The Power of Conviction

The Light of Darkness, Book 1

By: Catrin Russell

Narrated by: Jez Jameson

Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Darkness creeps across the Midlands. The Priesthood must rise against its terrifying presence.

"A grim and bloody tale of faith, forbidden love and revenge. Will have you at the edge of your seat wishing for more!" (The Magic Book Corner)

Trained in the arts of the Light, the priests tread a bloodied path through the scores of demons, seeking to rid the world of their unholy presence. The fight against demonkind grows increasingly perilous, threatening the Priesthood's very survival.

Priestess Anaya stands resolute in her conviction. Despite the dangers she must endure, her faith in the Goddess and Her divine supremacy remains steadfast. She intends to follow the commands of her High Priest, no matter how gruesome.

Then comes a day when all her beliefs are challenged.

A fateful meeting with the elusive demon Samael opens the doors to doubt. Anaya begins to question the very foundation of the Priesthood and the preachings of the Goddess.

Could they be wrong about demonkind? Is her purpose in life truly for naught?

The Light of Darkness series is intended for a mature audience, containing sensitive subjects including violence, torture, consequences of sexual abuse, emotional scars, mature language, and steamy scenes.

The Light of Darkness is perfect for listeners who enjoy visceral, gripping epic fantasy tales with dark undertones. Download today.

©2019 Catrin Russell (P)2022 Catrin Russell

Critic reviews

"A grim and bloody tale of faith, forbidden love and revenge. Will have you at the edge of your seat wishing for more!" (The Magic Book Corner)

One of the best Fantasy Books I have ever Read!!

Power of Conviction is the debut novel for Catrin Russell in her ‘The Light of Darkness’ series, but you would think she has been writing for years with the quality of both the story and the characters.
Whilst the story does follow the path of a couple of main characters here and there for plot purposes, it mainly follows the character of Anaya Caelin, a Senior Priestess of the Goddess of Holy Light.
We also learn about the story of the founder of the Order, the High Priest, Ekelon Hamptom, who become the High Priest after being granted special powers by the Goddess of Holy Light to help him defeat Demons that had ravaged his village. Since then, he has made it his mission in life to eradicate the Demon threat to humanity.
The Author has created this in-depth, and intricate world to tell her story in, full of amazing detail. The story has been set in a Middle-Ages style of era; however, the characters have the ability to draw on holy abilities from the Goddess, and there are Demons in the land. The Author has taken a few liberties to make the story her own, but the details are captivating overall. The descriptive work, quality and multiple levels of Demons is not only fascinating, but adds this whole extra layer to the story that is intriguing. It also provides an engaging enemy for the Priesthood.
However, as the story unfolds, Anaya begins to realise that everything she has been taught over the years about Demons might not be true. I don’t want to give too much away, No Spoilers, but the way the story unfolds is intriguing to say the least. Anaya meets Samael, a Demon, on several occasions, and these meetings are far from what she is used to with Demon-kind, he is different, not violent, playful, humourous, inquisitive, traits a Demon is not meant to have according to her teachings.
This is a book that takes a look at how we can be so sure about something, because of how we are taught something, but only because of a certain point of view – it all depends on the perspective of the person doing the teaching. If you change that perspective, you can quickly change that point of view. And years of doctrine can suddenly start to unravel.
The really powerful aspect of this book is the Character work, Catrin Russell’s Character writing is just exceptional, especially given this was her first ever book.
Anaya’s character is just stunning, this beautiful and powerful young woman, taught from a young age to think a certain way, but through her own intelligence and strong moral code, she sees that there are more ways than just the one she is being taught. Anaya has a special affinity with the Goddess as well, being particularly powerful as a Priestess. More than that though, she is able to see the true inner self of a person. A good example of this is one of the other Characters in the book, Edric, another Senior Priest, who is very gruff and comes across as very obnoxious to nearly everyone. However, he has a secretive past, and whilst Anaya does not know this past, she does know that he is a good person inside, and so does not give up on him, nor does she block him out like the others do. Anaya is the only one that will work with Edric, and Edric has a close bond with Anaya.
And this is the real power of Russell’s character writing, in that you can feel the bonds between these characters, and you really start to get to know them as you read about them. You become really engaged with her characters, wanting to learn more about them, and to know what is happening with them, and suddenly, you have finished book 1!! And so you start on book 2 as you just have to know what is going to happen next!!
There are several other wonderful Characters in this story, Lenda, Anaya’s friend, who is just wonderful, we meet several young ‘Disciples’ training to be Priests, as well as multiple Priests who all go on Missions, most who don’t return thanks to one Demon or another. Without spoilers, one of the other really intriguing characters is Samael, the Demon that interacts with Anaya. He brings a whole new level of depth to the story, and really changes how Anaya (and the reader) perceives Demons, making this story all the more enthralling.
Added to that is the action and romance that are intertwined throughout this story. There are multiple rather intense love stories (and I mean Intense!!) that are told as the characters tell their individual tales. This makes for an interesting diversion to the main story of Human vs Demon, and adds a very human element to the story. Russell does a brilliant job of portraying these very intimate stories.
The other part of this Fantasy story that Russell has done with exceptional skill is the combat and fight scenes. There are some brutal fight scenes in this book, as the Demons and Priests fight in what are gritty, graphic and very realistic portrayals of combat that ends up with multiple characters dead (don’t get too attached to anyone). When you read a Fantasy story, there is always going to be combat, it is just a part of the genre, and so it is important that the Author get it right, not only has Russell done this, but she has captured the magical aspects as well, (The scenes in which the Priests use some of their abilities is just captivating, and totally awe inspiring, as different Priests unleash the powers of the Goddess of light and literally smite Demons, you are left re-reading passages it is so sensational).
This is an extraordinary Debut Novel, and anyone that loves Fantasy of any type will absolutely love it. I have to admit that I normally don’t read a lot of Fantasy, preferring Sci-Fi, but this is worth reading regardless of genre as it is something special. I am already into the 2nd book and have bought the rest of the series I thought this book was so good – do yourself a favour and get a copy!!
Jez Jameson is an easy listen, with a clear and concise voice, he has a very easy voice to listen to. He does a good range of character voices, so that you can distinguish between the different characters and tell who is talking without having to be told. Russell has written the story well for audio, without a lot of he said/she said, so the story flows nicely for the Narrator during dialogue. Jameson does a good job with the emotional state of the characters, letting you know how the characters are feeling as he tells the story, so you know if they are happy, sad, angry or elated, conveying so much more in the telling of the story, and making this a really enjoyable listening experience. This is absolutely worth the listen, such a beautiful story, and Narrated so well.