Description
A hero pursued by darkness.
A firebrand with something to prove,
And a sword that drinks the souls of men.
The epic saga continues with Realmbound’s second installment, The Sword of the Void!
The realms of earth and Valion have been bound, saved thanks to the power of the mighty scions.
Finally, the world can know peace…but peace never lasts.
Rian Asher, scion of storms, has a dark power brewing inside of him…a power that could pose a greater threat than the demons he fought to defeat. Karina Kane desires her own power, and by becoming a spell-weaver of Valion she can have just that…along with all the problems that come with it. And In the shadows, the demon prince Zanthios assembles a dark force of his own, a force capable of destroying the scions and leaving the realm itself shattered.
The scions have risen, but darkness has also taken rise. When the demon strikes, who will be left to stand against him and his dark artifact…the mighty sword of the void?
From best-selling author Darren Hultberg Jr comes the next chapter in this post-apocalyptic fantasy epic! Continue the journey today!
gerald douglas –
A Storm is Coming!
Rian and his cohorts continue their quest for peace as their enemies have regrouped and seek to steal the souls and power for their own means. This is a great evolution of the saga as each player here learns more about their new normal, their powers and each other. This storytelling is tighter as more characters are introduced and more of the dramatic backstories are unveiled.
Twists abound from all corners and get ready to ride along as many sides converge to see who will run the realm.
Sean Duregger also tailors his narration with this growth. His voicing of Rian’s power takes on more and more confidence with each hurdle lifted as well as the desire for power matches the other characters.
Ryan Pascall –
Following on from the first book in this series, which I was a little disappointed by due to the surprisingly immature content, I had hoped that this one would take an more dark and grown up turn. While this wasn’t the case, there was certainly more here to get my teeth into.
Please note that there are some spoilers below.
With the introduction of several more key characters and, equally, more villains there was definitely a much improved sense of scale and threat to the proceedings.
I really enjoyed the arrival of Vivian and the dynamic this caused between Rian and Carina. Shortly after her arrival, the battle against the Terrareaper was one of the best scenes in either book and conjured images or many a great anime or comic book.
With Vivian’s arrival, along with her desire to protect herself, Carina chose to leave the group and this was very a bold move but I do feel her departure was handled with an apparent of importance and almost felt brushed over.
This did lead to a very interesting and enjoyable side-story though surrounding Corina’s tutelage in Bolivar and the eventual attack by a long thought dead friend.
How the stories then reunite during the siege and Carina gets to prove her martial and magical capability was brilliant and her battle against her rival was really enjoyable and thrilling.
To summarise, there is a lot happening here and a lot more character growth than the original book. Equally, while not a dark moody book, it does feel like the author has embraced the YA style and this story was all the better for it, meaning I am certainly eager for the next story.
Of course, all this would be naught had Sean Duregger not given the story such passion, infusing every battle with tempo and excitement and every character a sense of ID that a lesser narrator may have missed.
In closing, as a YA book this tale really works. Characters are deeper and more interesting, the battles are far more complex, written with much more visual flair and the overarching story is exhilarating. My only real complaint is the link to the real Earth Realm is pretty much gone, with only the rarest mentions of anything that link us to Rian’s world and this, I feel, is a real shame.