Product Description

At Castle Harvell, demented Prince Kylock grabs the reins of power by murdering his father. Harvell's two young refugess are torn apart by the storms of war: headstrong young Melliandra is captured by brutal slavers and Jack, whose wild power works miracles, falls prey to a smuggler's lying charms and a woman's seductive schemes. Meanwhile, a knight's shattered destiny is about to lead from death-sport pits to the blood-strewn creation of an empire. For more information on this or any other Orbit title, visit the Orbit website at www.orbitbooks.co.uk

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #89752 in Books
• Published on: 1996-11-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 598 pages

Review
'J. V. Jones is a striking writer...' Robert Jordan 'J. V. Jones is quite a find ...a deliciously intricate tale' Katherine Kurtz 'A storyline featuring the kind of political scheming and intrigue that makes for gripping reading' SFX 'A highly successful, popular fantasy epic (with) a substantial cast and vivid, colourful landscape.' DRAGON MAGAZINE 'J. V. Jones is about to become one of the great fantasy success stories of the 90s.' MYSTERIOUS GALAXY BOOKS

KATHERINE KURTZ
`J. V. Jones is quite a find . . . a deliciously intricate tale'

SFX
`A storyline featuring the kind of political scheming and intrigue that makes for gripping reading'

Customer Reviews

Great book
I love this book. "A Man Betrayed" is the second book of the trillogy; I nearly went mad waiting for it to come out. The series has got really good strong characters, especially the female ones. There's also a dark, depressing mood throughout the books, whick renders you unable to put them down. But there are also instances of conic relief as you get advice on everything betewwn heaven and earth from two half-drunken guards named Grift and Bodger.

Unraveling yet unrevealed.
This is the second volume in the Book of Words trilogy (following The Baker's Boy and followed by Master and Fool).

Melli and Jack, fleeing for the second time from Castle Harvell, take refuge in a chicken coop. While Jack is taking a morning stroll in the snow to stretch his legs and bury the corpse of the Halcus man he's just killed to defend Melli, a group of soldiers kidnap the girl to sell her to a flesh-trader. On his way back to the coop, Jack is captured by Rovas and taken to his house. There he meets the smuggler's makeshift family: Magra and her mysterious daughter Tarissa, two noblewomen, exiles like him from the Four Kingdoms. They'll make him believe that Melli has been raped and slaughtered and enroll him to kill the Halcus captain responsible for her death.

In the North, Lord Maybor and Baralis are both travelling to Bren, acting respectively as king and prince envoys to arrange the bethrotal between Prince Kylock and the Duke of Bren's daughter, the young and beautiful Catherine. But in the meantime, Kylock murders his father and therefore becomes king of the Four Kingdoms. He won't wait long before dismissing his mother and invading Halcus in order to put an end to the war.

In this middle volume, the protagonists are all steadily converging to the city of Bren for the third and final act. As J.V. tries not to reveal too much of the plot in itself, with this book she digs deeper into the various characters' personality, and as a result I was surprisingly starting to feel pity for a character I used to loathe, or be just as confused as the hero about another one. I'm definitely looking forward to reading Master and Fool!

Cracking read!!!
This is the second book in "The Book of Words" trilogy,,, and i`ve not been disappointed,
the first one "Bakers boy" was a cracking read and i was a little worried that this one wouldn`t meet my expectations,,,, if you enjoyed the 1st then get this one,,,, its a marvellous read, it keeps you turning the pages til the end of the book,,,, number 3 is on order now!!