Unlike much of the modern crop of leaden fantasy epics where every scene is drenched in mud and grey, happiness is nowhere around, and every portentous utterance is laced with doom — nothing against these epics, mind you, I love a lot of them, but c’mon, people, crack a smile, willya? — Traitor’s Blade is brisk, quick-witted, and most of all, fun. This is not to take away from the weight of its story; de Castell leavens his plotline with plenty of serious talk, conspiracies, corruption, double-crosses, and bloodletting. But damned if you don’t have a smile on your face by the last page. Traitor’s Blade is an epic that moves with the grace of an expert fencer and leaves me begging for more.

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