbal debate with the characters as I walked, no doubt to the concern of any pedestrians I passed by. I would gladly listen to another dozen stories about these marvelous characters.

[Gina Basham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice conclusion.

This book did not have too many unkillable characters or too many antagonists that never seem to go away. It flowed well and was nicely tied up. I think book two was my favorite of the series because of the settings and characters. If you've read the other two you have to read this and won't be disappointed. I can recommend. Gbash

[Scott Wozniak · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is better, but not great. And instead of expanding the story, he collapses it back down to a solo quest of the main hero. So the drama of the end is reduced as well. Yes, there's a side plot but it wraps up neatly. And the ending is even anticlimactic--an almost futile victory. Oh well.

[Farseer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a strong ending to the trilogy. Instead of being all from Soren's point of view, two new point of view characters are introduced and they help make the story interesting. Soren's story was finished in a very satisfactory manner, although there could be room for a continuation in the plot line about the eastern mages.

[Pickyreader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seemed rushed

This was pretty good. The first two were much better. This one really felt rushed to me. I also didn't like the antagonist POV's but that is just a personal preference. All in all a decent read. One I will probably read again.

[Duane Eberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not surprising...but still fulfilling end to the tale.

Wraps it up and the end has one great twist. Foreshadowing was a bit heavy handed last book through this one but stll worth reading.

[Kian · Rating 1 out of 5]

For someone who grew up on the streets he's not very street smart. The story sends Soron to too many side quest to prolong the story instead of rescuing his girl. Dismisses threats too easily even after all the past experience. At the end of book 2 it seems to skip the story without explaining.

[Roger Koo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great conclusion of the series!

Major improvement in character development compared to the previous two books. Plot was intriguing with unexpected complications. The ending was predictable but still enjoyable.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrilling 2nd visit to the former Empire

This trilogy is equally as riveting as the story of the wolf in the north. A completely different perspective that compliments what i already knew of this world perfectly. Excited and hungry for more!

[Richard Worden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this author: his verb choice, character building, and story arcs are fun and engaging. He writes efficiently and effectively. Thank you!

I can’t wait for the next Duncan M. Hamilton book to come out!