Traitor's Moon: The Nightrunner Series, Book 3 (Mass Market Paperback)

The Queen is sending her youngest daughter, Princess Klia, along with one of her best military leaders, Beka Cavish, but they need an escort, someone who understands this strange land in which outsiders, or Tirfaie, have not been welcomed for centuries. That's where Seregil comes in. He is an exile of Aurenen, forced to leave as a young man for a crime of which he has never spoken. Idrilain has negotiated his return on very strict conditions, and Beka manages to convince a very reluctant Seregil to accompany them back to his homeland.

Alec, who is part Aurenfaie, is thrilled to be journeying to Aurenen, Seregil is decidedly less so. The land holds many memories for him, both happy and dark. As Alec learns more about their shared heritage, he learns much about his lover's hidden past as well. He needs to learn quickly however, because things are very different in Aurenen, and Klia will need all the help she can get on her diplomatic mission. The Aurenfaie live very long lives, so they see things quite differently. They take longer to make decisions. The problem is Skala doesn't have a lot of time. Things are getting worse on the battlefront daily, and a decision must be reached soon. Ancient intrigues threaten to sideline their work, and when a Skalan delegate is found dead, it's up to Seregil and Alec to work their master spy skills to save the mission-and Princess Klia-from certain doom.

Traitor's Moon is the third book in this series, and it differs from the first two in several significant ways. Seregil and Alec are finally a couple after their cautious and awkward courtship that spanned the first two books(...). Flewelling compensates for this well by exploring their untested relationship as they journey into Aurenen together, and by throwing in a new dose of romance with Beka and a suspicious Aurefaie guide. This book is also less action driven and therefore reads a little slower. It feels more like a political thriller than the swashbuckling adventures of the first two installments. Still, it was such a pleasure for me to return to old friends like Seregil and Alec that I loved every minute of it. Flewelling is a masterful writer and her world building skills and character development are on a par with the best in Fantasy. I was sorry to see the book end, and I'm already looking forward to the next book, to be released hopefully in 2005.

Perfect english grammar however, becomes less important when most of the characters start spouting incomprehensible Aurenfaie towards the middle of the book. And speaking of Aurenen, the whole Aurenfaie culture seems contrived and unconvincing. Apparently they put a great deal of importance on familial ties, honour, and they mistrust foreigners. But why? For survival? Do they struggle as a people to preserve their traditions? Who knows? For all the little details given of their mourning rituals and hair accessories, there isn't any sort of background or history given that would make the culture more "real".

Another thing was the sheer number of minor characters introduced. The most apt metaphor I could think of to describe it would be that machine that shoots out tennis balls at lightning speed, ricocheting off walls and hitting you in the head, leaving you disoriented and confused. "Nikides! Steb! Mirn! Mercalle! Riagil! Amali! Emil! Rhaish! Tornaeus!" Why name all the minor characters, when many of them make no apparent contribution to the plot and provide no insight towards the major characters? If you want to read a book for the political intrigues, read Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner. The so-called "intrigues" in Traitor's Moon are much weaker in comparison.

Finally, the thing that sucked out any enjoyment that I could have derived from the book was the development (or lack thereof) of the relationship between Alec and Seregil. For all the fuss made over the "talimenios bond," I saw no evidence of any deeper understanding or connection between Alec and Seregil. Yes, they enjoy breaking into people's houses together, they bond over complicated Aurenfaie politics, and they enjoy fornicating in guest rooms, but where is the love? In terms of homosexual relationships in fantasy novels, compare theirs with (also named) Alec and Richard in Swordspoint. There was no need to have any name for the bond between Alec and Richard, and they didn't need other characters acknowledging their great and epic love, or cheering them on. Their relationship just was. Flewelling needs to do a lot less telling, and a little more showing. Every nuance of a relationship between characters shouldn't be spelt out by the narrator and mentioned every other page because it takes away the essential part of it that makes readers feel for the characters, love them and care what happens to them.

Lastly, I can't think why anybody would name a character Seregil. It's impossible to imagine somebody named Seregil acting debonair, seductive or having an exciting life as a "nightrunner." If I had a pet duck, I would name it Seregil.