Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Sabre: The Rise of the Night Devil

Rate this book
The Sabres have deserted the Royal Skuas

Oaths shattered, they have fled in pursuit of Vice Admiral Oswald Leonard and the truth behind his disappearance. With their steel he may restore order, unless Commander Grenyard’s cutthroats find him first.
And should Leonard reach their kingdom’s nemesis, Merithia, the Sabres cannot let him defect.

Todd Witherow remains amongst them: a disgraced Sabre, the last of his line, trying to honour his family’s legacy.

Yet, Todd’s father lives. Three veterans continue their bloody journey across Arcaya to free him. Only Sir Alan Witherow can reform the Royal Skuas, whose archaic violence has imperilled his son. But they may be too late, for the kingdom now lies on the precipice of civil war...

Isolated, the Sabres skirt the outer reaches, beyond distant shores, where an even greater threat conspires... the dark power behind the rise of the Night Devil.

420 pages, Paperback

First published January 26, 25

1 person is currently reading
5 people want to read

About the author

C.S. Wood

2 books6 followers
Described as having 'a dark imagination', author C.S.Wood is 'proving to be an expert at his craft'.

He's spent over a decade immersed in a Gothic world, laying the foundations for his dark fantasy series, SABRE.

Craig spent his former years taking inspiration from Mary Shelly, Bram Stoker, James Herbert and Stephen King before being led down a Lovecraftian rabbit hole thanks to gruesome media such as Bloodborne, DOOM and The Thing (to name a few).

Born in the shire (Nottinghamshire), he also found a love for Tolkein and Rudyard Kipling, after going on many adventures with the Scouts, the Cadets, Duke of Edinburgh, and a band of feral friends.

He spent his childhood writing books, complete with gory sketches. This led him to study Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), where his writing developed. However, his wild imagination would lead him back into the world of fiction. At UCLan, he also studied history and Imperialism in Asia. He continues to be fascinated by world history, hence his love of all things Gothic.

When he's not writing gory scenes, Craig performs in a covers band called Parlaiz, he watches Nottingham Forest kick a football, and he dabbles in grim dark or Warhammer 40K. But his favourite passion is being a loving husband and father.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
11 (61%)
4 stars
6 (33%)
3 stars
1 (5%)
2 stars
0 (0%)
1 star
0 (0%)
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
Profile Image for Bookish Coffee UK.
343 reviews20 followers
January 31, 2025
SAVAGE AND PURE CARNAGE..

What an epic adventure, just absolute carnage - in a good way, well kinda. Like noone is safe, you think oh they wouldn't be killed off but honestly this author just enjoyed watching us all cry over the lost of our favourite characters, lol..

But have to say its very gripping and you get dragged around like a rag doll like your there with them all..

The brutal battles within this storyline just sucks you into each page, NO, into the very core of this book. The twists and turns, friendships and evil treachery will keep you glued in until the end..

Then someone else you like dies in the hands of an enemy, just when you think yes this team will make it and bring them down, then boom - someone else goes down and it rips you apart, then you feel like you have to pick yaself up again just to be thrown around like the other survivers..

Saying all this I was hanging on by a thread the whole time hope my absolute favs make it.. (which some of them didn't- which I will not name as I don't wanna steal your heartbreak)..

I will be awaiting for part 3 in eager anticipation and until then 'may the waves carry me' and keep me sane. Absolutely LOVE this series!
202 reviews1 follower
January 25, 2025
I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book ever since I read part I early last year! ❤️
I’m obsessed with this dark and perilous world and the character’s Wood has created 🖤
I described the last book as savage…this one was just absolutely relentless 😅 the gun fights, sword fights and even the fist fights are so bloody brutal and had my heart constantly racing fearing the destiny of my favourite characters 😓
I loved how the book was written how each chapter followed a different group and their difficult and dangerous tasks…
current Sabres Spike. Ness, Rob, Lanoch and young Todd and Abbey, who are searching for their Vice Admiral Oswald Leonard - veteran Sabres Don, Niamh (I just have ti mention how much I love these two ❤️) with Laith on a rescue mission to save Todd’s father Sir Alan Witherow who is the only one that has a chance of reforming the Royal Skaus and stopping the evil and ruthless Commander Grenyard who is taking over everywhere.
I feel like I can’t do this review justice and sum up how awesome part II was, my jaw hit the floor so much during this read especially the ending!! I’m so looking forward to part IiI!! I love (and hate) that you left us ‘hanging’ like that 😏🖤❤️💣🗡️
Profile Image for Fatguyreading.
868 reviews43 followers
January 31, 2025
I've been eagerly awaiting this since reading part one last year and let me tell you, it certainly did not disappoint.

We pick up where the first book left of, with another fast paced Steampunk-ish, fantasy with great darkly gothic tour de force.

It's a story of heroes and villians, of sea battles and land battles and fantastical creatures.

It's full on swashbuckling adventure, with great characters, old and new and an exciting, quick storyline that I'm sure you'll absolutely fly through ( I read this in three sittings ).

One of my favourite reads of 2025 up to now that I'm sure will end up in my top 10 by the end of the year.

5 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 's from me.
Profile Image for maria.
33 reviews4 followers
February 21, 2025
The Second book of this series is super fast paced and action-packed!
The twists and turns of the story make it super entertaining and keeps us wanting to read more and more.
The character development is amazing and allows us to connect to them.
I highly recommend this series!
Profile Image for madi.
133 reviews3 followers
February 1, 2025
A great sequel

The second book feels like a natural continuation of the first one and I would presume they were written at roughly the same time or not too far apart in time. The story focuses less on Todd and more on the adults that join their forces to help him, but he still gets a role. While the sequel retains some elements that I enjoyed in the first part (which I will not repeat here, hence a slightly shorter review), I feel that this one emphasizes a little more the characters' feelings, beliefs and conflicts, whether external or internal, how oaths, friendships and partnerships were born, broken, honored or nurtured.

It's one of those books that are not easy to review without spoiling what might ruin the story for some, I will just say that the character development is very good in this part. I still don't like Ness, but I'd like to give a small shoutout to Featherstone, Moira and of course Mary, all of whom I found endearing. As another comparison, I found the sequel more violent than the first part (I read them quite closely together), a bit quicker/more dynamic in a way and I would say the action is set more often on land than in the sea, or at least those scenes left a bigger impression on me this time. I also thought that the map and other meta-details about the story that were included in the book were a very nice touch.

Overall, I found this book and its prequel quite complex and enjoyable. My only personal disappointment was that it's not a children's book, I really enjoyed reading about Todd's experiences more than all the other characters and while in the first part I could have taken or left Abby, she became more endearing and one of the best character developments.

I recommend both books to anyone looking for an adventure and amazing worldbuilding (even better if they're into pirates or orcs!), just please keep in mind there are some violent scenes and lots of death, so it's not for young kids. I would also recommend doing as I did and reading both parts back to back. Looking forward to a third part.

I have received this book through the kindness of the author via Booktasters, in exchange for my honest opinion on it.
Profile Image for Paola Roman.
55 reviews5 followers
January 28, 2025
“Sabre: The Rise of the Night Devil” by C.S. Wood is the second part of the brilliant Sabre trilogy.

The epic saga continues with an incredible second instalment, where the author, outshines himself once again, in this fast-paced, dark-gothic, fantasy adventure tale.

We meet our heroes and villains, exactly where we left off in the first book, in search of Alan Witherow; the only person deemed to unite the Sabre’s to defeat the depraved Commander Grenyard and the demented Rias.

Todd becomes afflicted with strange dreams and is marked by the Malkoveleth witch, who foretells him a strange prophecy, which will bring humanity’s doom.

Embarking on a perilous journey to new lands, they will need every-strength to survive enemies from all sides. In a world where no one is safe, characters are challenged with loss and an urge for redemption, making the story feel real.

With brutal battle scenes, both at sea and at land, our heroes face a multitude of creatures, such as flesh-eaters, giant centipedes and scorpions. The battles are in fact so fierce, with such attention to detail, that at one point I was holding onto my leg.

The intensity of the novel, together with the lore, creates an engrossing 5 star read.

I must say, I was not expecting the twist towards the end of the book! This was a wonderful addition, which I am sure, will create a deeper storyline and a brilliant third book.

I very much loved the new added character, Featherstone.

The book contains a map and an appendix, with the emblems and hierarchy of each squadron, council and region, serving as a guide, to understand the journey travelled.

Highly recommend this novel, which is the second part of the trilogy. Eagerly anticipating reading the third book to see how the anarchy and chaos unfolds!

Jump aboard if you are ready to set sail on an adventure!
Profile Image for Fedythereader.
1,050 reviews31 followers
February 6, 2025
Thank you to the author and @booktaster_ on Instagram, for sharing an ARC of this book with me !!!

“For now, the Sabres continued to wonder if they had awoken from a nightmare. Haunted, exhausted and sodden, they set off in search of shelter”

To be fair, I think I can say that this series is getting a bit of my heart. I don’t think I want it back. These characters have a level of depth and darkness that can only be counterbalanced by some of their wit and ability to be funny even when times are dire. This book was full of many different things. More action, more secrets and more war.
Some friends abandoning us and some new friends added in the picture. The plot started right where we left off in book one so it wasn’t even hard to get into it straight away. While I was reading, it felt a lot like ie as trying to figure out where the characters were supposed to move to, after book one and slowly after each plot twists happening here. The pirate vibes were very much still there and they truly are the best kind of vibes and tropes. The found family is still strong and I love it. Every chapter was a new part of the adventure I was eager to get to and every new discovery was one I wanted to mark somewhere so that I could remember it and allow all the pieces of the puzzle to find their right place.
And when I got to the end … those last pages felt like the other cliffhanger I was waiting for. What Todd found out there … I was feeling it with him. And after everything we’ve learned about him in the entire book - added to what we knew from the previous one - it felt like another pieces that is now left without it’s half. I can’f wait to find it !!!
Profile Image for Sonja Charters.
2,847 reviews142 followers
January 28, 2025
 

This is the second book in the Sabre series - and I read the first book, Sabre part 1 - The Shattered Oath - almost a year ago now.

Part 1 left us on such a cliffhanger and I was desperate to see how this would continue.

I still believe that this will form part of a trilogy.

Again, this isn't my usual go-to genre, but having already taken the plunge with book 1, I had to go all in and grab book 2 as soon as I could!

 

Also, just look at this front cover again!

I was drawn in by the dark and creepy vibes that book one gave us - and this cover just matches perfectly!

 

I was a little shocked when I first received this book, at how much bigger than book 1 it was - I sometimes struggle with this genre and the chunky sizes of them - but on checking the page count, this still fell within my normal novel sizes and once I was in, I raced through this easily.

 

We continue the journey with another fast-paced and action-packed read.

There were so many battles and I was living in fear for all of the characters lives throughout, not sure just how brutal Wood might be with our hearts!

It was great that each of the chapters followed a different group so that we got to experience each of the encounters as they happened.

 

I'm unsurprised after last time, that we are once again left hanging at the end of this book, which makes me desperate to get my hands on the third and final part.

This would make such a great book to binge all parts in quick succession - but I guess I'll have to be patient and keep watch for what's to come....
Profile Image for Christine.
127 reviews7 followers
February 5, 2025
It's the final stop on the tour for Sabre: The Rise of the Night Devil. I'm so glad to be returning to this world after reading part 1 last year, and after leaving us on a heck of a cliffhanger at the end of part 1 I was desperate to know what happened and knew it would be a heck of a ride!

This book was everything that I hoped it would be and more... full of action in terms of land and sea battles set in a great world with new and returning characters and a storyline that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

I honestly flew through this and was thoroughly immersed in the world and story, to the point I did not see that twist coming!! I can't wait to see what happens in the next one! But I can't recommend this series enough if you are looking for a fantasy series with a bit of difference and you love steampunk. Give this a read I can assure you, you won't be disappointed!
Profile Image for Dwayne Mathers.
117 reviews7 followers
February 5, 2025
Sabre Part Two: The Rise of the Night Devil by C.S. Wood is the second instalment in the Sabre Series, a gripping steampunk fantasy.

The novel unfolds across three intertwining story arcs that shape the overarching narrative. The first follows Todd Witherow as he and his Sabre colleagues set out to uncover the fate of the Vice Admiral and the mystery surrounding his disappearance. The second centres on Todd’s father, Sir Alan Witherow, and those determined to free him, believing only he can restore the Royal Skuas. Meanwhile, the third arc explores the turmoil within the kingdom, as the king and the nobility struggle to withstand growing civil unrest and its devastating impact on their lands.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first book and was eagerly anticipating this sequel. Book one served as an origin story, introducing the characters, the world, and the unfolding conflict. Sabre Part Two picks up seamlessly, launching straight into action with impeccable pacing. The character and world-building remain just as compelling, and despite the multiple storylines, each is easy to follow. The plot is rich with intrigue and excitement, and while in the first book I found Todd Witherow’s journey the most engaging, this time, I was equally captivated by all three arcs each one keeping me turning the pages.

I haven’t read many steampunk novels, but C.S. Wood has certainly set the bar high. If you enjoy fast-paced action with intriguing storylines, this is well worth reading - but do start with book one!
Profile Image for Kathryn.
282 reviews17 followers
January 28, 2025
This book dives straight back into the action with the surviving characters from the first book. This installment is even more brutal than the first! Dark, shocking and gruesome. There were a couple of times when I had to go back and read a page again because I couldn't believe what had just happened!

Full on adventure and never a dull moment. I was almost scared to like any of the characters in case they were next to meet a grisly end.

This book is for you if you enjoy dark, exciting adventure stories with a steampunk twist.
Profile Image for Sofiya’s Library.
15 reviews
February 7, 2025
What an adventure! Still with the gothicky feel Part 2 has felt a little slower in pace but just as great as The Shattered Oath.

I’ve been really enjoying the change in scenery and how the different lands feel like their own little terrarium.

The complete and utter disgust for Grenyard is real, while seeing the growth and development in Todd is incredibly sweet.

I don’t think I’ll be continuing with the third book, but if you like really in depth lineage, world building and pirates, this series is for you!
Profile Image for Sue Wallace .
7,429 reviews142 followers
February 4, 2025
Sabre part 2 by C.S Wood.
The Rise of the Night Devil.
Wow. I loved the cover and blurb of this book. I read and loved part 1, so I couldn't wait to read this book. I love the covers for both books. Oh, my days. I loved everything about this book. The battles, creatures like scorpions, giant centipedes, and flesh eaters. I couldn't put this book down. There was a jaw-dropping double twist. I absolutely can't wait for the next book. I would most definitely recommend this series.
8 reviews
February 7, 2025
This book is dark, brutal, intense and fast paced. It captivated me from the beginning. The authors’s attention to details and vivid descriptions were exceptional. I could visualize the characters and feel their emotions. The appendix was very useful. This is not my usual genre of books but I could not put it down. Waiting for Part III.
Profile Image for Danielle Brown.
379 reviews23 followers
February 1, 2025
This book is epic.. the dark and devastating world C.S Wood has created is immersive and engaging.. The storyline is fast paced and action packed and could only be described as complete and utter carnage.. The characters are brilliant and I really enjoyed the whole thing.
Profile Image for mommy_and_books.
1,417 reviews34 followers
April 24, 2025
" [...] When I finally meet our maker, I’ll best whatever hell the devil has in store for you... [...]"

First of all, congratulations to the author for the number of pages. The second volume is almost twice as thick as the first. What does that mean? More unique story, adventures and dangers. I don't know how C.S. Wood did it, but in my opinion the second volume, "Sabre. The Rise of the night devil" is much better than the first and fully deserves 10/10. I wonder what the third volume will be like.

The cover doesn't impress me, but it is interesting. I have to tell you about the paper of this book. The pages are very nice to the touch. When you run your finger over the letters, you get the impression that they are convex. This is the first time I have encountered something like that. Another plus for this book.

Without knowing the first part titled "Sabre. The Shattered Oath", I advise you not to read the second one, which is "Sabre. The Rise of the Night Devil".

I like the dark and dangerous world that the author created. I followed the fate of the main characters with bated breath. There were moments when my heart stopped and tears flowed freely. Wood described the battles both at sea and on land in an amazing way. It was very bloody. I had the impression that I was right in the middle of these events. Emotions while reading this book are guaranteed.

Despite almost 400 pages, you get lost in this novel for hours. Unfortunately, I was unable to tear myself away from reading. Is that a good thing?

At the beginning of this book, I found an interesting map. Let me tell you, it is worth taking a closer look at it. The chapters are quite short, so they read smoothly.

The fast-paced action, its twists and betrayals attract readers like a magnet.
I love the "Sabre" series, and I secretly hope it won't end with the third volume.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.