Traitor of Redwinter, by Ed McDonald, easily wins my pick for best book cover of the year, but the contents of its pages are more contested. The sequel to a standout first book, Daughter of Redwinter, Traitor picks up our story after all the kerfuffle in book one with Raine now accepted at the pseudo-magical school, Redwinter, and studying to open the four gates of magic to understand the mysteries of the world better. If you liked the first book, there is a lot more of that signature McDonald fantasy/horror blend with some fabulous set pieces. While there was a ton of content that I loved in Traitor, there were some identity issues that kept the book from surging up our picks for Best of 2023.
The foundation of this book is very solid. The mysteries of the world are intriguing and demand to be investigated. In book two we get to see Raine spend time with a larger field of mentors and peers, and all of them bring new and interesting perspectives to the table. The headmaster of Redwinter, who is utterly terrifying, is particularly fabulous and every chapter Raine spent with her was a light in the dark guiding me forward like a beacon through the book.
The antagonists of this series are some of the most hateable and punchable people I have read. They evoke a visceral reaction in me as a reader and I just want to see them die. They are clear allegories for common villains in real life and watching them get their comeuppance itched a schadenfreude I didn’t know I had. They make the book feel very contextually relevant to the current era, despite the old-timey fantasy content, which is delightful. On top of this the plot, in broad strokes (I will talk about pacing soon…), is really captivating. I need to know what happens next and McDonald’s story has its hooks in me deep.
But, some of those hooks were also yanked out of my flesh painfully by a number of issues that plagued Traitor of Redwinter. The most obvious one is the stalling character development of Raine. Raine went through a lot in book one and had a nice clear arc to accompany the trauma. Book two has a less clear direction that feels a lot more like ‘wait and find out’ as mysteries come to the cast. The twists and turns are exciting, but Raine feels like she is treading water character-wise a lot of the book and it can make her frustrating.
The pacing is also all over the place, and the ambiance can’t seem to pick a lane. The first third of the book reads like a fact-finding spy story with a team of elite warriors on an intense mission. The second third of the book reads like the cut episodes of a teen drama that the editing team decided didn’t quite work. The last third of the book is a horrifying war story that moves as fast as a plummet to hell. All of this results in a book that had a ton of interesting moments I really liked but I don’t really understand as a cohesive story.
Overall, I still liked Traitor of Redwinter, and I plan on continuing the series when the third book comes out. Yet, I can’t help but feel like I witnessed an impressive gymnast routine that was plagued by fumbles ultimately resulting in frustration. I can see the potential of something incredible here, but the execution needed a little work before the competitor earned a 10.
Rating: Traitor of Redwinter – 7.5/10
-Andrew
An ARC of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts on this book are my own.
