The Plague Of Swords

Book 4 in the fantastically awesome Traitor's Son Cycle This series is currently my favorite new fantasy series and it's the next best thing since Malazan Book of the Fallen. It's what you get when The Sword in the Stone has a love child with Malazan Book of the Fallen.Each book has been better, with the last book capping off one of the most exciting fantasy reads of the decade (and one of the largest 'battles' ever to grace the pages of a fantasy book). There's a reason why people are comparing the Traitor's Son Cycle to Mazalan. But it's a MUCH easier read, but started to look just as complicated in reach and plot. Now did this book deliver on the promise?Yes and no. Truth be told, the book dragged on in parts with not a lot happening other than characters talking to each other. There were, in typical Cameron style, brief interludes with intense action. Cameron knows how to write thrilling action and those few parts that contain such action keep the book kicking. But I wanted much more of this.My feeling here is that Cameron, when he writes a more contained story about a small band of adventurers surviving in the wilderness against monsters (i.e The Wild) is when Cameron is at is best. There were several parts in the book (near the beginning and near the end) when Cameron follows a few characters trying to survive against great odds in the Wild. These parts were the strongest in the book. The rest of the book seemed to be mostly setting things up for the next book.My big complaint is that we have to wait another year for the next book. But the author has been writing at a serious pace, releasing a new book each year, putting the likes of Martin to shame with his one book per 10 year release schedule. While I don't feel this is the best book in the series so far, as a whole the series has proven to be one of the best new epic fantasy series of the past decade. Cameron has built himself a huge world with a long list of characters and because of this events are dragged out longer, though Cameron is doing a decent job so far at moving things along.Read it? Yes. Don't even hesitate to pick this book up (if you've read the previous 3). And if you haven't started reading The Traitor's Son Cycle, then make the series your next read dammit.It's a good book -- not the best read this year or the best in the series, but the book carries the story forward and a few of the thrilling action sequences make up for the slower parts in the book. Just keep in mind it takes a good 1/3 of the book before you start going somewhere.