Hello! Welcome to the latest post here on the Swordsmith blog, westu hal to you. Now I am going to be completely honest as this review is of a new favorite series of mine!! This is a review of an entry of what is becoming one of my favorite fantasy series! I am talking about The Bound and the Broken by Ryan Cahill. This has become a standout series and a very special one for me.
Before we do go any further this book was offered to me by the author as part of his ARC readers team!
As always here is the blurb!
The 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.
The Review
So this will be a review of an exciting and brilliant entry in this series, The Exile is all about a character who arrives in book 2 of the series, Dayne Ateres, except this book is all about Dayne before we meet him in Of Darkness and Light. What a story it is! Now I will try and keep this as spoiler free as possible, this is a companion novella to the series as certain events happen, certain characters show up but what it does have is one of the most devastating endings ever written!
Now this novella is different from anything Ryan has done so far as most of his work has been on the epic scale, it is a very episodic story as it features moments and events from Dayne’s life. This only works in its favor as it is a very character focused story. Ryan writes characters wonderfully, but this book is on another level as Dayne’s character is really fleshed out. It also gives you a real insight into his traumatic past, seeing the events described in Of Darkness and Light really shed insight on his motivations. It’s also a wonderfully paced novella, I read this in 2 and a ½ sittings, as the pace pulls you along what is quite frankly a grim story but also a rewarding and exciting one!
This is a fantastic entry into The Bound and The Broken, one of the most talked about and hyped self published fantasy series to arrive on the scene. If you haven’t picked up a copy of the books yet, then why not give this a try as hopefully this review has piqued your interest so far. This novella is a fantastic story of vengeance, persistence, memory, relationships and delivers one of the most devastating endings to a novella I have ever read. It is a fantastic addition to The Bound and The Broken and was a privilege to read as part of Ryan’s ARC team. This is a novella I will easily add to my essential to read now pile, and an entry into a series that is easily within my top 10 reads, pushing close to some of my absolute favorites! I cannot wait to read book 3 – Of War and Ruin which is hopefully coming out later this year.
So there you are my review of The Exile by Ryan Cahill. Thank you as always for stopping by the blog, and also for sticking with me through a review as well. I really do hope that you are staying safe, reading something awesome and finally westu hal.
The Swordsmith 
This sounds brilliant. I’ll have to read it while I wait for the final part of the Broken and Bound
I believe we are in for a 5 book series for the Broken and the Bound, thank you for the kind words as well.
I don’t know if I’m happy about that or not. More books means longer with the characters but much longer until we get to the end😀