Echoes of Betrayal is the third installment of Elizabeth Moon’s Paladin’s Legacy, which itself is a sequel series to Moon’s landmark debut trilogy The Deed of Paksenarrion. This novel is the exact midpoint of the Paladin’s Legacy series and builds well off of what came before and picks up fairly directly from the previous installment of the series, Kings of the North.
Kieri Phelan is ruling over the land of Lyonya, preparing to cement his reign with a marriage. He is dealing with contention from his rivals, but more daunting is the reawakening of a dragon who is pushing to regain the lands humans and elves have taken over. The dragon assumes humanoid form to speak with people and readers learn of the link between gnomes and dragons, which made the world all the more holistic and unified. The gnomes have failed in their duty to the dragons, as it turns out.
In Tsaia, Duke Dorrin Verrakai has her own problems; unrest from the people over whom she rules since she’s seen as a black sheep in her family. In her homeland, the worship of Gird is dominant and those worshippers look unkindly upon the mageborn, of which Dorrin is one. When Beclan Mahieran, one of her squires is on patrol, his squad is attacked leaving him the lone survivor thanks to his defeat of some of his attackers. The death of those attackers gives rise to suspicion that the squire might himself have been possessed by magelords. But Beclan isn’t just a squire to Dorrin, he is in related to the king and the bloodline is in question. Not an easy thing for Dorrin to have to deal with, in addition to the aforementioned problems plaguing her.
Rather than Kieri or Dorrin, Moon begins the tale with the thief Arvid Semminson a jail cell. That setting doesn’t last long as he and his gnome companion Dattur escape. Arvid was the enforcer of the Thieves Guild, but was betrayed by them which led to his incarceration. As much as the novel focuses on Kieri and Dorrin, perhaps Arvid undergoes the greatest change and character development over the course of the novel. Soon after Arvid escapes, he assumes the identity of a merchant, all the while searching for a lost necklace from Dorrin’s crown and jewel set. Dattur is his constant companion, a result of the gnome thinking he owes Arvid a life debt. Arvid begins hearing a voice in his head that he comes to realize is Saint Gird. Arvid does not consider himself a good person or a religious person, after all he spent much of his life as a thief and an enforcer for thieves, so much of his narrative journey in Echoes of Betrayal is an examination of his past and the struggle to redeem himself, even if such a word or change is never fully admitted or quantified. Moon captures the internal struggle Arvid is going through at this juncture in his life, he’s fighting against himself, who he was and who he wishes to become.
The title is quite apropos, as betrayal besets all of these characters wither this betrayal is actual or perceived. Arvid was betrayed by the Thieves’s Guild and he feels he may be betraying who he is as he continues to convene with the voice of Gird in his head. Beclan’s growing abilities can be seen as a betrayal to his people and his lineage. Kieri often feels his grandmother, the Elven Queen is betraying him while actual betrayal hangs like a cloud over his rule until the cloud darkens towards the end of the novel.
Noted for her nonappearance is Paksennarion, the protagonist of Moon’s initial trilogy. While it has always been clear that this sequel series was not about Paks, she was present in the previous volumes. The characters themselves even inquire about her whereabouts and reference her enough that her absence is nearly as powerful as her presence would have been.
The only elements of the story that felt a bit uneven for me were those leading up to the wedding of Kieri and his bride-to-be Arian. It was a necessary thing between the two and the interaction between Kieri and Arian felt genuine but elements of their narrative strand as a whole didn’t read quite as immediate as did the storylines for Beclan/Dorrn and Arvid.
I’ve had this book for a couple of years and just never got around to reading it, as such, the last time I ventured into the series was with the second book, Kings of the North, nearly three years ago. Because of this, the longer I waited to read Echoes of Betrayal, the more trepidation I felt picking it up. I wasn’t sure how much I would remember from the previous installment or how easily I would slip into the world and narrative. I shouldn’t have worried nearly as much. The names began ringing bells as did their plight and Moon’s narrative connects with me so well that I was soon right beside Arvid, Kieri and the other characters during their plights/journeys.
In the end, Echoes of Betrayal was thoroughly enjoyable and sets the table for more conflict to come in the next two volumes. With each book of Elizabeth Moon’s that I read, she climbs higher on my list of authors whose really work for me and is must read.
© 2014 Rob H. Bedford
Recommended
Published by Del Rey / Hardcover ISBN 978-0-3455-0876-8
March 2012 / 451 Pages
http://www.paksworld.com
Review copy courtesy Del Rey Books
