The Oathbreaker's Shadow

Raim has waited all his life to become a member of the elite patrol called the Yun and dedicate his life to protecting the Khan and the kingdom of Darhan. He does not know his parents since he was abandoned and fostered by Loni, a man who has become like a grandfather to Raim. The only memento he has from his early life is a promise string tied around his wrist, but Raim has no memory of making a promise to anyone.
Something disastrous happens on the day Raim should becoming a Yun, and he is forced to flee Darhan and seek some answers.
I enjoyed this book, and will definitely read the conclusion (The Shadow's Curse). I especially liked the originality of a promise sealed with a knot, and having powerful magic protect that promise from show more being broken. (Imagine if such a thing really existed! People might take their promises more seriously) show less

What if there was a way that all your promises could be kept, that if anyone broke a promise they made to you, you would know? What if the person that betrays your trust would be haunted by your ‘haunt’ for the rest of their lives and even get an ugly scar in the process? Would you do it? Would you be ok with them being exiled out of the community? If yes, then let me ask you this: What if you made a promise you couldn’t remember and at anytime you could break it? Would you want to live in a world like this?

This is the fantasy world of Raim, a trained fighter and best friend of the prince Khareh. When things go horribly wrong, Raim has to accept the cards he has been dealt and try to survive while keeping his most sacred promise show more – protect Khareh at all costs and not break his trust.

The Oathbreaker’s Shadow turns out to be one hell of a fantasy thrill ride, with a very believable world. Not once did I roll my eyes, it all made sense and it all felt very real. The world is so richly described that at times I wished that I could be in it. Sure there were a few critters and people that I would not like to encounter, but they just made this story that much more interesting.

Raim was a character I could sympathize with and I enjoyed his morals and the growth of his character. Khareh intrigues me, I have so many questions about this character and I can’t wait to find out what the story behind the story is. Then there are a whole host of other characters that I thought were interesting and introduced well throughout the novel.

The cover and the title are very fitting and they definitely drew me to the novel and this is a series that I would follow and an author I would keep an eye on. So if you love a great fantasy novel, I suggest checking this one out! show less

This is a rough book to fairly rate, but my review falls somewhere on the lower side of the 3-star range. It's just that this book is all over the place, and that makes it hard to really 100% comprehend everything that's laid out. McCulloch should get credit for creating a magic system that is actually fascinating. The concept of promise knots, and the events that unfold if you break one, are solidly interesting. The execution and explanation of this magic system? Not so much. For as long as it took to set things up, and all the info dumps that were present, I really felt lost for a long time in this story. The magic system is there, but it's not well explained, and that's frustrating.

The other part of this book that was rough for me show more was the lack of character development. I'm a very character driven reader, and I like to feel like my protagonists are learning and growing. I didn't feel that way during my read, although I admit that I did like Raim overall. I just felt like he spent so long trying to find the secret behind his knot, and then right when he was close the book went on all sorts of tangents. It just didn't flow, and Raim just didn't grow, and that made it hard for me to really connect with this story.

I think there's a lot of good things in The Oathbreaker's Shadow. I think that the premise overall is solid and that, with a little bit more love, this book could have been great. I am actually interested to see what happens next, to be honest. show less

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: This book was intriguing and atmospheric, with rich detail. There were a couple plot holes and problems I had, but I still found it an enjoyable read.

Opening Sentence: Raim sat in the crook of an old, cracked tree, one leg dangling in the breeze, his head leaning back against the trunk

The Review:

Ever since he was a child, Raim has worn a bracelet with a single knot. He doesn’t know what it means, but he knows it must represent a promise — in this world, an oath is tied into a promise, and when it is broken, the person is labeled an Oathbreaker and cast out of society. On a day that should have been the most important day of his life, Raim breaks the promise he doesn’t remember show more making. Raim is forced into the desert, on the run, with no other choice but to seek out the city of the Oathbreakers by traveling with a nomadic group through the desert. On his way, he learns about the mysterious power that breaking the promises can give you, should one harness it correctly, and falls in love with a tough desert girl whom he is traveling with.

The concept of the knots was intriguing to me when I first started The Oathbreaker’s Shadow. It was a unique concept that really put power into a promise. I liked that, the importance of the promise in this novel, and how a person was only as good as his word. Unfortunately for Raim, he has been cast as an oathbreaker, all for breaking a promise that he doesn’t remember making. The magic system develops more and more thoroughly as the book goes on, and I liked the way it was taken, although there were a couple loose ends and plot holes in the idea. The whole society interested me, especially the culture, and illustrating how life was in that world was done decently, though there was room for improvement. The nomadic desert people also had their own ways of surviving in the harsh conditions, which were interesting to learn about.

Raim’s character was done well enough. I couldn’t figure out what, exactly, his story arc was supposed to be. It boiled down to redemption, but much more complex ideas were at work as well. One thing that I didn’t like about his POV was that he would randomly info-dump the readers to explain things when they happened, instead of a little bit here, a little bit there. It was also sometimes confusing when some exciting scene would go down, and I’d have to reread to understand what, exactly, had taken place. Skim one sentence and it could mess with you for a couple chapters. He also was sort of boring, personality-wise. But I did appreciate his character and how he strives to do the right thing, but was never weak and was entirely competent. I enjoyed watching him develop from someone who was much too naive into a hardened but good person.

The romance was cute, and it wasn’t insta-love, thankfully. Their relationship developed from reluctant allies, to friends, to a romance. During this tough time when no one believes him (oathbreakers are considered untrustworthy, bad) he really needed a shoulder to lean on and someone to talk to. He tries to avoid the other oathbreakers at first, because he has this idea that since he doesn’t remember making the promise, he’s not the same. But in the end he realizes they just want to be forgiven like he does. Raim learns a lot about the different layers of people in this novel.

Altogether, I found The Oathbreaker’s Shadow to be a fast paced and exciting novel with some unique twists. At the beginning, Raim’s goal was to find out what promise he had created, but that goal faded into the background as more pressing ideas came to light. I enjoyed the unique magic system, while there were some plot holes, and found the characters to be decent. It was richly detailed (sometimes too much so) and atmospheric, and I especially enjoyed learning about the different cultures. The last third of the novel set it up nicely for the next one, and there are still quite a few questions to be answered. The next book will be the last; it is a duoligy. I don’t even see the next book’s title yet, unfortunately, so there is a while to go until I revisit Raim’s adventure. I’d recommend this book to lovers of imaginative plotlines who don’t over-think things too much. If you do, finding plot holes will kill you.

Notable Scene:

Heal this, he said, worthlessly, Help me. They stared at each other, for what seemed to Raim like an age. Help me, Raim pressured.

Then the pain in his hands was gone and his skin was once again unbroken.

“Thank you,” he said. Draikh nodded, and Raim was pleased to see he didn’t look too upset at being made to heal.In fact, the wry smile told him something quite different.

“You’re going to be quite the sensation in Lazar,” said Draikh. “I can tell.”

FTC Advisory: Flux provided me with a copy of The Oathreaker’s Shadow. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. show less

I got this book as part of Goodreads First Reads a while back but didn't have a chance to finish it until now. The book is in 3 parts, and the first two are very slow. I almost gave up with the book, and I'm glad I didn't because the final section was fantastic.

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

On one hand, I wanted to say I haven't quite read a book like this one before. The magic is really complicated and different from usual. On the other hand however, a lot of the critical plot points were not so original at all.

In this clan-based nomadic society promises are for real. For as you break a promise (and thus the knot that binds you to the person you promised to) you'll be tormented by that person's shadow (a piece of their soul) and exiled. So, better to keep your promises.

Raim is best friends with the heir to the throne and besides training to be his bodyguard. When a promise is broken he has had since he was a baby (although that's impossible since a promise made show more by a child is not binding) with dead parents, he has to flee as everyone thinks he's betrayed the heir.

The first part of this book was really boring, it just couldn't keep my interest. And I tried. But there is so much exposition thrown at you that I felt at the same time overwhelmed by the infodump and underwhelmed by the story. Not everything made sense to me either. Afterwards there is more action and the story moves forward a bit, but still nothing came as a surprise. Well, perhaps one person's transformation into the great villain of the story did come completely out of the blue.

All this said and done, near the end I was actually quite enjoying myself with the book even though I can't put my finger on why exactly. I did really like the idea of the promise knots even though I didn't completely understand why so many people were gambling with their lives. Even if you plan to keep your promise, people in this book make promises (with this kind of consequences) far too easily. So much so, that I might even check out the second book some day.

The Oathbreaker's Shadow is the first book in the Knots Sequence series. The second book is The Shadow's Curse.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! show less

See my review of this book, and many more, at Tales from the Great East Road.

In Raim’s world the words “I promise” are not to be taken lightly. For every promise you make a knot is created that binds you to your word. Breaking that word causes the knot to burn a scar into your skin, labelling you an oathbreaker. Scorn, hatred, and exile will become your life.

It should have been the best day of his life: Raim had just passed the last fight to become a Yun, an honoured warrior, and made a sacred vow to his best friend and Crown Prince, Khareh, until the knot on his wrist bust into flames. It had been with him for as long as he can remember – but he had no idea what the promise was. Running for his life across the desert, haunted show more by a spectre of Khareh, Raim is determined to discover the origins of his knot and clear his name.

The concept of knot binding for promises is a compelling one. The act of making a promise to another is taken with deathly seriousness, and the stigma surrounding an oathbreaker is ingrained throughout almost all the societies, but to make it worse they are be haunted by an image of the person they betrayed as a constant reminder of their mistake. Raim struggles with being labelled as a traitor and worse, tormented by the belief that he has done nothing to deserve it, and his painful journey arose the desert is one of the best parts of the book.

Although the friendship between Raim and Wabi was thoroughly enjoyable and progressed at a realistic pace, that could lead to a sweet romance in further books, certain situations towards the end gave the impression that Wabi was being used in the typical damsel in distress role in order for Raim to be the hero. This clashes quite strongly with the strong, resourceful young woman who reached out to an outcast boy when no-one else would and snuck into a forbidden city to satisfy her own curiosity.

Despite the first half of the book focusing on the mystery of Raim’s broken promise, this is soon overshadowed by other events and left as one of the many unanswered questions that will, hopefully, be addressed in the next book. The magic system is also slightly confusing and not described in detailed, but, again, more may be giving in the next instalment. The Oathbreaker’s Shadow can also be accused of info-dumping a fair bit, however as the information given about the society and history is very interesting, this issue can be overlooked.

Ignoring these reservations, with its cliffhanger ending and interesting directions with magic and politics, The Oathbreaker’s Shadow is a good read that leaves you looking forward to the sequel.

3.5 stars show less