The Forbidden Realms by H.C. Newell
Book II of the Fallen Light series.
Nerana is a sorceress. An exile. The Child of Skye.
And she isn't alone.
After a vicious attack against the Order of Saro, Nerana finds herself lost in the wastelands of Aragoth. Forbidden of humans or evae, the desert is a land teeming with fire and vengeance, and Nerana's only hope for survival lies in the trust of another.
Aélla, a powerful evaesh sorceress, travels the desert on a pilgrimage of sacrifice and strength. Determined to enter the Realm of Elements and see her quest completed, she must survive the hardened warriors of the desert, the vaxros, who banished her kind from their land centuries ago.
But the vaxros aren't the only threat, and the weight of such imbalance could shift the fate of the world.
About the author
H.C. Newell is an American author of epic fantasy. She is best known for the Fallen Light fictional universe, in which her fantasy novel Curse of the Fallen, is set.
Newell began her writing journey at a young age. In elementary school, she would often write small plays for her and her cousins to perform. In middle and high school her love of writing transformed into fiction literature, which she would write in spiral-bound notebooks. By 2015, she had written more than 5 romance and young adult novels and several short stories. In 2014, she started the Fallen Light series, and has currently published the first two books of the series.
Newell lives in Nashville, TN with her husband.
Review
‘The Forbidden Realms’ is just what you want from a sequel - packed full of action, emotion and adventure! The world has progressed from the ‘Curse of the Fallen’ from the forest and caves to the heat and dust of the desert. I would advise that you read ‘Curse of the Fallen’ before reading this book as you will not be given a-lot of background about what happens in the first one and it's imperative for you to know it before reading this one. In fact the author has just released an extended version of the first book! So there is never a better time to delve into this great series.
Nerana is a sorceress, an exile from her country as the ruling Order of Saro has declared her a Child of Skye, a demon. After being attacked she teleports and finds herself in the waste desert lands of Aragoth. Humans and evae are banned, life is relentless under the sun and the heat is blistering. But she is no longer alone as there is another sorceress thrown into the mix. Aella is a powerful evaesh sorceress and is travelling in the area on a pilgrimage of sacrifice and strength. She wants to enter the Realms of Elements and Neer decides to join her and learn about her magic!
I completely loved coming back to this world, as I fell for Neer in the last book. This one has a slightly slower opening but from about 20-25% in the action ramps up and doesn't stop till the final pages and ends in a huge reveal! I loved the influx of new characters, especially Dru and Y’ven. I hope we find out a little bit more about them and how they came to know one another etc. It was endearing to see how they all came together as a group and really meshed to form a tight knit force to be reckoned with. I did get Thallon and Thorne mixed up to begin with which confused me mightly but then I was reading it with a migraine!
The pacing of this book was brilliant after the introductionary section and the action just kept coming at the reader at a ferocious pace! But it has left me intrigued and desperate for more, thankfully there is a novella to dive straight into which looks at what has been happening the Avelloch during this period!
Honestly can't wait for the third book!
