Shadow and Betrayal: A Shadow in Summer, A Betrayal in Winter (Long Price Quartet)

After years of reading recommendations about The Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham and waiting to purchase all four volumes, I finally delved into the world Abraham created and I found myself pretty impressed. This omnibus edition featured the first two volumes of the Quartet, A Shadow in Summer and A Betrayal of Winter, which not only introduce the world but are separated in time from one another to be both independent and interdependent on one another.A Shadow in Summer: Otah Machi turns away from the traditional paths a young nobleman like him has been told to choose to create a new life for himself. Almost a decade later Otah under an assumed name meets a former pupil, Maati, who kept on the traditional paths and succeeded in training to be a poet. The two soon find themselves caught up on a insidious conspiracy to ruin the city of Saraykeht that is instigated by the andat, magically being that is thought made flesh and leashed to a "poet", Seedless who hopes to undermine his handler Heshai who is to teach Maati.A Betrayal in Winter: Set fifteen years later after the first volume, Otah and Maati take different paths to the city of the former birth Machi. The sons of the Khai kill one another for the honor to succeed their father, something Otah has no intention of taking part in as he continues his assumed existence. However this eldest brother is murdered, but neither of the other two claim responsibility and conspire with the Dai-kvo to find the murderer is Otah by sending Maati to find out what's going on. Both men soon find themselves caught up in another conspiracy instigated by a surprising source allied with a not so surprising accomplice.As stated before the two stories are independent from one another thanks to the 15 years separating them from one another, however they are connected through minor storylines seen in Shadow that are expounded upon in Betrayal. The stories center around Otah and Maati primarily, however both do feature a significant female point-of-view character that helps bring another perspective to the story that improves its overall quality. Abraham slowly explains his magical system that employs the andat by first seeing them from the training poet Maati's point-of-view in Shadow and then from the point of view a poet handler in Betrayal in which Maati's observations expounded upon.On grading both stories on their own merits, Shadow is the weaker of the two as it seemed to meander a few times and would have been graded around a 3.5 out of 5 while Betrayal would have rated a solid 4 out of 5. After finishing Betrayal I was left looking forward to seeing what would happen in An Autumn War, the third volume of the Quartet, a feeling I didn't really have after finishing Shadow but was quickly forgotten since I was able to immediately start Betrayal thanks to this omnibus edition. Overall I did enjoy both stories and so I recommend this book to lovers of characters, well-rounded stories, and fantasy.

This story is well worth reading. Different from the Lord of The Rings style; engaging, great characters. I am thoroughly enjoying it. The only issue I have with this, is that the editing was not very good. There are numerous spelling and grammatical errors.

Interesting story, but often goes on and on too much. It took me awhile to read. But overall I enjoyed the book.

great read

Great book.

One of the best fantasy series I have ever read. It's not necessarily defined by fantasy. The characters come alive in this series and he really makes you care about them. I will now read this author in any genre.

A Shadow In Summer. The city-state Saraykeht depends on the magic of detained Andat spirit, Seedless, compelled to do the biddings of the sorcerer Heshai-kyo as long as his owner lives, but once his possessor perishes, he dies too. The Galts Empire conquers everything in its path except for Saraykeht in spite of the powerful thrusts of the invincible military. Using trade as a means to get small forces inside the city, the Galts plot the murder of Heshai-kyo, which subsequently would lead to the demise of Seedless and ultimately Saraykeht. Teacher Milah-Kvo catches student Otah Machi sneaking out of the city and suggests his pupil become a black robe bodyguard to an andat and its owner. As Otah learns about the assassination, Seedless works to destroy the mind of Heshai-kyo.A Betrayal In Winter. In Machi the realm is ruled by the Khai and when a new leader is needed the ruler's sons fight to the death to win the throne. The last one standing is the new Khai. The Khai has more than three sons; he has given them to the poets who keep the cities at peace and bring in wealth from other countries. Otah Machi, the sixth son, refused to take the brand, rejected the post, and has made a life for himself as Itani Naygu a courier loved by inn keeper Kiyan. When the eldest son is murdered, the two younger sons go into hiding while the people (commoner and noble) believe Otah was behind the assassination.This omnibus collection reprints the first two terrific tales in the superb Long Price Quartet fantasy saga. Fifteen years apart, the powerful cast makes everything in this strange magical world seem plausible and exciting.Harriet Klausner

I sit here with tears in my eyes, having just finished the last book in The Long Price Quartet, and I don't know what to write here except that I can't remember ever reading a story so beautiful. It took my breath away. I started this series over a month ago, and while it has been a long read, never has any story been more worth it. Daniel Abraham writes with a beauty, grace, intelligence, and real love for his story and his characters that very few authors can match. Although I am fairly new to his writing, it did not take long for me to realize that Abraham is perhaps one of the greatest writers of our time. If you want lots of flash, glory, and page filler, go read another book. If you want to be moved to core of your being, THIS is the book you want. This is a story that will amaze you, make you think about life and death, about friendship, make you cry real tears of joy, pain, and loss. Most importantly, it is a story that will stay with you a lifetime. 5 star rating for each book in this series.

Thought provoking, well written, good plot, well rounded characters. Everything I ever want from Fantasy fiction and perhaps the best accolade from me is that I shall be able one day to read his books again.

Thanks