Of Blood and Fire: The Bound and the Broken, Book 1

This year, I’ve been delighted to discover a few authors writing the sorts of classic high fantasies that I thought had died out, having been “grimdarked” and “Harry Pottered” and “Twilighted” out of existence over the last decade or two. Ryan Cahill is one of those authors.Fantasy authors tend to fall between two extremes on a spectrum. Some write like they’re downright inspired by the Muse at times, but bereft of inspiration at other times; say, Patrick Rothfuss. Others are more like craftsmen who dependably produce good and competent fantasy through well-honed skills, ample knowledge, and determined effort.Ryan Cahill is a master craftsman. From his writing, it’s clear that he’s ingrained much of the best fantasy and its tropes into his own way of thinking and plotting: We encounter dragon bonds, blood magic, the metaphor of magic as “threads,” the four elements (plus spirit), “Fades” as pale-skinned and soulless men of eerie power, and much more.I get the sense that Robert Jordan was a particularly strong influence, from the way that a certain swordsman “moves fluidly through the forms,” to the concept of drawing too much on “the Spark” and burning out, to the fact that his series begins with The Fall: an account of tragic, epic, world-altering events hundreds of years before the rest of the series, centered on a betrayal by those who essentially sold their souls to a dark god.But if there’s Jordan here, then it’s the early Jordan—the one who sympathetically portrayed a group of villagers with human motivations and tensions and basically good natures—not the late Jordan, full of morose leaders making dark decisions based on “the ends justify the means”-type thinking, alienated from everyday human concerns.In fact, it’s Cahill’s talent for depicting villager relationships in a familiar and human way that I found most immediately appealing. His protagonists act and feel like real friends, with real lives, humor, foibles, romances, personal problems, and so forth. You can tell them apart by how they act. But they’re also not exaggerated caricatures. These aren’t just guys who travel together and act like the stereotypes of their respective classes and races—The Mage, The Thief, The Warrior, The Dwarf, and so forth.And its not just friendship and romance either. For example, there’s a memorable portrayal of bullying, which shows clearly how bullying often relies on escalationist tactics: putting victims in situations where defending themselves would risk creating a major violent conflict, so victims instead just accept being harmed and do nothing.The care that went into Cahill’s worldbuilding becomes clear more gradually. What are Draleids, and why does everyone talk about them the way they do? What’s up with mages and dragons in the north vs. the south? Why does the Blood Moon keep appearing before bad things happen? I admit I didn’t follow all of this my first time through Of Blood and Fire.However, after reading The Fall—the prequel where much of this worldbuilding background is explained—the significance of events throughout Of Blood and Fire became much clearer, so much that I’m tempted to read it again. My first time reading Of Blood and Fire, I often felt as clueless as the villager protagonists about the wide world outside. After reading The Fall, I relate more with the enigmatic veterans who are leading them; except now, they’re not so much enigmatic as great and tragic.The more granular aspects of worldbuilding are also nicely done, with cool bits of lore from time to time. For example, one character notices that, in dwarven lands, their statues of the gods don’t depict the “Father” god next to the “Mother” goddess. Instead, they depict “the Smith” god next to her—a clever way of hinting at the differences in dwarven vs. human origins without saying anything outright.What else? There’s a nice turn of phrase here and there. For instance, “Sailing from Gisa is impossible unless you have more coin than common sense.” The more I’ve thought on that phrase and followed the sense of it, the more I’ve admired it.One more thing: Cahill isn’t an author who’s out to subvert people’s morals and teach them that, really, up is down and down is up. His writing shows a genuine sympathy for the simple human concerns and desires of his village protagonists; not ironically, not flatly, and not in a way suggesting they need to be enlightened out of their old kindhearted way of being.In short, you’ll be hard-pressed to find more solid, skillful and consistent classic fantasy written in recent years. Very highly recommended.

Of Blood and Fire is definitely a "traditional" high fantasy book, and other readers are not mistaken when they compare it to the Lord of the Rings. it has that feel to it. it was very easy to read and although it took me a while to get through, it was mostly life getting in the way. it wasn't as exciting as I thought that it would be but considering the sheer vastness of the world Ryan Cahill is creating, I think the big chunk of set up in Of Blood and Fire will be justfied later on in the series. even by looking at Of Darkness and Light and Of War and Ruin reviews, I think I'm going to be in for a real treat with The Bound and the Broken. and considering that this was Ryan Cahill's debut... nice work!I definitely recommend giving this book a try if you're in that traditional fantasy mood and are looking for something reminiscent of childhood fantasy stories!

I can't believe it took me so long to read this book. I've had it on my Kindle for over seven months after picking it up in response to the great reviews I'd already seen about it. Now having read it, I can say that this should have been a TBR-stopping addition to my collection, but at least I won't have a long wait for book two to see what happens next (I already have an ARC of it on my bookshelf 😊).From the very first words, I was sucked completely into this world. Ryan Cahill writes in such a way that everything comes alive and leaps off the page. There was the perfect amount of description and imagery balanced with realistic dialogue and gritty action. The dialogue, in particular, really brought the characters to life and gave each of them a unique voice, and the imagery made me feel like I was right there beside them as they went on their epic journey. The world-building was exquisite and engaging with a fresh look at familiar fantasy races (giants, dwarves, elves, etc.) and an interesting magical system. I particularly loved the weapons that could be summoned by magic even though they played a much smaller role here than they did in The Fall.The plot and tropes of this story were very reminiscent of other epic high fantasy books. For the most part, the story follows the coming-of-age tale of Calen, a nobody born in a small outlying town who gets wrapped up in events of legend and joins the fight against the evil empire to avenge those he lost when he finds out he has special abilities. It reminded me a lot of the work of Tolkien and Jordan, but I honestly think I liked this book better because it doesn't suffer from the pacing problems seen in those other works. I also really liked how Cahill didn't conform to the typical chosen one trope of being foretold by prophecy. It made Calen's role much more impactful because all of the characters had been holding out hope someone like him would return one day even though they had no idea when, or even if, it would happen. The lack of certainty over how it will all turn out also highlighted the importance of Calen's choices and actions in the present, which created a high level of suspense, especially toward the end of the novel.There wasn't a single character I didn't like reading about in this book. No matter how small their part, each one of them felt fully fleshed out as a person. If I had to pick, though, I'd probably choose Rist and Calen as my favorite characters. How could I not love Rist? He was seriously traveling around in the forest carrying a giant book and chose to spend time reading rather than socializing. I'm pretty sure he is my spirit character, and I hope he plays a larger role in the series moving forward. As for Calen, I enjoyed seeing his growth in this novel. He started out as a somewhat naive boy who became shattered by loss before learning about and reluctantly embracing his role in the struggle against the empire. His bond with Valerys was one of my favorite things about the story, and I loved watching it grow along with the characters. I always love a good animal companion. When that companion happens to be a baby dragon? Even better!Overall, I loved everything about this book. It feels familiar due to its reliance on common tropes, but the elements come together in a way that feels fresh and engaging. The characters and world-building were fantastic and engrossing, and the ending definitely left me wanting more. Therefore, I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars!

Maravilloso libro de fantasía que me recordó a los grandes clásicos pero con un estilo moderno. Si te gustan las historias de la tierra media de Tolkien, los jinetes de dragones de RR Martin o las peleas de magia elemental de Avatar este libro es para ti.

I enjoyed the story telling and progression. The characters are all different and work well together. Lots of perspective but its easy to follow and is not confusing. The book ends at a great place leaving me excited for the next one.

Gorgeous storytelling. Simple things such as the first flight of a dragon are so exciting in this book. That’s what you get when the autor really knows how to show to the reader what’s happening in his mind.

Gripping, fast paced. Well written. Great read!

I'm 47 and I've read a lot of fantasy books in my lifetime... well the Bound and the Broken is at the time of this writing a sure top 3 on my reading experience.It's epic fantasy at it's best. It's a mashup of all that's good in the genre by a talented author that clearly is putting his heart in these books. A love song to the genre.I laughed out loud, been moved to tears and often I smiled at the quotes dropped here and there like little Easter eggs for fantasy lovers.In a month I've read all the books + the novellas.. I don't know how it will develop in the next books, but so far the series has been excellent.I'm in love with the characters. Not only the main characters, but also the minor ones are well developed and deep. The novellas are a brilliant idea to add even further details.Worldbuilding is excellent. It's so good that I hope Rayan could use it again in the future.Magic system is solid and combat scenes are vivid and detailed with the right dose of grim and grit for an epic fantasy novel.What I'm really enjoying sofar is that it's not a "black and white" story but it's full of different shades of gray. Who is a hero for someone is the villain for others. You can never truly judge the actions of the characters as completely good or bad. There is always a lot of context to consider and this adds depth both to characters and to the story-line.There are, in my opinion, a few small flaws here and there. I found some parts redundant at times, especially in Of War and Ruin. But are very few parts of the story that could just be edited better or shortened a little bit.At the end of "Of War and Ruin", I asked myself: "Is Sanderson's Stormilght better than this?".Well, IMHO, it's not an easy answer... Yes, sofar, for me, the Bound and the Broken has been THAT good.