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4.35 AVERAGE
4.35 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
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
I was a little worried that this book might suffer from the sophomore slump that so many other series have, but this one did not have that issue. This book is fantastic.
Of Darkness and Light does not waste time explaining things that already happened in the first book. It throws you right into a huge, breath-taking battle at Belduar. Ryan Cahill excels at many things, but I think one of the best is writing epic, vivid, and visceral battles, and this opening scene is just the first of many.
It doesn't just stop with battles. This book opens up a huge world with rich history. There is so much going on from so many POVs that it can feel a bit overwhelming at times. However, Cahill does a good job of not staying with a single POV for too long but also not leaving a POV hanging as well. There's a very good balance between most of them, which makes it easier to follow their stories.
Speaking of POVs, there are quite a few more added. While we still follow the characters from the first book (and Calen still feels like the "main character"), we get introduced to a slew of new ones, and each get plenty of time to flesh out their personalities and motivations. We even get to spend time with Farda and learn more about him, which is a very pleasant surprise. But for me, my favorite characters are Kallinvar and just the entire Ateres family.
Just to add one more thing, yes, that ending shocked me. I did not expect that even a little bit.
This is such a fantastic series, and I can't wait to read the rest of it. I know the next mainline story is a bit of a chonker, but I've heard it's the best of the series so far. I'm very much looking forward to it.
Of Darkness and Light does not waste time explaining things that already happened in the first book. It throws you right into a huge, breath-taking battle at Belduar. Ryan Cahill excels at many things, but I think one of the best is writing epic, vivid, and visceral battles, and this opening scene is just the first of many.
It doesn't just stop with battles. This book opens up a huge world with rich history. There is so much going on from so many POVs that it can feel a bit overwhelming at times. However, Cahill does a good job of not staying with a single POV for too long but also not leaving a POV hanging as well. There's a very good balance between most of them, which makes it easier to follow their stories.
Speaking of POVs, there are quite a few more added. While we still follow the characters from the first book (and Calen still feels like the "main character"), we get introduced to a slew of new ones, and each get plenty of time to flesh out their personalities and motivations. We even get to spend time with Farda and learn more about him, which is a very pleasant surprise. But for me, my favorite characters are Kallinvar and just the entire Ateres family.
Just to add one more thing, yes, that ending shocked me. I did not expect that even a little bit.
This is such a fantastic series, and I can't wait to read the rest of it. I know the next mainline story is a bit of a chonker, but I've heard it's the best of the series so far. I'm very much looking forward to it.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It’s hard to respect any aspect of this book. It’s everything creatively dull about fantasy. I genuinely believe Cahill is not interested in challenging himself whatsoever. I know the 3rd book is better, but I’m tapping out here.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cursing, Death, Torture, Vomit, War
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
fast-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
Such a good book. Once more, I was reminded as to why I love traditional fantasy as much as I do. This book was food for my soul.
Can't wait to dive into the next book!
Can't wait to dive into the next book!
Wow, that was an explosive read to end my 2022 with!
I really love “classic” style epic fantasy, with a rag-tag group of characters, adventures, quests, and dragons. It’s what I love to write. It’s what I love to read.
ODAL really did deliver this in spades.
It starts everything off right in the middle of the action - with a fantastic battle sequence that really set the bar for the rest of the book. It is immediately noticeable that everything has stepped up a gear from the first book to this one.
The writing is a level above book one, and this levelling up goes beyond basic prose. The story, world building, characters, action sequences, even the side characters have all been massively expanded upon, and this made ODAL much more enjoyable for me as a result.
We jump into a properly multi-POV story, which only strengthens the book’s appeal. This structural choice by definition gives us more time inside the heads of characters other than Calen, which was a great way to really build them up and flesh them out.
Farda is a great example of a character having far more layers and depth to him than we saw in the first book, and Dann as well. Even Rist, who was my favourite of the original trio, had plenty of potential with his arc and I was so glad we were able to spend plenty of time with him.
We were also treated to more time with the Knights of the Order, various rulers and lords, and plenty of politicking which really helped flesh out the world and story. In the first book, things sometimes seemed to happen just because. ODAL took the time to explain why things were happening, and though it wasn’t always clear whose side everyone was on (don’t you just love the opportunity for betrayals in the dark?) it felt much more complete.
I also really liked one of the new characters, Dane, and where he comes from. It’s quite rare to have both dragons and wyverns (and each distinct from one another) in the same book, and we were treated to this here.
Of course, the biggest highlight for me was Valerys. I love dragons and seeing this one grow and develop was wonderful! I do love this dragon and I cannot wait to see to what heights he reaches in the next book.
Once again, Derek Perkins did an amazing job narrating the audiobook. Honestly, the only downside to the audio is not being able to flick to the map every time we enter a new location (and we get to see plenty of new places in this book!) but it feels like such a well developed world with existing trading routes both on land and sea, as well as reasons for those.
I really find so many facets of this world fascinating: Sentinels and their armour in particular were amazing. We also were able to learn more about the dragon bond, battle mages, gods, and ascension, and it still feels like we have only just scratched the surface at what this world has to offer.
I also loved the wolf-like shapeshifters, the Angan, who feel ancient, mysterious, and very much on their own side. We didn’t get to see much of them, but when certain characters are able to stay alive for centuries, and others clearly have interesting pasts we haven’t experienced yet, there is plenty more to come.
Oh, and that was quite the epilogue!!
One minor gripe: “The Story So Far” was not included in the audiobook, so about 1/3 of the way through I went hunting for a recap and discovered it in the eBook (look inside on Amazon) which was very useful, as I did spent a little bit of time confusing certain characters with one another.
Highly recommend if you love your fantasy epic!
I really love “classic” style epic fantasy, with a rag-tag group of characters, adventures, quests, and dragons. It’s what I love to write. It’s what I love to read.
ODAL really did deliver this in spades.
It starts everything off right in the middle of the action - with a fantastic battle sequence that really set the bar for the rest of the book. It is immediately noticeable that everything has stepped up a gear from the first book to this one.
The writing is a level above book one, and this levelling up goes beyond basic prose. The story, world building, characters, action sequences, even the side characters have all been massively expanded upon, and this made ODAL much more enjoyable for me as a result.
We jump into a properly multi-POV story, which only strengthens the book’s appeal. This structural choice by definition gives us more time inside the heads of characters other than Calen, which was a great way to really build them up and flesh them out.
Farda is a great example of a character having far more layers and depth to him than we saw in the first book, and Dann as well. Even Rist, who was my favourite of the original trio, had plenty of potential with his arc and I was so glad we were able to spend plenty of time with him.
We were also treated to more time with the Knights of the Order, various rulers and lords, and plenty of politicking which really helped flesh out the world and story. In the first book, things sometimes seemed to happen just because. ODAL took the time to explain why things were happening, and though it wasn’t always clear whose side everyone was on (don’t you just love the opportunity for betrayals in the dark?) it felt much more complete.
I also really liked one of the new characters, Dane, and where he comes from. It’s quite rare to have both dragons and wyverns (and each distinct from one another) in the same book, and we were treated to this here.
Of course, the biggest highlight for me was Valerys. I love dragons and seeing this one grow and develop was wonderful! I do love this dragon and I cannot wait to see to what heights he reaches in the next book.
Once again, Derek Perkins did an amazing job narrating the audiobook. Honestly, the only downside to the audio is not being able to flick to the map every time we enter a new location (and we get to see plenty of new places in this book!) but it feels like such a well developed world with existing trading routes both on land and sea, as well as reasons for those.
I really find so many facets of this world fascinating: Sentinels and their armour in particular were amazing. We also were able to learn more about the dragon bond, battle mages, gods, and ascension, and it still feels like we have only just scratched the surface at what this world has to offer.
I also loved the wolf-like shapeshifters, the Angan, who feel ancient, mysterious, and very much on their own side. We didn’t get to see much of them, but when certain characters are able to stay alive for centuries, and others clearly have interesting pasts we haven’t experienced yet, there is plenty more to come.
Oh, and that was quite the epilogue!!
One minor gripe: “The Story So Far” was not included in the audiobook, so about 1/3 of the way through I went hunting for a recap and discovered it in the eBook (look inside on Amazon) which was very useful, as I did spent a little bit of time confusing certain characters with one another.
Highly recommend if you love your fantasy epic!
adventurous
challenging
dark
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
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
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
dark
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