The Oathbreaker’s Shadow by Amy McCullough

Raim sat in the crook of an old, cracked tree, one leg dangling in the breeze, his head leaning back against the trunk. Long, needle-like leaves shaded him from the oppressive heat and hid him from the view of his grand-father, in case he was looking to assign him yet another chore. He just wanted a moment for himself.

Pages - 405

Published by Doubleday in June 2013

Goodreads Summary

Fifteen-year-old Raim lives in a world where you tie a knot for every promise that you make. Break that promise and you are scarred for life, and cast out into the desert.
Raim has worn a simple knot around his wrist for as long as he can remember. No one knows where it came from, and which promise of his it symbolises, but he barely thinks about it at all—not since becoming the most promising young fighter ever to train for the elite Yun guard. But on the most important day of his life, when he binds his life to his best friend (and future king) Khareh, the string bursts into flames and sears a dark mark into his skin.
Scarred now as an oath-breaker, Raim has two options: run, or be killed.

*****

I was excited about this book from the first time I heard about it and I was really pleased it didn’t let me down. This is an extremely well written, evenly paced action novel that engulfs you and transports you to a world of fantasy.  I can’t believe how quickly I was lost in the story. The premise just blew me away. The idea of promise knots that can be broken to cause someone a life time of misery is just outstanding. Two people make a promise and a knot is tied to represent it. Should the promise be broken, the person would be physically scarred and haunted by a constantly abusive shadow.

The writing is the type that just flows off the page. Each sentence carefully crafted to allow the prose to flow beautifully. It’s the kind of book you want to quote from.

Raim is one of those characters, you instantly admire and care for. On one hand, he is strong and prepared to be the warrior he has trained all his life to be. Yet on the other hand, you see a softer, caring side - a loyal friend and family member, who will do anything to protect the ones he loves. I loved the twist in the relationship between Raim and Khareh, as oaths are finally broken. It was extremely clever how the author portrayed the two opposing versions of Khareh. The emotions of each character are easily identified allowing the secondary characters to stand out just as well as the main ones. 

The setting was breath taking. The author has portrayed the imaginary world of Darhan in such intricate detail, that you can easily visualise it.

The story builds in pace gradually to an epic ending. I really was pleased with the way it ended. A stunning work of fantasy. I am so eager to read the final book in this dualogy.

Random House Blogger Brunch

Last Saturday I was invited along with many other bloggers to the Random House Blogger Brunch. We got to hear about all the latest books that they will be bringing us as well as the opportunity to meet two lovely authors.

First author to talk to us was Jonathan Stroud, who is well known for his Bartimaeus series. Jonathan  has a new series about to be published called Lockwood and Co. Lockwood and Co. are a teenage ghost hunting agency. In this series, adults are unable to see ghosts, but children and teenagers can. The world is over run by an epidemic of ghosts and it falls upon the young people of the world to deal with the ghosts. The first book in the series is called The Screaming Staircase and will be published at the end of August. I was lucky enough to receive a sample chapter and I can tell you right now you will love it! Jonathan was fascinating to listen too and he showed us his very own ghost busting kit which even included a teapot!

Next to talk to us was the lovely Amy McCulloch who read a piece from the first book in her fantasy duology The Oathbreaker’s  Shadow. When Amy read from the book, the descriptions were enticing and you were left with a shiver down your spine. I don’t normally go for this type of book, but now I am desperate to read it. This is published in June. The Oathbreaker’s Shadow follows the tale of Raim, a fifteen year old boy who lives in world where you have to tie a knot for every promise you ever make. If you break that promise you are scarred for life and sent out to live in the desert. Doesn’t that sound good! Amy has an interesting day job, she is the commissioning editor at Voyager, the fantasy/science fiction imprint for Harper Collins.

So let’s look at the new books being published by Random House Children’s Books over the next few months.

In April Silent Saturday by Helen Grant will be published. This is the first in a trilogy by the acclaimed YA author and is set in Flanders. Described as a chilling tale of murder and deception, the novel involved extensive research by the author.  The writing has been described as a cross between Jo Nesbo and Marcus Sedgewick.

The Kissing Booth by Beth Reekles.This ebook which was published in December will now be available in paperback format in May. This was written by Beth Reekles, a seventeen year WattPad sensation. A cool, sexy YA romance that is easy reading for you.

Acid by Emma Pass. I have waited for this one for ages! Very excited by Emma’s debut novel that I have been told took twenty years to finish. Set in 2113, this dystopian world of Jenna Strong, is run by the most brutal, controlling police force in history. Jenna is the only female inmate in a violent high security prison! It will be published at the end of April.

The Child’s Elephant by Rachel Campbell-Johnson is published in May. The author is the Times art critic and the book has been described as an older book for Michael Morpurgo fans. Set in Africa, this has echoes of Never Fall Down and Now Is The Time For Running and will require tissues!

Doll Bones by Holly Black , author of The Spiderwick Chronicles is published in May too. I adore Holly Black! She is one of my favourite authors, so I am really excited by this one. It is a dark and chilling tale about ghosts, growing up and the power of stories. It is supposed to be very scary and I for one can’t wait to read it.

Witchfall by Victoria Lamb is the second book about Meg Lytton, a young witch struggling to hide her craft in a Tudor court. This is one of those series I keep meaning to read, so I need to read Witchstruck before this follow on comes out in July. Witchstruck won Romantic YA Novel of the Year 2012.

Blood Family by Anne Fine will be published in July. Following the success of her dark tale The Devil Walks, this is a gripping tale of a young boy’s struggle to escape the horrors of his childhood.

Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper The award winning author of The Dark is Rising series has a new book to be published in August. An epic tale of a young pioneer boy called Little Hawk.

So as you can see Random House have some amazing books coming out next year. As always, we were all very lucky to receive a gift bag of books.

Thank you ever so much to the lovely ladies at Random House who always look after us so well.