Paladin series stellar in finale

Fascinating characters, powerful battles

By Rob Hedelt

THE FACT that Elizabeth Moon was a Marine lieutenant before she became an author of fantasy and science fiction surely helps give power to the battle scenes that are a key part of her work.

But what makes “Echoes of Betrayal: Paladin’s Legacy,”  this last book in the  series, work so well isn’t just the scripting of the occasional skirmish in this medieval world where swords and crossbows still hold sway.

It’s instead the characters she creates that make this third book in the trilogy an interesting read. They are all fascinating, No matter whether it’s the reticent king, the recently promoted cavalry captain or the one-time leader of the thieving guild that’s stuck in the middle of the action.

Or or the new arrival, a being that’s a man one minute and a dragon the next, with knowledge of a time when the Eight Kingdoms were new and elemental beings ruled.

The world Moon creates can stand among those of Tolkien and others who’ve created fantasy kingdoms from thin air.

In an earlier series, we met Paksenarion, the knight with special powers who set the world on end.

Here, Moon has moved  past previous series to new horizons where it will take more than simple soldiers to tilt the balance of power.

Rob Hedelt is a columnist with The Free Lance–Star.

ECHOES OF BETRAYAL: PALADIN’S LEGACY

By Elizabeth Moon

(DelRey, $26, 464 pp.)

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