Deep within the forests of Nyn’Dira, darkness rises, and Neer finds herself hunted at every turn. Fleeing from relentless enemies and vicious creatures of darkness, she embarks on a treacherous journey through the dangerous woodlands in search of strength and salvation.
As the humans push further into the forbidden lands, the Nasir and his men close in, finding strength in the blood of the innocent. With the balance beginning to shift, Neer is caught in a war she was never meant to be in, and is forced to make a decision that could change the tides of fate, or cause it all to collapse and burn.
-Goodreads
Book Information
- Title: Shadows of Nyn’Dira
- Series: Fallen Light #3
- Author: H.C. Newell
- Page Count: 515
- Genre: Fantasy
- Rating: 4.75/5.0
- Date Read: October 14th, 2024
Opening Thoughts
My journey into the Fallen Light series by N.C. Newell began with book one (Curse of the Fallen) in July of 2023. I was hooked from that point on. Over the next year I read the second book (The Forbidden Realms) as well as a supporting novella (The Banished). I’ve been wanting to get to book three (Shadows of Nyn’Dira) since the end of January and I finally got to it here in October.
Pacing
The pacing was well done. I’m going to attempt to describe the pacing in my own words and hope it comes across well. There is plenty of suspense and action to be found in this fantasy tale. I wouldn’t exactly describe it as fast, slow or smooth though. Part of this may be due to the fact I wanted to take this one a bit slow and really enjoy my return to this series. The tale being told seemed very methodical to me is the best way I can describe it. There are plenty of eb and flow to be found throughout but the timing often seemed just right to me.
There are some interesting names of characters and locations throughout this book but by this point in the series, I think I’ve settled into how to pronounce them in my head.
World Building
The world building continues to grow as the story continues in another new region and what I’ll say biome. We’ve left the arid desert type of region and have returned to lush yet dark forest where it seems there is always something lurking in these shadows! We have much more involvement with the council and it’s members this time around which along with some visions or flashbacks really add even more depth to this world. The magic continues to be uniquely entertaining as some characters still wield it better than others. The factions with their alliances and bickering add some good flavor to things throughout this read as well.
Character Development
Then we have the characters. Many characters have returned and many paths have lead these characters back to each other as this story progresses. The depth and complexity to most of the characters in this story is certainly one of my favorite aspects. The way the author continues to deal with the number of relationships between all of these different characters, their cultures and for some their prejudices is fantastic. We also get to meet some new characters in this one which bring some new life to things.
Roundup & Recommendation
In closing I’d like to say a couple of things. The first is the fact I have no idea how I missed this information but going into this read, I thought this was the end of a trilogy. I was about 15-20% left in the book and was wondering how the author was going to wrap up such an epic tale in such a short amount of time where things were in the story. I was a bit shocked at the end and then at the back of the book it lists the names of all six books including the three yet to be released. I was floored at that point. It definitely changed how I experienced the ending of Shadows of Nyn’Dira. I might have received the ending a bit better knowing this going into this book though. So if you’re like me, know this isn’t the end of this story by any means.
The other shouldn’t be new to anyone who have already read the first two or three books before this read. Our author is NOT afraid to kill characters. So while I encourage to enjoy all the characters and this tale, always be prepared to possible lose some of your favorites. Death is certainly part of this world. This is also a very emotional draining dark story. I’ve had a lot of these lately and its actually taking a bit of a toll on me at this point. I’ve decided to change gears a bit for the rest of October and try to get in some shorter and perhaps lighter of heart type of reads.
All in all I’m loving this series and if any of the above sounds like something you’d enjoy, check out the Fallen Light series by H.C. Newell. If you’ve already started and just need to catch up, get on it but take your time and enjoy this ride as dark and dreary as it may be at times.
Scoring
World Building 5/5
Pacing 4.25/5
Character Development 5/5
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