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Traitor's Ring
A war-torn kingdom.
A recent widow cast out by her step-children and left a pauper.
An offer too good to pass up.
Lady Kari Farley faces a bleak future, indeed, at least until a former lover offers her a future of riches and independence. The price is aiding the enemy invaders identify and capture a Guardian—someone who can wield the magic of the Twin Gods. Assured that the Guardian won't be killed, and that if she succeeds, the lives of others will be saved, she accepts.
When her former lover’s deceptions are revealed, Kari will have to make one of the most difficult decisions of her life.
A recent widow cast out by her step-children and left a pauper.
An offer too good to pass up.
Lady Kari Farley faces a bleak future, indeed, at least until a former lover offers her a future of riches and independence. The price is aiding the enemy invaders identify and capture a Guardian—someone who can wield the magic of the Twin Gods. Assured that the Guardian won't be killed, and that if she succeeds, the lives of others will be saved, she accepts.
When her former lover’s deceptions are revealed, Kari will have to make one of the most difficult decisions of her life.
141 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 3, 2018
1 person is currently reading
About the author
Susan Stuckey
20 books36 followersMy hair is gray and I don’t walk as fast as I once did. The right words aren’t always at the tip of my tongue, or the front of my memory any longer. It’s true, my spouse now sails through the skies of the garden of paradise, while our youngling flies through the world on his own wings.
Dusk may hover on my horizon—creeping closer and closer, but don’t be sad for my being alone, and for my boring life. I have done all the normal things, but along the way I’ve had some amazing adventures. More than many others will experience in their entire lifetime.
I’ve mind-spoken with the rare Stormhawks that live in the Derind and Cappelstoke Mountains
I’ve fought battles and lost, fought others and won.
I’ve made wicked-hard choices that broke my heart, but were necessary to protect other people, and sometimes I died because of my choices.
I’ve marched at the side of a twelve-year-old boy who stopped an enemy army, and cried with him over the losses he suffered in the deaths of family and friends.
I’ve ridden the dragon, Stormwing, and sailed upon his back, listening to the whoosh of his powerful blue wings as he navigated the updrafts and downdrafts above Dragontop Mountain. And have experienced his thrill as he swooped and climbed, and danced upon the air. And I’ve sat upon the dragon, Asha, and raised the Sword of Isyndral in challenge to the Dark God.
I’ve braved crossing the Barrier Wall to visit the Eld Forest, and almost lost my own identity while melding with the ancient trees that live there.
I’ve stared into the scrying pool at Araels Rest, and witnessed the past and the future.
I’ve run the forests of Alarel with a pack of Black Wolves, and crossed the land on the back of the legendary Njae horses.
Those are just a few, and truly, they have just begun.
Dusk may hover on my horizon—creeping closer and closer, but don’t be sad for my being alone, and for my boring life. I have done all the normal things, but along the way I’ve had some amazing adventures. More than many others will experience in their entire lifetime.
I’ve mind-spoken with the rare Stormhawks that live in the Derind and Cappelstoke Mountains
I’ve fought battles and lost, fought others and won.
I’ve made wicked-hard choices that broke my heart, but were necessary to protect other people, and sometimes I died because of my choices.
I’ve marched at the side of a twelve-year-old boy who stopped an enemy army, and cried with him over the losses he suffered in the deaths of family and friends.
I’ve ridden the dragon, Stormwing, and sailed upon his back, listening to the whoosh of his powerful blue wings as he navigated the updrafts and downdrafts above Dragontop Mountain. And have experienced his thrill as he swooped and climbed, and danced upon the air. And I’ve sat upon the dragon, Asha, and raised the Sword of Isyndral in challenge to the Dark God.
I’ve braved crossing the Barrier Wall to visit the Eld Forest, and almost lost my own identity while melding with the ancient trees that live there.
I’ve stared into the scrying pool at Araels Rest, and witnessed the past and the future.
I’ve run the forests of Alarel with a pack of Black Wolves, and crossed the land on the back of the legendary Njae horses.
Those are just a few, and truly, they have just begun.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 17, 2018
DNF
Now, Corinne, didn't you say that, after you DNF'ed the Tales of Aldura short story collection, that you didn't want to read any more books in this series for a while?
...but it was the shortest of all my TBR books this season so I kinda changed my mind...
Like with the Tales of Aldura short story collection, I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. However, my review was in no way influenced by the reception of said copy, the author herself, or any other third party.
Hoo, boy. Where do I start with this one? We've got Kari (can't remember her last name for the life of me) who is being escorted by enemy soldiers to the mansion of an old flame for some unstated reason. Which would have been an interesting enough premise to draw me in, but then Kari doesn't even want to know the reason he summoned her or anything. The way the situation was explained in the beginning made me think that he was summoning her so she could give him advice about his war councils or something. But then we learn she's just a sheltered young lady who was married off at an early age and doesn't know anything about war. But then the reason he summoned her, or even the question of why he summoned her, just remains unstated until the end of time. The entire first part of the book up until my DNF, Kari's just like
And this nonchalantness towards EVERYTHING was on literal steroids. The captain who's talking to her, escorting her to her destination, and is shooting her admiring glances has betrayed his people? DGAF.
The captain telling her about how the women are being raped and forced to bear half-Halurdow babies by their rapists?
The entire thing was just devoid of any emotional reactions from her. Inner thoughts. Y'know, the bits that make us care about the character. So as a result, when it comes to Kari...
Her entire role in chapter one was to be a plot device for the reader to learn about the world. That's all. She tells us she's been summoned by this guy she used to know, drops her fan in surprise, then asks a billion questions of the captain that are completely ineffectual because we assume she already knows the answers. Like, lady, you don't know that the name of the capital city has been changed and using the old name is akin to treason? Or that the Kalieri can sense magic users but the Halurdow can't? Or that the Halurdow don't tolerate the worship of the Twin Gods? If she really doesn't know any of this information, then she says hella contradictory things that say otherwise, like "Kalieri there, at least in western Heartholm, were allowed to live, not be broodmares, and don't have to wear special clothing." (p10)
Oh, and can we talk about those clothes for a minute? Apparently the women who have been captured and are now being held as breeding slaves have to wear a specific kind of clothing to indicate what they are. They have to wear, and I quote, "clothing and veils that cover everything besides their eyes."
Sound familiar? If you're thinking what I'm thinking, these clothes sound eerily similar to the niqab Muslim women wear. Yeah, maybe Stuckey was inspired by that religion, but in Muslim tradition, the hijab, niqab, and burqa are all worn to symbolize the wearer's commitment to Allah and their faith. Here, they're, and I quote, "To make them appear as the property they are."
(yes, I do like this GIF a lot lol)
Way to rip off a religious community and then shit all over their traditions. *eye roll*
I kept going after this, but I was extremely disillusioned by the infodumping, lack of interesting character development (I swear, Bella Swan has more agency than Kari), unending typos and errors, having to dissect sentences rather than enjoy the story, and I still had not stopped cringing from this moment. At which point, by the time I reached the end of chapter one, I promised myself that I would only keep reading until I found either ten more typos or another big, glaring issue with plot or sensitivity issues. I got to the point where Kari was seeing her old flame again before I found the tenth typo (and to be fair, before that, I found another place where I was like, "Apparently, the women are being kept prisoner by these invaders, and they want to father children with the magic users so the kids will be able to sense Kalieri magic. Okay. But we still don't know why. Why are they doing this? Why do they want to father these children? What do they actually get out of it?" Kari never questions her Halurdow overlords, not even in the privacy of her own mind. It makes no sense as to why they're doing this. No one else seems to know what's going on. And that's just never resolved.)
Like the Tales of Aldura short story collection, this was ripe with all the typos ever. I couldn't go two sentences without finding a comma error, or a missing comma, or awkwardly worded prose, or extra words that shouldn't be there, or verb conjugation errors...
I got so tired of all the typos that when I reached chapter two, I promised myself that I could DNF if I found either ten more typos or one more glaring issue with plot or sensitivity. But really, that was just an excuse. I didn't want to DNF this book so early that I would be accused of not giving it a fair chance, but I also just wasn't enjoying it and the niqab thing was still bugging me. I got to about 11%, when Kari sees her old flame again and then curtsies to him, before I found the tenth typo (a comma error) and was just like "YAY I CAN DNF THIS WITHOUT GUILT NOW!!"
Sometimes if I DNF a book but still found some aspect interesting, like a character or a funny scene or something, I'll give it two stars rather than one, but in this case, there's just absolutely nothing redeeming about this book. The characters are bland and forgettable, there's way too many plot holes despite a huge infodump in the very first chapter, and the author shows a blatant disrespect for Muslims and their religious traditions. Do not recommend. Do not read.
Now, Corinne, didn't you say that, after you DNF'ed the Tales of Aldura short story collection, that you didn't want to read any more books in this series for a while?
...but it was the shortest of all my TBR books this season so I kinda changed my mind...
Like with the Tales of Aldura short story collection, I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. However, my review was in no way influenced by the reception of said copy, the author herself, or any other third party.
Hoo, boy. Where do I start with this one? We've got Kari (can't remember her last name for the life of me) who is being escorted by enemy soldiers to the mansion of an old flame for some unstated reason. Which would have been an interesting enough premise to draw me in, but then Kari doesn't even want to know the reason he summoned her or anything. The way the situation was explained in the beginning made me think that he was summoning her so she could give him advice about his war councils or something. But then we learn she's just a sheltered young lady who was married off at an early age and doesn't know anything about war. But then the reason he summoned her, or even the question of why he summoned her, just remains unstated until the end of time. The entire first part of the book up until my DNF, Kari's just like
And this nonchalantness towards EVERYTHING was on literal steroids. The captain who's talking to her, escorting her to her destination, and is shooting her admiring glances has betrayed his people? DGAF.
The captain telling her about how the women are being raped and forced to bear half-Halurdow babies by their rapists?
The entire thing was just devoid of any emotional reactions from her. Inner thoughts. Y'know, the bits that make us care about the character. So as a result, when it comes to Kari...
Her entire role in chapter one was to be a plot device for the reader to learn about the world. That's all. She tells us she's been summoned by this guy she used to know, drops her fan in surprise, then asks a billion questions of the captain that are completely ineffectual because we assume she already knows the answers. Like, lady, you don't know that the name of the capital city has been changed and using the old name is akin to treason? Or that the Kalieri can sense magic users but the Halurdow can't? Or that the Halurdow don't tolerate the worship of the Twin Gods? If she really doesn't know any of this information, then she says hella contradictory things that say otherwise, like "Kalieri there, at least in western Heartholm, were allowed to live, not be broodmares, and don't have to wear special clothing." (p10)
Oh, and can we talk about those clothes for a minute? Apparently the women who have been captured and are now being held as breeding slaves have to wear a specific kind of clothing to indicate what they are. They have to wear, and I quote, "clothing and veils that cover everything besides their eyes."
Sound familiar? If you're thinking what I'm thinking, these clothes sound eerily similar to the niqab Muslim women wear. Yeah, maybe Stuckey was inspired by that religion, but in Muslim tradition, the hijab, niqab, and burqa are all worn to symbolize the wearer's commitment to Allah and their faith. Here, they're, and I quote, "To make them appear as the property they are."
(yes, I do like this GIF a lot lol)
Way to rip off a religious community and then shit all over their traditions. *eye roll*
I kept going after this, but I was extremely disillusioned by the infodumping, lack of interesting character development (I swear, Bella Swan has more agency than Kari), unending typos and errors, having to dissect sentences rather than enjoy the story, and I still had not stopped cringing from this moment. At which point, by the time I reached the end of chapter one, I promised myself that I would only keep reading until I found either ten more typos or another big, glaring issue with plot or sensitivity issues. I got to the point where Kari was seeing her old flame again before I found the tenth typo (and to be fair, before that, I found another place where I was like, "Apparently, the women are being kept prisoner by these invaders, and they want to father children with the magic users so the kids will be able to sense Kalieri magic. Okay. But we still don't know why. Why are they doing this? Why do they want to father these children? What do they actually get out of it?" Kari never questions her Halurdow overlords, not even in the privacy of her own mind. It makes no sense as to why they're doing this. No one else seems to know what's going on. And that's just never resolved.)
Like the Tales of Aldura short story collection, this was ripe with all the typos ever. I couldn't go two sentences without finding a comma error, or a missing comma, or awkwardly worded prose, or extra words that shouldn't be there, or verb conjugation errors...
I got so tired of all the typos that when I reached chapter two, I promised myself that I could DNF if I found either ten more typos or one more glaring issue with plot or sensitivity. But really, that was just an excuse. I didn't want to DNF this book so early that I would be accused of not giving it a fair chance, but I also just wasn't enjoying it and the niqab thing was still bugging me. I got to about 11%, when Kari sees her old flame again and then curtsies to him, before I found the tenth typo (a comma error) and was just like "YAY I CAN DNF THIS WITHOUT GUILT NOW!!"
Sometimes if I DNF a book but still found some aspect interesting, like a character or a funny scene or something, I'll give it two stars rather than one, but in this case, there's just absolutely nothing redeeming about this book. The characters are bland and forgettable, there's way too many plot holes despite a huge infodump in the very first chapter, and the author shows a blatant disrespect for Muslims and their religious traditions. Do not recommend. Do not read.
August 31, 2018
Beautifully written, highly recommended for fans of the genre.
Ms Stuckey knows how to tell a compelling story.
Beautifully wrought, this is a must for fans of sword and sorcery. An impoverished noblewoman is faced with an impossible choice, die or betray her people.
Wonderful.
Ms Stuckey knows how to tell a compelling story.
Beautifully wrought, this is a must for fans of sword and sorcery. An impoverished noblewoman is faced with an impossible choice, die or betray her people.
Wonderful.
January 12, 2019
I have a new favorite from Sue Stuckey.
Traitor’s Ring is set in the author’s familiar world of Aldura. In it, a young Kalieri widow, Kari, is forced into an agreement to collaborate with her Halurdow overlords after her region is overrun by the enemy. Basically, she agrees to assist in identifying a Kalieri magic-user in a far flung settlement for arrest and forcible assimilation into the Halurdow. In return, the occupiers promise not to slaughter all the other Kalieri living in that settlement. As a secret means of communication with the Halurdow, she is given a magic ring, hence the title.
I’ve read and reviewed quite a few of the author’s other Aldura tales, and liked them all to varying degrees. Most, however, have been a few years old at the time of my reading. Traitor’s Ring is new, so I was eager to see the progression in an author I had already enjoyed. I was not disappointed.
The prose reads crisply and clearly, without the tendency to wander off into the meaningless asides or gratuitous “navel gazing” that is common to many self-published works. The dialogue too reads like real people speak, albeit not real people from our modern society (or at least would in such circumstances).
The best surprise though, in my humble opinion, was the ending, though I don’t want to give anything away. No, it’s not a 6th sense sort of surprise…it just finished in a way that I thought varied from the heroic fantasy’s tendency to go for a full-on pat/happy ending. I found it to be a much more realistic way of wrapping the tale up.
Highly recommended for first-time Aldura readers, as well as those already familiar with the previous tales.
Traitor’s Ring is set in the author’s familiar world of Aldura. In it, a young Kalieri widow, Kari, is forced into an agreement to collaborate with her Halurdow overlords after her region is overrun by the enemy. Basically, she agrees to assist in identifying a Kalieri magic-user in a far flung settlement for arrest and forcible assimilation into the Halurdow. In return, the occupiers promise not to slaughter all the other Kalieri living in that settlement. As a secret means of communication with the Halurdow, she is given a magic ring, hence the title.
I’ve read and reviewed quite a few of the author’s other Aldura tales, and liked them all to varying degrees. Most, however, have been a few years old at the time of my reading. Traitor’s Ring is new, so I was eager to see the progression in an author I had already enjoyed. I was not disappointed.
The prose reads crisply and clearly, without the tendency to wander off into the meaningless asides or gratuitous “navel gazing” that is common to many self-published works. The dialogue too reads like real people speak, albeit not real people from our modern society (or at least would in such circumstances).
The best surprise though, in my humble opinion, was the ending, though I don’t want to give anything away. No, it’s not a 6th sense sort of surprise…it just finished in a way that I thought varied from the heroic fantasy’s tendency to go for a full-on pat/happy ending. I found it to be a much more realistic way of wrapping the tale up.
Highly recommended for first-time Aldura readers, as well as those already familiar with the previous tales.
August 4, 2018
Overall this was a good tale.
At the beginning of the book I didn't like Kari as much as some of Susan Stuckey's other characters. The story begins with what she believes to be a hopeless situation with no way out and I tend to shy away from that attitude in my reading. But as the story unfolded Kari grew on me.
At the beginning of the book I didn't like Kari as much as some of Susan Stuckey's other characters. The story begins with what she believes to be a hopeless situation with no way out and I tend to shy away from that attitude in my reading. But as the story unfolded Kari grew on me.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews