Firstlight

by Lyla Oweds, Orange Period (illustrator)

Dive into The Garden of Eternal Flowers in a new, exciting way through this fully illustrated character guide! What does it take to become an Officer? How does the reincarnation cycle work? When did Damen get his ear pierced, and how far does his tattoo go?

The world of The Garden of Eternal Flowers is vast and populated by fully-formed characters with their own rich lives and relationships. This character guide offers a unique view into them outside the limits of the main series' narration, giving an unvarnished look at the people who surround Bianca and how they relate to her and one another.

This book character profiles for all the Xing, including birthdays, bag contents, underwear preferences, and more!Detailed look at each type of supernatural race.Organized timeline of Bianca’s life.Detailed character profiles for every living, missing, and late officer.A careful explanation of the Officer system and what joining it entails.An exclusive 10-page comic that takes place before the series starts.And more! You do not need to read this to enjoy the main series in any way. This character guide is optional but contains highly recommended extra material to enrich your enjoyment of the main series. However, it is not necessary to follow Bianca’s adventures.

Kindle Edition

Published March 30, 2025

About the author

Lyla Oweds is an Amazon Bestselling paranormal romance and urban fantasy author who resides in the beautiful Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania. She grew up near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and is a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and has a deep appreciation for the paranormal, hauntings, and Edgar Allan Poe. As such, she loves all things fantasy, mystery, crime, and horror.

When not reading, writing, or working as a web programmer, Lyla can be found doing adult-y things such as being a single mom to a toddler and a bird. She also frequently enjoys makeup videos, massages, wine, and coffee.

Reviews

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Firstlight” is a book companion for the series “The Garden of Eternal Flowers.” This book is written by Lyla Oweds, and the art is by Orange. The goal of the Companion is to help you understand the books as you read, as well as to review them when questions arise or when further elaboration is needed. That being said, Oweds has stated that there will be additional companion readers as the series progresses! This companion novel begins with major terms/information first, then moves into each character, and then provides information regarding the books. This reminded me of how we learned terms in school before we learned to practical application. I was new to a lot of the phrases/terms used in the companion guide (my background is in Middle Eastern and European culture), so I did find it overwhelming at first. However, when I took it step by step, it was much clearer for me to understand.
It is written and presented in a manga-style companion read that is short, sweet, and simple for readers. The text and pictures guide you through the reading, which includes an overview of each of the stories: “Shadows of Nightshade” (book one), “Ashes and Lillies” (book two), and “Reflections of Peonies” (book three, which includes a QR code to pre-order.) Book four, “Brambles and Bellflowers”, is not included. The companion is well organized when I understood the format (see the last two sentences of the last paragraph). In my opinion, it is conducive to properly grasping the material concretely. I am not a major fan of manga, but I truly enjoyed the lightness and intricate designs by the artist. Each character appeared dynamic and full of expressions that are different from the other. At the beginning of the companion, the book has a cute and quirky illustration that reminds me of “The Usual Suspects” with each of the characters listed with their heights and personalities in full view. I loved that! It was a fun touch. If you are reading “The Garden of Eternal Flowers”, make sure you get your hands on “Firstlight”!

Lyla Oweds

[Luli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a cute and fun read! The art is absolutely beautiful, and it felt like I, myself, am intimate with the characters. It’s very immersive and now I just HAVE to reread all the books with all the illustrations and new info on the characters personal lives in mind.

If you’re a fan like me, I can definitely say this is a MUST read! You’ll discover some really interesting and quirky facts about all the MCs, such as the flavor of the cookies Miles makes for each member of his quintet and their magical properties, or going as far as knowing the characters underwear of choice (which was a very funny and pleasant surprise for me).

[Meg Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Firstlight

This is a fantastic companion to the garden of eternal flower series. The graphics are beautiful. All drawn buy a fantastic artist. This guidebook is not only helpful for the series, but also Just so cool for fans to have these images and graphics. It's such a cool concept and idea. Absolutely love it I highly recommend the series and This fantastically illustrated guidebook.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the Firstlight companion guidebook to be very helpful, and I liked the art. The Eternal Flowers series features a very large cast of characters that I had a hard time keeping track of, and this guide does a good job reviewing the characters, their connections, and their roles. Personally, I recommend reading it after Book 1.

[Jev Murry · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a manga/anime fan, this is so flipping cool! I love this series so much! It's so cool to be able to see the characters and have the visual explanation of how things work, I know I always have an issue with that! I hope they continue and actually turn the books into manag volumes! I also would like to buy this as physical book and add it to my manga collection!

[Mimi.Reads.Smut · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an informative and adorably artistic companion to the Garden series. I love the artistic style! It captures the characters nicely, and the information gathered is super helpful for keeping track of the backstories, families, abilities, and character connections. I loved this look behind the scenes of Bianca’s world 💜

[BLT · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG this is the best ever! Squeal it's so cute!!!
The illustrations and breakdown of all the characters is perfect.
I am so happy Lyla Oweds did this for her readers, it helps to visualize the Garden Of Eternal Flowers universe better.
We all have our own versions in our heads but to see her imagination take flight is so dang cute.
I Love, Love, Love This!!!!

[sycokittykat - Stefanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfection

This is exactly what I needed to visually remember all the relationships every time a new book comes out. I seriously need this as a physical book.

[˚•—S—•˚ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! Such a fun, cute and informative guide to the series