I finished Realm Breaker while I was on vacation without wifi, and when I finished it I decided that it was good to have some time between the end and when I reviewed it. In the moment I didn’t really know how I felt about it. The characters all felt kind of shallow, even as it became obvious who was going to be the love interest with who in future books, and the story just made me kind of want to break all the Spindles and just destroy the entire world to get it over with.

I’ve had some time to think on it, and while my initial complaint about not being invested enough in the characters still stands (too many all at once, not enough depth/development), I need to accept this book for what it is: a plot-driven story in which we need to leave the characters alone and be more worried about what’s happening in the world. The focus should be on whether or not the world will survive, and whether the characters will be smart enough to keep it from exploding.

So the idea is that there are Spindles placed all around the realm. People who are descendants of a certain bloodline (Spindleblood) can wield special swords (Spindleblades) to open or close the Spindles, which lead to alternate realms. The Spindles have been silent/hidden for a long time, but a Spindleblood and a wizard have broken one open to create an army of undead and plan to open others to overwhelm the realm and take over I guess? The Spindleblood has a twin brother who is killed trying to stop him, and so now the realm’s only hope is in a young woman who never knew her heritage and now has to step up and save everyone. A fellowship is formed and immediately goes on the run trying to find other spindles to close.

It was cool, but forgettable if I’m being honest. If you like squad fantasy with all the usual suspects it’ll do that for you but not much more. Worth reading to the end but I won’t be champing at the bit for the sequel. How many more ways can I say “meh”? Thankfully I won’t make us find out.

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