The Betrayed is Igor Ljubuncic's first novel in his The Lost Words series. As a fan of his writings and muses on dedoimedo.com, I bought this book with relatively high expectations. I am happy to say that the novel does not disappoint, and from the very beginning, I was hooked.
The novel follows an assortment of characters through the land of the Realms. The Eracians and Caytorans have been at war with each other for as long as anyone can remember. However, a rising movement of religious zealots who worship the God Feror are waging war against the God's of old. These plot threads eventually become intertwined, and the the stakes of the entire world (and then some) become much, much higher.
The Betrayed is very character-driven in its plot and focus. Adam and Armin are my two favorite characters, while King Vlad's plain insanity made me morbidly chuckle throughout. Adam is by far one of the most interesting characters in the novel, in my opinion. Without spoiling too much, his meteoric rise through the Eracian army is fascinating to experience, and although his demeanor is cold and calculated, I was constantly turning the page to see what he would do next. His dark nature is almost charming in a way. Armin is another wonderful character who stands out. A detective set out to investigate the murder of eight seemingly unrelated individuals, his hunt for the truth ends up revealing something much greater. Mali begins as an interesting character too, showcasing the strength and resolve of a female leader in a sea of men within the Eracian army. As the novel carried on however, Adam's charisma and presence in the novel almost overshadowed her until an interesting twist later in the novel.
In fact, The Betrayed contains a lot of interesting twists and turns. But they never feel forced. Igor has an immaculate way with flow, which makes the novel a pleasure to read. He is always moving from one plot point to another, from one scene of action to the next. It keeps the story from remaining stagnant for too long, and keeps the events in motion, while at the same time expounding each individual character. You are rarely given a wall of exposition describing the characters; instead, their personality and traits are expressed through their actions, with small bits of exposition filling in the holes. The novel also focuses on politics and religion, but it is very subtle in its messages and views. They're never forced onto you, but the commentary is there, which makes unraveling it all the more worthwhile.
There are some qualms with the novel, however. The book focuses on anywhere from about 5-6 characters, jumping between their stories every chapter. Though their paths eventually start to interweave towards the last third of the novel, it is a bit jarring and disorienting to the reader at times, though the reader usually has a good idea on what character's exploits will be explored in the proceeding chapter. I found some of the characters to not be very interesting (such as Ewan), or it took awhile before I became engulfed in their journey (Ayrton in particular comes to mind). The Deus ex machina device that appears toward the end of Adam's campaign also cheapens any and all tension in the war that had been built up to that point. The author's knack for keeping the story flowing also results in the novel's central weakness -- there is a lack of physical description of the world and environments the characters are in. For all the engaging backstory of the Realms, and for all the character development that goes on, I never completely felt like I was in the world. It was difficult to imagine where the characters well, and the scenery in general. The gruesome, gritty reality of violence, destruction, and the lives of citizens definitely come through, but the physical locations do not.
Overall, Igor's first novel in The Lost Words series is a thrilling, interesting read. I am looking forward to reading the remaining books in the series, and hopefully seeing the interesting grimdark world and characters expanded upon. I give this book 4/5 stars. A worthy read for any fantasy fan.
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Top reviews from other countries
Anthony Jones
An extremely good read.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 16, 2013