Torments of the Traitor - Ian Irvine

Finished this. It's book 1 of the Song of the Tears trilogy, which follows the Well of Echoes series, which followed the View From the Mirror series. So, really, it's the ninth book of the whole story.
Torments is set ten years after Chimaera (vol 4 of Well of Echoes) and is centred around Nish, the accidental hero of Chimaera. He's been in prison for those 10 years, at the order of his father who is now the (evil) God-Emperor of Santhenar. He escapes with the help of Maelys, a new character. The book revolves around their attempts to stay free. It also relates the development of Nish's resolve to honour his promise of 10 years ago, to become the Deliverer and overthrow his father, thereby bringing peace, happiness and goodness back into the world.
Irvine can be rather brutal at times and his depictions of violence are becoming increasingly horrific. Compared to the earlier series, this book was, I thought, a bit simplistic. It doesn't have the variety of characters and plotlines that were evident in earlier books. But, the re-emergence of some of those characters has been flagged so I guess the next book will be more substantial. I hope so.
Despite this reservation, Irvine knows how to keep the story moving - unlike Robert Jordan whose Wheel of Time series got increasingly bogged down in rambling waffle that goes nowhere.