Review: Oathbreaker - Nick Kyme

Title Oathbreaker

Author Nick Kyme
Pages 416
Year 2008
Reading Time 48 (Feb to April 2010)
Rating 7.5 out of 10

Well, first of all let me say that I tried to read this book in February and after arriving page 100 I stopped. I love dwarves and believe me when I say I wanted to read and like this book. In the first 100 pages I was feeling a bit dissapointed. Since I tried never to leave a book un-read I started for second time (in the page I had left) and read it until the end and I was glad I did it.

After reading Gav Thorpe's dwarf book "Grudgelore" I must say that I enjoy the other one better. This book has good things believe. They are centered on dwarves and only dwarves (with a couple of pages dedicated to goblins and skaven). Of course the Gotrek series are the best dwarven books. For me they are in another level of magnitude, the William King ones because I still haven't read any book written by Nathan Long.

The dwarves in warhammer are far better than those in forgotten realms or dragonlance. But that is easily explained since Warhammer world is a grim world where the ending is inevitable. That made the dwarves of warhammer akin to Tolkien. They are a dying breed (as the elves).

The plot? Well a dwarven stronghold Karak Varn, has been overrun by skaven and the goblins and a band of dwarves from several strongholds ask an audiance to the High King to retake the hold. The first 150 pages is the meeting of the characters as they go into the stronghold and the rest of the book is all the process of retaking it.

This band is comprissed with several characters with nordic names. It was hard at the beginning because they not only introduced themselves with their name but clan and most of times with the profession. But as I write them down it was not hard for me... It was the main fault of the book in my humble opinion.

The battle scenes are the main focus of the novel and inbetween them the writer tries to develop the characters. I must say that apart for two or three of them I didn't care for them. In the end I didn't knew who was the main character... (maybe that was the design of the book).

The ending was good and not predictable. I must say that in the last one hundred pages I was trying to guess who was Nick Kyme trying to kill or not. I must say that Nick is good with Dwarves. There is a second book I will read and I hope that is better than this.

Should I recommend it? To dwarven lovers? Yes but they must buy the Grudgelore to guide them. To anyone who plays and read warhammer novels? Yes. To a newcomer? No, maybe start with Gotrek and Felix.