“…we’re all of us pawns, and many in games far
beyond our understanding.”
– Scourge of the Betrayer by Jeff Salyards
The much heralded debut novel from Jeff Salyards, entitled Scourge of the Betrayer – the first installment in a fantasy saga called Bloodsounder’s Arc – was an intriguing and entertaining reading experience but because of the author’s unconventional (ie: not typical) approach, I’m guessing that this novel won’t be nearly as popular as it deserves to be.
There are assumptions and expectations made every time a potential book buyer picks up a novel and in the case of Scourge of the Betrayer – which is barely more than 250 pages – the majority of readers (I believe) will be anticipating a breakneck-paced, action-packed, raucous, “military fantasy in the tradition of Glen Cook.”
Fittingly, I suppose because this is an undeniably bloody novel, an old song lyric from the Rolling Stones’ Let It Bleed album comes to mind: “You can’t always get what you want but if you try sometimes, well you just might find, that you get what you need…”
Scourge of the Betrayer is neither breakneck paced nor action packed – but ultimately that doesn’t even matter. This novel is essentially the (very well written) introduction to a much more grand-scale storyline, one with a potential narrative magnitude to rival any shelf-bending fantasy.
The focal character (and narrator) is Arkamondos, a young scribe who is hired on as the chronicler for a band of Syldoon soldiers, legendarily ferocious warriors whose exploits are the stuff of nightmares. The job is a perilous one but the band’s brooding, introspective leader, Captain Braylar Killcoin, puts it all into perspective early on:
“I can give you something much grander than coin. Fame. Fame for having been the archivist of an amazing tale. I could’ve chosen any scribe to record this, but I chose you. Among many. And you’ll have the rarest of opportunities to record something exceptional firsthand. For now, I’ll tell you this much. All empires crumble. All borders change. All kingdoms die. Where I’m taking you, you’ll witness the death of a body politic, the expiration of a way of life, the redrawing of a map. Something singular and priceless…”
Knowing virtually nothing about Killcoin’s mission or even where they are headed, Arki sets off with the band – and quickly becomes involved in a conspiracy of epic proportions that will not only change the political balance of power in the realm but will change Arki and the way he perceives the world around him…
Salyard’s strength is most definitely in his characters and their development. And in that respect, this novel was comparable to Glen Cook’s Black Company. Killcoin is an intriguing creation; armed with a seemingly sentient flail with demonic heads, whenever he kills someone, he is absorbs their memories, for better or worse. (His relationship to his dark weapon is eerily reminiscent of Moorcock’s Eternal Champion Elric and his soul-sucking sword Stormbringer.) Killcoin isn’t just some muscle-bound, emotionless butcher – he is highly intelligent and deeply philosophical and the sequences in which he speaks at length are some of the most memorable scenes in the book.
While the slower pacing and lack of nonstop action throughout may put off some readers, I believe that discerning fantasy fans will understand what Salyard is attempting here. He is taking his time setting up the story in order to tell it the right way. Scourge of the Betrayer is like a first date – that happened to end in a bloody kiss. Now that readers are familiar with the players and the storyline, Salyard can advance the storyline further, say with dinner and a movie and then maybe a bottle of wine and some chocolate covered carnage afterwards…
Bottom line: Scourge of the Betrayer is a literary appetizer that will undoubtedly captivate anyone who enjoys fantasy, be it epic fantasy, adventure fantasy, military fantasy, etc.
If you’re a fan of Cook’s Black Company, or GRRM’s A Song of Ice and Fire, or of classic fantasy sagas like Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser and Moorcock’s Elric, this is a debut novel that is, like Jagger said, “what you need.”
Paul Goat Allen has been a full-time book reviewer specializing in genre fiction for the last two decades and has written thousands of reviews for companies like Publishers Weekly, The Chicago Tribune, Kirkus Reviews, and BarnesandNoble.com. He is a member of the National Book Critics Circle.
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