Warlords And Wastrels by Julia Knight
The Blurb On The Back:
Two siblings.
Vocho and Kacha may be known for the finest swordplay in the city of Reyes, but they’ve found themselves backed into a corner too often for their liking.
Divided by loyalty.
Finally reinstated into the Duellists guild, they are tasked with bringing a prisoner to justice - Kacha’s old flame Egimont. However the more they discover of Egimont’s dark dealings, the more Kacha’s loyalties are divided. Soon she must choose a side - the prelate or the king, her brother or her ex-lover.
Their fate is balanced on a knife edge.
It’s a little over six months since LEGENDS AND LIARS. Kacha is now the guild master of the Duellists guild having beaten Vocho to the job (Vocho, naturally, is sure that she cheated). However, ever since Vocho and Dom told her that Petri was dead, she’s lost interest in life and her job. Concerned by the change in his sister (and fed up with being left to do her paperwork and manage the Guild masters), Vocho asks Bakar to find her a commission - something that will remind Kacha of who she is.
Bakar duly tasks them with helping Captain Eder to track down a group of bandits led by a duo known as the Scar and the Skull who are terrorising the mountains around Kastroa. Unfortunately Eder is no fan of the Duellists Guild and his antipathy to the siblings is not helped by Vocho’s friendship with his sergeant Carrola. Nothing prepares the siblings for what they find in the mountains - old friends and new enemies are about to converge as Kacha and Vocho’s past catches up with them and the future of Reyes is at stake …
The last in Julia Knight’s DUELLISTS TRILOGY brings Kacha and Vocho’s story to a close in an emotionally satisfying way that shows how both characters and their relationship have grown over the three books. Although Knight brings back some loved characters and closes out their plotlines, the big weakness of this book is Petri because while his descent into despair and the actions that come from it are broadly believable, I didn’t believe in his emotions towards Kacha, especially given the events in the previous book. Given that this is his central motivation for much of his story, it did stop me from buying into the plotline. To some extent, Kacha help to balance this out - I particularly believed in her guilt and how that comes to paralyse her and I really enjoyed how that forces Vocho to grow up and start behaving more responsibly - but it didn’t totally get me over the issue. That’s a shame because the world building (and especially Knight’s magic system) are great and I would love to see her do a 5 book series so that she got the space and time to bring everything together. Ultimately, this is an okay conclusion to an entertaining trilogy and I will definitely read what Knight does next.
The Verdict:
The last in Julia Knight’s DUELLISTS TRILOGY brings Kacha and Vocho’s story to a close in an emotionally satisfying way that shows how both characters and their relationship have grown over the three books. Although Knight brings back some loved characters and closes out their plotlines, the big weakness of this book is Petri because while his descent into despair and the actions that come from it are broadly believable, I didn’t believe in his emotions towards Kacha, especially given the events in the previous book. Given that this is his central motivation for much of his story, it did stop me from buying into the plotline. To some extent, Kacha help to balance this out - I particularly believed in her guilt and how that comes to paralyse her and I really enjoyed how that forces Vocho to grow up and start behaving more responsibly - but it didn’t totally get me over the issue. That’s a shame because the world building (and especially Knight’s magic system) are great and I would love to see her do a 5 book series so that she got the space and time to bring everything together. Ultimately, this is an okay conclusion to an entertaining trilogy and I will definitely read what Knight does next.
Two siblings.
Vocho and Kacha may be known for the finest swordplay in the city of Reyes, but they’ve found themselves backed into a corner too often for their liking.
Divided by loyalty.
Finally reinstated into the Duellists guild, they are tasked with bringing a prisoner to justice - Kacha’s old flame Egimont. However the more they discover of Egimont’s dark dealings, the more Kacha’s loyalties are divided. Soon she must choose a side - the prelate or the king, her brother or her ex-lover.
Their fate is balanced on a knife edge.
It’s a little over six months since LEGENDS AND LIARS. Kacha is now the guild master of the Duellists guild having beaten Vocho to the job (Vocho, naturally, is sure that she cheated). However, ever since Vocho and Dom told her that Petri was dead, she’s lost interest in life and her job. Concerned by the change in his sister (and fed up with being left to do her paperwork and manage the Guild masters), Vocho asks Bakar to find her a commission - something that will remind Kacha of who she is.
Bakar duly tasks them with helping Captain Eder to track down a group of bandits led by a duo known as the Scar and the Skull who are terrorising the mountains around Kastroa. Unfortunately Eder is no fan of the Duellists Guild and his antipathy to the siblings is not helped by Vocho’s friendship with his sergeant Carrola. Nothing prepares the siblings for what they find in the mountains - old friends and new enemies are about to converge as Kacha and Vocho’s past catches up with them and the future of Reyes is at stake …
The last in Julia Knight’s DUELLISTS TRILOGY brings Kacha and Vocho’s story to a close in an emotionally satisfying way that shows how both characters and their relationship have grown over the three books. Although Knight brings back some loved characters and closes out their plotlines, the big weakness of this book is Petri because while his descent into despair and the actions that come from it are broadly believable, I didn’t believe in his emotions towards Kacha, especially given the events in the previous book. Given that this is his central motivation for much of his story, it did stop me from buying into the plotline. To some extent, Kacha help to balance this out - I particularly believed in her guilt and how that comes to paralyse her and I really enjoyed how that forces Vocho to grow up and start behaving more responsibly - but it didn’t totally get me over the issue. That’s a shame because the world building (and especially Knight’s magic system) are great and I would love to see her do a 5 book series so that she got the space and time to bring everything together. Ultimately, this is an okay conclusion to an entertaining trilogy and I will definitely read what Knight does next.
The Verdict:
The last in Julia Knight’s DUELLISTS TRILOGY brings Kacha and Vocho’s story to a close in an emotionally satisfying way that shows how both characters and their relationship have grown over the three books. Although Knight brings back some loved characters and closes out their plotlines, the big weakness of this book is Petri because while his descent into despair and the actions that come from it are broadly believable, I didn’t believe in his emotions towards Kacha, especially given the events in the previous book. Given that this is his central motivation for much of his story, it did stop me from buying into the plotline. To some extent, Kacha help to balance this out - I particularly believed in her guilt and how that comes to paralyse her and I really enjoyed how that forces Vocho to grow up and start behaving more responsibly - but it didn’t totally get me over the issue. That’s a shame because the world building (and especially Knight’s magic system) are great and I would love to see her do a 5 book series so that she got the space and time to bring everything together. Ultimately, this is an okay conclusion to an entertaining trilogy and I will definitely read what Knight does next.