Oathbreaker

by A.J. Rettger

For thousands of years, elves and non-humans alike had lived freely until humans colonized their land and forced them into hiding and subjugation. After years of living as slaves or second-class citizens, the elves rebelled, but their uprising failed, and humans remained victorious. Mario Deschamps, a new graduate of the Knight’s College, sets off to complete his first deed, an accomplishment that will grant him knighthood and into the ordo equestris. But he has huge boots to fill. His late father, a famous knight and considered the Scourge of Bandits, single-handedly ended the Elven Uprising. Mario’s youthful confidence, vanity, and naivety don’t get him far in the real world, and he quickly finds himself trapped in a political climate where tensions are on the rise and war is inevitable. In a world filled with monsters, outlaws, bounty hunters, demons, and murderous bandits, Mario is forced to make tough moral decisions. In a world fuelled by violence, hate, and bigotry, things are not as clear cut as he once thought. Lines have been drawn, but to complete his task, he must cross them all. With every choice, the consequences weigh greatly on him, leaving him full of guilt and doubting his path . . . and all the while, in the darkness, someone—or something—is waiting for him to break . . .. A.J. Rettger weaves an epic tale of politics and prejudice, war and depravity, and legacy and destiny in his action-packed debut fantasy Oathbreaker.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Epic Fantasy

261 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 8, 2020

About the author

A.J. Rettger is a grimdark fantasy author from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. His debut novel, Oathbreaker, quickly became a bestseller and stayed on the FriesenPress Bestseller's list for two weeks. His Second book, Season of Kings - the first installment of The Raven's War Trilogy - was critically acclaimed and was named a semi-finalist in the 2024 Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off (SPFBO). When he is not hard at work on his next book, A.J. can be found playing Dungeons and Dragons, exploring the corners of the world, or unwinding with his friends and family.

Reviews

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

*CW: Violence, gore, sexual assault, rape, coarse language, torture*

When I first sat down to read Oathbreaker what I thought I was getting was not what I got. I had a feeling it would be along the the lines of dark fantasy or grimdark but I was not thinking it was going to get as dark as it actually did.

Mario Deschamps is freshly out of Knights collage, on his way to do his first official quest and to then be knighted by the King. He has some big shoes to fill, his father Pablo Deschamps the hero who stopped the Elven uprising many years prior, never came home. He has hopes to be like his father, to make him proud.

Along his journey he encounters people and many non-human races who help him along the way. From them he learns that just because you are non-human it doesn't make you bad and that humans can be monsters too.

The story it's self is a very fast in it's pacing. We go from events to events with very little down time, which for our MC and his fellow companions isn't a good thing. It's feels like it's just one thing after another they have to suffer through. While there are some moments of humor over all this cast, this MC in particular has to go through so much, and it's not pretty. It's dark and gritty and I'm glad I wasn't eating during some fight scenes because I would have been turned off from my food. That should be taken as a complement, the gruesomeness was written rather well.

The world building is great. We have all kinds of fantasy beasties from classic fantasy to horror/dark fantasy. You can see throughout the influences other books that inspired the story and characters, I like to think of them as nods. The characters in this book have their flaws but don't we all. A issue with the story I have is logical. Mario is suppose to be that great of a student that when he graduates the collage it's just him, he's ahead of his classmates. So one would think he has to be super talented, to warrent this early graduation yet in the world he is kind of easily taken over. I know he's young and naïve but I was expecting more, smarter maybe? They would have taught him better, he would have learned at the collage. I understand that somethings are plot device, events wouldn't have been how they were if Mario didn't do or experience XYZ. But I'm not going to lie it left me doubting the abilities of Mario and the credibly of the collage. We do get to experience his growth as the story plays out.



The book isn't perfect, it's a very high 3 and that isn't a bad thing. As a debut novel it was rather good. I enjoyed it, and I continued to pick it back up because I wanted to know what next. Especially the political aspect of the story, those interludes with the Emperor I would have liked more of. I love a good political fantasy.

Overall the story left me intrigued, especially after the ending because I'm assuming and hoping there will be a book 2 and that this wasn't a standalone. Because if the end is the end then that was a rough ride for Mario, bittersweet and well grim. If there is more to this world, and like I said I assume there will be I am interested to see where A.J Rettger goes with it and I'm sure we will see growth both story and author wise.

You have my attention. I look forward to whatever is next because I have so many questions.


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[P.L. Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are certain moods and times when I can digest some grimdark in my reading diet, and "Oathbreaker" seemed to be the perfect menu item. This book is the debut from A.J. Rettger. I have to be honest, I have rarely waffled so much on a rating for a novel. Let's see why, and what I thought of this book.

In "Oathbreaker", Rettger gives us the story of Mario Deschamps. Mario is a postulant knight, with quite the pedigree. His father - Pablo - was a controversial figure, hero to some, villain to others. Pablo, at the pinnacle of a highly decorated career as a knight himself, is dispatched by his king to quash an Elvish uprising. He is successful, catapulting him into legendary (or infamous) status, and then he promptly disappears, never to be heard from again.

The vanishing of Pablo leaves Mario bequeathed his father's legacy as a famed fighter, and it is a big legacy to live up to. But Mario, initially in the beginning of the book, seems well positioned to achieve celebrity heights in the realm of chivalry, just as his father did. Mario is handsome, a relatively skilled fighter, and has the best of intentions.

In order to achieve complete knighthood, Mario, after graduating from formal training at the Knight's College, sets off on his first quest, trying to be recognized for doing a good deed. In the world of "Oathbreaker", knights must first complete a good deed in order to be officially knighted.

But Mario is in for a rude awakening, as he embarks on a mission to find and eradicate a group of bandits. The young novice knight is drawn into a cesspool of senseless violence, hatred, prejudice, religious fanaticism, political intrigue, secrets, very scary monsters, and complete mayhem.

Characterization is one of the things I enjoyed in the novel, and Rettger permits his characters to grow and develop organically in response to the tumultuous and heartbreaking events that occur in their lives. The secondary characters are often very complicated, or very emotionally damaged. This makes for a very compelling cast surrounding the protagonist, Mario.

As for Mario himself: he is somewhat of a bumbling hero, whose naivety is part pitiful, part endearing, part frustrating. One can't help feeling sorry for him, I believe, because Rettger puts him through pain, lots and lots of pain.

On that note, I commend Rettger for his sensitive handling of some very challenging and disturbing topics. Obligatory trigger warning here: in particular sexual assault and bigotry are prevalent in the novel, so readers be warned. Rettger places these distressing scenes in the book strictly as part of the realism of the novel, not as a reflection of his beliefs.

"Oathbreaker" is definitely a grimdark book, and a sense of brutality permeates the novel. The universe Rettger has created is filled with barbarity and cruelty. There are very few happy endings for any of the characters, and the reader will be unable to tear themselves away from the ruthlessness and starkness of their journey, waiting to see if they can make it out alive.

I must also applaud Rettger for the depth and breadth of the diverse races in "Oathbreaker". While no new ground is broken here in terms of what you might expect to find in a high fantasy novel, one will find werewolves, vampires, demons, dwarfs, elves, humans, shapeshifters, and so much more. Rettger took great pains to represent a balanced universe populated by various cultures, complete with realistic internal and external conflict occurring with those cultures.

In terms of the plot, if you love fast-paced books, "Oathbreaker" is truly the definition of a book one can't put down. Rettger does not permit the reader to take much of a breath, once the reader gets past a lengthy prologue, going from one incredible fight scene to the next! If there is one thing I cannot fault the author for, is his non-stop, thrilling action sequences. Rettger will have you on the edge of your seat, wondering what calamity is coming next for our hero and his companions, and if they can possibly make it out alive.

So after all this positive feedback I have provided above, why any indecision about how to rate "Oathbreaker"? As noted, this is an excellent effort by Rettger, and overall I loved the book and found it hard to put down once I started reading. The technical imperfections certainly do not diminish what a thrilling read "Oathbreaker" was.

The book was well-written, but there were a few moments the prose was a bit off for me, but I believe that was more of a personal preference than any terrible flaws per se in Rettger's writing.

"Oathbreaker" has a cliff-hanger / ambiguous-type ending, and that may not be for everyone, but personally I thought it was awesome! While the aspect of the prose took this book just barely out of five-star range for me, it was very close to a five-star, especially considering how positively electrifying the novel was.

Rettger is obviously a highly talented new writer who will only get better, and readers looking for a very young Andrzej Sapkowski or Joe Abercrombie-type author would do well to check out "Oathbreaker"! I am definitely looking forward to the next book by Rettger!

[LordTBR · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 5.0/10

Thanks to the author for a copy of Oathbreaker for review consideration. This did not influence my thoughts or opinions.

Oathbreaker is a novel I REALLY wanted to like, but I felt my enjoyment waiver as I continued on Mario’s journey. It felt like a debut that tried to be so many things but never quite stuck the landing on any of them. All of the normal tropes are present but nothing new about a single one is introduced, which leaves a sort of “middle-of-the-road” type experience.

I can’t say that it was a super frustrating read, though the opening segment led me to believe that I was going to read a completely different novel that I eventually did. I was set to read multiple chapters about Mario’s father, Pablo, as he was a very likeable character and Rettger sets him up for success, only to immediately be forced into Mario’s timeline for the rest of the journey. It felt rather… odd, though I understand what the author was attempting to set up.

I also felt that the pacing and characterizations could’ve used some tuning up. There are points where the crescendos you expect are there, but other times, it just feels like a slog. Scenes play out too quickly and end all too familiarly in order to keep the story progressing. In regard to the characters, Mario is a fine protagonist (though rather dimwitted), but the only one I honestly found myself enjoying was Hamish. The others felt a little overdone when it comes to the fantasy genre, and they didn’t really add much to the story except to progress Mario’s journey.

The book read almost like LitRPG meets The Witcher meets DnD without ever fulling becoming any of them. The reason I throw these out there are due to the decisions made by the characters, and how those decisions play out. It’s almost as if they are given 2-3 responses and they choose the one they don’t have enough Luck points for, so they fall into a heap of trouble and one of a handful scenarios play out.

What Rettger pulls off really well is the opening. He had me fully invested in this tale even though it ended up being average in the end. I feel like had Pablo’s journey been extended, some of the things I found problematic might’ve been remedied. He was definitely a very intriguing character, though with a limited arc.

Like I said, I wanted to enjoy this book because Rettger definitely does some things well, but there is just too much standing in the way of making Oathbreaker great. I’ve seen other reviewers have a completely different experience from me, so I could be in the minority. Take a shot if the synopsis appeals to you.

[Blaise · Rating 4 out of 5]

More reviews at undertheradarsffbooks.com

I received a signed, physical copy of this book in exchange for a honest review as this is A. J Rettger’s debut novel. I usually fall into the trap of reading the novel’s descriptions and when I see the words: Knights, elves, dwarves, and bandits I make the mistake of thinking this will be a story I have read many times before. DO NOT make the same mistake I did because Oathbreaker starts off as a classical fantasy and A. J. Rettger quickly turns the story into a grimdark with the flip of the page. This is a harsh and brutal world we find our characters in and its just keeps getting grimmer the more you read. Upon finishing Oathbreaker, I stared at my celling for ten minutes and thought to myself, “That was one of the darkest books I have read in a long time.” I have no idea where the author is going to take this story, but I am jumping on this bandwagon for the long haul.

Our main POV is Mario Deschamps, who is a new graduate of the Knights College looking to completed his first deed and become a full fledged Knight of King Dryden. Mario is the son of Sir Pablo Deschamps who is considered a war hero around the kingdom as he vanquished an Elf rebellion several years earlier and never returned home. Along Mario’s expedition, he comes across several different character of different races. First we see Deidre, an Elven archer whom despises humans ever since the rebellion was a failure. She is hard nosed, stubborn, but immensely loyal in her goals. Next we have the changeling Hamish, I won’t get too much into this character to avoid spoilers but he can take the form of any person he has come into contact with. Finally we have the mercenary Flint, a dark and mysterious person with a wealth of knowledge about the creatures of this world and deadly with his sword. It was a lot of fun learning about Flint and his background. We also get several interlude chapters from an imperial spy named Lukas and we get a little taste of the larger political climate and the war about to take place.

Now to the nitty gritty. I mentioned that this book gets very dark and that is putting it lightly. There is a torture scene, implications of sexual assault off screen, subjugation and bigotry on the part of humans towards elves as second class citizens, and political tensions where nothing is as it seems. The more Mario sees the world for what it truly is, the more he regrets his choice to become a knight and he often at times has to question is own morality. Mario and Deidre experience the most character development in Oathbreaker with plenty of hardships along the way. With every task Mario takes, he starts to change to a darker person and you will not recognize the person he has become in the final chapter.

I need to give props the A. J. Rettger for writing into his novel real world problems that affect people everyday. This can be a touchy subject to tackle but he does it with determination, care, and understanding that these things need to change one way or another. He also has no trepidation for being cruel to his characters. They are all put through a gauntlet and the emotions that came out of me, very few authors we able to achieve. My only grip with the novel is that it felt too short at under 300 pages and the ending was very harsh and abrupt leaving me with no indication of where things are going from here on out. Although, it will definitely hook you in and not let go. Oathbreaker is not on the grimdark level of a First Law or Broken Empire series, but it isn’t that far off and this author is a name to watch out for down the road.

Fans of classical Knight protagonist with lots of grit, heartbreak, and morally gray characters will enjoy Oathbreaker. Don’t expect good things to happen in this book because they usually will not. No one knows where the story will go from here and I hope readers will jump on the bandwagon as this talented author launches his career.

Cheers!

[Jennifer (bunnyreads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

I read this for SPFBO. More about the contest and links at the bottom.



Mario’s first couple of days on his journey in knighthood doesn’t go well, as he is robbed of his horse, sword and is knifed. This is his first quest after graduating and he is full of excitement and optimism but as his journey proceeds that shiny world seems to be inclined to show him just how nasty it really is out there.

***

This book had one of my favourite covers. I like dark moodiness of the colors and the way the armour is almost lost in the shadows of it. It suits the book title well, and in between title, cover, and the opening prologue- I expected a dark story. I was prepared. And I was surprised when after the prologue we switched to Mario pov. and Mario is so young feeling, but things get dark pretty quick once he gets on the road.

Eventually Mario ends up with a little group of adventurers and this almost has a D&D feel for awhile, as they travel around, getting into one jam after another with the very cool monster population (I love the dwarven statues army) and also with the general population who aren’t always so nice.

There are many interesting things going on in this world. The simplified version; a religious group called The Golden Sun is growing strong roots through the land- they believe in the purity of men and species that fall outside of that category, including half-humans have no merit. On the other side of that coin, we have a group that is starting to fight back against that oppression and hatred towards the non-human races. And to complicate it all, there is some political intrigue stirring in the background with the Emperor Vesuvius plans to cause distrust among the kingdoms.

This story has some very dark moments; with torture, rape, and some good gut-spilling gory deaths. It’s not a happy world, that’s for sure.I kind of felt like we were seeing an accelerated journey into Mario’s disillusionment of the world, and what it would take for a bright, optimistic young knight to turn into one of those disillusioned middle-aged characters that we usually see in grim-dark. It was an interesting approach and made me curious to see if that is the journey that Mario would eventually take, or if his optimism would hold-out in the end.

***

There is a lot going on in this book. I can’t believe I am going to complain about too much action and really, it’s not so much that it was too much, because I like lots of action, but more that there is almost no breathing room in between the fighting.

Mario’s journey is pretty straight-forward. It’s the other elements that are introduced that could have been smoother. They’re tucked in here and there through the body of the story or in the interludes and some seemed unrelated and others (Tiberius) had such large gaps between appearances that I was surprised he was back in the story.

I was left wondering when the pieces were going to come together. Likely, this is just one of those series that is going to need to be read into further, for us to see the bigger picture, and there is nothing wrong with that either.



SPFBO score 6.2 or 3.5 stars

3 stars (4.5-6/10)
4 stars (6.5-8/10



Go here to find out more about SPFBO contest and to find links to all the participating bloggers/authors and reviews.

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[James Harwood-Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deep seeded hatred & prejudice stain the land. Atrocities that are unforgivable. To achieve knighthood, the son of an infamous warrior begins a harrowing journey of the soul.

Classic fantasy turned dark. Very dark. Politics & bias within an action filled emotional tale. Riveting!

[Xerxes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oathbreaker is a particularly odd novel. On the one hand, its prologue was slow-paced. On the other hand, the novel becomes much darker when you embark on this journey with Mario. It starts as heroic, with Mario learning about how to become a Knight and making friends along the way before he loses them all. Add to that, bandits and slaveries, spies and Kings, and elves fight against each other, plotting back and forth. Poor Mario who lost his father because King Dryden was a selfish ego-manic has gone through a lot in this book. I enjoyed this novel, but at the same time, I was not a fan of Mario losing his friends. I do think he needed one that could at least stay with him and stop him from making bad decisions.

That said, there is room for improvement in this novel, even if it is a self-debut. The narrator takes far more charge as he needs to sometimes during the prose. The chemistry between Mario and Tiberius was not fully developed out as I would have wanted, and the novel could have had a few hundred pages to expand the story. I wanted to see more of Sir Darius Withers, and the bonding that broke Tiberius’s and Mario’s relationship needed more development. The narrator of this story is often describing Mario's events, But I wanted to be more with Mario than anything else. At times, the narrator went from being in Mario's perspective to then shift unexpectedly sometimes. At many points, the story also shifted from moments of showing vs telling within the prose, and some parts of the story should have had more of an emphasis on the showing aspect. That said, it did provide a bit of uniqueness as well. Even the best fantasy novels that show often with their prose, tend to have moments of telling in their description. See, within moments of this story, the author does show moments of brilliance, showing the story. And there's a lot more of it in the novel. Once I read through Mario’s journey and the obstacles he has to face, I felt immersed. I was on this journey, and this story turned from an epic fantasy novel to a far darker one. That said, it reminded me a lot of Castlevania. There are monsters, beasts, and greedy people in this novel. I also didn’t like many times when Mario had the chance to save people and he didn’t. I think he needs to start acting more like the hero he should be.

However, this story is a classic fantasy read, and there wasn't much to impress me of new races, of new cultures. But then again, I wasn't expecting that. If people want to write stories of classic fantasy because they feel that's where they are strong, why not? I know I've said in the past that I'm not necessarily a fan of Medieval European fantasy, because I've read a ton of novels on it already, but I don't mind reading it. So really, this story's prose is easy to read, and it is very good. However, I had no problem being immersed with the characters, the dialogue and the prose needs some improvement in my opinion. The author worked hard on this novel and writing a fantasy novel, or any novel for that matter is not easy. So, I commend R.J for making a very strong debut. Full credit to the author for adding a Roman fantasy-inspired faction. I am always looking for them, and quite frankly I LOVE the Classical Era, which had legends such as Alexander, Hannibal, Zenobia, Cleopatra, Caesar, Scipio Africanus, Aurelian. Also, Lukas Aurelian is one of my most favorite characters for that matter, a loyal spy to the Emperor. Emperor Vesuvius Vladimir Valerius is an awesome name for an Emperor
I enjoyed this!

[FantasyBookNerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

(note: more like 3.5)

Misery loves company! Especially in R. J. Rettger's debut novel, Oathbreaker, as it chronicles the tale of newly knighted Mario Deschamps.

When we initially begin the story of Mario, the book does not give any indications of where this book descends and by the end of Mario's story, nothing prepares you for it's culmination.

At the start of the story, Mario is a bright eyed, bushy tailed newly anointed knight. However, as he embarks upon his first quest, events will lead him to become a very different person from the one he envisages and fantasizes about.

In his head, he is going to follow in the footsteps of his esteemed father, Pablo Deschamps. A renowned knight who single handedly quelled the uprising of the elves that populate the world.

However, Mario will be challenged and stripped bare of all the things he believes!

At the start, he firmly believes that the world around him follows a set of rules that fit into his steadfast worldview. However, all this ideals and fantasies of being a courageous knight are brutally stripped from him. There are many trappings of classic fantasy here, such as the Knight on his destrier, non-human races, such as elves, dwarves and halfling. In addition to this, there are monsters, and bandits.

But you will find that most things are turned on their head, particularly with the non - human races. Yes, the elves seem to be typically aloof and haughty. However, the elves are hated and subjugated. They are dehumanised, beaten and treated as something less than human. Additionally, this attitude permeates to the other non human races, and you feel that the hatred towards other races is pernicious and deeply ingrained.

We follow Mario as he embasrks on his first quest. This quest will strip away everything that he holds dear. It will be the hardest thing he has ever done. It will take him on a journey that will change his life forever.

I found the book to be a bleak story, and as Mario and those around him experience tragedy after tragedy, the trauma just piles up. If I could pick a soundtrack for this book, it would be Walk with Me in Hell by Lamb of God, primarily because it is like walking through hell as Mario is stripped and disabused of his innocence one layer at a time, one trauma at a time. If I think back on this, I cannot recall one moment of peace or happiness. Oh, no sorry I lied, one does spring to mind. However, when it does happen there is a foreboding that this is going to not go well.

Now, I hope that I haven’t put you off this book, but there is no shying away from it, this is a dark book. There are no rays of sunshine or knights on white chargers coming to save you.

On the whole, Oathbringer is well written debut. As I said previously, A.J. Retinger has a head full of ideas. Mostly, these ideas work but there were times when some of them didn’t click with me. I found that the intrusion of Mario’s inner thought processes took me way from the narrative, and I felt that these interrupted the flow of the story. That is just my personal opinion, and most people had no problems with this aspect

If you like your fiction dark, then I think you will enjoy this. After the ending of this book, I really want to know what happens next and will be looking forward to the next instalment.

[Ashley | Read Now Sleep Later]

Oathbreaker has so much potential. I don’t feel comfortable giving this book a rating just because I feel like it’s incomplete.

Things that I loved:

The world building. I really enjoyed how A.J. described the world it takes place in and really reminded me of The Witcher.

It also has some found family vibes that got me right in the heart strings.

Unfortunately I didn’t find myself really falling for the characters. I didn’t really get to know them because of how fast paced this is.

Most fantasy books are massive and can take forever to read, so when I saw this was only 290 I was a little concerned.

I don’t believe a fantasy novel has to be 600+ pages long in order to be fantastic but it definitely needs some space for the reader to get to know the characters.

If I could give one piece of advice I’d say take Oathbreaker back to the drawing board and expand it. I feel like a lot of the confusion I felt while reading this was because I didn’t have enough information and context. Take your time, ignore the page counts, and I believe the story will take off.

[Cassidee Lanstra · Rating 3 out of 5]

“A willingness to help people isn’t a curse, Mario. It’s a gift.”

Thanks to A.J Rettger for providing me with a copy of Oathbreaker in exchange for an honest review! I love the simple yet menacing cover chosen for this novel. This was a hard book for me to rate. For much of the book, I thought I was going to rate this much higher. I love dark fantasy and count Joe Abercrombie as one of the greats, so this gore and death-laden novel was right up my alley.

The book starts out pretty strong, with a prologue that intrigued me much more than prologues usually do. Minor spoiler, since it’s at the very beginning, but we find out quickly that honorable Knight Pascal Deschamps is used by the King to kill his own people and then quietly murdered. What follows is the journey of his son Mario, who is unaware of this treachery. Mario goes on into the footsteps of his father in hopes of achieving a full Knighting.

One thing I really enjoyed was the contrast of Pascal’s unfailing honor and skill to Mario’s somewhat clumsy fumble at Knighthood. The life of a Knight isn’t for everyone, and it’s not as glamorous as the stories boast. Mario does seem somewhat disillusioned as to what being a Knight is, he’s supposed to be one of the best pupils from the school but it seems he has built his head up with so much fantasy, that the reality is much harsher. He’s constantly getting his butt saved by friends he meets along the way, many of them meeting their death as a result.

I can appreciate the dark aspects of this novel. I’m okay with deaths of main characters and they don’t always have to serve a purpose other than showing off how hard it is to survive under the reign of shifting loyalties and warring people. One thing that bothered me was that our only main female character is raped and abused merely for the sake of rape and abuse. Yes, this hardens her and makes her more fierce of a warrior and yes, she’s considered a lower class for being an elf, but in the end her storyline didn’t really go anywhere because of it. I am not triggered by rape in books (though others are, understandably so) and I don’t immediately hate a book that features rape, but something about this didn’t sit right with me. It just seemed an unnecessary addition to the book.

One of the issues I found with this novel was that the ending happens rather abruptly. We have a few characters left standing and they’re all in grim situations, which is fine. As I said, I’m an Abercrombie lover, I’m used to this. Mario’s resolution seemed a bit unlikely and haphazardly done. The turn on Deidre also seemed out of nowhere and dramatic. There’s a character named Flint who is super interesting overall and his story leads to intriguing revelations. Honestly, the story as a whole was about an 8/10 for me until the ending if you don’t count my distaste for the rape. The ending threw off my whole rating. The ending and the raping took it down to the current rating, but I really did enjoy this book for the most part. Oathbreaker was also left open ended, so my befuddlement could be resolved by a second book.

Truly though, I devoured this book in a two hour sitting. It’s a quick and easy read if you’re into dark fantasy. The polishing that I wanted isn’t unexpected of a debut author. Honestly, this is a much better experience than I’ve had reading a lot of self published debuts. Rettger definitely has talent and a lot of cool ideas bouncing around. I LOVED that he didn’t limit his creature usage. We get vampires, werewolves, elves, wyverns, changelings, and more. It was a welcome change, I don’t often see all of those mingling in the same novel. This is fantasy! Add all of the mythic beings you’d like!
There’s also some great observations about prejudice, underhanded political dealings, and the weight of legacy. Rettger writes smartly and his work will only get better with time, I can bet you that.

[M.R. Pin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way of a knight is not always so straight forward as to save the people from a simple bandit!

A. J. Rettger made something really special here! Starting with the prologue, you'll get intantly hooked to the story! It just grips you, the way he describes the details of a post-fight battlefield simply makes you imagine the whole scenery like a movie!

Oathbreaker takes us on an adventure following Mario Deschamps, son of Pablo Deschamps, the Slayer of Elves! Let me get something out right now... I didn't like Mario at first (like up to 60/70% of the book), I found him to be immature, a bit of an idiot and vain, way too preocupied with his looks rather than with the situations in front and ahead of him! I did enjoy his evolution, although if you're looking for a trope like "the hero grows up to be a man" you won't find it here exactly, it's a very different growth we see in Mario, a much darker one.

In terms of characters, the story explores them rather deeply, not exaggerating, but just that perfect amount of information given in small doses that'll keep you interested in the story! The main ones have all their time to shine, although I do have a soft spot for Deidre and Andronikus, who I think are the ones who made me easily create empathy with, due to their stories and past, alongside their personality, Mario being the one I disliked most as I stated above, he's well constructed, faulting only on his personality as a character himself.

The world we travel in is full of monsters and action, rarely do we find a chapter without a fight or something major happening! The politics themselves are not very deeply approached, I suppose they'll have a bigger impact on the next books, since we have only a handful of chapters where we see the inner workings of the politics in this world.

The story is not exactly straight forward, the path is basically a straight line wich gets diverted very frequently so it never gets too predictable! There are several twists that keep every chapter interesting until the end!

Now the best part? The battles! Its gory and descriptive, the blows are detailed to the point that you almost feel them on you! And what else is descriptive like that? Feelings and emotions! You feel the characters emotions throughout the whole story, the nerves, the sickness, the doubts, the darkness! Its a very hard story to read, as there are loads of themes like loss, disappointment, dealing with rape, suicide, anger and depression, so that this as a trigger warning although I didn't think they're triggers, you might find it differente for you! This was no doubt the best of the book for me, how you'd feel everything and everything got so emotional and powerful at times!

So if you fancy a medieval, dark, powerful fantasy, this will be your cup of tea for sure!

The ending leaves everything open for a second book and I do hope to get the answers I'm missing!!

By the way... If you hate how George R. R. Marting kills all your favourite characters when you're just falling in love with them, then you'll hate A. J. Rettger! He's just evil like that! But thank you A. J. Rettger for the opportunity to read and review your work!

This ebook was freely given to me through BookSirens in exchange for a honest review!

[Vesna S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was offered to me and my blogging partner by the author in exchange for an honest review.

The story follows Mario Deschamps, who is a new graduate of the Knight's College. Every new graduate must set off to complete his first deed, accomplishment, that will grant him knighthood. But Mario has big shoes to fill. His late father was a famous knight, Scourge of Bandits, and the knight who single-handedly ended the Elven Uprising. But when Mario sets off he realizes that the real world is even scarier than he imagined and his confidence and naivety don't get him far. The world is full of political tensions. For thousands of years, elves and non-humans had lived freely until humans colonized their land. Some fled, some were turned into slaves and all of them were branded as second-class citizens. The rebellions failed and elves have hated humans ever since. Soon Mario realized it's not only Elves that hated him, but the world is filled with monsters, outlaws and bandits. He's forced to make tough moral decisions that change his view of the world.

I have to say it took me days to manage to sit down and write down some thoughts about the book. Despite there being a lot of fantasy cliches, Rettger has managed to find a way to put everything we know from every other fantasy book, twist it around and make it work. Short red bearded Dwarfs, Elves, monsters, Knights that go to College and graduate and have to fulfill their destiny, a mysterious knight with a dark hood in the Inn that helps the Knight who will help him to fulfill the quest (I wonder where I read that before). The reason that took me days to write up something? I loved the book. I just couldn't put it down.
The book is very well written and I need to clarify it's a debut novel. There's not much worldbuilding as I would expect from similar novels but it's very character driven. Everything worked perfectly. We mostly follow the story of Mario but every now and then it's interrupted with interludes, about his king and political aspects that drove the kingdom and minor information about Mario's father. Those interludes brilliantly connected the whole story together.
For an epic fantasy the book is not epic in proportions. It's a bit over 300 pages but there's absolutely nothing to add or shorten. It's a fast paced novel and action packed with some funny moments on top of it but it also doesn't rush anything. For that reason it grabbed my attention from the beginning to the end.

When I picked up the book I expected this to be a stand-alone novel but based on the story and the ending I'm already eagerly expecting a sequel sometime in the near future. And when it comes I'll grab the book immediately.

[CanditheBookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent debut novel from this author. I was quite impressed with the storyline, characters, and overall flow. The author did a great job with character depth and keeping the story moving. I found the only true negative was Mario’s whiny, somewhat naive attitude, feelings of incessant guilt - I tried to chalk that up to his age and maturity level but kept getting stuck on the fact that he’s a young man who just graduated Knight college with a heavy family legacy of a hero Knight father on his shoulders which should have in my mind anyway made him a bit more cocky, adventurous, and say “thirsty” to come into his own legacy. One doesn’t become a Knight if one is squeamish with a guilt-ridden conscience typically.

Otherwise, I didn’t find anything else to really complain about. World building could’ve been more detailed, but it is a debut novel. I enjoyed the read, it was pretty fast-paced, a lot of action, and a pleasant journey. If the story continues, I’ll likely choose to continue.

Thanks to the author and Booksirens for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oathbreaker follows Mario Deschamps, a recent graduate of the Knight's College and son of the late, great hero Sir Pablo Deschamps, as he embarks on his first Deed with the aim of finally achieving Knighthood.

In a world where elves and other non-human have been enslaved and downtrodden for centuries, Mario encounters many challenges and dangers on his quest. With the help of the friends he meets along the way, will the young, naive trainee Knight achieve his goal?

Review:

A J Rettger has created a complex and immersive world of political tensions and unrest. Melding traditional medieval knightly concepts with a fantasy world of fantastic creatures, including his own imaginative additions (such as the Lichenites), to build a unique environment for his characters to explore.

I was hooked watching Mario learn and come to terms with who he is away from the college and his father's legacy. Struggling to balance the knightly ideal with the realities of the tumultuous world on the brink of war in which he finds himself, and often torn between duty, friendship and survival.

There was a lot of depth to both the characters and the world as a whole - with the excerpts from monster hunting guides and other books as a fun way of providing additional backstory.

Although not listed as part of a series, the cliffhanger ending suggests there could be more to come for Mario and his friends, and I hope to be able to return to this world soon!

Read this if:

- You love a Tolkein-esque fantasy world packed with elves, dwarves and halflings. The book even has maps at the beginning to help guide you on your journey.

- An action-packed adventure with plenty of twists, turns and dramatic battles

* I received an advance review copy from BookSirens in exchange for an honest review.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book ..After the prologue I thought I knew where this story was heading, I couldn't have been more wrong...this book has a lot packed into it.. revenge, magic, elves, dwarves, vampires, werewolves, shape shifters... the main protagonist is flawed and over the course of the story you see him grow and change the way he looks at the world. he's not a perfect hero. fantasy fans should definitely give this one a try

[akacya ❦ · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received an advance review copy for free from BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.*

An epic fantasy including outlaws, bandits, and monsters. I loved the world building and characters!

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

i listened to this for the most part and the narrator did an amazing job!
a grim, dark, fast-paced fantasy adventure.

[Brandie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 out of 5 stars.

This book had a really fast pace which at times was good, but at times I wished I had more time with the characters so that I could know more about them. It left me feeling like they just needed a little more depth.

This book did have a lot of humor, which I liked.
I found the main character Mario to be a little bit of a whiner, and not very likable, but I felt like that was maybe the intention. The parts I laughed the hardest at were ones where he would get a slap in the face and told to quit whining 😂 He was kind of a horrible knight for someone that just completed a training at a young age and in what was explained as record time. I do question this “knight school” a little.

Overall, great first book A.J.! Looking forward to your future works.

[Omayra · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was offered to me by Book Sirens by the author in exchange for an honest review, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I will start by saying that I review books for plot, characterization, Character arcs, POW, and style.

First I must say that I didn't find many grammatical errors, and the author's use of language is beautiful.

However, I did find many problems, and I will summarize them using only the prologue and a few other examples.

The prologue.

The prologue should have been called chapter one or not been added at all. This could have been taken out, and the author could have given us the information little by little through the story. Make it interesting. I got what happened with Mario’s Father at the start of the book, and the surprise ended. The prologue starts with a man in a field of battle. We do not know who the man is. However, the story is being told from the man’s POV. The man should know his own name. So why call him the man and not give us his name? That is a problem with the POV. Then there is a switch of POV from third person limited to omniscient. And then there were so many internal monologues that it made me want to skip many sections.

So, we have the man's character without a name telling the story, and he smears blood on the “visor” of his helmet. Is this a SciFi book? It has elves and fighting with swords. Visors are made with plastic. Obviously, the author didn’t do his homework on how the armor looks and how it is constructed (materials, styles, era, weight, etc.).

This knight is leaning in a mount of bodies. In battle, men are left scattered. The movement of battle is forward on one side and back on the other, so there can’t be mounts of bodies. Unless the bodies are being picked up and piled to be burned. However, this knight is the only one on the field. From where the mount of bodies came from unless the knight piled them, but the story said the fighting had just finished. This battle scene is broken and needed to be rewritten and better visualized.

Next, a young man comes riding a horse in a gallop. The man without a name made an assumption that the young man had been riding the horse hard all day. I am still scratching my head with that one. The character has an internal monologue, “A fine steed. A shame this dope is running it straight into the ground.” Horses are made to gallop hard when in battle. The warrior had said he had a horse. He should know that when in battle, things must be done in haste. Horses that were brought to battle were trained to withstand harsh conditions. This dialogue was out of line for the place and a knight.

Having said that, I found many other dialogues like this one all throughout the story. These internal monologues told me the story. I want to be shown the story.

So, later I found out the knight was Paul, Mario’s father.

I am going to leave the prologue there because I think I said enough to drive my point.

So the story is supposed to be about Mario Deschamps. However, we were made to connect to his father in the prologue. So Mario is a graduate of the Knight's College.

Okay, and here I must stop... No, I have more to say.

Normally in the world of all the other fantasy books, and the way people become knights in real life. Squires are knighted for heroics done. Young men start as pages; then they become squires. So, if a squire had proven his bravery and skill at the battle, he would become a knight, usually after the age of twenty-five. However, it could be as young as twenty-one. The young man would gain the title of knight at a "dubbing" ceremony. At this ceremony, he would kneel before another knight, lord, or king, who would then tap the squire on the shoulder with his sword making him a knight. However, in this story, Mario goes to college becomes a knight without having done a God Blessed heroic thing. He didn’t earn the title; he just went to college. It is like the youth of today. They all get a trophy for doing nothing. They have to breathe, and they get a trophy. You can see I dislike the premise of getting anything without earning it. But I kept reading only because I said I would.

The Characters,

And we have the Elf Deidre, and of course, she had to be an archer, and she needed to hate humans. Humans killed the elves in the elven rebellion failure. She, like the elves in most fantasy books, is stubborn and bit arrogant. I wouldn't say I liked Deidre; she wasn't developed enough, in my opinion.

The one character I liked was Hamish. He is a shapeshifter.

And what are fantasy books without a warrior, who is great with a sword and a savant know it all, mercenary? The mercenary’s name was Flint.

I had fun with the characters. This is one thing I can say the author did well. He does need to work on the character arcs. On the other hand, this is a series, so I hope that the character arcs will be developed in the other books.

But the one thing that I hated was the author calling interlude chapters to what I thought were some of the most important chapters in the story. Those interlude chapters were integral to the story. They give us a look into the empire's inner workings and where the spy named Lukas shows us a better picture of the world-building. Please, for the love of all that is great in literature, don’t call them interludes. These chapters are the meat and potatoes of the worldbuilding of the story. Lukas was a character that was so interesting, but I still can’t understand how he fits in this story because he needed to be molded a bit more.

Style.

A.J., you have so much potential, but you needed to read a book or two on show and not tell. Also, send your books to a developmental editor and do a lot of rewrites. And then send your books to a copy editor before you publish them; it will help. Furthermore, in my humble unsolicited opinion, I will say, your writing style reminds me of a very naked and raw writing style as George R.R. Martin.

Why I gave it a two-star? This book had a lot of potential; I liked some of the characters and the way the author writes. However, he cut many corners, and it had too many technical problems.

And for now, I think I said enough.

[Terry Rudge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably a 3.5 for me.
The basis is there to have a magnificent world. The MC drove me crackers at times with continually making the worst choices.

That said, I enjoyed the style and it felt like lots of small books wrapped into one.

Would recommend to others in fairness

[Ray Curto · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was given a free copy of the Oathbreaker by AJ Rettger (author) and Book Sirens to read and provide an honest review voluntarily.

I consider Oathbreaker to in the fantasy genre, more specifically sword and sorcery and low on the magic. The story features a knight, a quest, elves, dwarves, halflings, evil nobles, and monsters which made me extremely interested in wanting to read this book.

Trigger warnings: This story contains references to sexual assault, attempted sexual assault, killing of a child, and a woman kept in a cage and outside during winter.

This review will be spoiler free.

I really liked the setting and world building. Mr. Rettger set the stage very nicely by featuring each town, village, forest, cave, and university to be unique and added layers to the story. I really liked how he used the world building to show the differences in each of the different countries and how these differences could be used to the advantage of one of the villains in the story.
Another aspect of the story I enjoyed is the story is populated with elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes (I think, but I could be remembering incorrectly), vampires, and monsters.

The main character is a young man who just graduated from knight university and is about to start on a quest to complete his first chivalrous act as a knight. The main character had a father who was a knight known far and wide as among the best knights in the land and as a ruthless killer of elves. The knight travels with a group of fellow travelers which are comprised of a shapeshifter, an immortal, halfling, dwarf, an elf, and they interact with other characters.

I did not find the main character to be interesting or engaging. It appears the main character is not making choices, but, instead, is primarily reacting. Another aspect of the main character that I do not like is the main character does not act like a knight and wallows in melancholy and self-pity regarding things he should have done or should not have done. The minor characters appear to be two-dimensional and somewhat flat. I would have preferred if the main character was more active. I would have liked the characters, who traveled with main character, to have been featured more and each of them would have his or her own character arc.

There are two plots that are running parallel in this story until they tie into together which culminates in a deux ex machina ending of the story. As already mentioned, the primary plot is the young knight on his quest to complete his first good deed. The secondary plot has to do with the main character’s father and what he was ordered to do by the king and how impacts the main character. Mr. Rettger has the scenes of the secondary plot in interludes. I would have preferred if the secondary plot was expanded because it would have featured more of the court intrigue, deepened and developed some of the villains such as the spy and the king, and I think it would have added another dimension to the overall story. I found the villains to be nothing than twirling their mustaches and being evil for the sake of being evil. I did not understand their motivations for acting the way they acted. The biggest problem that I have with these characters is that I did not care or like any of them.

As I continued to read Oathbreaker, the story got darker and darker and the deaths continuing to pile up. I think I would have preferred if Mr. Rettger provided at least one character or scenes that would have lighten the tone of the book because I found it very difficult to read the entire story.

There is a premise of an interesting story in Oathbreaker with the main character being a knight, traveling with what could have been interesting side characters if they were developed more and fleshed out, and a secondary plot that was expanded and villains could have more engaging.

I rate Oathbreaker 2 stars.

I would like to thank Mr. Rettger and Book Sirens for the free e-book version of Oathbreaker.

[Bridgette MacLean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book Review: Oathbreaker by A.J. Rettger

If I was still giving my one line book reviews I would say Oathbreaker, the premier novel by author A.J. Rettger, was “Brain Popcorn.” I might even go with “Dark Brain Popcorn.” Oh, for simpler days.

I picked up Oathbreaker because that is exactly what I thought the story would be, light, fluffy not much to chew on. I was so wrong. The novel turned out to be much more like toffee, in that there is a lot to chew on here. I still have some of it stuck to my teeth.

The story started out pretty much what I thought it would be. A retelling of the dashing knight story. Young knight goes out into the world, slays monster, rescues maiden, happily ever after. Boom. Done. I swear I could almost hear the dice rolling in the background.
“20!”
“That’s a crit.”
“Oh, dude. This is gonna hurt.”
“Crap.”
“Have a backup ready?”


In some ways that is exactly what I found. In other ways, not so much.

A note on the mechanics of the novel. The writing is choppy at times and lacks a polish, but still the story moves along at a good clip. About halfway I stopped being derailed by the writing because I had enough interest in the story itself. I would like the characters to have a bit more depth. But, in reading this novel as a morality play the characters’ limits help them play the foil to Mario all the better.

For the rest... I could be overthinking this. That has been known to happen.

If you are familiar with Vonnegut’s story profiles then you’ll understand when I say that Oathbreaker definitely follows the Kafka profile. While there are no giant cockroaches to keep the reader awake, there are certainly enough monsters and incidents of the monstrous to provide some unease.

The story follows Mario Deschamps, son to a legendary knight, who dreams of following in his father’s illustrious footsteps. The story begins on the day Mario is to be let out into the world from his education. He is a bright, shiny, newly minted Knight (pro-tem). But, before he even gets out of the gates there is an incident where Mario fails to live up to expectations. He disappoints himself and others.

So, our newly minted knight has a chink in his armour. That’s fine - redemption is good for the soul. But - despite all his attempts to ‘do good’ we see Mario slide from one failure to another and perhaps more tellingly from small to greater and greater sins. On this quest, Mario finds companions that help, hinder and suffer along with him.

But in the dog eat dog world Mario seems to be outclassed by the bubbling menace that pervades everything. It is a world where you can’t stay innocent - much as you might try. Mario’s quest becomes a road paved with good intentions and failures.

Mario is certainly guilty of Pride at the opening. But, he is quickly humbled by fate, at least for a little while. Anger, Lust, and Folly also make appearances. Each wreaks their particular brand of ‘evil’. But, the biggest sin isn’t seen directly. Unmentioned is Mario’s naivete, which is the most pernicious and ultimately damning sin.

In short: There is no light at the end of this tunnel. So, if you like your fantasy dark, this might be for you. I am going to go read something a bit lighter, like the Book of Revelations.

[Kerri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Storytellers On Tour and the author for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

As a hardcore fantasy fan, I’m always excited to explore a new world. Fantasy is such a broad genre that can be employed in so many different ways. It’s been awhile, though, since I’ve picked up a book that features knights, elves, and political intrigue, so this book caught my attention!

In Oathbreaker, we’re following the adventures of a young knight-in-training, Mario Deschamps. Mario has been training his entire life to be a knight, having grown up on the heroic tales of his father, Pablo Deschamps. His father is said to have single-handedly ended the Elven Uprising years ago but, unfortunately, went missing right after. Mario dreams of being as great a knight as his father so, when he graduates from his training and heads off on his first quest, his head is filled with the possibilities. The truth of being a knight, however, and the state of the world is soon thrust upon him and it’s nothing like he dreamed.

This was an interesting story that hit a lot of the classic fantasy beats. There’s a naive, young knight that goes out in the world to discover it’s not everything he thought it would be. There’s a disenfranchised race that must deal with rising tensions. There are shady political machinations that cause unrest. Yes, this one is a on the darker side, but I definitely enjoy some darkness in my books! This is a solid, fantasy tale that felt like climbing into a comfortable pair of sweats. Nothing blew my mind but it’s familiar and I had a good time reading it!

My favorite aspect of this story was definitely the world-building. I was fascinated by the world the author created and wanted to know more! I found the interweaving of various mythical races interesting and enjoyed the way the background was woven into the plot. The world-building never felt info-dumpy, which I always appreciate!

I also thought the pacing of this novel was well done. There was never a moment that lagged or felt dull. I was always intrigued and invested in the story. It definitely captivated my imagination! I will say that I didn’t always jive with the writing. Some bits just seemed a little overwrought to me and took me out of the story. But, overall, I still found myself sucked into the story and this was definitely a fast read.

Final thoughts: This was well-crafted and fascinating story with excellent world-building! I was captivated from beginning to end, though I didn’t always get on with some of the writing. This is definitely on the dark side, so make sure to check content warnings before jumping in if there are certain subjects you’d rather avoid. All in all, this was a solid fantasy story with secrets, politics, and a main character that grows a lot over the course of this short tale. If you like dark fantasy with great world-building, heaps of intrigue, and fascinating characters, I think you’d enjoy Oathbreaker!

[Jae · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hmm. This was an interesting read. I was allured by its premise and dark fantasy aspect of it. However i ended up disliking the book.

For one, i’m simply tired with elves and blood suckers in fantasy, like can we move on already? The world building felt like replicas of a million other books that exist in epic fantasy, there were no nuances. Im not saying it was bad, but it was simply too overdone for me!

Next i’d like to talk about characters, which was the biggest thing i disliked about the book. I was not invested in any of the characters. This was literally a bunch of dudes whining about battle and knighthood, and i would have liked it if the character dynamics were good, if the interactions or motivations felt clear or well done, but it wasn’t. Characters lacked in depth and growth and interactions felt boring, which also comes to my next point which is dialogue. I really wasn’t a fan of the dialogue in this book and the writing style felt bland and boring.

I’ll also talk about how grimdark or dark this fantasy was. It has a lot of gore and blood, yes. But the prologue pretty much covers the entirety of the phrases and words and specific scenes and visuals used through the entire book, so we really don’t have any nuances with that aspect as well later on in the book, which took away from me enjoying the book despite me liking the genre itself.

Lastly the plot, uh, yeah nothing of essence really happened. I mean this was a very fast paced book! And the characters were moving a lot, bandits, captives and on and on. Yeah but that’s exactly what it felt; an adventure, than a detailed plot. Perhaps that was what the author intended since this is about doing the first deed of the mc’s knighthood, if so, i guess i simply am not a fan of these type of stories.

Bummed because i really loved the cover but alas;

Thank you to the author and BookSirens for granting me an eArc in exchange for an honest review.

[Ross Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to the author @ajrettger for sending me an Audible copy of this one .

Another Indie, Grimdark, Medevil style fantasy debut , wouldn't be like me eh?

Well this one, this one kind of caught me off guard , we're introduced to Mario, son to a legend among his people , his father crushed the Elven uprising before being killed in battle. Mario is sent ok a quest that should see him become a knight should he succeed

Seems straight forward enough, but after an intriguing , but straight forward prologue this story takes some twists and turns I wasn't expecting , were introduced to a host of really great characters of all races (literally, this story has everything from elves to vampires), who provided some great scenes, dialogue, and often relief from the , at times, hard to figure out protagonist. Even after finishing the book I wasn't sure how I felt about our main character , I didn't like him, or hate him, he is naive to a fault and ruthless, but caring too? I'd like to see more development in future books to really get an understanding of him .

There are gruesome fights, political drama , and some dark, and divisive tones in this book. Racism is ripe in this world, as Human superiority is a key driver for a lot of this story, where every other race is looked down upon . It really puts the Grim in Grimdark at times so be prepared

It's action packed and barely comes up for air, certain character arcs I would have liked to see get a better send off . Some felt a tad rushed but the ending left me hungry for more.

Overall this was a really enjoyable read , a solid debut and a pleasant shift from the common themes that pop up in Grimdark , medevil tales , even if some left me scratching my head a bit

[Ana on the Shelves · Rating 1 out of 5]

In a world where elfs and other non-human aren’t in the best relations with the good old Homo Sapiens, a new knight, Mario Deschamps, is ready to do his first deed and try to live up to his father’s memory. The late knight Pablo Deschamps was credited as single handed ending the Elven Uprising and now his son is set to surpass him. But history has other plans for him...

This dark fantasy tale has all to be a good read. Even it’s prologue starts strong, setting up the world, the characters in it and some of the plot lines. After that story simply unfolds badly.

While reading this book two things were obvious and both things were confirmed by reading the author’s information. The story was influenced by the Witcher books and A.J. Rettger plays Dungeons and Dragons. As a player of such games myself, their rhythm is easily recognized when put into a narrative because it does not work at all.

Overall the story lacks credibility when it comes to it’s medieval setting, the pacing is a chaos, the characters development is way too fast and there are too many story threads that are just left into the open or just messely tied up.

The use of extreme violence quickly loses it’s shock value and ends up getting boring and uncomfortable. Plus the trauma of several happenings are not well portrayed nor managed throughout the book.

Oathbreaker is a book that sets out with a promise that, as the title suggests, it cannot maintain.

(I received a review copy for free from Booksirens in exchange for my honest opinion.)

[Daragh Lowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its my first time reading a book in the grimdark genre and I've discovered I'm not a fan. I wasn't actually aware that was the genre of the book before I started. I tried to ignore that in review rating however as best I can as I assume people who want to read this book will like grimdark.

I felt the book was too fast paced for my liking, new characters were being introduced and not enough time was given to allow me to get invested in them before the book moved on to someone or something new. The same could be said for the world and the fact that the story moved so quickly that I didn't get time to get a real feel for the characters surroundings.

I don't want to give any spoilers so I won't mention too much but I found certain aspects of the story unrealistic and it broke my immersion in the story. Like being able to walk in full plate armour for great distances without any issue. No mention of how the characters were sustaining themselves, very little mention of eating anything even during circumstances where it seems like it might be difficult to provide for themselves.

I did stick with the book right through to the end however and I wanted to find out what would happen next. The world and the monsters were really interesting and it would be great to explore in more detail.

If you like the grimdark genre and a fast paced adventure, this could be the right book for you!

[Mathew Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Usually when you hear 'knight' , there are a certain sets of values and characters that comes to your mind. But our protagonist in this story is not like that. He's young and naive a beginner. He's discovering the world on his own and trying to fill in the big shoes of his late father. Of course, he will make mistakes even though he shouldn't but, who we kidding. This is not your ideal knight's story. This is a story, of revenge, if I may. But you won't get it till you reach the end. I actually had huge expectations because I love Knights but I'm not sure if I love this different spin. It's a good read, just not the usual kind. Some of you may not enjoy this because of the trigger contents; gruesome battles and very detailed gore. (Don't eat and read) You got elves, witches, beasts, vampires (different types) and all the dark fantasy elements you expect. But I felt like something's missing. I mean, the author got me hooked in the very beginning and I actually loved the way the story progressed. But it seems to me like the landing of the ending could have been better. It feels more like a sudden drop than a smooth landing.
To sum up, it's dark, very and if you are okay with gore, it's a good read.

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every so often, a fantasy author turns traditional tropes on their heads, resulting in a book as interesting, and somewhat unfulfilling, as this one. While it's great to read a book that turns heroes into antiheroes, and vice versa, Oathbreaker left me feeling slightly let down by a lack of justice for the characters.

As an avid fantasy reader, I do enjoy a book that's brave enough to explore murky themes and shades of grey - whether it's about morality, magic, or the politics of the world. Oathbreaker does this, and more, making the reader question everything they think they know alongside the characters. However, when you are emotionally invested in the protagonists, it's hard to watch them suffer (especially when you are not sure they deserve it).

If you are into traditional fairytale-type fantasy, where good is good and bad is bad, Oathbreaker will be a bit of a shock to the system. If you're looking for something completely different and aren't afraid of darker turns to a storyline, Oathbreaker will provide an interesting read.

[Brooklyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a bit of a slow start for me. It took me to get about roughly 100 pages or so into it for me to really get excited about the plot and the main Character Deschamps, but after that I couldn't stop reading it! I would have loved to have more of an action type of writing. I felt like I was reading a lot of passive writing. However, over all I really enjoyed this novel by A.J. Rettger!!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.