Of War and Ruin (The Bound and the Broken #3) by Ryan Cahill

In Of War and Ruin, our heroes must ask themselves tough questions, make hard choices, and be exposed to great dangers.

At well over a thousand pages, Of War and Ruin is the lengthiest book I’ve read this year.

While I finished a couple of other books while still reading this one, it still took me longer than I’d have liked. Regardless, I’m finally done and happy to share my thoughts on the read.

Synopsis

Fresh from his heroics at Kingspass, Calen faces the evil bleakness of the Burned Lands as he looks to cross into the North in search of Rist, who’s steadily rising through the ranks in Battlemage training.

Dayne and Alina have to put aside familial sentiment as they strive to build a stronger nation free of the shackles of Lorian imperialists, while Dahlen and Belina plot in the dwarven realms. Meanwhile, Ella moves ever closer to discovering the truth of her newfound powers, intent on finding her brother, Calen,

In Of War and Ruin, our heroes must ask themselves tough questions, make hard choices, and be exposed to great dangers. It’s an adventure from start to finish, a journey through the marvellous lands and races of Epheria that remains as vivid as ever.

Characters and POVs

In Of War and Ruin, we see several plot threads following key characters, with only a handful converging at the end of the story.

I particularly enjoyed the POVs of Dayne Atere and Ella Bryer, as they proved to be some of the most developed characters by the time the book started winding to a close.

It was interesting to watch Ella grow into her powers and Dayne continue on his path to rediscovering the respect of his clan and nation and the adoration of his strong-willed sister, Alina.

Pacing, wordcount and worldbuilding

As a fan of Tolkien’s epic world, Ryan Cahill is a detailed worldbuilder keen on all the fine details. While you’d probably expect to be used to it at this point, I struggled a bit with the hefty word count.

In light of its sheer volume, there were fewer action points than I would have liked in the book. Regardless, the lore and world are great, vivid and immersive.

Slow spells

For frustrating spells in the book’s first half, it felt like nothing much was happening, even though it was clear that a lot of plotting was in place.

While the order of events suggests that there’s no all-out convergence involving all of the main characters in one go, The Bound and The Broken still feels like it could end anywhere.

Verdict

Although the anticipated climax turned out tepid, a few high points along the way mean that Of War and Ruin isn’t an altogether boring book.

Far from being a dull read, there are a few tasty battles, and the final confrontation is nicely prolonged, with some juicy scenes of utter carnage to go with the mix.

There remains much to play for in the next book in the series.