Of War and Ruin (The Bound and the Broken #3)[July 24, 2024]

[Yanique, Thread Master]

This is a Buddy Read for Of War and Ruin by Ryan Cahill starting on July 24, 2024.


Happy Reading!

[Nirkatze]

Thank you!

Scheduling as we go!
1. Of Blood and Fire (March 24) [Link]
Also The Fall
2. Of Darkness and Light (May 24) [Link]
Also The Exile
3. Of War and Ruin (July 24)
Also The Ice
4. Of Empires and Dust (Awaiting Publication)

Audio: Audible Only
Eye: Kindle Unlimited.

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

Thanks, Yanique!

[Nirkatze]

Started yesterday! Enjoying so far--lots of great moments!--though having trouble paying attention, so don't have a lot of notes. Through Chapter 24 (view spoiler)[Dahlen & Belina are my favorite storyline. B is just so fun.

Getting Calen & his brother's reunion right in the opening was a nice point--at least they're on the same side... but tentatively... Also glad that Ella finally knows about her family. And Dayne finally coming out to his people too... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Also--great recap on Cahill's website--I totally read through this before starting.

https://ryancahillauthor.com/story-so...

[Nirkatze]

Through Chapter 44. (view spoiler)[Man, I was nervous about Rist being trained up by the enemy, but him getting letters from his parents... and then finding it's all been a lie, and his parents were being tortured the whole time... that was a gut punch! Glad Calen was able to free them... but I'm a little confused on where this is all going on geographically etc, that Rist wasn't where Calen was searching for him...

Wasn't expecting Daymon to die... thought he'd be an arrogant prick causing trouble for a while yet... but just as he was about to turn things around is a real shame. Rather reminds me of that one king in Stormlight...

With how many times Farder's coin comes up heads, I'm starting to wonder if it might be rigged... (hide spoiler)]

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

I have to admit - I completely forgot about this read 😅

I'll probably get started on it at some point this week.

[Nirkatze]

I finished and enjoyed it! Though I've been doing a bad job of reading and not commenting this past week, and now have completely forgotten most of what I might've said about the ending... I have a vague recollection of (view spoiler)[scenes we've been waiting for--reunions long delayed since book 1, and revelations of truths we've also been waiting for...

And the biggest revelation, that of Rist's parents... that one scene when he declared his trust in the Empire, and then asked his mentor to deliver the letter to his parents... and his mentor flinched... Oooooh that was a moment. That's the next revelation I'm waiting for, that and Rist coming face-to-face with Calen... he still doesn't know that he's the Draleigh, does he? At least he saw/met Ella, and Fain has chosen a side...

I really liked Dayne's storyline too, his support of his sister, and leading on the dissenters just to crush them. Very satisfying.

Daymon, Dahlen, and the Dwarves is probably the storyline that I was least interested in, shame since Belina is still my fav. (hide spoiler)]

Also read 3.5 The Ice. I like how these novellas are snippets of history leading up to the current events, and answer little questions. (view spoiler)[It was nice to know about the origin of the dragon egg, and to learn more of Dahlen & Erik's father's backstory, and see the boys as children. (hide spoiler)]

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

I'm slowly making my way through this one. It's not bad, but I'm wishing I could read a version of it that is less than 1000 pages.

[Nirkatze]

I hear you... Audio definitely made it not drag for me.

[Choko]

I am with Jenna. This book is taking me forever. I think I really wanted it to live up to the hype for me, but something is missing... It's not bad at all, just something isn't there .. It's interesting, because a ton of people have it really high on their lists, and I can honestly say, I don't really see it. It wouldn't crack my top 100 ...

[Nirkatze]

Mmm, I can see that. I enjoyed it, but I wasn't excited about it--even the parts that were long-time coming and hoped for. I think I also read it at a good time--long car drive--and just kinda floated through it. Almost cozily.

[Choko]

That makes a difference. I have been reading it while watching the Olympics, so it hasn't been keeping up with the energy:))))

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

Choko wrote: "I am with Jenna. This book is taking me forever. I think I really wanted it to live up to the hype for me, but something is missing... It's not bad at all, just something isn't there .. It's intere..."

YES! Every single word in this comment is exactly how I feel right now. I'm about 3/4 of the way through now, and I'm just hoping that something epic happens at the end, or I might not continue with the series.

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

Nirkatze wrote: "Mmm, I can see that. I enjoyed it, but I wasn't excited about it--even the parts that were long-time coming and hoped for. I think I also read it at a good time--long car drive--and just kinda floa..."

This sounds so therapeutic <3

[Choko]

Jenna, I have been distracting myself with shorts, because I feel like once I read them, I have accomplished something! This i have been reading for ever! The books are beautiful, but where is the substance? I love Malazan, GoT and Wheel of Time, so it has nothing to do with them being humongous tomes. It's the writing. It needs a really good editor and it should fit the same content and emotion in half as many pages...

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

Choko wrote: "Jenna, I have been distracting myself with shorts, because I feel like once I read them, I have accomplished something! This i have been reading for ever! The books are beautiful, but where is the ..."

Yes, as long as the quality is consistent throughout, I also love a good doorstopper. The right book will make you forget about the page count because you're so wrapped up in the plot, but I'm not getting that from this installment.

[Choko]

Finished Ch. 38... (view spoiler)[ I am also surprised at how quickly Daymon and Evan died... It felt so pointless... He was not the sharpest knife in the cupboard, but I was hoping for a growth arc with him...

Obviously, these gem amulets have some life draining and controlling qualities... I wonder who and why controls them and are they all on the dark side, or are there some that might be used in a more positive manner...

I hope Reist doesn't become completely brainwashed by his tutors and the Emperor...

I was actually bugged here by a trope I usually love, maybe because it was random and just there to give information to the MC. I am talking about the random Druid... How convenient to just meet a character to recharge your health and give you clues, and then just to disappear as quickly as he appeared. I wish we had actually seen more of him as a character instead of being used as an information rest station...

I think I like Dayne the best of all the characters so far. Together with
Belina and Dahlen...:) (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Ch. 53... (view spoiler)[ Where did the Elves get the six dragons? And why are they attacking now?

I hate that Reist just killed a young elf and took her life energy! I don't know if he hasn't gotten on the dark path and if there is a return from it ...

I do feel really sad for what has been done to Reist's parents though.... (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Finished Of War and Ruin...For most of the book, it was trending towards a 2 star read, but I did appreciate the last battle and bumped it up to 3*. (view spoiler)[ I am not a big fan of Calen. I was thinking of other book series, where the young man goes through changes and becomes unlikable for a while, and the two that immediately came to mind were Harry Potter and Rand in Wheel of Time... But in both of those we had such great foundations for the guys' characters and we saw the progression, we knew their motives and we could understand that they were going through things they had to work out and eventually come to terms with... Calen has all the reasons for his behavior, he also has the emotional connection with the dragon, which fires him up even more, but he comes off much more petulant and unreasonable... For as much page time as we get with him, we should be much more in touch with his emotional turmoil than we actually are. There are too many words and too little emotional payoff, does that make sense??? I mean, you guys know I am an emotional sap and read with my heart first, and the only truly emotional moment in the book for me was when Reist's parents were traveling with the rebels and they were struggling to come back to some semblance of normalcy... That's it!

Still, the last battle was pretty awesome and I am invested in the story and want to know where it will take us... (hide spoiler)]

Jumping straight into the novella...

[Choko]

Forgot to say, his friend's poem and the description of his paper statues - made me laugh! We need more moments like that!

[Choko]

Finished

The history of the egg was pretty cool. Apart from making me feel that Calen and his dragon have better be worth all the lives that were lost to bring them to this point!, it also brought a lot of questions... Those Druids ... Apparently they are much more important to the story than we have been led to believe so far. I need more information for sure!

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

Finally finished!

I did a wee bit of skimming leading up to the final battle, but I totally agree @Choko that it was pretty epic at the end there.

Just....not enough to redeem the more than 1000 pages leading up to it. The longer things got drawn out, the less I started to care about all the characters I liked in the first two. I didn't hate it, but I feel very disappointed after the improvement from book 1 to 2.

I'm not even sure what else to say about this book at this point. Whenever I start a spoiler comment and write about certain characters or events that I liked, it ends up derailing quickly into a complaint so I keep deleting it. I enjoyed Dayne's storyline, so at least there's that. I hope you guys enjoy the next one a lot more. :(

[Marie]

I see that the series is still struggling to warrant it's hype in this group. I still plan to pick it up again eventually but it seems like I am not missing much.

[Choko]

I agree. The thing is, on paper, this should be perfect for me! It has all the elements I love and I always root for authors who take on this type of epic endeavor. It just didn't come together right... It is still very linear for the most part, and simplistic not in the way the story is told, but character wise... It would have benefited greatly from some good, merciless editing.

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

Marie wrote: "I see that the series is still struggling to warrant it's hype in this group. I still plan to pick it up again eventually but it seems like I am not missing much."

A lot of my GR friends rated this book very highly, so it might still be worth it to read and decide which camp you fall under.

But as Choko just mentioned, some very merciless editing would do wonders for this book. It really does have everything I love in a fantasy book, and I'll look out for future series that Cahill writes since I think he has a lot of potential, but the execution just wasn't there for this one.

[Nirkatze]

It's interesting, I definitely liked this a lot more than y'all did... but I can't put a finger on why. Maybe I didn't have as high expectations--I wasn't aware of any hype? I enjoyed this but didn't love/rave it.

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

Nirkatze wrote: "It's interesting, I definitely liked this a lot more than y'all did... but I can't put a finger on why. Maybe I didn't have as high expectations--I wasn't aware of any hype? I enjoyed this but didn..."

I didn't have any expectations from people hyping it up or anything, but since I thought a lot of the issues with book one had improved in book two, I assumed that book three would be on the same track (or at least equal to book two in quality). Instead, I thought the pacing was better in book one than three.

Nirkatze wrote: "I enjoyed this but didn't love/rave it."

^^ This is exactly how I felt about book two. It was a good experience, a classic fantasy that felt like a comfort read. Fairly predictable but enjoyable. And I think this book would have been the same -- it was a continuation of a classic adventure with multiple interesting stories. It ultimately came down to the pacing, which was in dire need of an edit.

I'm really glad that out of the three of us, at least you enjoyed it! I didn't hate it, but even that ending couldn't redeem it for me. It was one of those books that I wanted to like more, but I'm pretty quick to drop a series if I'm not enjoying it — "so many books, so little time" and all that — but I will read more of Ryan Cahill if he comes out with a different series.

[Choko]

Jenna, you and I are on the same wave here!