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The Betrayed (The Lost Words: Volume 1) Kindle Edition

by Igor Ljubuncic (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
In the ancient land of the Realms, where armies clash and heroes arise, only the most cunning and courageous can redeem a war torn land from certain annihilation. The Betrayed, Igor Ljubuncic’s epic, gritty fantasy novel, spins a searing tale of a world in the throes of war. With furious, fast-paced action and fascinating characters, this wildly inventive saga will thrill anyone who demands fantasy at the top of its game.

A war is brewing in the Realms. When the new religious sect of Feor from Caytor invades the Safe Territories, the home of the old gods, Commander Mali of Eracia scrambles to counter its advance. To that end, Adam, an Eracian prostitute who awaits hanging, is spared to join the army. In the Territories, a former criminal Ayrton and his young protégée Ewan face the threat of the invaders. Can the ruthless followers of Feor be stopped, and the old faith be saved?

As nations clash, old rivalries are set aflame and nothing seems sacred, sinister and ancient secrets are revealed. With wit and adrenalin, The Betrayed weaves a taut and textured landscape of warring factions, foes and allies, to deliver a full-on fantasy tale for the ages.
  1. Book 1 of 4
  2. Print length
  3. Language
    English
  4. Accessibility
  5. Publication date
    April 6, 2012
  6. File size
    1.3 MB
  7. Page Flip
  8. Word Wise
  9. Enhanced typesetting
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There are 4 books in this series.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

It is hard to match the fervor of fanaticism. The Betrayed is the firstentry of Igor Ljubuncic's fantasy series set in the Realms, as the sect ofFeor enters the realm of the old Gods, and the people of the SafeTerritories must band together to stop their impressive force, if they can avoidbreaking down themselves. The Betrayed is an enticing fantasy that shouldprove very hard to put down, much recommended. -Reviewer's Bookwatch, Midwest Book Review

The characters in The Betrayed are fascinating people who are placed in extraordinary circumstances... This is a lightning-fast novel in which subtle political and religious messages abound. -Reviewed by Karen Pirnot for Readers' Favorite

The Betrayed is a grimdark fantasy that impresses in its scope, themes and ambitious narrative. -Bookwraiths.com

About the Author

Igor Ljubuncic is a physicist by vocation, an IT nerd by profession, and a prolific author with fourteen published works since 2011. His current portfolio spans three technical books, seven novels, and four anthologies, including a short story, The Girl with the Flaxen Hair, which was nominated for the 2014 Sidewise Awards for Alternate History.

Igor runs a popular science and technology blog, dedoimedo.com, which has also been nominated and awarded several times over the years. Likewise, Igor's books have received favorable reviews from Publishers Weekly, Underground Book Reviews, Midwest Book Review, SFFWorld, and others.

You can learn more about Igor's literary adventures at thelostwordsbooks.com.

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Igor Ljubuncic is a physicist by vocation, an IT nerd by profession, and a prolific author, with 21 book publications. His portfolio covers technical books, novels in various fiction genres, and several anthologies, including a short story, The Girl with the Flaxen Hair, nominated for the 2014 Sidewise Awards for Alternate History.

Over the years, Igor’s fiction works have received favorable reviews from Publishers Weekly, Underground Book Reviews, Midwest Book Review, and SFFWorld. His technical book on problem solving in high-performance computing is part of the Computer Science undergraduate studies curricula at several universities worldwide. It has also been translated to Chinese. In the course of his everyday work, Igor has invented 15 patents and given presentations at numerous prestigious international conferences.

In his free time, Igor runs a popular science and technology blog, dedoimedo dot com, drives fast cars on racetracks, and tries to learn new languages.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
57 global ratings
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Customers say

Customers find this fantasy book engaging and perfect for rainy days, praising its complex storylines and interesting twists and turns. The book features well-developed characters and a believable world, with one customer noting how personality and traits are expressed through their actions. Customers appreciate the writing quality, with one describing it as a good debut by a talented writer.
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21 customers mention readability, 20 positive, 1 negative21 customers mention "Readability"20 positive1 negative
Customers find the book engaging and perfect for rainy days, with one customer noting it's never boring or repetitive.
"A great read. It's slightly reminiscent of the ever-popular "Scheme of Chairs" series...."Read more
"I like it, it's a very good read and you won't be able to put it down...."Read more
"...Overall, I think it was a good read and I only knocked off a star because, like I said, sometimes it was difficult to keep track of the characters...."Read more
"Fantasy, Irony, Perfect reading for a rainy day."Read more
20 customers mention story, 15 positive, 5 negative20 customers mention "Story"15 positive5 negative
Customers enjoy the complex storylines of this epic fantasy tale, with one customer noting how it keeps developing without becoming stagnant.
"An original and gripping story. Each thread of the story is facinating in itself. Together they make a great read."Read more
"The story was good and engrossing enough that I didn't feel like putting the book down until I finished it...."Read more
"...book it is obvious that it has more volumes but I think that it ended too soon, I expected better closure...."Read more
"As soon as I started the book, the story grabbed me and made me want to keep reading...."Read more
14 customers mention content, 10 positive, 4 negative14 customers mention "Content"10 positive4 negative
Customers appreciate the content of the book, with reviews highlighting its well-described narrative and focus on political and religious themes, while one customer notes it is never too gory for them.
"...The book is very good ant the fantasy world can easy compare with other Fantasy worlds I have read...."Read more
"...People behavior during difficult times is very well described...."Read more
"...This is not a perfect work. It has a few glaring editorial errors..."Read more
"...I give it a 4/5 since it's a very solid work that I greatly enjoyed...."Read more
12 customers mention character development, 9 positive, 3 negative12 customers mention "Character development"9 positive3 negative
Customers enjoy the characters in the book, with one noting how their personalities and traits are expressed through their actions.
"...There are a lot of POVs in the book of some interesting characters the major ones being Adam - a male prostitute who ended up in a military's death..."Read more
"...The complex and memorable characters (Adam the Butcher!) are what really drag you into the deep end...."Read more
"...On the bad side, well, I don't know but I found it difficult to connect with the characters...."Read more
"This book is very dynamic and keeps you reading. It is character driven, where the characters start in very different places, go trough..."Read more
10 customers mention setting, 10 positive, 0 negative10 customers mention "Setting"10 positive0 negative
Customers appreciate the setting of the book, describing it as a fantasy world with a dark and sinister atmosphere.
"...It was a good story keeping you on the edge, I liked the intriguing setting and the pace it was going...."Read more
"Fantasy, Irony, Perfect reading for a rainy day."Read more
"...able to suspend my disbelief and immerse myself in this alien yet familiar world. Cheers to the author!"Read more
"...them reaching the very bottom of misery and ill fate, feel relevant and real...."Read more
7 customers mention writing quality, 6 positive, 1 negative7 customers mention "Writing quality"6 positive1 negative
Customers appreciate the writing quality of the book, with one customer noting it's a good debut by a talented author.
"In total it is very well written and thought threw book. The author didn't spend much time on empty description or long conversations...."Read more
"...The writing was dynamic, switching from one corner of that world to the other, but keeping it easy to follow at the same time...."Read more
"...taking place in a harsh, believable world, and it's written with a subtle, ironic sense of humor with just enough political/religious..."Read more
"...Overall a good first time effort by the author. I started reading the next book in the series, the Broken."Read more

Top reviews from the United States

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  • Alexander
    Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2015
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    The Betrayed is Igor Ljubuncic's first novel in his The Lost Words series. As a fan of his writings and muses on dedoimedo.com, I bought this book with relatively high expectations. I am happy to say that the novel does not disappoint, and from the very beginning, I was hooked.

    The novel follows an assortment of characters through the land of the Realms. The Eracians and Caytorans have been at war with each other for as long as anyone can remember. However, a rising movement of religious zealots who worship the God Feror are waging war against the God's of old. These plot threads eventually become intertwined, and the the stakes of the entire world (and then some) become much, much higher.

    The Betrayed is very character-driven in its plot and focus. Adam and Armin are my two favorite characters, while King Vlad's plain insanity made me morbidly chuckle throughout. Adam is by far one of the most interesting characters in the novel, in my opinion. Without spoiling too much, his meteoric rise through the Eracian army is fascinating to experience, and although his demeanor is cold and calculated, I was constantly turning the page to see what he would do next. His dark nature is almost charming in a way. Armin is another wonderful character who stands out. A detective set out to investigate the murder of eight seemingly unrelated individuals, his hunt for the truth ends up revealing something much greater. Mali begins as an interesting character too, showcasing the strength and resolve of a female leader in a sea of men within the Eracian army. As the novel carried on however, Adam's charisma and presence in the novel almost overshadowed her until an interesting twist later in the novel.

    In fact, The Betrayed contains a lot of interesting twists and turns. But they never feel forced. Igor has an immaculate way with flow, which makes the novel a pleasure to read. He is always moving from one plot point to another, from one scene of action to the next. It keeps the story from remaining stagnant for too long, and keeps the events in motion, while at the same time expounding each individual character. You are rarely given a wall of exposition describing the characters; instead, their personality and traits are expressed through their actions, with small bits of exposition filling in the holes. The novel also focuses on politics and religion, but it is very subtle in its messages and views. They're never forced onto you, but the commentary is there, which makes unraveling it all the more worthwhile.

    There are some qualms with the novel, however. The book focuses on anywhere from about 5-6 characters, jumping between their stories every chapter. Though their paths eventually start to interweave towards the last third of the novel, it is a bit jarring and disorienting to the reader at times, though the reader usually has a good idea on what character's exploits will be explored in the proceeding chapter. I found some of the characters to not be very interesting (such as Ewan), or it took awhile before I became engulfed in their journey (Ayrton in particular comes to mind). The Deus ex machina device that appears toward the end of Adam's campaign also cheapens any and all tension in the war that had been built up to that point. The author's knack for keeping the story flowing also results in the novel's central weakness -- there is a lack of physical description of the world and environments the characters are in. For all the engaging backstory of the Realms, and for all the character development that goes on, I never completely felt like I was in the world. It was difficult to imagine where the characters well, and the scenery in general. The gruesome, gritty reality of violence, destruction, and the lives of citizens definitely come through, but the physical locations do not.

    Overall, Igor's first novel in The Lost Words series is a thrilling, interesting read. I am looking forward to reading the remaining books in the series, and hopefully seeing the interesting grimdark world and characters expanded upon. I give this book 4/5 stars. A worthy read for any fantasy fan.
  • Nenad
    Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2015
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    While reading this fantasy book, I could picture all the events and characters in today’s world. People behavior during difficult times is very well described.

    At the beginning, it might seem little bit hard to follow all the stories and main characters. But as the story goes, you can see the big picture. They come from different places and had different past. But you can notice some similarities between them - they are really eager to accomplish their goals and want to set things right. You could say Adam is the center figure. Even though most of his decisions are smart, some of them are injudicious, mainly because they are acts of a "dead man". Then there's Ayrton, man with similar past, but has totally different point of view. He managed to keep optimism, and go further, even though he knows chances of success are quite low. And the third driver is Armin, detective who will find out all the facts at any cost. He is driven by desire to solve the problem, no matter how dangerous it can be. And the pleasure of finding out something that had been hidden for ages gives him strength to carry on and distinguish the things that must be done and things which would be nice to be done. They are in different places but fighting the same enemy...

    This is very interesting book with good balance between various characters and events. Each chapter is a piece of puzzle large enough to give you some lead, but not to discover the whole picture. I'm sure you will enjoy reading this novel
  • johnc57
    Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2014
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    In the beginning there were gods and they lived in harmony, but then one of them went rogue and basically became a bad guy (god? devil?). There was a great war and the renegade god was banished into an inescapable prison. We all saw a similar beginning countless times before, starting from the Bible and all the way to Tolkien's Silmarillion. Here is where the similarities end.

    After the great war all the human nations agreed to create Safe Territories where people would worship gods and live peaceful lives without the need of a military force to defend themselves. Suddenly a new violent religion came out of nowhere with a single goal to destroy the places of worship of the gods. Their first logical place of conquest would be Safe Territories. Other nations decided to join the fun as well.

    This is the first book of what seems to be a four-book series of epic fantasy. There are a lot of POVs in the book of some interesting characters the major ones being Adam - a male prostitute who ended up in a military's death squad, a former criminal Ayrton currently from Safe Territories, young brother (a monk that is, not somebody's sibling) Ewan, Commander Mali of one of the major military forces in the conflict; all of these and much more make up for an interesting cast of multidimensional characters with none of them being a pure villain, or Mary Sue.

    The plot was interesting enough to suck me in and keep interested all the way until I finished the book. It definitely belongs to subcategory of grimdark fantasy, but I never felt it was dark just for the sake of being such. While it deals with some gruesome subjects, it was never too gory for me.

    The final verdict is 4 solid stars with the next book of the series promptly going to my to-read shelf.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • 5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in Canada on August 7, 2016
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Awesome book!!!
  • John Page
    3.0 out of 5 stars A grimly gripping fantasy novel
    Reviewed in France on May 27, 2015
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    The vastness of the book's universe and the seemingly random structure make for a somewhat unsatisfying read. There are too many groups of characters in seemingly unrelated situations and the narrative switches from one to another too fast for me to invest in one or another. And just when I am getting the hang of it all, yet another group joins the fray. After a while though the continued unveiling of the world's mythology kept my interest fueled.

    A peek at the global situation would have made the first part less arduous to read. Lord Erik could have told his grandson of Caytor, Eracia, King Vlad and the territories.

    Not the best written fantasy novel, but it is the author's first and not so bad after all.
  • 5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, fast-paced and unexpected
    Reviewed in Germany on June 17, 2024
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Interesting characters with nice build-up, all playing their small part in the grand scheme of gods. You root for some a bit more than for others and you don't end up disappointed. "The Broken" is next on the list
  • Tom Long
    4.0 out of 5 stars A great debut..
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 12, 2013
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    I heard about this through Igor Ljubuncic's blog. I found myself never disagreeing with any rants, so was excited to get stuck into the contents of his imagination.

    I tend to read at night, but while I had this on my Kindle I found myself delving into it at every given opportunity, which is a good sign.

    He's successfully done what most of us would love to be able to do and created a whole world from scratch, with a wealth of colourful if not always likeable characters and cultures.

    My only criticism is the sometimes awkward use of language, betraying the fact that English isn't his first language. This does sometimes ruin an otherwise absorbing part of the book, often pulling me out of the world I've been enjoying and bringing me back into the room with a bump.

    All in all, a great read which I can thoroughly recommend - I will be buying the follow up.
  • Anthony Jones
    5.0 out of 5 stars An extremely good read.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 16, 2013
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    First time for me, but I thought this book deserved recognition.

    A depth of character very rarely seen today, very easy to emphasise with them.
    The story has a very good plot, with several decent characters. Unlike some modern fantasy that tries to be too clever for its own good, this story has enough just the right blend of intrigue & adventure.

    Out of all the books I have read in the last six months, this one by far deserves a mention.
    Wens the next one due?
👁 The Betrayed (The Lost Words: Volume 1)

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