The Price of Valor: Wexler’s strongest work so far

The Price of Valor by Django Wexler

Warning: May contain mild spoilers for the preceding books.

If The Shadow Throne combined war and politics, the amalgam of these elements Django Wexler presents in The Price of Valor is much more effective and well-balanced. The latest installment in THE SHADOW CAMPAIGNS, The Price of Valor sees our protagonists battle both militarily and politically for Vordan’s freedom. After the Sworn Church persuaded the nations of the world to declare war on Vordan, Vordan finds itself in an unenviable position — strained both in terms of finances and troops, with an unstable domestic political arena to boot! Though Janus is securing the border on one front, Vordan’s nemeses are closing in on another as Queen Raesinia finds that Vordan’s new President is not what he appears to be. Most notably for me, Winter’s love life gains some complications, which is part of what makes The Price of Valor so much more powerful than Wexler’s previous two THE SHADOW CAMPAIGNS novels.

As Winter and Jane march with Janus, their relationship becomes more and more strained as the chasm of difference between the two women widens. Of course I didn’t enjoy the romantic rockiness here, but the device was very effective in terms of character development and depth. Winter’s story adds some much-needed internal conflict mostly missing from books one and two and complements the main story arc quite nicely. The twist gave The Price of Valor more emotional impact and allowed me to become much more emotionally invested in Wexler’s characters, especially because Jane’s expressiveness provides a significant contrast to Janus’s stoicism. In addition, the insecure political scene in Vordan in which Raesinia finds herself increasingly at odds with her former friend Maurisk also contributes to this effect. It’s chilling to see the changes Maurisk undergoes while simultaneously witnessing the long reach of the Sworn Church in Vordan. The rise of all of these subplots in tandem served as stalwart buttresses for the overarching themes in The Price of Valor and alleviated its weaknesses significantly.

For the most part, the issues I had with book two were not present in The Price of Valor, though the one quibble I noted with The Price of Valor was also one from its precursor. It seems to me that Wexler’s shortcomings are mostly plot-based. I caught a few glaring plot holes here and there, and some characters seemed to abruptly possess some facts they didn’t before, without any explanation. This was troubling because it felt a tad like Wexler couldn’t invent a compelling scene with which to break important news to certain protagonists, so he simply took a shortcut and skipped the briefing. While this may appear to be a very small blip on the radar to some, these abrupt surprises in combination with some minor transition issues interrupted my flow as I unsuccessfully attempted to recall when and how particular facts were disclosed, which irritated me more than a little.

Despite this, The Price of Valor is by far the strongest book in THE SHADOW CAMPAIGNS thus far. Since book one, the scope of Wexler’s series has expanded significantly, and I enjoyed the scale of The Price of Valor because it was able to deploy intimate, personal experiences in the context of broader struggles. Additionally, we’re beginning to see the Sworn Church take on a larger role as an enemy of Vordan and magic in general, and the lines between good and evil are being swiftly drawn and redrawn. While not as replete with imagery as The Shadow of Elysium, The Price of Valor does have many fantastic descriptive moments that kept the action going, which, as I earlier noted, is one of Wexler’s strengths. I was pulled into the book from the very beginning right up to the cliffhanger ending, which by now is almost expected and quite Wexlerian. I’ll note here that given the cliffhangers in the series so far, I’m a tad concerned about Wexler’s ability to craft a satisfying ending to the storyline, but that’s a concern for another day. Until then, I’ll be eagerly awaiting the hereto unannounced but undoubtedly in-the-works book four!