What do you think?
Rate this book
Twilight and Dawn: The Unexpected Adventures of Will Daring Book 1
For readers who love the magic of Harry Potter, the layered mythos of His Dark Materials, and crave the introspective depth of The Name of the Wind—this is your next journey.
Blending epic fantasy with the pulse of a thriller, Twilight and Dawn follows a quiet, reluctant hero into a world of fractured realms, ancient conspiracies, and dangerous truths buried beneath myth.
Will Daring doesn’t fit the mold of a hero. He prefers the stillness of wild forests to the weight of prophecy. But when a strange journal leads him beyond the borders of his sleepy town, he’s pulled into a forgotten war where every choice could shift the balance between worlds.
Haunted by secrets, hunted by shadows, and bound to a fate he never asked for, Will must decide what he’s willing to stand for—before everything he knows is swallowed by darkness.
For fans of fast-paced stories with emotional depth, underdog heroes, and immersive worldbuilding, Twilight and Dawn is the perfect entry point into the world of epic fantasy.
408 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 4, 2025
5 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
W.A. Nash
1 book4 followersW.A. Nash is a fantasy author based in Apex, North Carolina, with roots reaching back to the mist-covered hills and cold-water creeks of New York’s Finger Lakes region.
A veteran of the U.S. Air Force and professional engineer, Nash turned to writing after complications from epilepsy rerouted his life, channeling his creative energy into storytelling.
His debut novel, The Unexpected Adventures of Will Daring - Twilight and Dawn, began as a heartfelt effort to inspire his son, an antidote to boredom and mischief. He conjured a world where a hesitant hero could face down the darkness with courage and wonder.
Nash’s storytelling leans into emotional truth, finding bravery in uncertainty and the epic in the everyday.
Twilight and Dawn's website.
A veteran of the U.S. Air Force and professional engineer, Nash turned to writing after complications from epilepsy rerouted his life, channeling his creative energy into storytelling.
His debut novel, The Unexpected Adventures of Will Daring - Twilight and Dawn, began as a heartfelt effort to inspire his son, an antidote to boredom and mischief. He conjured a world where a hesitant hero could face down the darkness with courage and wonder.
Nash’s storytelling leans into emotional truth, finding bravery in uncertainty and the epic in the everyday.
Twilight and Dawn's website.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 4, 2025
Fabulous book, readers will be drawn into a setting that immerses them in a different time and place. Lessons to be learned. A good read for all ages.
July 24, 2025
Okay, so let me set the stage: I cracked open Twilight and Dawn thinking I’d dip my toes in for a chapter or two. Instead? I swan-dived headfirst into a lyrical storm of shadows, secrets, and reluctant courage—and didn’t come up for air until I hit the last page. And even then, I wasn’t ready to leave Will Daring behind.
Will isn’t your typical sword-swinging, prophecy-chasing fantasy hero. He’s quiet. He’s cautious. He’d rather be alone in the forest with a journal than out saving the world. Which, honestly? Made me love him more. He feels real. Relatable. Like someone who didn’t ask for greatness—but when it came knocking, didn’t slam the door either.
This book hit me in that exact sweet spot between nostalgia and next-level depth. It has the heart of early Harry Potter, the momentum of Percy Jackson, and the soul-whispers of The Name of the Wind. It’s magic, but it’s also myth. It's worldbuilding that wraps around you like a cloak, and prose that made me stop and reread lines just to sit in the beauty of them.
And let’s talk about the stakes. The Darktide? Ominous as hell. There’s this constant undercurrent of something bigger, something ancient and terrifying, rising just out of sight. It’s not just monsters in the dark—it’s truth unraveling, histories bending, and Will trying to stand tall in the middle of it all, even as it threatens to drown him.
Pace: Smooth but gripping. It’s not a sprint—it’s a steady climb with heart-pounding drops.
Vibes: Gritty fairytale meets coming-of-age epic. Think moonlight, ink-stained secrets, and forest wind that knows your name.
Favorite part? When Will stopped running and started choosing. That moment cracked something open in me.
Twilight and Dawn is what happens when quiet strength meets inevitable fate—and it sings. If you've ever rooted for the underdog, longed for worlds tucked behind old maps and dusty books, or felt the call of something just beyond the veil, this one’s for you. Will Daring isn’t just a character—I swear I knew him. And now that the veil’s torn and the shadows are rising, I’ll be right here, waiting for book two with a candle lit and my heart wide open.
W.A. Nash—you’ve got my attention. And my whole bookshelf.
Will isn’t your typical sword-swinging, prophecy-chasing fantasy hero. He’s quiet. He’s cautious. He’d rather be alone in the forest with a journal than out saving the world. Which, honestly? Made me love him more. He feels real. Relatable. Like someone who didn’t ask for greatness—but when it came knocking, didn’t slam the door either.
This book hit me in that exact sweet spot between nostalgia and next-level depth. It has the heart of early Harry Potter, the momentum of Percy Jackson, and the soul-whispers of The Name of the Wind. It’s magic, but it’s also myth. It's worldbuilding that wraps around you like a cloak, and prose that made me stop and reread lines just to sit in the beauty of them.
And let’s talk about the stakes. The Darktide? Ominous as hell. There’s this constant undercurrent of something bigger, something ancient and terrifying, rising just out of sight. It’s not just monsters in the dark—it’s truth unraveling, histories bending, and Will trying to stand tall in the middle of it all, even as it threatens to drown him.
Pace: Smooth but gripping. It’s not a sprint—it’s a steady climb with heart-pounding drops.
Vibes: Gritty fairytale meets coming-of-age epic. Think moonlight, ink-stained secrets, and forest wind that knows your name.
Favorite part? When Will stopped running and started choosing. That moment cracked something open in me.
Twilight and Dawn is what happens when quiet strength meets inevitable fate—and it sings. If you've ever rooted for the underdog, longed for worlds tucked behind old maps and dusty books, or felt the call of something just beyond the veil, this one’s for you. Will Daring isn’t just a character—I swear I knew him. And now that the veil’s torn and the shadows are rising, I’ll be right here, waiting for book two with a candle lit and my heart wide open.
W.A. Nash—you’ve got my attention. And my whole bookshelf.
August 29, 2025
A reluctant hero gets caught between the shadows of his small Appalachian town and the fractured remnants of a forgotten war in Nash’s atmospheric YA fantasy. Marked by loss, bullied by peers, and haunted by visions of radiant swords and encroaching darkness, Will Daring discovers that secrets buried beneath myth are stirring once again. When a forbidden journal and a covert conspiracy draw him into the Covenant of Twilight and Dawn, he must decide whether to flee from fate or embrace the courage to confront it.
This is an ambitious opening that situates itself firmly at the intersection of mythic fantasy and contemporary thriller. Unlike the familiar chosen-one archetype, Will is hesitant, self-conscious, and bruised by loss. And, it is this vulnerability that grounds the novel, making his slow confrontation with destiny feel hard-earned rather than inevitable. The novel’s pacing is deftly managed, alternating between the small, claustrophobic cruelty of Will’s daily life—taunts from classmates, the disapproval of a teacher who is revealed to be more than she seems—and sweeping glimpses of mythic conflict. The presence of black moths, cloaked figures, and a radiant blade gives the narrative a menacing, unsettling undertone. Even before the Covenant and its conspiracies fully surface, the atmosphere suggests that Will is already entangled in forces far larger than himself.
What makes the book shine is its equilibrium. Nash balances the cosmic with the intimate. The Radiant Dawn prophecy and the Blacktide threat could have swamped the story, but instead they heighten the personal drama, with Will’s grief, loneliness, and faltering courage mirroring the greater war of light and shadow. The effect is that every small choice he makes—whether to speak, to hide, or to listen—feels like a rehearsal for the cataclysm to come. Nash's prose is vivid and lyrical. At times dreamlike, the writing blurs the line between reality and vision, childhood and legend, perfectly echoing the novel’s concern with how old truths resurface in the present. Yet the lyricism never stalls momentum. The novel resonates with themes of courage, legacy, light and shadow, and the search for belonging. Fans of Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising and Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson will be drawn to its mix of myth, menace, and a boy learning to carry a destiny he never asked for. Timeless in scope yet relentless in pace, this is a fantasy done right.
This is an ambitious opening that situates itself firmly at the intersection of mythic fantasy and contemporary thriller. Unlike the familiar chosen-one archetype, Will is hesitant, self-conscious, and bruised by loss. And, it is this vulnerability that grounds the novel, making his slow confrontation with destiny feel hard-earned rather than inevitable. The novel’s pacing is deftly managed, alternating between the small, claustrophobic cruelty of Will’s daily life—taunts from classmates, the disapproval of a teacher who is revealed to be more than she seems—and sweeping glimpses of mythic conflict. The presence of black moths, cloaked figures, and a radiant blade gives the narrative a menacing, unsettling undertone. Even before the Covenant and its conspiracies fully surface, the atmosphere suggests that Will is already entangled in forces far larger than himself.
What makes the book shine is its equilibrium. Nash balances the cosmic with the intimate. The Radiant Dawn prophecy and the Blacktide threat could have swamped the story, but instead they heighten the personal drama, with Will’s grief, loneliness, and faltering courage mirroring the greater war of light and shadow. The effect is that every small choice he makes—whether to speak, to hide, or to listen—feels like a rehearsal for the cataclysm to come. Nash's prose is vivid and lyrical. At times dreamlike, the writing blurs the line between reality and vision, childhood and legend, perfectly echoing the novel’s concern with how old truths resurface in the present. Yet the lyricism never stalls momentum. The novel resonates with themes of courage, legacy, light and shadow, and the search for belonging. Fans of Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising and Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson will be drawn to its mix of myth, menace, and a boy learning to carry a destiny he never asked for. Timeless in scope yet relentless in pace, this is a fantasy done right.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews