by Nicole Jamison
Star Rating: 5
In a world consumed by war, will the forces of good be consumed by the flames of chaos?
Generations ago, Pyron launched an attack and conquered all the other surrounding lands, putting Tileon firmly under their grasp. Cruel and merciless, their reign has gone unchallenged.
Until now.
Niya inadvertently travels through time, landing in the era of the first Bloody War. Her lone goal is to find an artifact that will save her people from the complete destruction of another Pyron tyrant. But her plans are derailed when she falls into the middle of the rebel army and meets Caleb, the leader of the rebellion. Caleb begs for her help to protect his people from the wrath of Pyron and the slim hope of freedom.
Will Niya ignore his pleas and let history play out as it should? Or will she embrace her destiny before Tileon falls into chaos?
Introduction
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Where does the story take place? Ancient Tileon, Heka, and an nameless world.
Who is the intended audience? 18+
Should there be trigger warnings? There is a torture scene that some may need to prepare themselves for. It is brutal.
Possible spoilers below
Writing Style
I love Jamison’s writing style, the way she carefully uncovers Niya’s past and purpose while building up her confidence. Her writing style and the way she approaches this is reminiscent of other fantasy writers, however her plot line and world building is uniquely her own. The way she depicts the magical soul bonds between characters seems realistic compared to certain things I have experienced in my own life. It is also interesting to see what the city of Azzaria looked like in the ancient times and to see the character compare it to modern Azzaria shows how far their society has come.
The story is told in dual POV split between Caleb and Niya.
Character information
In this book we see Niya our FMC grow in confidence and trust in herself compared to the first book. She journeys through the world looking for her item but ends up finding the self acceptance she didn’t even know she was looking for.
We are finally introduced to Caleb! Marcus’s distant relative and the man who re-established the 4 kingdoms. They learn a lot about their world and the magic in their world as they try to figure out a way to save ancient and modern Tileon.
My Opinions
I love the glimpse into the past that this book as given us. The history of this world is so rich it was fun to see the history in action. I loved learning more about Niya and where she comes from. The differences between ancient Tileon and modern Tileon are believable for being generations apart. I cannot wait to see what the author has in store for the next book and to learn about what happened after the trip into the past. How long had she been there? and where the heck did everyone go?
The cliffhanger has me asking all kinds of questions and I am excitedly anticipating the next book in this series.