Ratings24
Average rating4.6
Do not hesitate. Do not contemplate mercy. The Lorian Empire took everything from Dayne. His family. His home. His people. He will carve a bloody path through Epheria. He will have his vengeance, by blade and by blood. This is his story. The story of The Exile. Each part of The Exile is set at a different point in Dayne's life before his appearance in Of Darkness and Light, each exploring pivotal moments that crafted who he is. Dayne's exploits pre ODAL could take up an entire trilogy in and of themselves, but by making this a novella I am able to explore the truly big moments for him, providing you with some extra lore, without eating into the time of the main series. *Note: this is a companion novella, not a standalone novella. Previous books in the series should be read first.*
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3 primary books7 released booksThe Bound and the Broken is a 7-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2020 with contributions by Ryan Cahill. The next book is scheduled for release on 12/1/2024.
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The author has a special style in which he describes the world and the characters, which makes you, the reader, once you enter this world, never want to leave
This is the second novella in The Bound and the Broken series. It's technically about Dayne's time before Of Darkness and Light, but the author suggests reading it after book two. I would agree for the reader's enjoyment.
The author yet again does a fantastic job making a novella feel like a full length novel. Also again, there is amazing emotion, locations, and action, much like The Fall. From paragraph to paragraph your blood may be pumping, or your eyes may be tearing up, or sometimes both! Dayne has lived through some stuff.
I love how the author gives us this character's background and struggles. And I hope he continues giving us novellas throughout his writing. I'm impressed in his ability to mix short and long fiction with the same success, and for the same series. I believe this is his best work yet.
Most of the time I think novellas as “nice to haves”, sort of optional extras to a series, but The Exile is absolutely vital reading in this series.
In this novella, we follow Dayne as a young man when his home and people are destroyed by the Empire. We follow him as he exacts his revenge on certain people and meets a very interesting character who we meet in the main book.
Dayne is a really interesting character when he's introduced in Of Darkness and Light but there's so little backstory I felt quite disconnected from his storyline. This novella is exactly the backstory we needed but I can see why the author didn't include it, it would have just gone on too long and distracted from the other major storylines.
If you're unsure if you need to read this as part of the main story then I would say absolutely yes.
This novella is very different from previous works since it follows only one perspective, that of Dayne's. Dayne was introduced in Of Darkness and Light as a prominent character and this novella adds depth and fleshes out Dayne. The Exile is a book packed with action from start to finish and wonderful character developments.
However, it feels like the backstory of such an important character should have been explored more in the main series and maybe expanded in the novella.
Nonetheless, The Exile is an engrossing tale about vengeance, familiar love and persistence.