The Cost of Betrayal

Audio version.
This is the second part of the series. This is the first book by David Dalglish I've read. I gave this a 4 because there are a few things that were confusing. I think if I had listened to the first book I probably would have given this a 5. Unfortunately I can't afford it to find out, hopefully I can get it soon. So if you're interested in this one I suggest getting the first book as well for best enjoyment.
C. J. McAllister has fastly risen to becoming one of my favorite narrators. It's a pleasure listening to him.
Reasons I enjoyed this audio book:
Tear-jerker, Romantic in a few places, Wonderful characters, Page-turner, Great world building, Unpredictable, Original, Easy-to-read, Entertaining, Action-packed, Twisted, Haunting, Scary.
Bookshelves/tags:
curse-cure, fantasy, multiple-couples, mystery, nonhuman, read, recorded, romance, series, suspense, tragic
This Audio book was given to me at my request from the publisher, author or narrator and I provided this unbiased voluntary review.

My review is based on the Audiobook. The beginning was tedious for me and had I been reading I would have skimmed through alot of the day to day details however the pace does get better and I found myself hanging on every word. Tessana is such a tortured soul and the way CJ McAllister narrates her and the others truly brings the story to life. At the core everyone is just trying to do what is right for their loved ones but life is messy and not easy and this story reflects that very well. I am eager to find out what happens next in the series. I would definitely purchase other books narrated by CJ McAllister. I was given this free review copy at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

The Cost of Betrayal, the second book in David Dalglish's Half-Orcs series, is a step up from its predecessor, the Weight of Blood, but still leaves a lot to be desired. The series follows the travails of Harruq and Qurrah Tun, two half-orc brothers, as they get caught up in some diabolical events, many of which they cause themselves. The story is fairly dark and brutal, so if you prefer light-hearted fantasy, this likely won't be your cup of tea.

To start with the positives, I remain very impressed by Dalglish's creativity. He's got some really good ideas here. Some people have quipped that the story reads like a Dungeons & Dragons game, but having never played D&D myself, I can't comment on that. What I can say is that Dalglish has some ideas that I, despite having read dozens of fantasy books, haven't seen before. Sure, a lot of fantasy tropes are here - orcs, elves, wizards, etc., but Dalglish provides a unique twist on a lot of those familiar tropes. Most importantly, though, Dalglish has created a world and a cast of characters that interest me (with some exception). I read through the first two books in the series in the span of a few days. Not only do they read quickly, you want to keep reading.

Unfortunately, the Weight of Blood had a lot of flaws. Dalglish has improved on some of them, but all are still issues. The biggest improvement came in the quality of the writing, from a technical perspective. The Weight of Blood featured a lot of short, choppy sentences that resulted in stilted, halting prose. Dalglish has expanded his writing repertoire; the prose now flows much more naturally. I doubt Dalglish will ever write beautiful prose, but he hopefully will continue to improve to the point where it does not detract from the reading experience. Likewise, Dalglish has expanded the cast of characters, which was a major weakness of the first novel. The first novel focused almost exclusively on Qurrah and Harruq, with one or two side-characters getting some attention in the second half of the book. Not only are several interesting characters added to the mix, but the other side characters are given more attention, are fleshed out to the point that they aren't two dimensional caricatures. Another issue with the first novel has been improved: namely that several of the scenes read as though they were written by children. Although some (though certainly not many) of the dialogue and scenes remain cheesy, none of them are downright laughable in the Cost of Betrayal.

My biggest problem, however, may simply be a personal issue, others might not agree, but I really dislike Qurrah, one of the two protagonists. I don't mean that I dislike him as a person, but rather that I dislike him as a character: he's dull, obnoxious, and predictable. I don't enjoy his chapters (which, unfortunately, are about half the book). His plot arc is dull and sometimes illogical (particularly the climactic plot, though I won't go into detail here). Further, the new character added to build Qurrah's story, Tess, is really, really uninteresting. What's more, a lot of Qurrah's chapters are very similar. Indeed, a large number of them feature the two characters having rough, violent sex. I don't mind sex scenes, violent or otherwise, but they got repetitive awfully quickly, and typically weren't written very well anyway.

Despite the criticisms, I did enjoy the Cost of Betrayal. It's a definite improvement over the Weight of Blood. I'm giving the book three stars, which I consider a favorable review. The execution still needs a lot of work, but Dalglish has shown the ability to improve from the first novel to the second, and if he continues to improve, he should be a proficient writer before long. But as of right now, Dalglish's writing is holding his ideas back. Most importantly, though, I enjoyed reading the Cost of Betrayal enough that I want to keep reading Dalglish's Half-Orcs series.

"The Cost of Betrayal" continues the tale of the half-orc brothers, Harruq and Qurrah Tun, deepening their conflict and introducing a host of new characters.

Whilst Qurrah sinks deeper into darkness, Harruq receives the hope of redemption at the hands of new friends and family. His burden of guilt is heavy but with one clomping step at a time he tries to change.
Both brothers struggle in their own ways, Qurrah's conscience occasionally guttering like a dying candle. This keeps the brothers from dissolving into stereotypes, keeps them real and engenders empathy - no matter how discomforting this might be.

Dalglish shows a remarkable ability to write scenes with multiple characters without the reader losing sight of any of them. He blends humour and pathos to great and stirring effect. He makes strong use of dramatic irony, dipping from one point of view to the next in a succession of brief scenes letting the reader know what is coming and then, more often than not, subverting the expectation.

The dark deeds of Qurrah are compensated for by the camaraderie of the Eschaton mercenaries led by the wizard Tarlak. These characters provide the family the half-orcs have been so badly lacking, acting as mentors, friends and healers. Highly skilled and each with their idiosyncrasies, they reminded me of a fantasy version of the Avengers, flawed, individual and yet heroic and ordered to the greater good.

The book also introduces the compelling Tessana with borderline personality disorder of demonic proportions; a wonderfully sketched character with layers of complexity and archetypal resonance.
There is more darkness than light in the book with just enough respite to catch your breath. Rumours of redemption are dashed most horridly, but glimmers of hope keep sparking up, and when they do it's always in the context of relationship.

The spells are even darker than in the first book, Dalglish's capacity for horror seemingly limitless. There is great variety in the use of magic - Tarlak even employs it for domestic duties and offers the magic equivalent of a replicator.

The action scenes are relentless, graphic battles of desperation and ferocity, innate rage versus magical omnipotence.

Dalglish sticks to the essentials throughout - characters and story without too much irrelevant detail. The action lulls in the middle, the characters experiencing something akin to normal life, but this is in preparation for the tumultuous ending.

Another great genre book, more accomplished than the first in the series and evidence that a very good new writer is in the process of honing his craft.

The Cost of BetrayalWhile better than the first book in the series, the writer still relies too heavily on characters with few limitations. Fortunately, in expanding the length of the book, the author has expanded the cast as well. This gives the reader some different characters to root for and to watch develop. It also allows the setting some room to breathe and develop with those characters.

The Cost of Betrayal by David Dalglish is the second book in the Half-Orcs series. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book but this one just really sealed the deal for me as I am now 100% positive that I will be seeing this entire series through. Reading The Cost of Betrayal really reminds me of the good old days of fantasy books. It's really hard to describe this feeling if you're not a fan of the genre. The only thing that saddens me is that not many readers know of the author. On many top fantasy books lists, I really don't remember seeing the author in them. Well, they don't know what they are missing out on because this guy can write fantasy books. It's in his blood. The only thing I can do to help out is doing what the author actually hopes his reader can do for him and that is to write reviews, negative or positive, to help spread the word. If you are into the fantasy genre, you really need to give this series a try.

In the first book, we were introduced to the conflicted half-orc brothers of Qurruh and Hurruq. In The Cost of Betrayals, we finally get to read about the inevitable. You just knew sooner or later that the brothers would one day separate and go on their own path. One of them heads into darkness while the other heads for the road of redemption. I'm sure the book title dropped a big hint on that one! While you read through the book, you slowly begin to see the relationship between the two once inseparable brothers begin to take a turn for the worst. I love the half-orc brothers because each one is so different from one another in a way. Hurruq is trying his hardest to erase his past by beginning a relationship with Aurelia. Qurruh on the other hand, remains true to his orcish heritage. The only thing that keeps him on a leash is the love for his brother. His struggle continues throughout this book. The author does a great job in keeping you guessing of whether Qurruh's soul can be redeemed or not till the very end. It makes for some great reading.

What surprised me the most about The Cost of Betrayal is the amount of comedy in the book. Usually, I don't laugh out loud while reading a book but I broke tradition here! Because I've read the Shadowdance trilogy prior to this, I knew the back story between Haern and his group of mercenaries. This really makes things more interesting for me because I personally know about the story of the famed Watcher and how he came to be. Other readers not familiar with his character might not put much thought into him because they don't know of his upbringing and the trials and tribulations he had to go through prior to meeting the half-orcs. Suffice it to say, you'll have a blast reading Hurruq's time spent with this interesting group of individuals.

Once again, the author writes beautifully. He has a good pace, knows when to advance the story and doesn't bore you with a whole bunch of details. This however doesn't mean the book is shallow because it's far from that. He just knows how to balance things out. One thing I do wish the author would do in future books is expanding the world and location settings a bit more. I feel the author can really push the story even more if the characters weren't just stuck in the same location or two. Other than that, expect the same magic heavy and gory battle scenes. It's not as brutal as the first book but if you're reading the second book here, then you should already know what to expect.

Throughout the book, I found myself from laughing really hard at times, getting sad at others, excited when it was time for action to being disgusted as eyeballs and intestines came flying out of people. It really is a roller coaster ride and I loved every moment of it.

"The Cost of Betrayal" is the second of five books in 'the Half-Orc' series by David Dalglish. The book is 340 Pages in length while the Kindle e-edition is a 1193 Kb download.

CONTENT WARNING
Not quite as disturbingly gruesome as book 1, but still most definitely fantasy noir.

*SPOILER*

In this tale the two half-Orc brothers ( other half elf ) start to drift apart...literally as well as philosophically. Qurrah leans toward the dark side, while Harruq, with Aurelia's help, tends to mellow out somewhat ( well at least at times ). The differences ultimately end in the severing of fraternal relationships; add in some unexpected deaths, and the flames of vengeance appear from the smoldering ashes of distrust and paranoia.

*END SPOILER*

Impressions:
1.) In all honesty there were times when I had concerns for this book. There were some sections that I thought the written quality really suffered; areas that seemed so silly and inane what I almost skimmed them. These occurrence were in stark contrasted to some of the most chilling and disturbing descriptive narrative that I've ever read.

2.) I found it somewhat difficult to get my mind adjusted to a story that has two evil minded orcs as your main characters; a correction...one evil and becoming more so and the other, initially evil but with a conscience. It is unusual, to say to least, to have two labile tempered and rage minded beings as your hero/villains. I came away unsure if their unpredictable thinking and actions were because these was just orcish traits, or because that they were just poor and uneducated or maybe, to be blunt, just plain stupid.

3.) The problem with the 'stupid' theory is that while almost all other characters in the novel were frustrated with them at one time or another because of their lack of social skills, everyone seemed to take them at face value and accepted their strangeness as a normal occurrence. That is to say, they were just another member of a family of several misfit, mercenary fighters.

4.) And yet despite the number of times I read, often in disbelief, how the rest of the human members of the 'family' failed to comprehend Harruq's character flaws and his unreasonable forgiving attitude toward his brother (despite grievous insults suffered), there was still a compulsion to read on...and not just read on, but rather to voraciously consume this violent tale. It has a magnetic quality that is hard to resist. When it comes down to the nitty gritty of the plot, author Dalglish can weave a magical tale.

Conclusion:
I guess the crux of my dilema was this... part of me was continually annoyed at these two half-orcs because they didn't act or think like normal human 'heroes'. But then I realized that's the whole point, they were not human...they've orc blood in them, and act and think as such. This is their story and not that of the human characters with which they interact. Once you except this premise and stop trying to fit them into a human stereotype role, you can get to enjoy this unusual tale. 4 1/2 Stars

Ray Nicholson

In this exciting sequel to THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD, the story picks up right where the prequel ended. Half-orc brothers Harruq and Qurrah Tun, along with a cherished friend, finally return to their homeland after the war has ended, and upon their arrival are almost immediately conscripted into a mercenary guild that savagely protects the streets of their city. Much less of a war adventure than the last book, this one follows the interpersonal tales of the two brothers as they face trials and tribulations such as trust, friendship, love, the allure of ancient gods, and even fatherhood. Whereas in my last review I had wished for more character-building and exploration, this book does so tremendously. For me, it was much more well-received than the last one. This book pushes the brothers' relationships to a strain as Qurrah becomes involved with a powerful sorceress with a terrible insanity, and Harruq becomes haunted and even agonized by his violent deeds from the previous book.

This book was another fast read, but it felt more complete than the last book as it had a tangible arc for the characters. At times I could not even put the book down. The only constructive criticisms I have for this book are (partial spoilers ahead; don't read if you don't want to risk it!):

1) The scenes at times got really repetitive, especially the ones involving Qurrah and his new partner. Most of the scenes they were involved in were just them having sex over and over again ad nauseum with nothing really going on in the background. While I do not mind sex in the slightest, I wish more had been explored or done between them other than flip-flopping between Qurrah sulking and them having sex. This brings in another criticism, Qurrah's partner in general. Her "ailment" was extremely well-written and I commend Dalglish for portraying that well, but other than that, there wasn't much to her other than being "walking sex". Every guy wants to rape her; all she does for a good chunk of the book is pine for sex; and she even constantly moans, licks, and touches herself while attacking others or even when she's just idling around. Yuck! She was nothing but a sexy body. There were some very interesting parts concerning her and children, but I feel as if her love for them was never explored enough and seemed sudden and unexplained.

2) There is a notorious wedding scene in about...the middle of the book. It pulls the story to just about a complete stand-still--every moment from the planning, to the clothes-making, to the honeymoon is described in lurid detail and is...very boring, in my opinion. I had to slog through this section of the book, and it was tedious. I wish this had been implemented better or maybe just even skipped altogether. However, I recommend continuing to read through it, as the parts that happen afterwards are worth every moment! :)

3) Some things are mentioned but are never explored or explained. A prime example: It was hinted that the reason why the half-orcs were brought into the guild was because of something perhaps divine...but we never hear of what it was or why, and it is never mentioned beyond a cryptic cut-off statement that one of the characters mutters to another.

4) Pacing. The beginning of this book seems to happen almost way too fast, and at times you feel as if you didn't have time to dwell over plot points before you are rushed over to the next scene. Then in the middle of the book, it comes to a screeching halt, and you feel as if it'll never end. Pacing was one of the problems I had with the first book as well. I believe Dalglish is learning as a writer, and this book is better than the first in that regard; however, it still has some speed problems that need to be fixed.

However, despite some of its flaws, I would recommend this book to others. I definitely found it better than the first, and the characters we came to know and adore in the first book are explored even further, making this book at times extremely polarizing. From powerfully heartwrenching to delightfully warm, THE COST OF BETRAYAL is a fine sequel for a writer still honing his craft. 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Just finished this book. Excellent continuation of the first book. Love seeing how the characters are continuing to change and develop. Wish I could watch these as a movie with my husband...he doesn't like to read, but is willing to watch with me. ( Got him to watch and enjoy LoR!!!)

Very boring read. The story has potential, but the author's way of writing is terrible in this series. 3 books in to Half Orcs series and I can't do it anymore.....I gave up. I do recommend the Paladin series. It's almost like Dalglish learned how to write like a High School student in that series.

This book was phenomenal. This is the second in the series and I can't wait to read more. It's so easy to become completely enthralled in the lives of the characters. Don't get me wrong, despite it's brilliance, this is a difficult book to read. There is real tragedy but as with life, there is joy as well. This book is a true story in every sense and I can't wait to laugh and cry some more. Superbly done!

Amazing novel. Don't usually write reviews but this book deserves one. It is everything I enjoy in a good fantasy novel, epic battles, laughter, hate, love sadness (I came super close to crying several times throughout the book). any who I'm more of a reader than a writer, so Tata, and good job David!! very excited for the next book. Thanks

The concept of this book is really great, and for the most part it is well executed, however there were a few parts I didn't like (spoiler alert). The death of Aullenia and the events surrounding it were, I believe, the biggest flaw in the book. This was poorly executed. There should have been more emphasis on qurrah rather than Velixar. Also, Velixar suddenly pops up without warning and then dissapears just as quickly. If you are going to drag him in, make him more relevant. It was however all in all a really good book.

Following the murderous fever that was The Weight of Blood, The Cost of Betrayal finds the Tun Brothers finding lives of their own. The tone is much lighter that Weight, but tradedy is waiting in the wings, and the inevitable war between Karak and Ashur promises to taint any chance of happiness with sorry.

Another excellent tale with ups and downs, pains and joy. A tale that makes you want to keep reading. Characters you love and hate. David has grabbed my full attention with each of his stories. Their depth and their consistancy makes you want to learn more about them.

Great job!

This book is very intriguing and well writen but... a thing that I didn't like about it was the fact that too many people were dying. I know that this is a scary book and I understand the way of how this is resembeling DnD (I do play it), but I still think that killing part shows a bit too much. I don't know... thats just me.

I really enjoyed this. The author does a great job of miving along a narrative at a nice clip. Having read the first book, I have a hard time liking the main characters, but as the book moves along, the ambiguity fades, and you see where the line between good and evil exists in this book's word.

This book has a very similar general plot line to many basic stories: beginning for main character followed by increasing power, join a balanced adventuring group of superheroes, fight increasingly powerful foes, etc. Harruq's flaws are nicely handled, but the battles are pointless because there is almost no chance of a developed character being killed. one final but serious quibble; please David, stop being so glib in the banter. All the hokey back and forth between the characters is way too hip and modern, and only serves to remind me that I am reading a story. i want to be absorbed, not distracted.