The Wulver’s Library‘s Review of Of Darkness and Light by Ryan Cahill
Myia nithír til diar. My soul to yours.
Of Darkness and Light by Ryan Cahill was one of the books that I have really been looking forward to after reading the rest of his The Bound and The Broken series. I’ve been a massive fan since book one and I’m definitely here for the long run now. I was really impressed by the “Story So Far” that was added at the start since there was a few things that I needed a refresher on and it just brought me back into this world.
I had high praise for Of Blood and Fire which was a brilliant introduction to this series with some of my favourite characters and plot arcs. His novella – The Fall provided incredible world-building and character moments that I have been eagerly awaiting Of Darkness and Light ever since and this definitely delivered.
We are thrown straight into the world from the very start. This time, we are treated to numerous different point of view characters that Cahill has balanced incredibly well here. Each character had a compelling and important part of the story to tell and sometimes having a lot of POVs can really hinder the reader’s experience. Instead, Cahill has provided a lot of different perspectives from protagonists and antagonists alike and has really found his own in telling this story. The Knights of Achyron POVs were my favourite as they provided some truly epic scenes and I’m glad they had a lot more to tell. The lore has been vastly expanded upon and what may have been a generic fantasy setting has been combined with an immersive, deep world that we are easily lost in.
It’s easy to see that Cahill has grown as an a writer here as Of Darkness and Light was even more flowing and seamless from Of Blood and Fire. His escalation in prose was enough to see that this series may be one for the ages. I won’t go much into the story but if Cahill’s intent was to have me emotional with sombre joy then he succeeded.
Of Darkness and Light is everything that this sequel needed and tells its own narrative in a fascinating world with an engaging plot and wonderful characters. This is an epic addition to the saga that blew me away, much like the rest of the series, and I cannot wait to see what comes next.
Thank you to Ryan for sending me an advanced copy, he really knows how to treat his audience. This series is a staple to my shelf and I cannot recommend this enough.
