About

The Broken Knife is an ongoing webseries written by SilverSidhe.

The Broken Knife book cover

Blurb

Kaz is a kobold, just trying to survive, grow, and protect his tribe. But his efforts are about to become complicated, as dragons are nesting in a cave nearby, and humans are seeking an ancient, deadly secret in his mountain. Join Kaz as he finds out what magic and cultivation are, gets up close and personal with a dragon of his own, and delves deep into the mountain to find secrets... and a freedom he never dared to hope for.

The Broken Knife is slow burn and will end up with at least two hundred chapters. It has a weak to strong MC, and I hope you enjoy reading about Kaz's growth as much as I enjoy writing it!

Review

I enjoy books with magical beast companions and it has been a while since I read something with a dragon bond. The first chapter left such a strong impression that I pushed through all of the traditional dark fantasy stuff that I don't really like to read these days. It helped a lot that Kaz was a kind hearted person despite his upbringing and the dragon companion's funny antics provided much needed relief.

The main plot involved Kaz guiding a team of humans who've come to find clues about a long lost civilization with mysterious powers. These kobolds lived inside a mountain, not knowing about things like seasons and flowers. The author did an amazing job of weaving the complexity of kobold's culture, the mountain ecosystem and the journey towards the lowest levels. Along the way, we get to see multiple tribes, the dangers of living in this strange ecosystem and a slow progression towards understanding the magical system.

Another thing that I enjoyed a lot was reading the comments and the author's replies. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟☆

What others are saying

From Keio's review on Royal Road:

I've really enjoyed reading through this story, and the author has made efforts to paint the world from the eyes of a Kobold, which I feel helps us connect with the MC and draws you into the story even more. The author has good use of phrase/word choices, actions, etc., and doesn't fall into the trap of treating the MC's body like a human body - they remember the differences and how those affect the character physically. They also take into account knowledge differences that the MC would have.

From TranquilClaws's review on Royal Road:

The world-building is top-notch, and the character interactions are full of nuance and depth. The world itself is brutal and unforgiving, in other words, very real. But that only makes the friendships all the closer and more meaningful to have.