A Prince Among Killers: Oathbreaker Part II [Paperback]

JB Redmond (Author), S.R. Vaught (Author), J B Redmond (Author), S R Vaught (Author)

Book Description

Series: Oathbreaker | Publication Date: November 24, 2009

The second half of the Oathbreaker story opens at the assassins’ stronghold, Triune, as Aron and his sworn comrades try to find peace in a world on the brink of war. Dari and Stormbreaker grow closer as they search for Dari’s missing twin; Nic and his captors find it harder to conceal their secrets; and Aron must decide whether the bond he keeps to his family will prove stronger than the oaths he has sworn to his closest friends.

Vaught and Redmond have created a heart-wrenching tale exploring the many kinds of love and war in an amazing world of two moons, shapeshifters, and humans with powers beyond reckoning.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7–9—Picking up where Assassin's Apprentice (Bloomsbury, 2009) left off, this story finds Aron wandering through the Deadfall of Eyrie with another apprentice as punishment for a fight. After the two teens barely escape with their lives, Aron faces more tests and struggles as he tries to come to terms with his Graal, or magical ability. After he finds Nic, Eyrie's lost heir to the throne, it is up to him and Dari, a shapeshifter, to confront their destinies and figure out how to save Eyrie from sinking into unending war. While ripe with promise, the book becomes too bogged down in world-building and description. There is much lag time between battles, and all of the complicated relationships begin to take their toll on the story's pacing, making it difficult to follow exactly what is going on. The love triangle between Aron, Dari, and Stormbreaker, Aron's master, is highly melodramatic, and Dari's switch from her relationships with the two men to loving Nic seems rushed and stilted. While there are moments of stirring beauty and fierce, magnificent battles, this story and its characters fail to engage readers fully. They will be completely lost if they haven't read Assassin's Apprentice. Give this to fans of that book.—Necia Blundy, Marlborough Public Library, MA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

S R VAUGHT is the author of Stormwitch, Trigger, Big Fat Manifesto, and Exposed as well as the co-author of Oathbreaker: The Assassin’s Apprentice. She is a neuropsychologist working with adolescents. She lives with her family and many animals in Kentucky.

J B REDMOND is a lifelong fantasy fan who, because of cerebral palsy, used a tape recorder to tell this story, which was transcribed and added to by his co-author (and mother), S R Vaught. He lives in Kentucky.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens (November 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599903768
• ISBN-13: 978-1599903767
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #492,487 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I started writing when I was eight, and I try to write a little bit every day even though I'm a psychologist, too. I love to hear from readers.

I especially love to hear from kids and young adults who enjoy writing and reading. I'm also happy to answer parent-questions about the content of my books--or to hear from grown-ups who like what I write, too!

I hope my book make people think, make them talk, and more than anything, let them escape into a well-told story.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, April 15, 2010

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Prince Among Killers: Oathbreaker Part II (Paperback)

After being harvested by the Stone and taken to the guild's stronghold (Triune), Aron Brailing has been training as an assassin's apprentice.

The second half of the OATHBREAKER story starts out where the first left off; Aron has to face the horrors of the ruined keep and hope to make it back alive. In the midst of his training, war is breaking out among the dynasty lords and threatening to come right to the Stone Guild stronghold.

The threat becomes real when enemies learn there is A PRINCE AMONG KILLERS. Aron has been forbidden to use his legacy upon pain of death, but if he doesn't use it, his friends might die. In addition to that impossible choice, Aron is faced with another when he draws his first stone. His choices may lead him down the path to becoming an Oathbreaker.

As with ASSASIN'S APPRENTICE, the characters and world in A PRINCE AMONG KILLERS were compelling and thrilling. I enjoyed getting to know the characters further and the promise of exciting revelations kept me turning the pages.

I loved reading A PRINCE AMONG KILLERS - I only wish it hadn't ended.

Reviewed by: Joan Stradling

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Prince Among Killers, July 26, 2010

By 

Ithlilian "Ravenous Reader" - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Prince Among Killers: Oathbreaker Part II (Paperback)

I loved the first book in this series, and was expecting another amazing installment in the series with A Prince Among Killers. Unfortunately, like the jacket says, this book has a large amount of romance and introspection. If the romance was believable, or even interesting, I wouldn't have minded it. Instead, it feels forced and unrealistic. Two people fall in love with no real reason. They meet, then a few pages later they are getting married. We get to hear from both parties in the relationship and nothing in their chapters gives any indication of love. Even without the romance this book wasn't that great. Most of it involves thinking, brooding, planning, and complaining. I would like a little more action and plot progression. Yet, even when there was action I was uninterested. Events didn't unfold logically in this book. I really felt that it didn't flow. One minute people are standing around talking, the next minute everyone is going out for a fight, then in the middle of the fight we stop for some thinking, then the fighting is over. A Prince Among Killers is not as well developed and well rounded as it's predecessor. I think it lacks planning. Maybe it suffers from second book syndrome, but there is nothing here that makes me want to continue reading this series at all. The surprises and twists weren't very exciting, the characters aren't progressing, and the secret past of a certain character wasn't that shocking at all. I was able to finish the book, but I can't say that I really enjoyed it. Very disappointing.

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading, not as good as the first though (I would actually give this 3 1/2 stars if that were possible), January 29, 2010

By 

Mike Karkabe-Olson "Mike" (Ferndale, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Prince Among Killers: Oathbreaker Part II (Paperback)

All right, the bad news: "A Prince Among Killers" is not as good as "Assassin's Apprentice," the first in this series.

I had REALLY high expectations going into this one, though, so it would be tough to live up to them. The first book was, in my opinion, a masterpiece.

The good news: "A Prince Among Killers," though not as good as "Assassin's Apprentice," it is still an enjoyable and worthwhile read.

That being said, I feel this book could have been better. I felt like the authors rushed the first three-fourths of the book, up until about the last 100 pages or so. It failed to bring the characters to life as much as the first book. I felt like they were glossing over scenes, "telling" more than "showing," perhaps in an effort to get to the climactic end quicker? Sometimes, while in the head of a specific character, for instance, I was told that the character thinks another character is feeling a certain way. How would that character know that, though? I think it would have been better to simply play out the interaction more and let the reader come to his or her own conclusions.

Another thing I missed: for some reason this book doesn't capture the same creepy vibe as the first one did in regards to the spirit world. The world also didn't breathe and live like it did for me in the first book. That opening scene from book 1 in which Aaron is on the farm with his father was so memorable: I still remember the dirt on his hands, and his discussion with his father. Great stuff!

All my dislikes set aside, though: the last 100 pages of "A Prince Among Killers" do successfully redeem the authors' original storytelling style and bring together what they were attempting to do in the first 400 pages of this book while maintaining a much better pace of storytelling. I wasn't so disappointed with the first part of the book that I couldn't keep reading.

Perhaps the book would have been better as a trilogy, though? Or, at least, having several of the earlier scenes expanded upon to provide more detail, setting description, and interaction between characters and the world? Another hundred pages or so of interaction to breathe life into the setting and characters would have done wonders.

Anyway, I enjoyed this story from book one to the end. That being said, I hope the authors will continue to put out more works and, if they do, I will be sure to pick them up!