Booklog 17/2019 - Sebastien de Castell: Knight's Shadow – The Greatcoats #2

More swashing and buckling with Falcio, Brasti and Kest. This strikes a balance between Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy (which I also love), Game of Thrones (superb) and The Three Musketeers (classic). The story picks up exactly where Traitor's Blade left off. Falcio, only mostly dead, is trying to recover (physically) from the climactic events of the previous book, and almost immediately disaster strikes. Thirteen year old Aline, the late king's true heir, is in danger from Trin (now Duchess of Hervor) and her thuggish knights. Our three heroes set out to pave the way for Aline's accession to the empty throne. They are joined by two female greatcoats: Valiana, who thought she was destined to be a duchess, but discovered she'd been raised as a decoy, and (new character) Dariana, the surly but deadly new Greatcoat.

Narrated by Falcio, we follow his character closely, but discover more about Brasti and Kest, too. Brasti, handsome and deadly with a bow, is not the shiniest apple in the barrel (He never met a plan he fully understood.) but, though not above a bit of petty larceny, he shows his true heart. Kest has to get to grips with his sainthood. As Saint of Swords he has problems no one envisaged, not least his urge to duel the second best swordsman in the country - Falcio. Falcio really goes through the mill in this book. He's dying slowly (from poison administered in the first book), he has to deal with a terrifying sect of Dashini assassins, and solve the mystery of who is killing dukes. All this while trying to prevent a civil war and figure out who is trying to cause it.

Once again, the dialogue is quirky and light, in contrast to the (often) desperate action.
Nehra frowned. "Do you always run headlong into certain death?" "Sometimes he walks," Dariana said. "Occasionally he shuffles. Once I'm pretty sure I saw him amble into certain death."

I was trying to work out what makes these three characters special. There are plenty of heroic fighters in any number of fantasy books. I think the answer is that despite the high body count, these three don't simply uphold the king's law, they genuinely care about the innocent and the commoners who are frequently on the receiving end of the Dukes' injustices (and the Dukes' knights' swords).

The pace never lets up, and once more I get to the end and have to start reading the next book in the quartet, Saint's Blood. Highly recommended