The realm of Allward is in peril. Someone has opened a Spindle, a portal that can lead to another realm. This particular Spindle leads to the Ashlands, a realm of walking corpses that Taristan and his lackey, the evil priest Red Ronin, can control. With the use of a Spindleblade and Taristan's Corblood, they plan on tearing Allward in two in order to appease their demon god, What Waits. A group of knights and mercenaries- collectively referred to as the Companions of the Realm- were sent to battle Taristan and his undead army and close the Spindle, the later being the primary objective of Taristan's twin brother, Cortael, who carries a Spindleblade too.
They catastrophically lose.
Within minutes, most of the Companions are slaughtered. Only Domacridhan of Iona, an immortal being who helped raised Coratel, and Andry Trelland, a squire for the Kingdom of Galland, manage to escape. Thankfully for the realm, Dom and Andry were able to save Cortael's Spindleblade before Taristan could take it, and one other person with Corblood does exist: Coryane an-Amarat, Cortael's only daughter.
After enlisting the help of the exiled assassin Sorasa Sarn, Dom and Andry find Coryane in the port city of Lemarta. For all of her life, Coryane has felt the constant pull of wanderlust in her blood, but her mother, the formidable pirate Meliz an-Amarat, has forbidden Coryane from coming along on her ship. Even though she's skeptical as to Dom and Andry's warnings, Coryane jumps at the chance to travel the realm with them. Their first stop is Ascal, the capital of Galland and where the current monarch, the ambitious and fierce Queen Erida, resides.
Unfortunately, a shocking betrayal forces them to flee Galland in horror. Now on the run, the only option left to them is to find any open Spindles and have Coryane close them, all while hoping to convince various leaders that their world will end if they don't fight. As their journey to saving Allward unfolds, a new group of Companions forms; in addition to Coryane, Dom, Andry, and Sorasa, there's Valtik, a Jydi witch who's equal parts powerful and useless; Charlon Armont, an ex-priest with several bounties on his head thanks to his forgeries; and Sigil, a Temur bounty hunter who had hoped to collect on said bounties. Together with her new friends, Coryane may be the key to saving Allward from What Waits's onslaught... or she may fail the realm entirely.
Realm Breaker is a young adult fantasy series by Victoria Aveyard.
The books in the series include:
- Realm Breaker (2021)
- Blade Breaker (2022)
- Fate Breaker (2024)
This series provides examples of:
- Action Mom: Meliz an-Amarat, Corayne' s mother and a notorious pirate captain.
- Another Dimension: Allward is one realm among many. The Vedera came from a different dimension some one thousand years ago before getting stuck in Allward after the Spindle they initially crossed through flooded over.
- Big Bad: Taristan and Erida serve as the main antagonistic force of the series.
- Big Bad Ensemble: The main antagonists of the series are Taristan, Erida, Red Ronin, and the being they're fighting on behalf of, What Waits.
- Catapult Nightmare: Corayne bolts upright after having or receiving a nightmare about/from What Waits.
- Constructed World: Allward's map
◊ doesn't look anything like ours. - Cosmic Keystone: The Spindles, when opened, destabilize the realm and make it vulnerable to What Waits.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Taristan grew up on the streets, having to fight for his food and generally fend for himself. It wasn't until Red Ronin found him and told him of his Corblood that Taristan's fortunes finally turned around.
- Disappeared Dad: Corayne's father left her and her mother some time ago.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: At the tail end of Blade Breaker, Ridha is suddenly killed by a mysterious rider in black.
- The Exile: The assassin was exiled from their home kingdom.
- Evil Twin: Taristan towards his brother Cortael. Cortael was rised in Iona by the Vedera to one day maybe open a Spindle towards the Vedera's homeworld. Meanwhile, Taristan was cast aside as superfluous and grew up jaded and hardened as a street urchin and soldier until he fell under Ronin's influence and became full on evil.
- Evil Uncle: Taristan is this to Corayne. The "spare" to his twin-brother's "heir" to the Corblood, he grew up on the streets and resented his brother. He kicks the story of by killing his elder twin, leaving his niece Corayne the only one able to stop his evil plan.
- Give Her a Normal Life: Meliz an-Amarat, notorious pirate, does not want her daughter Corayne to follow in her footsteps and get in danger.
- Greater-Scope Villain: What Waits is a supernatural entity that Taristan and Red Ronin are devoted to. What Waits himself doesn't have much active involvement with what happens in Allward, mostly serving as a terrifying boogeyman for Corayne and company.
- Jumped at the Call: After her mother refuses to let her come with her, Corayne is eager to accompany Dom and Sorasa when they seek her out to escape her boring life.
- Last of Their Kind: Corayne and her uncle, Taristan, are the last members of Old Cor, a group of humans that used to live in a different realm before crossing into Allward.
- Long-Lived: The Vedera are human-like beings that can live thousands of years before ultimately succumbing to old age. While they can be killed through mortal means, it takes a lot more effort to do so.
- Mad Oracle:
- Though not completely omnipotent, Red Ronin can still see things that his ward, Taristan, and their backer, Erida, cannot.
- Valtik seems completely gaga, but her rhymes often reveal hidden truths.
- Master Forger: Charly can perfectly replicate nearly every seal and signature in Allward... and has a high bounty on his head in nearly every kingdom in Allward for it.
- Named After First Installment: The first book and the whole trilogy are named Realm Breaker. The core conflict is about how Coryane's home world, Allward, is in danger of being overtaken by a demon god named What Waits and the people willing to aid him in this endeavor.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Dragons are beings from another world whose entire body (except for the wings) is covered in gemstones and thus is nearly impenetrable. Otherwise, they seem to follow the standard western idea as giant six-limbed, fire breathing flying lizards.
- Professional Killer: the guild of the Amhara are professional assassins, with Sorasa being one of their best.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Throughout her travels, Corayne brings together a group of unlikely allies, each with their own myriad assortment of flaws and backstories.
- The Reveal: Towards end of Fate Breaker, it's revealed that Taristan didn't steal one of the Spindleblades; Isabel, desperate for any chance to return to her home realm of Glorian, gave it to him despite knowing what Taristan was after.
- The Squire: Andry has grown up learning knightly values and begins the story as the squire of a Gallandine knight who gets killed when Taristan opens the first Spindle.
- Tag Line: Each book has a tagline: the first book's is "Save the World or End It", the second's is "Claim the Sword or Break it", and the third and final novel's is "Change Your Fate or Kneel to It."
- Tough Leader Façade: After the death of her parents, Erida was forced into queenhood at the age of fifteen. She had to cast aside the girl she used to be and don a mask of stoic authority.Erida to Taristan: I was fifteen when I took the throne. Far too young. Only a girl. [...] When the high priest put the crown on my head, I told myself to leave that girl behind. [...] There was no room for her on the throne.
- The Undead: The army Taristan gets from the Ashlands are undead in various stages of rot. Ronin commands them to act as an army for Galland.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: As the chapters from her perspective show Erida is quite attracted to Taristan, but it takes them some months until they consumate their marriage.
- Venturous Smuggler: Meliz An-Amarat's crew does not only work as pirates, but also as smugglers, shipping the hottest new wares thanks to Corayne's work as the ship's unofficial clearance agent.
