Synopsis
The Order have watched over the continent of Epheria for thousands of years. But there are those who believe The Order has had its day. That it is corrupt, indulgent, and deceitful – that it is ready to fall.
The City of Ilnaen is on fire.
Dragons fill the skies.
Traitors fill the streets.
The Fall is a prequel novella that takes place four hundred years before the events in Of Blood and Fire – book one in The Bound and The Broken series.
Review
“Today is the day The Order falls,” Fane said, lifting the gemstone above his head, “and the rest of Epheria learns who we are.”
Disclaimer: In recent years, I have not re-read any book… except The Fall. The Fall- I’ve already re-read 4 times and have three different signed editions; so suffice it to say I do enjoy this book a lot. This will be less of a review and more of a love letter to The Fall. I have picked up some minute details that I didn’t observe on my previous re-reads and it happened yet again. I have even newer realizations.
In my opinion, The Fall does more than just enrich the whole experience of The Bound and The Broken series, it absolutely must be essential reading. So much of the events occurring within the series harkens back to this one night. I actually believe that future book events that we haven’t read yet will still appertain to the events during The Fall. It also must be the definite starting point in the reading order but that’s neither here nor there. I will, with reprehension, concede that different people have different reading preferences and might enjoy a certain other reading order (Team Fellensír – OBAF first) better. But Team Svidarya (The Fall first) is the coolest and someday we will have stickers.
Now can a novella be perfect? Can it tie-up a fantasy fan for 2 hours and never let go? (Bear in mind, this particular fantasy fan cannot go five minutes without doom-scrolling on his phone) Yes & yes, but how? Because the reader is dropped smack-dab in the middle of an epic battle for a city that occurs within one night.
On the one hand, it has terrific action scenes, with battlemages, human soldiers, elves, jotnar (giants), a special order of knights (with special weapons and armor,) corrupted monsters and mages, and my favorite – dragons and dragon riders, all tearing each other apart. On the other hand, within this conflict, there are incredibly tragic and moving scenes that are given its due gravity as well. Plus, being a prequel novella, it has the added job of introduction, progression, & conclusion of its own plot, world-building & set up for future novels, giving a taste for the different magic systems and weapons – the usual suspects.
So how does Ryan Cahill deal with these? He goes and ups the ante by introducing a 4-character POV narrative and limiting the size to under 100 pages. And he comes off like a veteran card shark, raising the risk for his and the reader’s hand yet ultimately winning it for both. It absolutely is a gutsy choice to go for a multi-POV narration in such a short novella while dealing with all the above. And he comes off all the better for it with masterful writing craft- badass fight scenes, impactful sorrow scenes, gripping characters with individual motivations, a self-contained story & a setup for the next books, and stitching them all without blemish -no wasted or extra words.
I’ve to specifically mention one character’s arc. Amidst all the chaos of the battle raging around, one character is debuted as the antagonist but is then given a POV chapter and while still committing villainous acts, his emotional conflict is displayed beautifully (kind of like how Infinity war humanized Thanos) and his arc reaches a perfect point at the end. Telling such a good villain (?) origin story with all the other points mentioned above is amazing work.
In speaking to readers of all ages and backgrounds, or standing the test of time, or by any other definitions of classic- I have no doubts that The Bound and The Broken will be classified as one. And with The Fall, Ryan Cahill leaves the perfect calling card.
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