Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.35 AVERAGE
4.35 AVERAGE
Ryan Cahill has really outdone himself! I had a blast reading his first novel in this series, Of Blood and Fire, and loved the camaraderie between Calen, Dann, and Rist and really enjoyed their coming of age tale.
And then I learned the author was looking for ARC readers and I immediately signed up. After chatting back and forth with Ryan as he helped me get access to the ARC copy for my Kindle, I learned that Of Darkness and Light wasn't a coming of age story and it was a multi-character POV with many new characters being added.
My immediate reaction: Ah nuts! But I didn't tell Ryan that lol.
I really loved the coming of age story aspect of Of Blood and Fire and the friendships of the young characters. To say I was concerned that I wouldn't like Of Darkness and Light is an understatement. Plus, it's 828 pages, which is nearly 300 pages longer than the first novel in the series.
Oh crap! I feared I might be in for a really long slog. I would never DNF an ARC because Ryan didn't force me to sign up and he was nice enough to give me an early copy of his book. So I was in it for the long haul whether I liked it or not!
I am so happy to tell you that I fracking loved this book! Sure, I missed the camaraderie between the 3 friends from The Glade. But Ryan more than made up for it by teaming Calen up with Vaeril, Erik, Tarmon, and many others at different points throughout the story. We saw new friendships form as these fighters watched Calen become a man, a warrior, and a leader worth following right before their eyes.
As mentioned, there were many different POVs in this book. I wasn't into Ella's story at first, but Ryan really grabbed my interest by the end of her screen time in this book. And Farda is awesome. He had depth and flaws and intrigue and he's so much better than your typical cardboard cutout one dimensional villain. I can't wait to see what happens to him next.
Valerys. Oh you majestic beast! I usually tend to dislike dragons and stories about dragons but Cahill describes him so beautifully that it's hard not to love him. Plus his connection to Calen is intense, brotherly, and downright awesome!
I wish we had more Dann, Aeson, and Therin in the second half of the book. But honestly, this is my only "complaint" and it's barely one at all.
If you like traditional fantasy, magic, dragons, dwarves, mages, giants, evil grotesque beasts, companionship, well-rounded characters, great storylines, and more, you're gonna love Of Darkness and Light! I promise!
This book was awesome and even though I was scared that I was going to hate it, Ryan Cahill put my fears to rest right away and did an amazing job telling a complex and exciting story!
And I'm shocked to say it, but all 916 pages flew by in no time! Now I have a long way to go before he publishes the next one and I'm bummed that it'll likely be a year before I get to catch up with these amazing characters again!
And then I learned the author was looking for ARC readers and I immediately signed up. After chatting back and forth with Ryan as he helped me get access to the ARC copy for my Kindle, I learned that Of Darkness and Light wasn't a coming of age story and it was a multi-character POV with many new characters being added.
My immediate reaction: Ah nuts! But I didn't tell Ryan that lol.
I really loved the coming of age story aspect of Of Blood and Fire and the friendships of the young characters. To say I was concerned that I wouldn't like Of Darkness and Light is an understatement. Plus, it's 828 pages, which is nearly 300 pages longer than the first novel in the series.
Oh crap! I feared I might be in for a really long slog. I would never DNF an ARC because Ryan didn't force me to sign up and he was nice enough to give me an early copy of his book. So I was in it for the long haul whether I liked it or not!
I am so happy to tell you that I fracking loved this book! Sure, I missed the camaraderie between the 3 friends from The Glade. But Ryan more than made up for it by teaming Calen up with Vaeril, Erik, Tarmon, and many others at different points throughout the story. We saw new friendships form as these fighters watched Calen become a man, a warrior, and a leader worth following right before their eyes.
As mentioned, there were many different POVs in this book. I wasn't into Ella's story at first, but Ryan really grabbed my interest by the end of her screen time in this book. And Farda is awesome. He had depth and flaws and intrigue and he's so much better than your typical cardboard cutout one dimensional villain. I can't wait to see what happens to him next.
Valerys. Oh you majestic beast! I usually tend to dislike dragons and stories about dragons but Cahill describes him so beautifully that it's hard not to love him. Plus his connection to Calen is intense, brotherly, and downright awesome!
I wish we had more Dann, Aeson, and Therin in the second half of the book. But honestly, this is my only "complaint" and it's barely one at all.
If you like traditional fantasy, magic, dragons, dwarves, mages, giants, evil grotesque beasts, companionship, well-rounded characters, great storylines, and more, you're gonna love Of Darkness and Light! I promise!
This book was awesome and even though I was scared that I was going to hate it, Ryan Cahill put my fears to rest right away and did an amazing job telling a complex and exciting story!
And I'm shocked to say it, but all 916 pages flew by in no time! Now I have a long way to go before he publishes the next one and I'm bummed that it'll likely be a year before I get to catch up with these amazing characters again!
Truly awesome book. This did everything I wanted it to do, and then some. The world was expanded soo much and I'm eating it up. The characters are done so well; some you love, some you hate, some are too grey to tell. From page 1 it is fast paced and it just doesn't let up. As I hoped since reading The Fall, this is turning into an incredible epic story and I cant wait to see what book 3 has in store.
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Okay so I loved this, where the first book did take a lot of inspiration from other fantasy works and could at times feel a scooch tropey this one takes a complete 180 and really settles into its own. I loved this, the characters are well fleshed out and each have their own arcs that are so well developed.
Now does this have a few flaws? Absolutely. Especially Ella's chapters, no offense to Ryan but sometimes it's painfully clear this book was written by a man hahaha but it's not offensive or anything, it makes me chuckle. There was a line where Ella thinks something to the effect of wishing that she could have a broken bone instead of dealing with the pain in her heart from the death of a loved one 😂😂 what a wacky thought girl.
But truly this book was fabulous. Our main character is growing, the secondary characters don't feel lesser than and everyone is impacting the overall plot with every second they are on the page.
I'm excited to continue in this world!!!
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Well the bad thing about this book is that it got over when I wanted to read more. The good thing is that there's one more book left. And oh, this second part is almost 1.5 times larger than the first. If Ryan follows this tradition, then book 3 should be done within 800-1000 pages and that is entirely my preference.
Where were we? Aah yes, this feels more and more like the trials of Rand, Perrin and Matrim as they all go their separate ways in WOT. Except for the drama that is. Rist, Dann and Calen, our three younglings get separated albeit not by choice and have their own decisions to make. Eragon aka Calen is bonding well with the dragon but not soon enough and is not strong enough to take on the bad guys. And when I say bad guys I mean the old good guys gone bad because hey who can resist the dark side of the force?
Meanwhile, side-characters who were on the sides so far have decided to step up and get some more limelight. That includes Ella, Calen's sister who might just not be what she is and her travelling companion, Farda, a man who we all collectively hate but just might have a redemption arc. There is another character on some island whose name is not important right now but will probably play some big role in book 3. Lastly, there is the order of the Warrior, cool samurais who just fight the dark and hid afterwards.
Calen meanwhile with his dragon that he named Valeries/Valerys is still clueless about how many people want him dead, alive or simply out of the day. He is busy levelling up as is normal in the quest of a hero, hunting foul creatures, crying over people he couldn't protect and like every other damn character in coming-of-age books, rushing headlong into danger. I'd love to read a book where a character does that and dies. The end. Serves you right. That would be the ultimate ending of a 50 page book.
But I digress. So anyway, the confrontation is coming faster than anticipated and the entire continent is about to be thrown into chaos, both from inside and outside. And maybe friends who stay away from each other should stay away from each other.
Where were we? Aah yes, this feels more and more like the trials of Rand, Perrin and Matrim as they all go their separate ways in WOT. Except for the drama that is. Rist, Dann and Calen, our three younglings get separated albeit not by choice and have their own decisions to make. Eragon aka Calen is bonding well with the dragon but not soon enough and is not strong enough to take on the bad guys. And when I say bad guys I mean the old good guys gone bad because hey who can resist the dark side of the force?
Meanwhile, side-characters who were on the sides so far have decided to step up and get some more limelight. That includes Ella, Calen's sister who might just not be what she is and her travelling companion, Farda, a man who we all collectively hate but just might have a redemption arc. There is another character on some island whose name is not important right now but will probably play some big role in book 3. Lastly, there is the order of the Warrior, cool samurais who just fight the dark and hid afterwards.
Calen meanwhile with his dragon that he named Valeries/Valerys is still clueless about how many people want him dead, alive or simply out of the day. He is busy levelling up as is normal in the quest of a hero, hunting foul creatures, crying over people he couldn't protect and like every other damn character in coming-of-age books, rushing headlong into danger. I'd love to read a book where a character does that and dies. The end. Serves you right. That would be the ultimate ending of a 50 page book.
But I digress. So anyway, the confrontation is coming faster than anticipated and the entire continent is about to be thrown into chaos, both from inside and outside. And maybe friends who stay away from each other should stay away from each other.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I liked Of Blood and Fire, but I loved Of Darkness and Light! Everything about it is a dialed up, improved version of its predecessor. More action, additional POVs, expanded geography, multiple storylines, and of course more dragons! Cahill’s writing style has diversity of thought, the right amount of exposition, and character depth you can really sink into. This epic fantasy series is quickly becoming a favorite.
Someone help me pick my jaw up from the floor. I… wow.. this book has confirmed for me that this is my new favorite series. Severely underrated