Day 5 of the one post a day for a week. I missed yesterday. It was a long day, and I did not plan ahead. A day may come when I’ll write posts early in the day. A day may come when I won’t have to finish my posts at midnight! But this is not this day! This day I’ll start writing my post at 10 pm!
Since I missed yesterday, I’ll write one more this weekend to at least reach 5 posts this week. In the meantime, good reading!
I finished this trilogy a few weeks ago, and I have lots to say about it!
First, I’ve already mentioned these books in this post. I have the TTRPG that was written in this universe, and I wanted to read the original story before DM-ing a game in it. It’s now done, so you can expect my review of the TTRPG in the next few months!
Now, time for the short review: I loved this swashbuckling story, full of intrigue and with very cinematic fights. A good collection of fun characters, the stories already feel a lot like TTRPG adventures. The fantasy increases as you progress through the tomes, and the historical aspect of the book is charming.
Now, the longer review with spoilers.
The first book starts by introducing the different agents of the Cardinal. It does so in what I found to be a very clever way. We learn that the Blades have been disbanded in shame after their last mission a few years ago. We’re left in the dark about this old mission for a very long time, but we learn that Richelieu, the cardinal, is asking their old captain to reform the group because the crown is in need of their skills again. The next few chapters introduce each old Blade in their daily life now that they are no longer agents of the Cardinal. This immediately gives us great insight into the personality of each character. One is dueling for his life in a nonchalant way after partying all night, while another is missing the action of her old life and bored out of her mind. You get the idea.
And after these introductions that were somewhat slow, but really enjoyable, the Blades are reformed, all the characters start interacting with each other, and we can see the friendships and bonds that unite them. This felt very core to the genre of the book. After having read “The 3 Musketeers” by Dumas (which takes place a few years before this book in the timeline), this was like being back home.
And then, the story picks up, and we’re dropped into plots against the crown. I’m not going to go into great detail about the story because it’s a trilogy, so it’d take a lot of time, and I’m not even sure it’d be that pertinent. But each book covers basically a full plot, getting more complicated over time as our heroes learn a lot about their opponents. And I’ve found the plots to be quite good! They contain a few twists, a few curveballs, but most importantly, they were somewhat believable to me, and totally fitting for the Swashbuckling genre.
I’ve got to take a small break now, because we’re already on the fourth paragraph of this review, and I’ve still not written about the dragons. Yes, this historical story has dragons. And I love their addition to the universe. France is somewhat free of their influence, even if any high-ranking politician could be one, but Spain is governed by a Court of Dragons and is a source of tension throughout the books. The main opponent is the Black Claw, a secret society based in Spain, acting for Dragon supremacy. They do not always act for the Spanish court, creating some interesting situations when their interests don’t align, and their main goal throughout the books is to create a lodge in Paris to start increasing their influence on the French capital.
The other draconid creatures in the universe are Wyrms, which, among other things, are used as mounts to send messages across long distances; Tarrasks, which are used as mules for heavy loads; and Draks, humanoid, drake-like, tall, strong, and violent creatures. The Draks are used as mercenaries, or simply turn into cutthroats if needed, and our protagonists often deal with them.
I think I’ve talked enough about the story and universe, let’s move on to the writing now. There are great descriptions of Paris, which made it quite easy to visualize the environment of the scenes we were in. But I do have to mention that there was quite a bit of repetition. We were told a tad too many times how the streets of Paris were dirty and very muddy, which worked well the first few times, but got a bit old during the last book. Otherwise, when characters were going somewhere, and you were told which streets they passed, being able to follow their journey on a map was quite fun.
I really enjoyed the fight scenes, in lots of fantasy books, they can get quite repetitive, too complex, or too long. And when playing TTRPGs, as a DM and a player, it’s often quite difficult to describe the fight in an understandable way while also doing something cool and entertaining. I’ve found that in “Les Lames du Cardinal”, the fights were a joy to read, going into the mind of our protagonists to understand how they were feeling, then going back to a move, often acrobatic or spectacular, to finish the fight promptly just at the right time. This reminded me of the old Swashbuckler movies I loved to watch as a kid, like “Le Capitan” or “Captain Fracasse”.
I also really love the cast of the book. Lafargue, Leprat, Agnes, Ballardieu, Marciac, Almadès, Saint-Lucq, and later Laincourt. They each represent a different hero archetype, and I think I’ve played a few characters in TTRPGs that match them!
- Selkay, my D&D rogue assassin, is kinda Saint-Lucq. Sneaky, deadly, gloomy.
- Diane, my pirate fencer, is similar to Agnes in many ways. A woman in a world of men, and a great fencer and duelist.
- Lucia, my COPS, has a bit of Marciac in her with his bravado, flashy style, and unorthodox methods.
- Tallion from “Corrompus” could be Almadès, discreet, efficient, and restrained.
Lafargue is a strong leader who gets things done thanks to the crew he holds together; Leprat is a very good fighter, but pride and duty are the two words I’d describe him with, which do not match the characters I usually play. Ballardieu is the loyal brute, and Laincourt is the calculating spy. I’m actually surprised none of my characters matched Laincourt yet!
They display a really lovely sense of camaraderie, which is another thing that makes me think of a TTRPG adventuring party.
And finally, for my last point, in my latest book review about “la Horde du Contrevent”, I’ve talked about how I was frustrated by some plot points that were not developed enough for my taste and that were leaving me with a lot of questions and no answers. “Les Lames du Cardinal” hit the perfect sweet spot between mysteries left to your imagination and questions that got answers. It hints at bigger things with the Lodge of the Arcana, with multiple named characters mentioned and internal conflicts not relevant to the story. It also mentions another secret dragon society, kinda the positive opposite of the Black Claw. We know almost nothing about them, but I’ve found this really cool and not frustrating at all! I think it’s because we already had a lot of lore explained, detailed, and the story already felt quite good. Those little bits here and there were just the cherry on the cake to let you understand that the world is bigger than what the Blades encountered, and to leave you a lot of freedom to imagine what else could be happening in this universe.
Final thoughts
I think it’s time to call it there for the review. If you haven’t understood already, I loved the books, and if you enjoyed “The Three Musketeers”, I really recommend them, and if you didn’t enjoy “The Three Musketeers”, I still recommend them because it’s different enough that it could hook you as well! However, if you don’t like the first book, I don’t think reading the others would help.
I loved the characters, I really liked the story, and it really comforted me in my idea to play the TTRPG. I’ve already got quite a few games planned, but as soon as I free up some time, this one is getting played!