Blurb:
Book II of the Fallen Light series.
Nerana is a sorceress. An exile. The Child of Skye.
And she isn’t alone.
After a vicious attack against the Order of Saro, Nerana finds herself lost in the wastelands of Aragoth. Forbidden of humans or evae, the desert is a land teeming with fire and vengeance, and Nerana’s only hope for survival lies in the trust of another.
Aélla, a powerful evaesh sorceress, travels the desert on a pilgrimage of sacrifice and strength. Determined to enter the Realm of Elements and see her quest complete, she must survive the hardened warriors of the desert, the vaxros, who banished her kind from their land centuries ago.
But the vaxros aren’t the only threat, and the weight of such imbalance could shift the fate of the world.
Review:
Darker. More action. More magic. More lore.
The Forbidden Realms builds on the events of Curse of the Fallen, throwing Nerana into a new part of the world, with new allies, new enemies, and a new quest. Reeling from the events of book one, we follow Nerana into the harsh, desolate desert lands that are host to the Vaxros warrior tribes and dark magic and creatures.
With new characters and landscape, the author adds more depth to the world building introduced in book one. The new characters are intriguing. I particularly liked Y’ven, a disgraced Vaxros warrior, who has allied himself with a powerful sorceress, an Evae (elf), who is on a quest to restore balance through the magical realms.
These new characters add a fresh dymanic to the story, which soon involves Nerana as their worlds collide. Although I appreciated the new characaters and what they added to the story, I found the shift from the world and characters in book one took some getting used to. Other than Nerana, and her adoptive father, we do not have any of the other characters from book one. Having really enjoyed the dynamics between the characters in book one, I didn’t feel the same connection between Nerana and the new characters. Also, on this occasion, I found the pacing a little too frenetic at times, leaving me a bit confused in places. I think this is partly due to me having to get aquianted with the new characters, along with learning more lore.
Despite these personal quibbles, the author’s ability to switch up the action and maintain a fast pace, leading you from chapter to chapter, is very impressive – even if it was a little too much for me at times. Newell has a distinctive style that will appeal to anyone who enjoys their fantasy all action and fast-paced.
There is no denying the ambition and scope of the series increased in this book. The Forbidden Realms is a sweeping dark fantasy that holds the potential for so much more to come in the next book in the series.
Thank you for taking the time to read my review.
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