Of Blood and Fire

The Bound and the Broken, Book 1

By: Ryan Cahill

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

Born in fire. Tempered in blood.

Epheria is a land divided by war and mistrust. The High Lords of the South squabble and fight, only kept in check by the Dragonguard, traitors of a time long past, who serve the empire of the North.

In the remote villages of Southern Epheria, still reeling from the tragic loss of his brother, Calen Bryer prepares for The Proving - a test of courage and skill that not all survive. But when three strangers arrive in the village of Milltown, with a secret they are willing to die for, Calen’s world is ripped from under him and he is thrust headfirst into a war that has been raging for centuries.

There is no prophecy. His coming was not foretold. He bleeds like any man, and bleed he will.

Includes bonus story The Fall.

©2021 Ryan Cahill (P)2021 Podium Audio

Quintessential

The word Quintessential does not even do this book justice! It is amazing and if you call yourself a fan of dragon books it is quintessential that you read it!

Solid start to series

Familiar tropes yet comforting as if being served your favorite childhood dish. Looking forward to seeing where the story leads.

Great beginning

well written and read. certainly worth a credit and look forward to next book.

The Fall Novella is included at the end

I love this series so far....and THE FALL novella is included at the end of the narration. You will fall in love with the characters, the dragons, the families, the magic, and the story. Ready to read all 5 now!
Regarding The Fall novella included at the end of book one:
OMG!!!! The Fall is So good! What a moving story, beautifully written, betrayal by loved ones, gut wrenching hurt by this betrayal, makes one think, read this after book one, explains so much that I wanted to know, die well, live better, rakeena (Broken) not all have the strength to become “broken”… I pray you never understand why I have no choice , some lose too much. imagine this happening to you. What a great novella. 5⭐️

Action packed, great characters, awesome story.

Never a dull moment in this fantastic new world. The characters feel real. The battle scenes make you feel like you are there, and the narrator does a fantastic job of putting emotions into his performance.

loved it!! a well written classic fantasy

I really enjoyed this book. it has a great story line, likeable characters, magic, and DRAGONS...I was interested from start to finish. Derek Perkins absolutely crushes the narration. the author has maps and a glossary set up on his website since audiobook listeners tend to miss out on those things. if you like classic fantasy, magic and dragons you will love this one. it also comes with a prequel novella at the end.

Great!

Great story, great characters, action and magic! I enjoyed it and will definitely continue with the series!

Great first book!

What a fantastic book and start to a series! The character development is great and Ryan does a great job of building a rich and interesting world. The pacing is good and he always spends the right amount of time with a POV before moving to a different one. So you never feel like you're losing track of what's going on from jumping around to much in the story. Going to read the .5 novella, The Fall now and then jump right into book 2. I appreciate how there are a few novellas to give you even more lore and make the story even richer.

Excellent beginning to a new series!

I really enjoyed this book. This book has everything I love in epic fiction. There is an enormous detailed world filled with familiar races such as elves, dwarves, giants, and humans. The main characters all have depth and you can really pull for them. Even the evil characters were fleshed out & felt like they had depth.

The magic system was pretty cool and would be considered a soft system which I like. I’m not into the trend of creating weird magic systems in an attempt at creating a pseudo-science explanation for the magic. Ryan Cahill avoids this and I really like that.

My only real criticism is the use of curse words from the real world. I don’t mind them being used in books that take place in modern day or the future but when they’re used in fantasy it immediately pulls me out.

The narration was very good. I’d definitely like to hear more from Derek Perkins.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone that loves classic epic fantasy. Looking forward to the 2nd book in this series.

Standard Fantasy Story

Pretty good but nothing special so far. I will continue to the next book. If you like the genre it’s worth giving it a shot.