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Traitors' Trilogy
The greatest betrayers of Myth, Religion and Legend are released from hell, returned to the world, to use this second chance to clear their name, to receive the adulation that should have been theirs, to be loved... but what price does the Devil demand for His generosity?
77 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 29, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 30, 2025
Writing this book was a Choice. I am truly convinced that Heather Kenealy downed more than a few shots of whiskey before sitting down to write this, because I couldn't come up with this if I tried, and I've come up with a lot of crazy ideas.
We start the book with three people whom I would never think to pair together sitting in a circle. There is Loki Laufeyson, Mordred, and Judas Iscariot. These are three figures that I love, which is why I picked this up in the first place. Anyway, we find out that the three of them are lounging together in Hell, and then Lucifer shows up (yes, the Devil from the Bible). Lucifer tells the trio that he is going to send them to modern-day Earth in order to "revenge [their] betrayals". The only thing he asks for in return is repayment, and he will let them know what that looks like when the time comes.
Okay, now that we're up to speed on the plot of this book, let me begin my ranting. I will split this up into four sections- Loki, Mordred, Judas, and misc.
In Traitors' Trilogy, we are introduced to Loki not from Marvel, but from Norse mythology. This is made clear when Loki's hair is referred to as being red and Odin being his brother. Which is fine; I enjoy the mythological Loki. What I find strange, however, is that Norse god Loki is sitting in the Christian version of Hell. How do gods like Loki exist simultaneously with figures like Jesus and Lucifer? I'll never know, because Kenealy does not bother to provide an explanation other than the fact that he is a myth and people believing in him gives him life. Although, that actually doesn't help to explain it at all, so never mind. I'm actually more confused now.
Loki's modern-day name is Louis Keye, which I find hilarious. He is a famous actor who really just sleeps with people and gets drunk. I'm not terribly mad about Loki's portrayal here, save for the fact that while it is mentioned that they can "turn into" a woman, she is never referred to with female pronouns, only male ones.
If you know me, then you know that I am a Judas Iscariot apologist. Despite her writing flaws, Heather Kenealy seems to be as well, so I give her points there. Judas' portrayal is the only one in this book that I actually think is solid. He's not seen as evil, like Lucifer, or someone who causes chaos for the fun of it, like Loki. His betrayal- if you can call it that- served an important purpose.
Aaaahh! The only lines I highlighted because of emotion and not annoyance were ones pertaining to Judas. I think Kenealy asks all the right questions here. Furthermore, she does my favorite thing, which is emphasize Jesus' humanity. Many people portray Jesus strictly as being pure and godly, but he was a man. That was the entire point.
Imagining this makes me almost tear up because yes , they were friends. Jesus laughed and joked with his disciples and also sometimes grew frustrated and angry. He was human!
I really love Judas' end in this book- in fact, his is the only one I like at all, because it makes Jesus' forgiveness of Judas clear. More than that, he displays an acute understanding of Judas' circumstances.
Without Judas' betrayal, Jesus never would have been able to die for our sins. I think that some people forget that. Dante depicts Judas as being in the worst level of Hell, but I think that Dante was wrong. Jesus forgives everyone. Why wouldn't that forgiveness also extend to Judas, the one who helped God's will to be done? Jesus died for our sins, but Judas was damned for them.
This book gets two stars instead of one from me strictly because of how much Heather Kenealy seems to understand the complexity of Judas and his relationship to Jesus. If it weren't for this, I would likely have awarded it one star.
<3<3<3<3<3
Mordred, sweetie, I'm sooooo sorry for what Heather Kenealy does to you. You are already a bastard, but this book only serves to bastardize you even more. Where to even begin?
Perhaps I'll start with the most obvious blunder, that of his origin. If you aren't aware, in Arthurian Legend, Mordred is the bastard son of King Arthur and his half-sister (though they didn't know this at the time) Morgause. He is the half-brother of the Orkneys such as Gawain, Agravain, etc. In Traitors' Trilogy, however, he is Morgan's son. Worse, he is referred to as Mordred Le Fay. Why this is, I'm not sure. The entire idea of Mordred being Morgan Le Fay's son comes from Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon and is not rooted in legend whatsoever. BBC's Merlin sort of plays with this idea as well, which has me convinced that Kenealy watched the show and decided that she knew enough about Mordred to include him in her book.
While modern-day Loki is an actor and Judas is a prophet, Mordred is an American soldier. He is know as... wait for it... Morgan Lafayette. Lucifer gives him an American accent and puts him in the army to regain his glory or something. How being part of the American military helps you regain your glory, I have no idea, especially if you're a legendary figure from Briton. But there you have it.
Now, do you notice that I spell it as Briton and not Britain? Yes? Well, Heather Kenealy doesn't, or if she does, she isn't aware that there is a difference. Tell me why Mordred is English in this book. Yes, ENGLISH.
Not only that, but Arthur is referred to as King of England. This is so wrong in so many ways and honestly makes my blood boil. Ancient Briton is NOT the Britain that we know today. It consisted of what historians call Brythonic Celts- that is, people from Cornwall, Wales, and Breton. Mordred would not have a RP accent like pleaseeee. That's so offensive.
These blatant errors were not the only thing to bother me while reading about Mordred here. His entire characterization is just messed up. I don't know how else to put it. He's depicted as someone who puts duty above else and always does what people tell him to do.
Like excuse me?? We're talking about the one who staged a coup while Arthur was away and tried to marry his wife, right?? The one who helped Agravain expose Guinevere's affair (Mordred, in this, is said to have done that single-handedly, which, ugh)?? What do you mean he always does what he is told???
It's really funny to me that Kenealy uses modern loose depictions of Arthurian Legend to shape her characterization of Mordred, yet keeps his blond hair, which is mentioned primarily in older- and Welsh!- texts. I would legitimately love to see her research notes, of which I'm sure are quite barren, because what the actual hell.
This is the section where I will complain about everything else that makes this book a bad one.
First of all, not a single editor was used. If they were, they need to be fired ASAP and never edit a book ever again. The amount of errors, both grammatical and spelling-wise, is laughable. At one point, Mordred is referred to as 'Mordred La Fey'. French is hard, but not that hard. There are random commas placed throughout the text, apostrophes where there should be none, more spelling errors than I can list, etc etc. I'm apt to believe that Kenealy did not even proof read this before putting it out for the world to see, because there is no way someone can miss all of the mistakes.
The character of Lucifer also gives me pause in this story. Each time he is referred to, it is with the capital 'h'- He, His, Him. Yet Jesus is always referred to with a lowercase 'h'. This feels... wrong. More than that, I don't understand the motivation behind it. Is Heather Kenealy just a big Lucifer fan?? Maybe, but maybe not, because Lucifer is just cartoonishly evil in this book.
This part had me laughing out loud. Whenever exclamation marks are used in narration, it usually means that a book is going to be less than stellar, at least in my opinion. Also, yeah man... you essentially hired three of the biggest traitors to do your bidding. Obviously they're going to backstab you??? Lol.
The ending here is just so bad, too. I won't even use spoiler tags because it's actually not worth it. I'm sure you can guess how the book ends without me telling you, anyway. But you'll never guess what the very last paragraph of Traitors' Trilogy says...
LMAO WHAT???? At this point I feel like I'm being punk'd. You're telling me that Heather Kenealy wrote that and thought it was so good that it just had to be the last paragraph in her book? Lucifer is now hiring JOHN WILKES BOOTH? The man who shot Lincoln??? I actually can't. Whenever I think about this part I bust out laughing, it's so ridiculous.
My review is a long one, but I just have so many thoughts about this book. However, they all boil down to one message: Do not read this. Just don't.
We start the book with three people whom I would never think to pair together sitting in a circle. There is Loki Laufeyson, Mordred, and Judas Iscariot. These are three figures that I love, which is why I picked this up in the first place. Anyway, we find out that the three of them are lounging together in Hell, and then Lucifer shows up (yes, the Devil from the Bible). Lucifer tells the trio that he is going to send them to modern-day Earth in order to "revenge [their] betrayals". The only thing he asks for in return is repayment, and he will let them know what that looks like when the time comes.
Okay, now that we're up to speed on the plot of this book, let me begin my ranting. I will split this up into four sections- Loki, Mordred, Judas, and misc.
LOKI:
In Traitors' Trilogy, we are introduced to Loki not from Marvel, but from Norse mythology. This is made clear when Loki's hair is referred to as being red and Odin being his brother. Which is fine; I enjoy the mythological Loki. What I find strange, however, is that Norse god Loki is sitting in the Christian version of Hell. How do gods like Loki exist simultaneously with figures like Jesus and Lucifer? I'll never know, because Kenealy does not bother to provide an explanation other than the fact that he is a myth and people believing in him gives him life. Although, that actually doesn't help to explain it at all, so never mind. I'm actually more confused now.
Loki's modern-day name is Louis Keye, which I find hilarious. He is a famous actor who really just sleeps with people and gets drunk. I'm not terribly mad about Loki's portrayal here, save for the fact that while it is mentioned that they can "turn into" a woman, she is never referred to with female pronouns, only male ones.
JUDAS ISCARIOT:
If you know me, then you know that I am a Judas Iscariot apologist. Despite her writing flaws, Heather Kenealy seems to be as well, so I give her points there. Judas' portrayal is the only one in this book that I actually think is solid. He's not seen as evil, like Lucifer, or someone who causes chaos for the fun of it, like Loki. His betrayal- if you can call it that- served an important purpose.
How can you die for our sins, if you never die? So am I betrayer? Or am I betrayed?
Aaaahh! The only lines I highlighted because of emotion and not annoyance were ones pertaining to Judas. I think Kenealy asks all the right questions here. Furthermore, she does my favorite thing, which is emphasize Jesus' humanity. Many people portray Jesus strictly as being pure and godly, but he was a man. That was the entire point.
Instead, he saw Yeshua Bar-Yusef, Joshua son of Joseph, the man, the friend who had sat beside him on the rough ground and talked laughingly over foolish things. They were just men together then, making jokes at each other's expense, discussing topics of a ribald nature, speaking of insecurities and doubts[...]
Imagining this makes me almost tear up because yes , they were friends. Jesus laughed and joked with his disciples and also sometimes grew frustrated and angry. He was human!
I really love Judas' end in this book- in fact, his is the only one I like at all, because it makes Jesus' forgiveness of Judas clear. More than that, he displays an acute understanding of Judas' circumstances.
"You helped me to fulfill my destiny," Jesus smiled. "Why do you think I chose you to follow me?"
Without Judas' betrayal, Jesus never would have been able to die for our sins. I think that some people forget that. Dante depicts Judas as being in the worst level of Hell, but I think that Dante was wrong. Jesus forgives everyone. Why wouldn't that forgiveness also extend to Judas, the one who helped God's will to be done? Jesus died for our sins, but Judas was damned for them.
This book gets two stars instead of one from me strictly because of how much Heather Kenealy seems to understand the complexity of Judas and his relationship to Jesus. If it weren't for this, I would likely have awarded it one star.
"I have missed you dearly and we have two thousand years to catch up with." He offered his hand again, and this time, Judas took it.
<3<3<3<3<3
MORDRED:
Mordred, sweetie, I'm sooooo sorry for what Heather Kenealy does to you. You are already a bastard, but this book only serves to bastardize you even more. Where to even begin?
Perhaps I'll start with the most obvious blunder, that of his origin. If you aren't aware, in Arthurian Legend, Mordred is the bastard son of King Arthur and his half-sister (though they didn't know this at the time) Morgause. He is the half-brother of the Orkneys such as Gawain, Agravain, etc. In Traitors' Trilogy, however, he is Morgan's son. Worse, he is referred to as Mordred Le Fay. Why this is, I'm not sure. The entire idea of Mordred being Morgan Le Fay's son comes from Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon and is not rooted in legend whatsoever. BBC's Merlin sort of plays with this idea as well, which has me convinced that Kenealy watched the show and decided that she knew enough about Mordred to include him in her book.
While modern-day Loki is an actor and Judas is a prophet, Mordred is an American soldier. He is know as... wait for it... Morgan Lafayette. Lucifer gives him an American accent and puts him in the army to regain his glory or something. How being part of the American military helps you regain your glory, I have no idea, especially if you're a legendary figure from Briton. But there you have it.
Now, do you notice that I spell it as Briton and not Britain? Yes? Well, Heather Kenealy doesn't, or if she does, she isn't aware that there is a difference. Tell me why Mordred is English in this book. Yes, ENGLISH.
Mordred murmured in his sleep and anyone who listened might've [wondered why] his otherwise flat, unaccented voice folded itself into the lilts and melodies of a long ago England.
Not only that, but Arthur is referred to as King of England. This is so wrong in so many ways and honestly makes my blood boil. Ancient Briton is NOT the Britain that we know today. It consisted of what historians call Brythonic Celts- that is, people from Cornwall, Wales, and Breton. Mordred would not have a RP accent like pleaseeee. That's so offensive.
These blatant errors were not the only thing to bother me while reading about Mordred here. His entire characterization is just messed up. I don't know how else to put it. He's depicted as someone who puts duty above else and always does what people tell him to do.
Yes, he knew that he would, indeed, do what he was told.
Like excuse me?? We're talking about the one who staged a coup while Arthur was away and tried to marry his wife, right?? The one who helped Agravain expose Guinevere's affair (Mordred, in this, is said to have done that single-handedly, which, ugh)?? What do you mean he always does what he is told???
It's really funny to me that Kenealy uses modern loose depictions of Arthurian Legend to shape her characterization of Mordred, yet keeps his blond hair, which is mentioned primarily in older- and Welsh!- texts. I would legitimately love to see her research notes, of which I'm sure are quite barren, because what the actual hell.
MISC:
This is the section where I will complain about everything else that makes this book a bad one.
First of all, not a single editor was used. If they were, they need to be fired ASAP and never edit a book ever again. The amount of errors, both grammatical and spelling-wise, is laughable. At one point, Mordred is referred to as 'Mordred La Fey'. French is hard, but not that hard. There are random commas placed throughout the text, apostrophes where there should be none, more spelling errors than I can list, etc etc. I'm apt to believe that Kenealy did not even proof read this before putting it out for the world to see, because there is no way someone can miss all of the mistakes.
The character of Lucifer also gives me pause in this story. Each time he is referred to, it is with the capital 'h'- He, His, Him. Yet Jesus is always referred to with a lowercase 'h'. This feels... wrong. More than that, I don't understand the motivation behind it. Is Heather Kenealy just a big Lucifer fan?? Maybe, but maybe not, because Lucifer is just cartoonishly evil in this book.
Lucifer fumed. Defeated! Again! By three He had placed His trust in.
This part had me laughing out loud. Whenever exclamation marks are used in narration, it usually means that a book is going to be less than stellar, at least in my opinion. Also, yeah man... you essentially hired three of the biggest traitors to do your bidding. Obviously they're going to backstab you??? Lol.
The ending here is just so bad, too. I won't even use spoiler tags because it's actually not worth it. I'm sure you can guess how the book ends without me telling you, anyway. But you'll never guess what the very last paragraph of Traitors' Trilogy says...
The Fallen One smiled down at the man and said, "Mr. Booth, have you ever considered politics?"
John Wilkes looked up and gave a courtly nod. "The South shall rise again."
LMAO WHAT???? At this point I feel like I'm being punk'd. You're telling me that Heather Kenealy wrote that and thought it was so good that it just had to be the last paragraph in her book? Lucifer is now hiring JOHN WILKES BOOTH? The man who shot Lincoln??? I actually can't. Whenever I think about this part I bust out laughing, it's so ridiculous.
My review is a long one, but I just have so many thoughts about this book. However, they all boil down to one message: Do not read this. Just don't.
January 21, 2021
3.5/5
The story was quite original, and I loved how the narratives of each character crossed. Loki was the best, if only because he is the most charismatic (and the other two pale a little in comparison), though they are all strongly characterized.
I enjoyed the structure of the story as well.
The plot was well thought and carried throughout. It is a thoughtful and reflective novella that comments on many topics while retaining a fable-like nature.
The style is straightforward, clear and simple. While entertaining and interesting from start to finish, at times the writing was a bit dry. Overall, I found it to be a little lacking. Definetely could improve, but it goes in the right direction.
The kindle edition has a few formatting and minor editing problems (for example, commas where it was not needed).
A nice read, especially if you are interested in any of the central characters. The take the author has on them is not entirely new, but still refreshing and worth reading.
The story was quite original, and I loved how the narratives of each character crossed. Loki was the best, if only because he is the most charismatic (and the other two pale a little in comparison), though they are all strongly characterized.
I enjoyed the structure of the story as well.
The plot was well thought and carried throughout. It is a thoughtful and reflective novella that comments on many topics while retaining a fable-like nature.
The style is straightforward, clear and simple. While entertaining and interesting from start to finish, at times the writing was a bit dry. Overall, I found it to be a little lacking. Definetely could improve, but it goes in the right direction.
The kindle edition has a few formatting and minor editing problems (for example, commas where it was not needed).
A nice read, especially if you are interested in any of the central characters. The take the author has on them is not entirely new, but still refreshing and worth reading.
June 20, 2017
This short novel is the story of three traitors: Mordred, Loki and Judas, trapped in hell and sent back to Earth by Lucifer, to aid him in his plans against humanity. This was so much more than I expected. Without spoilers, I can only say that the author did justice by these characters, recognizing exactly what they are (I liked the contrast of the relationships between Lucifer and the three, for example, especially regarding Loki who is a creature older than Lucifer) and delivering an elegant short stories that leaves nothing out. I loved this!
March 10, 2015
Received this book as part of the Amazon Kindle compilation - Pandora but will be reviewing it separately.
Lucifer gets his knickers in a twist and comes up with a plan to screw things up by enlisting Loki of the Norse Gods, Judas Iscariot, and Mordred Le Fey, bastard son of King Arthur. They get turned loose in the modern world to literally raise hell. Naturally things don't gonads planned.
I just couldn't really get into this story. But others will likely love it.
Lucifer gets his knickers in a twist and comes up with a plan to screw things up by enlisting Loki of the Norse Gods, Judas Iscariot, and Mordred Le Fey, bastard son of King Arthur. They get turned loose in the modern world to literally raise hell. Naturally things don't gonads planned.
I just couldn't really get into this story. But others will likely love it.
November 14, 2014
I read this as a part of the Pandora Collection. It is a short story based upon characters that we all know. Loki, Judas & Mordred's stories we can identify with and throw Lucifer into the mix this creates a story that you just want to read to the end.
April 25, 2017
Traitors' Trilogy by Heather Kenealy is terrifically unique. Well played.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews