The Oathbound cover art

The Oathbound

Vows and Honor Series, Book 1

 Preview
Try for $0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Oathbound

Written by: Mercedes Lackey
Narrated by: Christa Lewis
Try for $0.00

$14.95 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $27.83

Buy Now for $27.83

About this listen

The first audiobook in the Vows and Honor trilogy unites sword master and sorceress in a quest for revenge in this thrilling epic fantasy.

She was Tarma. Born to the Clan of the Hawk of the nomadic Shin'a'in people, she saw her entire clan slain by brigands. Vowing blood revenge upon the murderers, she became one of the sword-sworn, the most elite of all warriors. Trained in all the forms of death-dealing combat, she took to the road in search of her enemies.

She was Kethry. Born to a noble house, sold into a hateful "marriage", she fled life's harshness for the sanctuary of the White Winds, a powerful school of sorcery. Becoming an adept, she pledged to use her talents for the greatest good. Yet unlike other sorcerers, Kethry could use worldly weapons as well as magical skills. And when she became the bearer of a uniquely magical sword that drew her to those in need, Kethry was led to a fateful meeting with Tarma.

United by sword-spell and the will of the goddess, Tarma and Kethry swore a blood oath to carry on their mutual fight against evil. And together, sword master and sorceress set forth to fulfill their destiny....

©1988 Mercedes R. Lackey (P)2019 Tantor Action & Adventure Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Magic Sword & Sorcery Sorcery Magic Users Revenge

What the critics say

“Their adventures are both imaginative and entertaining.... An intricately choreographed confrontation provides an extremely clever resolution.” (Rave Reviews)
All stars
Most relevant  
I enjoyed this series as a teen, while reading everything in the Valdemar universe I could get my hands on. This series is my absolute favorite of them. Two women, outwardly dissimilar, both full of ambition and loyalty. Doing things that 'traditional' women don't. Showing that being a woman has a lot of different faces and outlooks, it isn't defined only by the occupation of wife and mother.

A long time favorite

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You might enjoy this more than me if you regard it as a collection of short stories or OVAs (for non-anime fans, that's episodes outside the main plot made for the fun fans and usually with a marked decrease in quality). It doesn't develop the characters, plot, or world-building as well as the best by Lackey who has a consistent writing voice but the least consistent writing quality of any author I have read widely. This is not like the Heralds of Valdemar or last Herald Mage trilogy nor the Mage Wars books, all of which have a special place in my memories. It feels like supplementary world-building sketches done by Lackey for when her Valdemar heroes travel outside their kingdom and provided a thin veneer of story. All that said, I wouldn't say it's bad, it's just underwhelming. I was iffy about the narrator to start, but she was able to do a reasonable number of distinct voices and she put emotion into her voice well. Very solid performance. If you have not read this story before, Tarma's voice was largely destroyed by a past physical trauma so don't give up on the narrator for how rough that voice is. She gets better conveying the different emotions through the roughness as the story goes on.

Good narrator; thoroughly mediocre Lackey

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Good strong female characters, interesting stories, very well told. Two mercenaries building their reputation to make some dreams come true. Sword and sorcery and a "talking" Kyree...with humour thrown in. But note: hard topics also touched (war, murder, and rape)

Feels like a collection of short stories

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not sure what I think about the general descriptions of what is it is to be a woman (weak, meek, vulnerable, etc...) throughout, but I do like Worrl, Tarm, and Kethry A LOT as characters.

The Girls are Alright

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.