This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
Of Blood And Fire by Ryan Cahill is high fantasy fiction and the first full-length novel in The Bound and The Broken series, with a prequel companion novella called The Fall, and book two in the series, Of Darkness and Light, already released. A young villager named Calen Bryer embarks on a coming of age quest called The Proving with his two best mates, Dann Pimm and Rist Havel. The outcome is successful but The Hunt is also remarkable in a most unexpected way: an encounter with a beast thought long-gone that re-merges. The three young men are soon unexpectedly ripped from village life and thrust into a rebellion; a journey where the world around them expands and contracts with mystery and magic, a dragon, and the unfolding of Calen's destiny as a Draleid for the sake of all Epheria.
Starting a new fantasy series requires a massive amount of trust from a reader. The components have to be executed to near perfection; what world was built, the backstory, the magic structure, and the ways of its realm. Ryan Cahill accomplishes this in Of Blood And Fire. All of the pieces fit together beautifully and a story emerges that promises a journey of our own. Calen, Dann, and Rist are all fully-fleshed characters with their own arcs, but together they grow and fight and secure some hard-won lessons in a transition from boy-to-man that makes The Proving look awfully pale. There's a dragon! I promised I'd refrain from screaming this in the first two sentences but now: THERE'S A DRAGON! There is also a parallel story with Calen's sister who is coming to terms with her own choices and the danger of her own arc, with nominal point of view shifts that permit a broader spectrum beyond Calen and co. This is a wonderful first read and I am excited to see where we are taken next.
