Traitor of Redwinter: The Redwinter Chronicles Book Two

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I'm happy I've read it and I'll continue the series, hopefully the rest of it won't break my brain that much. 😅 But others have plans for Raine too, and as the king’s health fails, rebellious lords begin to vie for power. Her former friend Ovitus seeks Raine’s support as his clan turns to him for leadership, while the grandmaster seeks to harness Raine’s potential as a deadly weapon to be launched right into her enemy’s heart as even Redwinter scrambles to hold onto power. Those that see the dead are stoned, those that meddle with them are hanged, and those that seek to learn the forbidden Sarathi lore met the pyre. Raine is guilty of all. Yet she still wishes to train to become a Draoihn, part of something bigger than her. If you’re thinking of taking up looting, I disapprove,’ Castus said from behind his bunched handkerchief. ‘They don’t look to have had very good taste.’

Amidst threats old and new, Raine must learn the secrets promised by the book, magic promised by a queen with a crown of feathers. A queen to whom Raine has promised more than she can afford to give. I was a grey-souled, dead thing on the inside. I was poison. And I hungered for it, all the time, I wanted to know more, to see more, to do more… I wanted to be strong, and I didn’t care who stood in my way. The rules didn’t apply to someone like me.” This was an engaging and often emotionally moving book 2. McDonald covered a lot of narrative ground here on both a sweeping plot front and character arc front and has me itching to continue the tale to see where things go from here in the finale.

Read Traitor of Redwinter by Ed McDonald

Sometimes we act on instinct. Sometimes things can be forgiven when they happen automatically, a knee-jerk reaction to something out of the ordinary. Like when I’d fed my strength into a ghost to topple Kaldhoone LacShale. I hadn’t known what I’d been doing, not really, and I’d been desperate. We forgive those things. Or we should. This, what I was about to do, I should perhaps have feared more. Ed’s prowess in world building has consistently impressed me, and Traitor of Redwinter only solidifies his talent in this regard. Returning to the world of Redwinter was an absolute delight, and I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in its intricacies once again. The character development in Traitor of Redwinter was masterfully crafted, and my goodness, the unexpected plot twists and intricate turns were absolutely enthralling. While the initial half of the book may have unfolded at a more leisurely pace compared to the second half, my past experiences with Ed’s writing assured me that he needed the time to build up momentum and deliver something truly awe-inspiring. And indeed, my intuition was spot-on as Ed completely blew me away. The conversations and interactions amongst characters were beautifully done too. The writing was so stunning, by the time I finished the book, it looked like a coloring book, for I had highlighted so many paragraphs and conversations. lol! Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone. Again, I don’t know if McDonald intended that or not. I could be reading way too deeply and putting my own thing on the text. Her indecision towards Sanvaunt is a little annoying in my opinion. I think she dithers too much in letting herself have those emotions. McDonald pushes it, but Sanvaunt’s reaction saves it for me. Also, she has the same indecision towards Esher. I’m not sure who I want her to end up with. I think, in fact, I want her to end up with both. I would like to thank Netgalley, Tor Books, and Ed McDonald for an advanced copy of Traitor of Redwinter. All opinions are my own.There's no shortage of examples of "men writing women badly" (and women writing men badly) in fiction in general and, in speculative fiction in particular. So, I was amazed by how well Ed McDonald wrote Raine in Daughter of Redwinter. It was a book that I literally could not put down not only because of the great protagonist, Raine, but also because of her "found family" and the great action. I also loved learning about the magical world of the Draoihn (mages) and the terrifying power they can wield.

It suffered from middle book syndrome a little bit at times due to the pacing of the plot but the ending did take me by surprise leaving it on quite the open ended cliffhanger and I am ready for book 3! Daughter of Redwinter is so good…I was hooked from the brilliant opening line.”—James Barclay, author of The Chronicles of the Raven series

They had been dead long enough to reek, not long enough to rot. I should have felt a little more—“poor bastards” wasn’t much to offer them. I suppose I didn’t think of these folk so much as people, as people-who-had-been. Since I’d been a small child, I’d seen the souls of the dead. I’d risen from a death of my own, then another, first throttled, then drowned. But there were no ghosts here. Only the insects, billowing clouds of flies, and the silent, graveless bodies. Without a ghost, without a soul, it’s all just so much spoiled meat. It wasn’t war. Not yet, anyway, but it was the fronting of war, the way that two drunks square up to one another outside a bar that should have closed hours ago, that moment of posturing before the blows start to fall. Nevertheless, I felt like this expanded Raine’s understanding of herself and showed us her flaws as she struggles to be fair and good to others. A main character with flaws, yes! Ed McDonald continues to cement himself as one of the best fantasy writers out there with every new book that he publishes. TRAITOR OF REDWINTER is yet another shining example of this as the second book in the Redwinter Chronicles expands on this amazing story and elevates it in so many astonishing ways. Seeing Robin Hobb's blurb on the front cover of this book is quite fitting and I can see why she would want to attach her name to this series. It has all of the hallmarks of her style of brilliant storytelling which is in itself very character-based and thoughtful with unforgettable moments of sheer magical brilliance.

The thing about both of books in this series is that despite the fact they go dark places they feel like a comfy blanket I can wrap around myself because I genuinely get lost in this story and characters without feeling beaten to the ground. There is a nice balance between serious and grave scenes and scenes of just Raine and her friends being young and everything that comes with that: emotional, fun and stupid, moody, self-absorbed and sweet. Grandmaster Robilar was an interesting character in the first book. McDonald gave a good teaser about her, and in this book, readers get to know more about her. I loved it. She is, of course, powerful, knowledgeable, and cunning. When reading, I did the feeling that she was so much more capable than Raine. There is definitely a reason she’s the grandmaster. Her addition to the book was great. Ed McDonald has followed up last year’s Daughter of Redwinter with a roller coaster of a second volume. This is a brilliant epic fantasy and has everything that a lover of fantasy novels could possibly need. I can tell you this: a lot has changed between the two books. Daughter and Traitor are very different in a whole bunch of ways. I loved the additions to the world-building in Traitor of Redwinter. There was so much cool history exposed. The magic system is still one of my favorites ever, and I enjoyed getting to see it in action again, especially some of the more esoteric powers that came into play. Grandmaster Robilar was a key figure in the story, and it was fascinating to see how her history intertwined with the current conflict in so many ways. There was clan drama, as well, with plenty of political intrigue. I think my one complaint would be that for most of the first half all of the interesting political maneuvering was happening around the characters without actually involving them.One of the reasons that I like this series is the world-building. It’s interesting, and I like how McDonald explores it through his story. In Traitor of Redwinter, we get more world-building and lore. The world and its history are fascinating. McDonald opens this book with a dream sequence in which Raine and the Raven Queen are watching the Riven Queen. I’m now fascinated with these historical Queens.