The Traitor

• Author: Anthony Ryan
• Genre: Fantasy
• Publication Date: July 11, 2023
• Publisher: Orbit
• Series: The Covenant of Steel #3

Thank you to Orbit and Angela Man for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

CONTENT WARNING: murder, blood, gore, torture

It’s been a long journey for Alwyn Scribe. Born a bastard and raised an outlaw, he’s now a knight and the most trusted advisor to Lady Evadine Courlain. Together, they’ve won countless battles and helped to bring order to a fractured kingdom.

Yet Evadine is not the woman Alwyn once knew. As puritanical fury increasingly replaces her benevolent faith, Alwyn begins to question what her true motives are.

As the kingdom braces itself for one final battle, Alwyn’s conscience fights its own war with his heart. Now, more than ever, he must decide whose side he’s really on.

I’ve fallen in love with this series, and it’s hard not to have gotten attached to Alwyn through all of his challenges. I was excited but also nervous to start this book, because I only want good things to happen to Alwyn, and I know that he isn’t done going through difficult times. 

The story picks up right after the cliffhanger ending of the last book, with Alwyn and Evadine dealing with the aftermath of a murdered cleric. It doesn’t seem to bother them too much, as you’ll find out in the first chapter, but I can’t really share much about the plot without giving spoilers.

Instead, I want to talk about Ryan’s masterful setup of this series, which really comes to fruition in the conclusion. The characters that he creates are all important—none of them are filler, and all of them are well-rounded, even the side characters. Alwyn himself went through so many changes over the course of the series, but especially in this book. He’s gone from a child to an outlaw to a soldier to a leader to a knight, but in this book he really has to decide how he wants to live his life and be remembered, and what is most important to him in life. 

Overall, this was the perfect ending to the trilogy. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending, and it checked all the boxes. Action, character development, found family, even a little romance, and plot twists that blindsided me every time. Ryan has absolutely cemented his place on my favorites list with this stunner of a book and a series. He even leaves room for a potential spin-off series, which I really hope is in the works for the future.