Having made their reputation as independent mercenaries, Tarma and Kethry set out to advance their careers by joining an established mercenary company. Their hope is simple enough: work hard, rise up through the ranks, and eventually, attract the attention of a noble with land to grant and some need that only Tarma and Kethry can soothe. For values of soothing that involve swords and sorcery, of course.
As with all of Lackey’s Valdemar novels, the characters end up finding what they were looking for. But the how and why of finding it are quite well done, managing to introduce Tarma and Kethry to the royalty of both Rethwellen and Valdemar, thus setting up several plot points to be paid off later in the Valdemar saga.
Oathbreakers is substantially more unified than Oathbound. It reads more like a novel than a collection of short stories with a lot of filler material, and the plot is almost completely independent. In addition, Oathbreakers contains some elements affecting the overall Valdemar story arc, and while those are not vital, they are nice to know. The book stands alone quite well.
