Synopsis:
The Night Devils rule the seas without mercy.
For two centuries, they have held the Merithian Empire at bay, binding them to an ocean of blood.
Yet, the unit faces disbandment for its growing power and brutality. And when the vice admiral mysteriously vanishes, order falls to the infamous Commander Grenyard – a sailor feared for his searing hatred and cruelty.
Thrust into this storm is ten-year-old, Todd Witherow. Conscripted into his late brother’s squadron, Sabre, Todd must endure war and survive Grenyard’s wrath while concealing a secret deemed punishable by death.
Back home, their kingdom edges towards ruin… The industrial revolution has been accelerated by a precious new resource, hycinthium-lapis. But this awakens dark ambitions. Corrupt lords desire supremacy, tainted Skuas seek dominion and King Oborus clings to his reign.
Only one man may prevent the slaughter: Todd’s imprisoned father and disgraced knight of the realm, Sir Alan Witherow. Under oath, three veterans embark upon a perilous journey to rescue him, so he may help prevent a revolution and see his son returned. But time is short…
Their lives, the fate of their realm, lay in the hands of the legendary Sabres…
Review:
Firstly, and foremost… believe the hype!!
This book is all it promises to be. With prose sharpened to a lethal edge like a rusty but gleaming billhook. My eyes rolled through its pages like lead balls dropping through a tight, efficient narrative which left no room for consideration of the world around me.
I am not a fast reader, but The Shattered Oath (Sabre: Book 1) had me suspended in its gritty nautical grimness like an incredulous salmon juddering on a barbed net above the fillet block. At one point, as the page count rolled by, I experienced a small panic that I didn’t own the next in the series; I kid you not, this book will have you by the veins and grinning with glee at the same time.
I like a book that isn’t afraid to go dark but doesn’t use darkness as its main allure; this may go somewhere to explaining why I loved it so much. The story is steeped in shadow and political manoeuvres without ever forcing you into an environment that isn’t why you visited in the first place.
Characters are diverse and rich. Morality is a constantly revolving ball in the stomach that easily allows you to connect with real, living people in a fascinating period of fantasy industrial revolution, no matter what side of the ever-ambiguous good versus evil scale you feel most comfortable on.
I don’t like to talk too much about plot; that’s a delight for readers to discover for themselves, but suffice to say the edge of your favourite reading seat will be worn to the wood by the time you reach the halfway marker. Deceit, intrigue, assassination, constant threatening drama, and a cast of expertly carved players await you in this brooding and turbulent world.
The lightning-fast prose somehow balances every element of this masterful tale with such ease that you will know every character, will have experienced every location, and felt the constant thrumming, cliff-edge tension in the air at every step of your journey. I don’t like to compare authors, and I won’t now, especially as CS Wood’s Sabre series will carve its own path and Mr Wood will no doubt soon be fending off imitators with his own brand of literary swashbuckling.
If you are a fan of the old Sinbad movies, early sword and sorcery, pirate adventures, or just love a bleak period dive into another world, you will love this book!
This dark naval fantasy has it all and is delivered superbly; I am in awe!
Warning: completion of this book will necessitate the immediate purchase of Book 2 and an unavoidable longing throughout October 2026 as you watch the stormy horizon for Book 3.
Leave a Reply