Oathbreaker’s Guild by D. Wallace Peach

This is book two in a series. Read my review of book one, Catling’s Bane.

As promised, I’ve read book two of The Rose Shield Series already.  I still owe all credit to iArtichokeu for their review of the first book turning me on to the series.  I’ll add a link to their review of the second when they post it, because credit where credit is due… am I right?

So the second book follows Catling as she learns more about her shield, her powers are increased, and our characters outlined in the first book all start to intertwine.  It’s interesting to see how each of them find the others and what they bring to the table with these encounters.  As Diana promised after my whining in the first review, we do get more of Whitt.  I know he’s not the main character, and I don’t dislike Catling by any stretch of the imagination, but I have a serious soft spot for Whitt.  I don’t really know why; I just do.

• In this book, we see more action with a battle that wages for the last portion of the book… sorry all, you’ll have to read the book to find out who’s fighting who and why… I really hate spoilers.  In getting everything ready to lead up to this, we see more skips in time.  On the one hand, I get it.  We want to “get to the good stuff,” but I feel like some of the wonderful crazy detailed-ness (I’m making it a word) was lost with these skips.  I miss it.
• The romantic relationships that are unfolding are also lacking the same detail.  They’re side stories that aren’t the main focus of the book, but they still feel kind of flat and a little out of nowhere when they are briefly brought into the light.

With that being said, holy drama this book!

• Bad things happen.  I know I’ve outlined in a previous review that it seems weird that I count this as a good thing, but it’s so much more realistic to see failures happen.  I honestly think it makes it easier to stay immersed in the story when you’re not rolling your eyes at the rainbows pouring from the pages.
• We see our characters grow.  The book really delves into the whole antihero option of our players.  Are they bad for doing or not doing something in various scenarios?  Who do they truly answer for?  When bound by oaths, how much choice does one have?  These are some serious questions that may seem specific to the book, but have real implications to life that I enjoy having shoved in my face.
• People are selfish.  The end of this one proves that.  This kind of falls in line with the first “love it.”  Shit happens and it’s not always awesome; thats life.

In summary, I enjoyed the book, although maybe not as much as the first one.  Have already started number three.

Ready to hear about the rest of the series, feel free to check out my thoughts here: Farlander’s Law, Kari’s Reckoning