Echoes of the past in the epic fantasy novel “Heroes and Traitors”
Inspired by the aftermath of the English Civil War, the story re-invents characters and events from the turmoil of early modern Europe.
From a reviewer in Brisbane, Australia
“I wouldn’t normally have picked up this book, but reviewing it pushed me beyond my usual range – and I’m glad it did. Heroes and Traitors is set in an almost recognisable old world shaped by civil war: victors and vanquished, serfs and lords, mysticism pitched against reason. The setting is familiar, but the treatment is not. What surprised me most was the novel’s refusal to tell the reader what to think. This is a book about labels – hero, traitor – and how quickly they blur once you start asking who applies them, and why. Through characters like the trusting Yonnis, the quietly subversive Esta, and the ambitious Arlo, Elsin explores how faith, clarity, and aspiration can each slip into compromise. The prose is controlled and clear, with emotional weight that builds rather than declares itself. Nothing is simplified. Consequences arrive slowly, without spectacle. This is less a story about heroes than about how stories are made – and what we choose to overlook when they suit us. That unease lingers, and it’s the book’s real strength.”
In the final battle of a bloody civil war, Yonnis, the successful General of the Rebel Army of Truth, shocks himself by committing a reckless act of vengeance. Full of repentance, he commits to a quest for peace, and starts with an unlikely marriage. Resentment and suspicion swirl around him and his new wife. Rich and poor, plotters and spies, idealists and cynics are all jostling for opportunities for gain or for revenge. The prospects for healing are fading. With old friends and loyalists turning on Yonnis and the new regime losing its way, who will help Yonnis to restore hope?
Heroes and Traitors | Troubador Publishing
Heroes and Traitors | Waterstones
Back Cover
It’s a victory that damns him.
General Yonnis has led the rebel army of the Doctrine of Truth to power after a bloody civil war. But the final victory is poisoned—by his own vengeance, by visions of being claimed by the enemy’s god of war. He tells himself he can now build a lasting peace in fractured Kimalloa. In the ruins of revolution, he discovers that delusion, suspicion, and betrayal are harder enemies than any he faced on the battlefield.
His reluctant new wife cannot reconcile her dreams with reality. An old friend seethes with resentment. Veterans feel betrayed. The country’s spymaster is losing control. Each sees the truth differently. Each has their own story to tell.
Rich and poor, plotters and spies, idealists and cynics—through shifting perspectives and tangled loyalties, all are discovering what revolution truly costs. This is a tale of power, compromise, and the lies we tell ourselves about virtue.
The Doctrine of Truth promised to remake Kimalloa. Is the rebels’ promise beyond saving?
Note: This book is for adult readers. It contains violence, swearing and scenes of a sexual nature.
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