The Traitor by Anthony Ryan

On August 25, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books14 Comments

Publisher: Orbit (Audiobook – 11 July 2023)

Series: Covenant of Steel – Book Three

Length: 19 hours and 15 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Acclaimed fantasy author Anthony Ryan brings his epic and exceptional Covenant of Steel trilogy to an end in a massive way with the impressive third and final book, The Traitor.

Over the last three years I have had an outstanding time getting my first taste of the works of leading fantasy author Anthony Ryan. A veteran author who has been enthralling fantasy audiences for over a decade, Ryan has several highly regarded series under his belt, including his Raven’s Shadow books, the Slab City Blues series, the Seven Swords series and The Draconis Memoria trilogy. However, I have so far only had the opportunity to read his latest body of works, The Covenant of Steel trilogy, which has been more than enough to make me a major fan of this author.

The Covenant of Steel books are an outstanding series that follows an intriguing and well-developed protagonist, the notorious Alwyn Scribe. Told in a chronicle format written by Alwyn, the Covenant of Steel books follow the protagonist as he embarks upon a powerful and exciting character journey that sees him overcome his bandit past to take on several new roles, including that of a scribe, soldier and knight, all while serving the mysterious religious figure, Lady Evadine Courlain. I have had an epic time with this series over the last few years, and the first two books, The Pariah (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021) and The Martyr (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022) have been exceptional five-star reads that proved near impossible to put down. Loaded with action, intrigue, a fantastic new world, and some complex characters, this series is so damn good, and I have been eagerly awaiting the third and final book for a while. This third book, The Traitor, was one of my most anticipated reads for 2023, and I was so excited when I finally got the chance to listen to it.

Alwyn Scribe is a man in real trouble. Now a renowned knight, general, spymaster, and trusted advisor, the former outlaw has relentlessly championed the cause of his lady, the Risen Martyr Evadine Courlain, and ensured she is now the most beloved and influential religious figure in all of Albermaine. But what if he made a terrible mistake?

Cryptic visions from the past have warned Alwyn that, despite her claims to be a servant of the divine Seraphile, Evadine actually serves the Malecite, the source of all evil in the land, who will use her to bring about a cataclysmic future. Blinded by love, Alwyn is convinced that these visions are false, and he is determined to keep Evadine alive and ensure that her vision of a united Albermaine are brought to life, even if that means starting another destructive war.

However, the closer Evadine gets to achieving her goal, the more Alwyn begins to realise that she is no longer the same woman that he swore his life to. Her messages of peace and tolerance have been replaced by the fires of puritanical fury, and Evadine soon launches a brutal crusade to rid the country of her enemies and place herself on the throne as an Ascendant Queen. But is she truly corrupted by the Malecite or is her brutal work a necessity to keep Albermaine safe from a greater evil? As a devastating civil war is unleashed upon the kingdom, Alwyn will be forced to choose whose side he is truly on and what he is willing to sacrifice to keep the world from burning.

Well damn, Ryan really didn’t disappoint with this fantastic and powerful conclusion to the fantastic Covenant of Steel trilogy. Weaving together all the elaborate elements from his first two books and then lighting everything you love on fire, The Traitor was a complex and deeply enjoyable read that I honestly couldn’t stop listening to. Powerful, thrilling, and oh so beautifully dark, The Traitor was a perfect ending to the Covenant of Steel trilogy that got an easy five-star rating from me.

The Traitor has a heck of a powerful narrative to it that takes the protagonist and the reader to the emotional limit. After an effective and entertaining recap of the previous two books, The Traitor starts in the immediate aftermath of the previous novel, The Martyr, with Alwyn leading Evadine’s army to war against the dangerous Ascendant Arnabus and his forces, resulting in a major, religious war. This initial conflict is the focus for a good part of the early story, and it serves as a great warm-up for the rest of the plot, allowing for some much-needed character reintroductions and development, while also providing some intriguing new context for the main story. This initial fight only serves as a taste for the wars to come, as Evadine seeks to overthrow the current order and rule herself. This incoming conflict ensures that the first half of The Traitor has a range of great story elements to it, with a mixture of intrigue, political manoeuvrings, espionage, and battles, ensuring that every second of The Traitor at this point is highly entertaining. This also serves as an excellent prelim for the anticipated change in the middle of the book, where the protagonist is finally forced to confront the fact that Evadine is no longer the woman he fell in love with.

Due to the reveal at the end of The Martyr, you had to know that Evadine was going to have some sort of fall from grace in this final novel, and when it comes, boy does it come hard. The betrayals, shocks and losses at this point are exceedingly impactful, and you soon realise that Ryan intends to go full scorched earth with his storytelling, forcing the reader to deal with some major tragedies. I liked the dark turns that occurred at this point in The Traitor, especially as Ryan had been hinting at them since book one, and it was awesome to get some payoff for the previous dark predictions. This forces Alwyn to make some tough choices, and there is a major and compelling change in the protagonist’s objectives and loyalties for the second half of the book. Thanks to the great setup at the start, as well as the major events in the middle, the reader will be very strongly caught in the narrative at this point, and even though the final half of The Traitor slows down in places, you really cannot put it down. Ryan really dives into the lore of his land in this second half, which provides some very unique scenes and moments, even if some of these story elements got a little away from the author. Still, this part of the book has some pretty impactful moments, and you will not be prepared for some of the key touching events.

Everything leads up to a final confrontation, which releases three books worth of pent-up emotion and revelations in some spectacular scenes. While part of this confrontation is a bit more metaphysical than it needed to be, you honestly will be blown away with how it all comes to an end, especially as there is layer upon layer of tragedy involved, and I deeply enjoyed the compelling and satisfying resolutions that followed. This entire story was a fantastic read from start to finish, and I really loved how Ryan wrapped up so many of his ongoing storylines and arcs here. While most plot points are finalised here, a couple do remain unresolved, and it wouldn’t surprise me if we get a sequel series at some point. I personally would be very keen for that, as I had such an exceptional time seeing this elaborate trilogy and ongoing narrative come together in some excellent ways.

I have always really enjoyed how Ryan set out the previous Covenant of Steel books, and he did a fantastic job of continuing his awesome writing style in this third and final book. The author sets out The Traitor using a chronicle style told from the protagonist’s perspective, which is such an effective writing tool. This deeply personal vision of events, combined with the author’s regretful insights of the future, really helps to drag the reader into the story, and Ryan really makes the most of this story format the entire way through. Like with the rest of the trilogy, Ryan keeps up a pretty steady pace in The Traitor, and there aren’t a lot of quiet moments in the book. The author really hit the right blend of powerful character focus, fantasy world building, and storytelling loaded with intrigue and action, and there is generally something for everyone here.

I loved the darker, more tragic feel that The Traitor had, especially compared to the earlier books, and it was easy to tell that this is the final book in the series. While the detailed plot recap and cast list at the front of the book is very helpful at reminding readers of prior events, readers unfamiliar with The Pariah and The Martyr probably won’t be able to jump into this final novel too easily as there are so many details from the first two books that reader’s need to be aware of to fully appreciate the impacts of this story. As such, people new to the series should really head back to the start, and I guarantee you will have a great time doing so. I really enjoyed how this awesome book came together, and Ryan’s ability to weave together an intense read with so many layers to it is very impressive.

One of the great highlights of the Covenant of Steel series has been the exceptional and detailed fantasy realm that the book has been set in, shown through the eyes of the narrator as he explores it. The reader has been given a very detailed look at these settings throughout the last two novels, and it has served as a great background to the plot. Primarily a medieval landscape dominated by a quasi-Christian religion, this background setting initially didn’t have a lot of fantasy elements to it except for a couple of wandering beings with strange powers. But Ryan slowly built up the fantasy elements throughout the book, with cumulation of magic occurring about halfway through The Martyr, which I think was an excellent choice, as it allowed him to instead focus on character growth, other world building elements, and the general politics and wars of the realm, in excellent detail. A lot of these political and religious elements are strongly explored throughout The Traitor, especially in the first half, and Ryan had a lot of fun showcasing the land’s dark turn towards religious conflict as his character’s embark on a bitter holy war. The dark and destructive changes to this well utilised setting are very notable, disturbing and compelling, and it was fascinating to see how much everything changed throughout the course of the series.

The Traitor does get a lot more fantasy heavy in the second half of the book, as the protagonist returns to a hidden realm and fully experiences the mysterious magic and powers that reside there to counter the dark visions of Evadine. I do think that there might have been a few too many magical inclusions here, as the plot did get a tad convoluted in places. Still, Ryan definitely had some fantastic and unique ideas here, and many of these fantasy elements have been utilised in the past to great effect. One particular ability that emerges actually brings part of the story around full circle, and it allowed for some very compelling interactions with characters from the past that I quite enjoyed. The fantasy revelations that emerge during the big concluding confrontation are very over the top, which some readers might have issues with. However, I quite enjoyed it, and it lead to a particularly dark final meeting between protagonist and antagonist that had me hooked the entire time. This really was an awesome fantasy series, loaded with cool settings and unique features, and I hope that we might get to revisit them in the future, especially as the events of this book will leave Albermaine a much darker and traumatised setting.

Easily my favourite element of The Traitor, and indeed the entire Covenant of Steel trilogy, has been the complex, damaged and memorable characters that the story has focussed on. Ryan has come up with an exceptional group of protagonists and villains over the course of the trilogy, and there are some deeply elaborate character arcs ongoing throughout the last two books. Many of these continue and conclude here in The Traitor, and Ryan really went out of his way to finalise the development of his characters in some powerful ways that will really strike the reader in the feels.

The main character of The Traitor is once again Alwyn Scribe, who serves as the primary narrator of the trilogy as he recounts his historical adventures. Alwyn has been a particularly compelling character throughout the series, mainly because you get to see him grow from a common outlaw to key advisor of the Risen Martyr as she begins her campaign across the country. Ryan has done such a great job telling Alwyn’s unique tale in the previous books, and the reader should already be highly invested in his story before The Traitor even starts. Of course, this ensures that the reader is hit even harder by some of the big moments of the book, as Alwyn goes through a lot here. Not only is he still involved in a series of deadly wars and political battles, but now he finds himself being torn between love and his sense of right and wrong, as Evadine becomes more and more unstable. Watching Alwyn continue to justify Evadine’s actions, even though deep down he knows she’s in the wrong, is both frustrating and understandable, as you realise just how much he is devoted to her. This sense of frustration is only enhanced by the constant recriminations Alwyn throws towards his past self as he narrates his own story, and you can feel the regret pouring of the pages there. While I won’t give too much away here, Alwyn ends up going through quite a lot in The Traitor, and the emotional toil that inflicts is pretty terrible, especially as he has to make some bitter and ruthless choices. It was very touching and intense to see Alwyn’s story come full circle in some ways, especially as there are some intriguing callbacks to his past, and all the major impactful moments that affect Alwyn are expertly portrayed by the author. Despite everything he goes through, Alwyn still maintains much of his humour, wit, ingenuity, and disrespectful attitude that were such a great part of the Covenant of Steel trilogy. It was so much fun to once again get his unique take on events, and he ended up being a pretty perfect narrator for this fantastic series.

The other major character that I have to talk about is Evadine Courlain, the Risen Martyr and Alwyn’s love interest, who has been such a significant figure in the last two books. A religious leader who inspired people with her visions, Evadine has always been a fascinating character, especially as you are never quite sure if she is actually divinely chosen, a delusional madwoman, or something even worse. After the reveal at the end of The Martyr that Evadine might be an avatar of evil, you come into The Traitor naturally highly suspicious of her, and Ryan caters to these expectations by ensuring that she quickly starts to descend into further darkness. Despite Alwyn’s continual attempts to restrain her, and justify her actions to the reader, Evadine becomes more of a darker figure as she pursues her various wars, although initially never going quite far enough to alienate her friends. Of course, that changes about halfway through the book, and when she goes dark, she goes dark in a big way, turning into quite a fantastic and sinister antagonistic figure. I really loved how Ryan turned Evadine here, and it is such an outstanding cumulation of so many key story arcs from the first two books. Despite everything she does, there is still a powerful bond between Alwyn and Evadine that deeply impacts both of them, and it was fascinating to see these great characters walk the thin line between love and hate again and again. The complex interactions between these two characters at various different points of The Traitor are beautifully written, and you have to appreciate just how damaged and dangerous their bond got at times. Evadine honestly was the perfect counterpoint to Alwyn in The Traitor, and I cannot emphasise how impressive her entire story arc ended up being.

In addition to Alwyn and Evadine, Ryan has loaded The Traitor with an exceptional cast of supporting characters who add a great deal to the impact of the story. This supporting cast is mostly made up of figures from the first two books, as Ryan brings back many of the old favourites and seeks to wrap up many of the intriguing storylines that have been such a fantastic part of the series. Highlights include Alwyn’s returning comrades, such as the unstable but very likeable Ayin, disgraced knight Wilhum, former outlaw Tiler, outlaw queen turned legitimate Duchess Lorine, and Juhlina, also known as the Widow. These characters, and more end up having some interesting roles throughout The Traitor, and it was fascinating to see the various sides that many of them chose, especially as the plot continued. I liked some of the surprising directions Ryan took a few of these returning characters, and there are some interesting choices, romances and entertaining fates that were wonderful to see. Ryan also features several great new characters who got a good introduction and utilisation in The Traitor, even if it was only for a single book. Quite a few of these characters were cast in antagonistic roles, which I think worked really well, and it was amazing how quickly Ryan was able to turn some of these characters into quite hateable figures.

While I did really enjoy the return of so many great characters featured within The Traitor, readers should be warned that Ryan does go on a bit of a murder spree here. While I won’t give too much away here, several great characters meet an untimely end in The Traitor, and this honestly gets pretty heartbreaking. While I usually don’t love it when authors kill off most of their characters in a finale, I think it worked quite well in The Traitor, especially as each death served an important narrative purpose. It also helped that for many of these characters, Ryan worked to resolve their storylines in advance, so readers got some closure with them, even as they were taken away. As such, The Traitor turns into quite a bloody and impactful read at times, and you will not be prepared for just how grim and tragic it gets when it comes to your favourite Covenant of Steel characters. I really cannot emphasise just how good Ryan’s character work is though, and I hope we see some of the surviving figures again in the future.

I ended up grabbing a copy of the audiobook version of The Traitor, mainly because it has been the format that I have enjoyed the rest of the Covenant of Steel books in. Coming in at a bit over 19 hours, this is a decently long audiobook, but I absolutely flew through it once I got caught up in the exceptional story. This format really lent itself to Ryan’s writing style and epic storytelling, and I deeply appreciated how listening to The Traitor allowed me to absorb all the key character moments, action and world building a lot better. My enjoyment of this book was enhanced even further by the return of narrator Steven Brand, who has given his voice to most of Ryan’s audiobooks. Brand is a very talented narrator with a great voice that fits this darker fantasy novel extremely well, especially as he perfectly encapsulates the protagonist, Alwyn Scribe. Brand really brings Ryan’s chronicle style to life in Alwyn’s voice, and I really loved his take on the protagonist and all the other characters. The sheer despair, weariness and self-loathing that Brand envisions in Alwyn’s voice at times is really moving, and I deeply appreciated how expertly he dove into the role of the main character. The rest of characters in The Traitor also receive some great, fitting voices, and the entire cast really came to life, if but briefly. I honestly had such a great time listening to The Traitor on audiobook and this is easily my preferred way to enjoy this fantastic book. As such, this format comes highly recommended, and it will probably end up being one of my top audiobooks of 2023.

Honestly, after how much fun I had with the first two books in this series, as well as my lengthy write-up above, it should come as no surprise that I deeply enjoyed The Traitor. Anthony Ryan brought his epic Covenant of Steel trilogy to a near perfect end, and I cannot emphasise enough how great and impactful this exceptional novel was. Featuring some excellent dark moments, powerful character development, and an outstanding war-focused narrative, The Traitor delivered everything I wanted and more. Easily one of the best fantasy books of 2023 so far, The Traitor was a joy to read from start to finish, and I am so glad I got the experience this awesome and amazing fantasy trilogy.

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The Pariah by Anthony Ryan

On October 11, 2021May 30, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books36 Comments

Publisher: Orbit (Audiobook – 24 August 2021)

Series: The Covenant of Steel – Book One

Length: 19 hours and 57 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Bestselling fantasy author Anthony Ryan returns with the first book in an epic, brand new series, The Pariah, a massive and captivating tale of one young man destined to alter an entire kingdom.

Anthony Ryan is an impressive and highly regarded fantasy author who has been a leading figure in the fantasy fiction landscape for the last 10 years. Ryan has already written several compelling series, including the Raven’s Shadow trilogy (succeeded by the Raven’s Blade duology), the Slab City Blues series, the Draconis Memoria trilogy and his Seven Swords series. All these series sound pretty awesome, and I have been meaning to check out some of Ryan’s works for years, especially his Raven’s Shadow books. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to go back and read any of them, which I really regret. So when I was lucky enough to receive a copy of The Pariah a couple of weeks ago, I was very interested in checking it out, especially as it serves as the first book in the brand new The Covenant of Steel series, which I thought would be a good way to experience Ryan’s writing style. I am very glad that I did as The Pariah was an outstanding and powerful fantasy read that I had a wonderful time getting through.

Alwyn is a young outlaw, trained by his band to steal, kill, spy and deceive. Raised in the massive and forbidding forest known as the Shavine Marches, in the heart of the kingdom of Albermaine, Alwyn serves the notorious Deckin Scarl, a feared and revered bandit king who rules the forests with an iron fist. Following a deadly civil war, Deckin finds himself with an opportunity to eliminate a recently installed duke and his family and seize his power and lands. However, before he can enact his ambitious and murderous plan, the bandit horde is betrayed, Deckin is executed and Alwyn is imprisoned, sent to work a lifetime in the labour prison known as the Pit Mines.

Determined to escape the mines and get revenge on the person responsible for the death of everyone he knew and loved, Alwyn finds himself under the sway of an inspirational cleric imprisoned alongside him. Under her tutelage, Alwyn learns a subtler art and becomes a scribe of great skill. However, his desire for freedom and revenge is never far from his mind, and he soon leads the inmates of the pit in an ambitious escape attempt, and so sets forth a series of events that will change Albermaine forever

Managing to escape from the prison and find sanctuary, Alwyn learns much and finds himself taking on many guises including that of scribe, scholar, advisor, and thief, as he attempts to find safety, wealth, and revenge. However, fate never appears to be on Alwyn’s side, and his bad luck eventually forces him to join a military company serving a noble lady who believes herself touched by the gods. Pledging himself to this company to save his life, Alwyn traverses battlefields and warzones across Albermaine, encountering some of the unusual people who inhabit this chaotic realm. His adventures will place him at the centre of the formative events of the kingdom and the church, but how will this scribe of bastard birth rise to become one of the most infamous figures of the age?

This was an outstanding novel from Ryan and one that makes me really regret not checking out some of his previous novels earlier. The Pariah contains an epic and comprehensive fantasy tale that sees a flawed protagonist traverse a compelling and well-established new fantasy realm. I had an amazing time getting through this impressive novel and it gets a full five-star rating from me.

The Pariah has a really great story that I got pretty damn addicted to. This latest book from Ryan is told in the chronicle form, as penned by its protagonist, Alwyn Scribe, who recounts his life story, including the early events which are the focus of this book. Ryan dives right into The Pariah’s narrative extremely quickly, with details of the setting and history weaved in as the tale progresses. The story has an intriguing start to it, showing Alwyn as the young member of a bandit crew with an ambitious leader. However, the story goes in some very interesting and devastating directions fast, with a brutal massacre changing the entire status quo for the protagonist and forcing him onto a new path. The rest of the story follows Alwyn as he becomes mixed up with a series of inspirational leaders, mysterious magic users, and fun side characters, whose plans and beliefs forces the protagonist into great adventure and intrigue. This leads to some awesome and memorable scenes, including a dangerous prison break, some epic battle sequences, and innumerable mysteries and revelations, several of which are left open for the author to explore in the rest of the series. This all leads to an intriguing and action-packed conclusion that showcases the protagonist’s growth, while also setting up the future entries in the series pretty well.

I deeply enjoyed the author’s impressive writing style in this novel, especially with the entire novel set out in the form of first-person chronicle. Due to the cool stories that it can tell, I have a lot of love for the chronicle format, and I felt Ryan did a really good job of utilising it in The Pariah. The post-examination of Alwyn’s story from his older self provides a unique and compelling view of the events unfolding around him, and I enjoyed the various notes from his older self that hint at future events and hidden secrets. These discussions of future events help to add a certain amount of anticipation and suspense at various points at the novel, such as the early hints about the ambush at the bandit camp or mentions about future dark meetings with certain characters. I also found the focus of this book to be quite interesting, especially as a large portion of the novel was more concerned with setting up future storylines, rather than moving the story along at a quicker pace. This is a very classic epic fantasy move from Ryan, and it quite enjoyed the way in which he took the time to establish the protagonist, the supporting cast, and the settings, with a particular focus on some of the formative events of Alwyn’s life. While I enjoyed this set-up, it does steal a little excitement and momentum from the narrative, although I think the sheer amount of interesting setting detail and the intriguing potential of several established, long-term storylines more than makes up for it. All these interesting writing elements helped to turn The Pariah into a very exciting and compelling read, and I really loved the way in which they enhanced the already awesome narrative.

I also quite enjoyed the new setting that Ryan set up for The Covenant of Steel series, which has an interesting medieval European feel to it, equipped with knights, forest-dwelling bandits, and religious crusades. The entire novel is set within the Western Duchies of Albermaine, a nation riven by civil war, invasion and religious instability. This proves to be an outstanding and compelling background to the awesome story contained with The Pariah, especially as the protagonist finds himself visiting some of the more unique locations of this setting during major historical events. I personally enjoyed the cool forest lair portrayed in the start of the novel, mainly because Ryan was trying to emulate a darker version of the Robin Hood tale, but there is also a deadly prison mine and an elaborate cathedral that serve as major settings which I thought were really good.

There is also a great focus on the political and religious makeup of Albermaine, and this results in some fascinating storylines. I really liked the focus on the martyr-based and corrupt overarching religious organisation that has substantial control of the kingdom, as that forms a driving point of the plot, with the protagonist becoming involved with several unorthodox clergy members, who bring down the wrath of the rest of the church for their actions. Also, I am kind of curious to see if a prophesied end-of-the world event that multiple characters preach about actually occurs in future novels, especially as it would be a pretty fun story moment if it did. The protagonist also seems drawn to several people with magical abilities considered heretical by the church, which offers an interesting counterpoint to his other threats, especially as each of these magical characters produce impressive mysteries and potential dark storylines. I was impressed with how much time the author takes to imbue his setting with a massive amount of detail and after the quick start to the narrative, the reader is given a crash course in the history and politics of the realm. Despite the level of detail, I think that Ryan spread the world building out to an acceptable degree, and I never felt too overwhelmed with the various explanations and world expansions. I had a wonderful time traversing Albermaine with the protagonist and I look forward to seeing what additional developments and storylines occur within it in the future novels.

As I mentioned above, the novel is solely told from the perspective of protagonist Alwyn, later known as Alwyn Scribe once he takes up his profession, who is penning the events of his younger life. Alwyn is an interesting protagonist to follow and thanks to the author’s use of the chronicle style, you really get a sense of the character’s personality, motivations, and intentions as the novel progresses. Initially starting off as a young thief with immense loyalty to his chief, Alwyn goes through a lot as the novel progresses, forced to make hard decisions and encountering horrors, mistakes and a load of enemies as his tale progresses. I found Alwyn to be a complex and compelling figure, and I didn’t always like him or his decisions, especially when he was reckless and rash. However, he does grow as the novel progresses and, while he still has a lot more development to go, I felt that he was a better character at the end of the novel. I liked the various talents that Alwyn develops throughout the novel, and it was fun to have a more complex and less noble figure, thanks to his past as a thief and conman. I especially enjoyed his transition into a scribe, which the character soon sees as his primary profession, and it certainly is an interesting and compelling role for a fantasy protagonist. I liked the way in which the older version of the character tells the story, especially as there are some great reflections about his actions and his personality during that time, and you can often hear the protagonist’s regret over what he did and what is to come. I cannot wait to see what happens to this character in the future, and I kind of suspect that his tale is not going to come to a very happy end.

Aside from Alwyn, The Pariah is filled with a massive contingent of side and supporting characters who Alwyn meets throughout his adventures. These characters are featured perfectly throughout the narrative and I loved the unique and compelling ways in which they influenced the overall story. Ryan invests a lot of time into developing many of these characters, even some who had more minor roles, providing interesting personal histories and personality traits to make them stand out, and I appreciated how complex and compelling their storylines could turn out to be. I found it interesting that there was a focus on inspiration leaders, with Alwyn falling in with three separate figures in this novel, each of whom commanded his loyalty through different means and whom he became close with in different ways (one is a surrogate father, another a teacher, while the third has a very complicated and constantly evolving relationship with the protagonist). There were also some interesting antagonists featured throughout the novel, and while a couple died before their time, Ryan made sure to leave some of the better ones alive for the next entry in the series, and I am sure they will have an impact there. Each of the characters featured in The Pariah added a lot to the plot, and I cannot wait to see what unique figures are featured in Ryan’s next entry.

While I did receive a physical copy of The Pariah, I decided to try out the audiobook format instead. I am glad that I did as this was an excellent and enjoyable audiobook that was really fun to listen to. Due to its massive story, The Pariah has a decent run time of just under 20 hours, although I managed to get through it in less than a week as I really got into the amazing story. The audiobook moved at a great pace, ensuring that there were never any dull or slow moments for the listener to get bogged down in. I also found that the audiobook format was a great way to absorb the intense amount of world-building, and it also lent itself to some of the exciting fight scenes extremely well. I was also impressed by the narration of Steven Brand, who brought a wonderful energy to this format. Brand has an amazing voice and he quickly leapt into the role of the narrator, telling the unique tale of the protagonist’s life and inhabiting the character seamlessly. I loved the distinctive and well-fitted voices that Brand used throughout The Pariah, and he really helped to turn this format into something special. As a result, the audiobook version of this book comes highly recommended and I will probably end up listening to the rest of this series in this format.

The Pariah by Anthony Ryan is an epic and deeply compelling piece of fantasy fiction that is really worth reading. Perfectly setting up Ryan’s intriguing new series, The Pariah was an awesome outing from this talented author, and I loved the brilliant story, complex characters and chaotic setting that was featured throughout it. I cannot wait to see how this awesome series is going to turn out, and The Covenant of Steel novels look set to be one of the most iconic fantasy series of the next few years.

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