Thursday, June 2, 2016

OATHTAKER 
by Patricia Reding


Today I’m deviating from my normal blog post format of reviewing children’s books to feature Patricia Reding, author of OATHTAKER, the first novel in her Fantasy series. The second volume is SELECT
I met Patricia through the 2015 Literary Classics Award Program. 
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Here is the description about the series:


An Oath Sworn. A Struggle Engaged. A Sacrifice Required.
When Mara, a trained Oathtaker, is drawn by the scent of the Select to battle underworld beasts summoned by powers of evil to destroy the guardians of life, she swears an oath for the protection of her charge. 
Armed with a unique weapon and her attendant magic, and with the aid of her Oathtaker cohorts, two ancients and a spymaster, Mara seeks safety for her charge from one who would end Oosa’s rightful line of rule and from assassins who endeavor to bring ruin to the land.
As Mara puzzles to decipher ancient prophecy concerning her charge, as she is haunted with memories of her own past failings, she discovers the price her oath will exact. 
To renounce her word would be treasonous; to fail, ruinous; to persevere, tortuous.
Abiding by an oath requires sacrifice.


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There are five interview questions to introduce Ms. Reding’s series. I posted the first two questions on Monday, the third on Tuesday, the fourth on Wednesday, and the fifth question on Thursday:

5. What work created by someone else do you most wish you had written yourself and why?
This is strangely easy for me, provided that I stick with contemporary works.  I positively adore Terry Goodkind.  I think he is utter genius.  What he created in the SWORD OF THE TRUTH series is, in my estimation, unmatched.  It was Terry Goodkind that made me take up writing.  I read the SWORD OF THE TRUTH series (which runs, I would estimate, at about 8000 pages) about four times, back to back.  I kept exclaiming, “How did he do that!” or “Did he know in 'book one' that some little fact told there would be so crucial in book five or six (or whatever it was)?”  When I started writing myself, I named Dixon after Goodkind’s main character, Richard.  I don’t like the name Richard, but it was my own little tribute to the person I regard as the master of modern day fantasy.  I also started writing because once I’d read Goodkind, I had such difficulty finding things that grabbed me and that would not let me go.  In my frustration and complaining, I decided I had to discover for myself how difficult it was.  I did discover—it is immensely difficult to keep so many balls up in the air at once!  But, it can be done and OATHTAKER is my answer to the challenge that I created for myself.

Oathtaker: The Oathtaker Series, Book One, earned the Literary Classics Seal of Approval and was a GOLD MEDAL winner in the 2015 Literary Classics International Book Award contest. It was also an award winner in the Readers' Favorite 2014 International Book Award Contest.

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Information about OATHTAKER and author Patricia Reding is at  
http://www.oathtaker.com/about-the-oathtaker-series.html
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Tags:
Oathtaker, Fantasy, Patricia Reding, Magic, Sword and Sorcery  


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