Review: The Exile by Ryan Cahill
Blurb:
Do not hesitate. Do not contemplate mercy.
The Lorian empire took everything from Dayne.
His Family. His Home. His people.
He will carve a bloody path through Epheria. He will have his vengeance, by blade and by blood.
This is his story.
The story of The Exile.
*Note: this is a companion novella to The Bound and The Broken series, not a standalone novella. Previous books in the series should be read first.*
Review:
It’s nearly rote recitation for me now. New Cahill book? Another 5-star read.
“By blade and by blood.”
The Exile may be the most hyped of Cahill’s books. I was simultaneously wicked excited to dive into this gripping story focused on Dayne—one of my break-out characters from Of Darkness and Light—and nervous that it wouldn’t hit as well for me as it had for others and I’d end up disappointed. The cynical part of me keeps feeling that Cahill’s The Bound and the Broken is too good to be true because each entry has just gotten me more excited for the next one. I’m ecstatic to report that as I emerge from this bloody series of snapshots into Dayne’s life, I’m now going to need to add an orange, wyvern emblazoned House Ateres sweatshirt to my closet because, yes, this novella is freakin’ sweatshirt-buying-good.
In 160 short pages, Cahill takes us on a whirlwind tour of Dayne’s life from the heartbreaking razing of Stormwatch to the fateful reception of Aeson’s letter calling him into action. There’s danger in trying to fit 12 years of history, with multiple time jumps, into a novel, let alone a novella with limited word count. As I’m coming to expect, Cahill performed in spades. The Exile is a poignant character study of Dayne Ateres, exposing his tragic and brutal backstory, masterfully embedded in the uncovering of horrific Empire secrets.
“Myia nithir til diar.”
We are thrown into the Spartan-like Valtaran province as they ready themselves for Aeson’s rebellion which ends in bloody, fiery ruin. Cahill doesn’t hold any punches as he exemplifies the full, horrific power of the Dragonguard and their ability to completely turn the tide of a battle. I was already a huge fan of Dayne from Of Darkness and Light and this novella cemented him as one of my favorite characters in the series. Watching his progression and character development throughout this short novella is extremely satisfying.
We get to see a lot more of Belina and Therin and Aeson, which was incredible. These are characters that are so important in the main novels and feel so fleshed out with these additional novellas.
So that I don’t get into spoiler territory, I’ll just say that the evil machinations of the Empire in the mountains of Mar Dorul adds another layer to this story that is both horrifying and fascinating. One of the standout scenes in a book of standout scenes.
Cahill has done it again. The Exile is emotional and violent and funny and bloody and mesmerizing. It accomplishes everything that I was hoping it would and makes me so excited for future books in this series.
