SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY
When a close friend is killed and Torak feels at fault, he vows revenge. But things get more complicated as he tracks the killer. Turns out he has gone into the deep forest, where the rules are different and the clans not so friendly.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Torak is filled with self-loathing and anger at the world around him. He is rather rash and doesn't seem to be learning.
Renn still struggles to communicate with Torak. She still loses her temper and feels disconnected from him.
Fin-kedinn goes on the journey with Renn and Torak, even though Saeunn warns against it.
Thiazzi is discovered to be the villain rather fast. But there are a few twists involving him.
Wolf plays a key role as helps save Torak in one scene with Thiazzi. After the climax a secret is revealed about him that makes a great ending.
PACING
The pacing is as fast as the others. The death happens right away and not long after that the journey stars. Again, the threat is not just Thiazzi, but the clans, and nature. Their are good chapter endings as well as mysteries. Often times a plan is proposed, but the reader has to wait and read to see what the plan is. Paver knows of all the right ways to cause suspense.
BREAKING THE RULES
When Torak's friend dies, he is furious at himself as well as others. He breaks the rules by saying the dead one's name. You are not supposed to for three years after a person's death. I know Torak is supposed to be reckless so he can learn, but a part of me wanted to see him break clan rules.
After all, all clans have different rules. Fin-kedinn pointed out that no one really knows the right way. So perhaps they shouldn't be so stringent.
DEEP FOREST CLANS
The deep forest clans are secretive and separate from other clans. They seem to think they do things better then everyone else. They are rather prideful and arrogant.
I almost got the impression of country bumpkins, who looked upon anyone who thought differently than them as bad people.
CLAN VS CLAN
When it's revealed that the Auroch clan hates the Horse clan, it feels very much like two religions fighting each other, refusing to even be civil. I found it rather odd, since they both had many of the same practices in beliefs. So I suppose it was like two denominations of the same religion, rather then two completely different religions.
Either way, instead of each making valid points, they both came off as idiots and I had a hard time taking them seriously. The idea that they could be deceived was too easy.
Torak gets furious and asks “Have you forgotten how to think?”
At this point I think he should have been talking to a brain washed cult. People who had previously been abused, then searched for something, only to be given false hope and lied to all the while receiving love and protection. But there was no real depth in their depiction.
SAME PROBLEMS
I feel that Renn and Torak still have many of the same issues they have had since the beginning. Torak not trusting her or being too rash. It's obvious the two care about each other, but they almost never communicate. They don't seem to have grown closer since Renn's secret was revealed in the last book. They end up having a huge argument and separating. Although to be fair, Torak realizes his mistake and goes back for her. It's just annoying to see he isn't learning.
Before that Renn points out that she knows Torak will see it's too dangerous, and not her kin, ect. Also, Renn notes Torak has learned skills when he was an outcast. These things make her feel like she doesn't know him well.
I just feel like we have gone through these problems already, and solved them. So why do we have to solve them all over again?
LACK OF COMMUNICATION
Throughout the series, Torak and Renn have suffered when it comes to communicating with each other. They have secrets they keep from each other which when reveals cause arguments and lack of trust. Usually these are because of insecurities.
Their affection is shown through how much they worry about another, and how often they put their lives on the line for each other.
But this is second to the last book. And Torak ends up asking Renn a serious question. And instead of answering and explaining how she feels about him, she simply brushes it off and says “How could you think that?” It was a huge disappointment for me.
And near the ending of the book, Renn shows affection for Torak but says nothing about it. I couldn't help but feel annoyed.
It's not as though I haven't read many good books that were ruined by awful romance scenes. I have. Certain authors just can't handle the topic without inducing cringe or disbelief in their readers. Perhaps Paver tried to write out a scene like that and felt it was too cheesy or too unlike her characters. But I feel part of character development would be Renn and Torak learning to share their feelings better then they do now—which is non-existent.
SAVING A FOAL
There is a scene where Torak sees a foal trapped in the mud and finally decides to go and help it. I was kind of confused, because in a previous book he had seen an animal struggling but hadn't intervened. He said when the “Hidden People” had chosen an animal to kill it was bad luck to do anything. But that was near water, so maybe the “Hidden People” weren't involved with this foal? It just kind of confused me.
WOLF'S REVELATION-SPOILERS
When Torak explains his need for revenge, Wolf is confused. It is not the way of a wolf. The he realizes that his pack-brother is not actually a wolf. I kind of thought he always knew that Torak was different. He knew that he was a spirit walker before he did. Wolves can't do that. And yet he didn't figure it out then.
It just felt odd to me and left me confused. Paver must have felt that Wolf needed a crisis so he could grow closer to Torak, or maybe one day make the choice to leave and live with a pack for good.
CLIMAX-SPOILERS
Torak comes to face Thiazzi and save Renn. He renounces his oath for revenge (hence the title) as he wants to save Renn but ends up having to run from Thiazzi while looking for Renn. Eventually Thiazzi is killed but his fire-opal piece is taken by an owl. So we have the last villain, Eostra, set up.
AFTERMATH
Torak learns more about his birth and his mother. There is a sweet ending with Wolf, Renn and Torak.
CONCLUSION
The pacing is good and we meet new clans and explore new parts of the world. But the idea of religions arguing with each other and people being brainwashed seems an issue that Paver wasn't prepared to tackle. And Renn and Torak seem to be solving the same problems all over again, leaving me with the feeling that they haven't developed. I give “Oath Breaker” three and half stars.
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