Review: Spygames, Assassins, and Intrigue
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 1, 2011
The book is not so much about Klast (though he does get a decent amount of face time), as it is about the political maneuverings that surround his lord and some of the other major figures.  The story follows numerous characters - something I'd normally find tedious, but kind of works here since they are all part of the same story arch and all you're really getting is different perspectives of the same action.  As the King's assassin and spymaster you get to see how Klast faces the different challenges that present themselves in the ensuing chaos that arises from traitors, plague, enemy forces, power games, and a number of emotional conflicts, all the while getting other characters' perceptions about Klast himself.There is solid character development, though the world building is a little rough; you get a lot of names without really getting a general picture (a map at the beginning would help a lot) of what the territories look like or how things are run or what part religion or the 'earth' plays in the scheme of things.  Also, there is a fair amount of action and it is pretty fast-paced to start out (book starts in the middle of a siege), but slows down a lot later when it sacrifices fighting to concentrate more on poltics, intrigue, and a bit of romance.All in all, I didn't expect much from this 99 cent unknown, but I'm glad I took a chance on it.  It was surprisingly entertaining and it was fun to see how people thought of Klast as this cold and cunning badass, and then to see what he was really feeling.