The Oathbreaker's Shadow

by Amy McCulloch

Overview

In the land of Darhan, promises are bound by magic, tied into knots, and worn with pride. Those who break them are physically scarred, cast out into the desert, and stalked by vengeful shadows of their treachery. Fifteen-year-old Raim, the best young fighter ever to train for the elite Yun guard, has worn a simple knot around his wrist for as long as he can remember. He doesn’t know where it came from and barely thinks about it at all. But on the most important day of his life, when Raim agrees to give his life as a warrior to the future king, that knot bursts into flames and sears a dark mark into his skin. Now scarred as an oathbreaker, Raim has two options: run or die.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738744056
Publisher:	North Star Editions
Publication date:	02/08/2015
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	830L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Amy McCulloch (London, UK) graduated from the University of Toronto and works as commissioning editor for HarperVoyager.

Read an Excerpt

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Editorial Reviews

11/24/2014
It takes a bit of work to make headway into debut author McCulloch’s imaginative space. She eschews the typical medieval European world of fantasy for a nomadic yurt village on the steppes. The cast of characters is large, the customs and beliefs distant, and worldbuilding detail comes thick and fast. For readers who stick with it, what unfolds is a thoughtful coming-of-age story focused on questions of what constitutes betrayal. Raim, at 15, has been the devoted friend of Khareh, the crown prince of Dashan, for five years. The boys are on the brink of adult choices: Raim wants to become an elite Yun warrior, while Khareh is sliding into a battle of wills with the khan he has been chosen to succeed. As the boys swear a sacred vow to be forever protector and protected, these futures crumble. Marked as an oathbreaker and outcast, Raim goes on the run for his life into the merciless desert. Many questions are raised and none resolved, yet it’s an intriguing start to McCulloch’s planned series. Ages 12–up. Agent: Juliet Mushens, Agency Group. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"An excellent choice for those looking for a compelling and detailed fantasy novel." —School Library Journal

"Middle-school readers looking to get lost in another world will enjoy this adventure-packed read." —Booklist

"An intriguing start to McCulloch's planned series." —Publishers Weekly

"The most compelling new fantasy I've read in years." —Jonathan Stroud, author of Lockwood & Co and the Bartimaeus books

"Brilliant. Absolutely gripping from the start, a complete joy and a great new voice." —Conn Iggulden, author of the internationally best-selling Empire series

"The Oathbreaker's Shadow is a very promising debut in what bodes to be an electrifying duology. Unusual magic set in an exotic location and nomadic culture lures the reader to total immersion in Raim's world." —Robin Hobb, internationally best-selling author of the Farseer trilogy

From the Publisher

Raim and his best friend Khareh, prince of Darhan and its nomadic tribes, already have the future planned. One day, Khareh will become Khan while Raim becomes leader of the Yun and the Khan’s personal protector, but first Raim has to pass the Yun’s one-on-one combat challenge. Approaching the Honour Age of sixteen, when an Absolute Vow can be made and sealed with a ceremonial knot, these boys know the consequence for a broken promise is the appearance of a malevolent shadow and permanent exile from your family. Raim has been wearing a promise knot since his earliest memory but no one knows its origins. Taking a chance, he and Khareh make an Absolute Vow; the original knot is destroyed. Will exile be the end of Raim or will it be the start of something new for all of Darhan? This is a world of familiar features, yet different enough to clearly be formed by the author’s imagination. The land, the people, and their customs are explained in densely packed details, preventing the characters or the action from truly developing into something exciting. The strongest relationship is between Raim and the shadow that comes to him after his exile but a complex romance begins midway through the story and is worth waiting to discover. Surprising turns in the plot come along often enough to keep a reader’s interest. This first in a two-book series offers enough plot twists to provoke a reader’s curiosity and has a cliffhanger ending sure to make an impact. Reviewer: Stacey Hayman; Ages 12 to 18.

VOYA, February 2015 (Vol. 37, No. 6) - Stacey Hayman

01/01/2015
Gr 9 Up—Fifteen-year-old Raim lives in a world in which a promise is so binding that if it is broken, that promise leaves an irreversible stain on the oathbreaker, who is then cast out from the community and family for life. In Darhan, it is better to be dead than to be an oathbreaker. Raim has spent all of his life training to become an elite Yun warrior and guardian of his clan's future king, and coincidentally, best friend Kareh. On the night of his acceptance into the Yun Guard, Raim unknowingly breaks a mysterious oath he has been carrying since before he can remember. Raim is forced to flee before he is killed. He escapes into the desert in hopes of making it to the city of Lazar, where all the oathbreakers are forced to live. He barely survives his first day in the open before a fierce tribe of desert people, known as Alashan, find him and vow to take him to Lazar. The protagonist becomes embroiled in a conflict that, if not stopped, will endanger Darhan and all the people in it. The Oathbreaker's Shadow is easy to dive into and will keep readers engaged. Raim's character arc is full of palpable highs and lows as he uncovers the mystery behind his fate. The conclusion will leave teens wanting more, and is the perfect setup for a sequel. An excellent choice for those looking for a compelling and detailed fantasy novel.—Annalise Ammer, City of Rochester Public Libraries, NY

School Library Journal

2014-11-18
The first of a two-book adventure series sends a gifted warrior-in-training out into the desert to die. In a fantasy world with the flavor of the Central Asian steppes, Raim is a 15-year-old nomad determined to join the elite forces of the Khanate. Since he was a child, he's been best friends with the Khan's heir, and if he passes his tests he'll be young Khareh's most trusted fighter. He need only make an Absolute Vow, an oath sworn on a knot. If the maker of a knotted promise is forsworn, the knot burns a hideous scar on the oathbreaker's body, and a grotesque shadow appears, haunting the breaker of the promise and causing his countrymen to drive him into the wilderness. With a loaded gun like that hanging on the wall, readers know it will soon be fired. Yet when Raim does set a promise knot afire, it's through no choice of his own but from some terrible misadventure. If he can only survive the shame of banishment, the desert's poisonous bugs and the city of the oathbreakers, Raim can learn his terrible family secrets—except those best left for the sequel. Worldbuilding grows through exposition that plods as slowly as Raim's trudge through the sands. Readers who stick it out to the action-packed climax will be curious about what's coming next. (Fantasy. 13-15)

Kirkus Reviews