It all starts with a knight rescuing a damsel-in-distress from a dragon – but luckily for McRobbie, Melissa isn’t the type to swoon and congratulate him. She does agree to a date, but soon finds that she’s got caught up in the political turmoil surrounding the Knight-Commander of the King’s Legion, who is trying to discover the traitor attempting to betray the country. Unfortunately for McRobbie, the plan involves the Knight-Commander himself being labelled the traitor and then waiting for contact from the real villains. The downside is that due to McRobbie’s personal background, everyone is far too willing to believe the rumours. In addition to fighting political attempts to overthrow him and dodging gossip, the Knight-Commander ends up hunting for a dragon and a master assassin, all while definitely not conducting any sort of romance with the lady he saved…
I have to admit to prejudice – just based off the cover and title I thought this was going to be a classic fantasy, possibly with some grim and dark thrown in. I’m pleased (at least with the grimdark bit) to have been completely wrong. This is a witty and action-packed page-turner that takes the classic fantasy land and adds depth, character, romance and political intrigue to brilliant effect.
The first chapter sets the tone wonderfully; a knight charging to the rescue of a damsel with attitude, and a dragon with hiccoughs! The rest of the book is in the same vein; a love story mixed with a tense adventure, intrigue and politics tangling with action and wit. It’s one I didn’t want to put down; every chapter provides something interesting and even though most of the focus is on the characters and their personal struggles, there’s enough action and outside drama to make the book an entertaining read.
Willis treads the fine line between serious and amusing with a light touch; the book has some serious themes, but never bogs down. The world is classic fantasy, but with enough detail that it seems more real than fantasy; the politics and problems are real-world, with challenges those you could believe would be faced. The characters are excellently done; even the baddies are fully rounded and have a brilliant set of alternative motivations – no clichés here! I warmed to Melissa’s forthright and self-possessed style immediately, and I’m definitely a fan of McRobbie. He’s complex, interesting, and definitely not your average heroic knight; he’s dropped in enough situations that he’s fighting something every step of the way, even with the addition of his continuous screw-ups when it comes to dealing with a woman he’s mostly definitely not interested in, nuh-uh, no way…
The only thing that occasionally let the book down was that there are occasional points when the character and plot motivations aren’t clear, particularly during the political manoeuvring; it was hard to understand why someone acted as they did, or their reasoning doesn’t fit what we know of the character. It never detracts from following what’s happening or spoil enjoyment, but it did sometimes leave niggles that chased through the next few pages. However, it’s a minor point; McRobbie’s motivations are excellently brought out and overall, the plot is exciting and fun.
There is a sequel in progress, Desperate Knights (publication tbc), which looks like it has more of Wyvrndell (the dragon), continues the plot thread of the dwarves, and generally has McRobbie causing more chaos…so I’m eagerly anticipating that one!
© Kate Coe, June 2016
Traitor Knight by Keith W. Willis
Published September 7th 2015 by Champagne Books
https://sites.google.com/site/keithwwillisauthorsite/
Review copy courtesy of the publisher
358 pages
