The Red Knight by Miles Cameron (The Traitor Son Cycle #1)

9/10

I live life surrounded by books, none more so than when I’m in my library (unsurprisingly). Many are books that I have read, some are books that are just waiting for a specific time to be read, and others are books that I may never get around to reading. I was lost for something to read last week, and so I went to that particular shelf – of books that live in the hope I will cast my eyes once again upon their spines – and searched for something to read.

I found ‘The Red Knight’ by Miles Cameron, and I’m bloody glad I did.

It takes you a few chapters before you realise that this is actually (sort of) historical fiction, taking place on an Earth that did have the birth of Jesus Christ, and a town called London (mentioned once – just once), but not much else that rings true. There is magic, split into different types and bordered by different religious orders. The world is split into the world of humans and that of the Wild, filled with monsters of all sorts and sizes, all desirous to rend humans bone from flesh.

The story focuses primarily on The Red Knight, unsurprisingly, a young mercenary captain who takes a contract that ends up being much more than originally assumed. And though the story pivots on this company, there are a great many points of view given to characters all across the landscape. Several from within the company itself are my favourite, but the way that seemingly disparate points of view are brought together by the last third speak of a well thought out story.

Some might dislike the disparity between the points of view, their seeming unconnected-ness, but the writing and storytelling is wonderful.

On top of that, author Miles Cameron knows his battlefield tactics and how to write a battle – either one on one, or thousands against thousands. The fight and battle scenes are some of the most mesmerising of the whole book.  

However, this book needed an editor. The pages were littered with atrocious editing mistakes and grammatical errors that took me out of the book every time I hit one. This book seems to have gone to publisher without seeing an editor at all, and I can’t find any hint that I received a pre-release copy.

The editing aside, however, there is very little to detract from one of the most impressive writing debuts in a while. With hints of Steven Erikson, attention to world building reminiscent of Tolkien and Sanderson, and characters and interweaving plots that draw the reader further and further into the story, The Red Knight is definitely a book you need to be reading.