“You will only know your true friends once they know you truly.”
Of Blood and Fire is an incredible book, full of giants, dwarves, dragons and Elves. Now, fantasy isn’t my thing, but I did ask to review this book, as the intro sounded great. I was not disappointed. In fact, I can’t wait for book 2 to come out…
Ryan Cahill, the author, has spun an incredible tale with his debut novel. Like another reviewer said, to call it a novel seems wrong, it’s an epic book! It’s the story of Calen, a young land and his friends. The lads live in Epheria, a land that Ryan has been working on and dreaming about for years. The world-building that goes on in the book is proof of this. Epheria is not a happy land at all, but there are… Watch the spoilers!
Through Of Blood and Fire, we follow young Calen, and thanks to the gorgeous maps, you can literally follow him around. We start in his village, The Glade, and end up…Nah, not telling you. Sorry, I do like spoilers!
One of the things I enjoyed was the tremendous eye for detail. Ryan has described everything for us, and instead of that being tedious, as it so easily could be, it just added to the whole amazing experience. I’m not keen on detail and find it hard to incorporate it into my writing, but Ryan has done a fantastic job with it! It helped to picture everything, making me feel such a part of the book that it’s one of those books where you stagger off the pages in a daze. It did give me two late nights, must admit, but it was definitely worth it.
“…it’s one of those books where you stagger off the pages in a daze.”
It’s a coming of age story, and you get to know Calen well, as well as his two friends, Rist and Dann. Calen is very close to his friends, even though Dann would drive most people up the wall (I quite liked him, is there an ADHD diagnosis in Epheria?!). Then there are dragons, or rather, one…Nope, not giving it away. It’s a wonderful, heart-warming as well as chilling story of friendship and loyalty. The array of characters made me panic a little until I realised that they were all interwoven and connected, and it was never a problem.
Anyway, it’s an incredible book, and at a solid 512 pages, definitely worth your time. No flimsiness here! There are even some beautiful drawings in the book, done by Ryan’s brother. I loved the one of the dragon, very nicely done, and it made me realise how nice it is to have an illustrated book. The book feels very Celtic to me and as Ryan was born in Dublin, this seems so fitting.
Ryan is an Indie Author, and his books are available from Amazon as well as other book retailers. He is working on a hardback version at the moment, which will have even more drawings! I loved the cover, very striking. It’s a ‘clean’ book, with occasional S or F words, which didn’t bother me. No bedroom scenes or bad language for the sake of swearing, if you know what I mean. That made it even better for me. Maybe fantasy isn’t so dull after all!
I received a free review copy but was under no obligation or pressure to give a favourable review. These views are my own.