Blade Breaker

by Victoria Aveyard

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

The highly anticipated sequel to Realm Breaker is here and full of the twists, turns, magic, and page-turning action that fans of Victoria Aveyard have come to know and love. Get ready for the divided world that must rally to fight a formidable enemy, and with its large cast of characters and the fate of the world resting on the blade’s edge, the question remains whether they can rally and unify before it’s too late.

Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller! 

“A true fantasy masterpiece." —Sabaa Tahir, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Since Victoria Aveyard launched the instant #1 New York Times bestselling Realm Breaker, the series has taken readers by storm. Now the sequel is here to continue this epic fantasy series.

The fate of the world rests on a blade’s edge.

With her Companions at her side, Corayne has mastered the ancient magic in her blood, closing one spindle and pushing back the evil that threatens their world. But the fight is far from over.

Queen Erida and her consort, Taristan, continue their march through Allward, crumbling castles and conquering kingdoms with an unstoppable army and unthinkable forces of darkness.

With no choice but to raise an army of their own, Corayne and her Companions face perilous lands, dangerous mercenaries, and seething monsters, as they rally a divided world behind them. But will they be strong enough to confront the latest evil that Queen Erida and Taristan have unlocked? Or will it consume their world in flames, dashing all hope for victory completely. 

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Red Queen series, comes another sweeping and epic fantasy adventure featuring multiple-POVs, incredible action, and unforgettable twists, perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Tolkien himself. 

Praise for Realm Breaker:

"A fantasy fan's dream." —Roseanne A. Brown, New York Times bestselling author of A Song of Wraiths and Ruin

"A new classic."  —Marie Lu, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Skyhunter

“A true fantasy masterpiece." —Sabaa Tahir, #1 New York Times bestselling author of An Ember in the Ashes series

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062872661
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	06/28/2022
Series:	Realm Breaker Series
Pages:	592
Sales rank:	11,128
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 8.70(h) x 2.10(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Victoria Aveyard was born and raised in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, a small town known only for the worst traffic rotary in the continental United States. She moved to Los Angeles to earn a BFA in screenwriting at the University of Southern California. She currently splits her time between the East and West coasts. As an author and screenwriter, she uses her career as an excuse to read too many books and watch too many movies. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling Red Queen series, and you can visit her online at www.victoriaaveyard.com.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for the Red Queen series:   “A sizzling, imaginative thriller, where romance and revolution collide, where power and justice duel. It’s exhilarating. Compelling. Action-packed. Unputdownable.”    — USA Today “Aveyard’s “little lightning girl” remains a relatable and deeply flawed heroine... Aveyard adeptly sets the scene for a fourth book to follow, amid a war not yet won.”    — Publishers Weekly “Another devastating cliff-hanger ending will leave readers hungry for the final volume.”    — Booklist “Simmering with internal conflict and well-devised courtly scheming.”    — Kirkus Reviews “Breakneck pace and engaging characters.”    — School Library Journal

USA Today

"Realm Breaker is the kind of book you take with you to your favorite reading chair. The world is rich and built with deep care; the characters are complex and flawed; the story is filled with the kind of sweeping scale that fantasy does best. This is a new classic." 

Marie Lu

"An enthralling adventure, a richly imagined world, and the most impossible odds combine to make Realm Breaker an addictive, tightly-paced gem of a book. Readers will delight in Aveyard’s bewitching new beginning, all at once epic in scope and intimate in detail. It’s the adventure I was desperate to go on as a teenager and the kind of story I eagerly devour as an adult."

Emma Theriault

Like Aveyard’s hit Red Queen books, this series starter is a hefty tome with well-mapped details of lands, monsters, and people. Rotating narrators keep the story fresh and leave readers wanting more.

Booklist

"The entire time I was reading REALM BREAKER, I wanted one thing: for the book to never end. It is classic yet groundbreaking, romantic yet edgy, a rollicking adventure that carries you along at a relentless pace. A true fantasy masterpiece." 

Sabaa Tahir

"Set in a sprawling world of warring empires and hair-raising magic that any reader would want to get lost in, REALM BREAKER is a fantasy fan's dream, injected with Aveyard's trademark action, heart, and razor-sharp characters."

Roseanne A. Brown

Praise for the Red Queen series:   “A sizzling, imaginative thriller, where romance and revolution collide, where power and justice duel. It’s exhilarating. Compelling. Action-packed. Unputdownable.”    — USA Today “Aveyard’s “little lightning girl” remains a relatable and deeply flawed heroine... Aveyard adeptly sets the scene for a fourth book to follow, amid a war not yet won.”    — Publishers Weekly “Another devastating cliff-hanger ending will leave readers hungry for the final volume.”    — Booklist “Simmering with internal conflict and well-devised courtly scheming.”    — Kirkus Reviews “Breakneck pace and engaging characters.”    — School Library Journal

USA Today

Like Aveyard’s hit Red Queen books, this series starter is a hefty tome with well-mapped details of lands, monsters, and people. Rotating narrators keep the story fresh and leave readers wanting more.

Booklist

11/01/2022

Gr 8 Up—The Companions—Corayne and her fellow ragtag heroes—have managed to kill a giant kraken and close one Spindle, the portals leading to another world. She is ready to accept her heritage and take up her father's sword, but Queen Erida has taken the evil Taristan as her consort and all his monsters are at her disposal. Aveyard has nailed the balance of political maneuvering and action sequences, avoiding the middle book slump. There is diversity in the main cast and worldbuilding, as well as easy acceptance of queer and nonbinary characters. VERDICT Aveyard's fans will be awaiting this sequel. A first purchase.

School Library Journal

2022-04-13
Follows Corayne’s continuing quest to save the world from the demon god who is seeking to invade.

The Companions—Corayne and her fellow ragtag band of unlikely heroes—have won the first battle, but the war is far from over. Readers may need to refresh themselves with Realm Breaker (2021), as this sequel drops readers right in the thick of the action involving numerous individuals (many of them point-of-view characters) and countries in the story’s complicated geopolitical landscape. Most of the viewpoints are those of Corayne and her present Companions, with occasional perspectives from other characters (such as Queen Erida, sympathetic in her struggles against sexism despite her evil goals, and Ridha, searching for allies and finding something more) who offer peeks at the rest of the world. The first act is slow, as the characters plan their next moves and their individual story arcs are established. The journeys of Amhara assassin Sorasa and former Gallish squire Andry, who grapple with changed loyalties, are especially notable for how they play out within the group’s dynamics. Once the action starts, however, the heroes’ breaks between facing all manner of men and monsters—notably undead Ashlander armies—become shorter and shorter, building to a nail-biting reckoning of a climax. The cast has a wide variety of skin tones, and there’s positive, casual representation and acceptance of queer and nonbinary characters.

Will leave readers gasping for more. (Fantasy. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews