Blurb:

Solian ata'yar. Dauv ata'yar. Nur temen vie'ryn valana.

Live as one. Die as one. For those we've lost.

The city of Kingspass burns, and Calen Bryer's world has been shaken to its core. With Valerys at his side, Calen must battle his demons and push

forward. There are people who need him, people who need what he must become, and he will not let them stand alone.

In Loria, Ella struggles to understand the ancient power that flows through her veins. The world is changing around her and she is changing with it. Her journey has only just begun.

Thousands of miles away, beneath the mountains of Lodhar, assassins move in the dark as the kingdoms of the Dwarven Freehold ready themselves for war. Not everything is as it seems. Dahlen Virandr and Belina Louna have no choice but to unravel the mysteries of the mountain before everything crumbles around them.

Meanwhile, in Al'Nasla, Rist Havel learns the true cost of becoming an Imperial Battlemage. He will question every truth he has ever been

told. He has never been a fighter, never been the one people look to, but he will fight for those he loves no matter what it takes.

With the Uraks ravaging the towns and villages of the North, Alina and Dayne Ateres prepare their people for war. They have been beneath a Lorian boot for too long. Valtara will be free. The wyvern of House Ateres will fly again, by blade and by blood.

As the continent of Epheria descends into war and chaos, Kallinvar struggles to come to terms with an immense loss. Despite the hole in his heart, he has no choice but to stand and fight. The Shadow is coming, and the Knights of Achyron are the only ones powerful enough to hold back the tide.

Unbeknownst to all, another force is rising - a force long thought tamed.

The balance of power is about to shift, and Epheria will never be the same.

The Blood Moon is rising.

Review:

"There is no point in living if we don't fight for what we love."

Of War and Ruin has transformed The Bound and Broken series from an amazing story to a generational series that needs to be read by EVERYONE. The proceeding full length entry into The Bound and the Broken, Of Darkness and Light, had already built upon all the good that Cahill managed to begin with Of Blood and Fire. The world opened up. Depth was added to all the characters. Worldbuilding was expertly layered onto this rich world. And then Of War and Ruin came and everything got better. Of Darkness and Light was an easy five-star rating for me. So where does Of War and Ruin go from there? It has transcended the five-star rating system for me.

Of War and Ruin is a behemoth of a book. The thing is, in this 1,000+ page book, it doesn’t feel like there is a single page amiss. This is an action-packed book that moves forward everyone’s stories and POVs in meaningful ways. Ryan has a 6th sense for keeping the reader excited and anticipating the next event in a character’s story. As soon as you start thinking that it’s been a while since you saw a character, they pop up in the next chapter. Cahill has perfectly struck an extremely difficult balance by utilizing a huge cast of characters to tell a complex and nuanced story. As someone who has read a lot of epic fantasy, it’s not uncommon for me to feel like an author has lost track of a character or two for a chunk of time. That is not the case in Of War and Ruin. Everyone feels like they have purpose and meaning. There was never a POV chapter that I inwardly groaned at when it started because I was no longer interested in that character’s story. Again, for a 1,000+ page book in the middle of a series, that is a HUGE feat.

I am so impressed at how well Cahill is telling this multi-faceted story. We have POVs from the Empire, from Aeson’s rebels, from the Valtarans, from members of the Dragonguard, from the Knights of Achyron and the list goes on. Throughout the story, many of these factions are opposed to each other and it was such a common occurrence for me to be reading a POV from Calen where I’m muttering my hatred for someone in the Empire under my breath, and then in the very next Rist chapter, I’m totally understanding the Empire’s mentality and I’m secretly cheering for them against the Elven forces. My emotions were tossed back and forth, and it was SO good! It’s not easy for an author to tell the reader that this group is evil and then in the next chapter convince the reader that maybe that evil group deserves our pity. Cahill plays in the gray area of Epheria masterfully.

There are so many huge, pivotal events that happened in this book. It’s the mid-point in this series and occasionally these books feel like necessary set up books so the author can maneuver everyone to the positions they need to be in for the big finale. But Of War and Ruin, while certainly setting up larger plot points, never feels like that type of book. This entry into The Bound and the Broken stands on its own as a phenomenal story with satisfying arcs while allowing the series to continue to expand.

The list of amazing scenes is way too long to list. Some of the standouts for me were Calen leading his troop through the Burnt Lands, Ella’s transformation into her true self, the tumultuous relationship between Calen and Aeson, the ruthless, heartbreaking progression of Dayne and Alina’s conquest, Calen’s trip to Dracaldryr. It gets me excited and wanting to re-read the book just thinking about all these amazing sequences, and I just finished the book yesterday!

Of War and Ruin has cemented The Bound and the Broken as a truly special series that is going to be talked about for decades to come. This is the type of series that will push future fantasy novices to dive deeper into epic fantasy, inspire the next generation of fantasy writers, and fill people’s dreams with dragon riding fantasies. There are books that are so infused with passion and imagination that they seep into the readers and don’t let go. The Bound and the Broken IS one of those series. 

If for some reason you’re reading this review without having started your own journey in Epheria, please pick up Of Blood and Fire. You’ll thank me later.

"Live as one. Die as one. For those we've lost."

“Draleid N’aldryr.”