SUMMARY
Detailed look at the series full of spoilers.
CHARACTER LIKABILITY
Both of the main characters were likable.
Torak started out knowledgeable of how to hunt and live in the forest but ignorant of the ways of the clans and their beliefs. He consistently faces tough situations but is never portrayed as an amazing person. It was always pointed out whenever he felt unsure of what to do and when he felt fear. He felt real.
It would have been easy for him to be swallowed by victimhood. After all, he is always abused by the clans. First with their kidnapping him and trying to kill him, and then with their not treating him like a clan member. Even when Fin-kedinn foster's Torak, the treatment doesn't change much.
Renn wasn't a weak damsel just there to be pretty nor was she portrayed as a perfect girl who could do everything on her own (these two extremes occur quite often). She had strengths and weaknesses and didn't instantly like Torak or Wolf. In fact throughout the series she struggled with the feeling of being an outsider to their special relationship.
Wolf was charming and original. I remember first reading about him and thinking how I had never read anything like it. It stuck with me. I loved listening to how he described fire, lightening and water. And what he considered rude behavior and how to properly greet or comfort someone. It was a truly unique perspective.
CHARACTER GROWTH
This is actually one area where the story suffers.
Torak grows brave and selfless in the first book, but from then on he seems to learn to do this in every book.
Fin-kedinn eventually grows, confiding in Torak and fostering him, but most other characters don't grow.
Bale grows from disliking Torak to respecting and then liking him.
Renn and Torak struggle with the same issues over and over. And after four books, I was annoyed. I understood Renn's frustrations with feeling like an outsider, but she never voiced them, so there wasn't any actual development. I suppose the feeling went away eventually, but there is no development from this occurrence.
And whenever the characters would keep secrets from each other, there would be little discussion as to why this kept happening. And how to make it stop. I went from thinking the characters had communication issues to thinking maybe the author thought these scenes would slow down the book.
Yes, they do end up together and they kiss each other a few times before the end of the series. But it all feels quite rushed and not thought out.
Like, see how much they have been through and that they have no other friends? They love each other, it's obvious. So we don't need to ever talk about it. Ever.
PACING
The pacing is a very strong point of the series. Each story has a distinct set of dangers, even when I knew the new villain in the book would be the next Soul eater. There were always other clans to deal with, those territorial of their land and those who didn't trust strangers. Nature always had to be contended with.
PHILOSOPHY
I feel that the reasons I disliked some aspects of “Oath Breaker” were rather subjective. I felt like the author wasn't equipped to handle deep issues. That's why it came across as rather cartoonish when the two clans were manipulated by Thiazzi and thought everyone but them was doing the religion wrong. I kept trying to see allusions to present day problems or more recent problems but honestly I think I was trying too hard. I just don't believe that much thought was put into it.
Why? Because there didn't seem to be too much thought put into certain aspects of the world, mainly when Fin-Kedinn points out that no one really knows the truth so we all have different ideas. This idea is presented and kind of tossed aside until “Oath Breaker”. But it just never felt consistent, because when it came down to it, everything the clans belief is right, as far as it's presented.
People have three souls. We know because we've seen them.
There are demons. We know because we've seen them.
There are hidden people, we know because we've seen them.
There is a World Spirit, we know because we've seen it.
Even breaking an oath has consequences as well as saying a name of a loved one after death. I kept wanting there to be something the clans were wrong about, something Torak could see because he was an outsider not bogged down by tradition.
I at least wanted the clans to learn from each other, that maybe each one was wrong about something and hard something to learn from a different clan.
THE WORLD
The world is detailed, from the beliefs of the clans to the different ways they hunt and live. I learned so much from each book, not just of how to survive in different situations but also some amazing things about animals. It's hard not to admire the amount of research that had to go along with writing these books. Not to mention the myriad of different problems you could come into while traversing the wilds. And in each book we got to experience a new one.
CONCLUSION
Paver creates not just a detailed world but a fast paced plot that almost never lets up. Each story presents unique challenge and she does a great job of separating characters and bringing them back like puzzle pieces. She consistently wrote four books in a row that I gave four stars which basically never happens. Book series' are notorious for starting good and then slowly going downhill with each book often remaining on the three or three and a half star status. Renn, Torak and Wolf are all likable and my only real grudge is that they never quite develop. I still give the series as a whole four stars.
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