A Flame in the Night

The Legends of Aewyr #1

by Holland C. Kirbo

A young woman, an unyielding immortal, a dark god, an epic conflict!

In the land of Aewyr, the immortals stand as mankind’s last hope against the dark god Maal and his vile army of zuhl and malum, but the immortals have their limits. The Perravian kingdom of Ceredwyn watches and waits, praying for a savior. When eighteen-year-old Lakyn Trahearne annihilates a zuhl by immolating him, she’s not the only one stunned. Such power has never been granted by the gods, even to immortals. She’s young, and by all accounts, she's human, and her powers are beyond comprehension. Ceredwyn and the continent of Perravia just may have found their champion.

The immortal Reuel is assigned to train Lakyn. He both infuriates and strengthens her, while everything about Lakyn stokes Reuel’s buried pain and rage. Still, he can’t stay away. Together, they are electric and explosive, a precarious combination given Lakyn’s unstable powers.
Nothing and no one has stopped Maal’s steady advance. But Lakyn's powers have awakened, and love and loss are potent fuels within her. When Maal’s forces threaten the Ceredwyn royal family, Lakyn and Reuel must set aside their friction to protect the ones they love. If she can control the untamed powers within her. If one young woman can stand against the darkness that threatens them all.

382 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 17, 2018

About the author

Holland C. Kirbo retired (for the most part) from a successful legal career to focus on her family and her writing because she firmly believes words paint worlds in the mind. She's known to her family and friends as Holly, to her husband as Holls, and to her children as Mama, Mom, Moooooooooooooooom, and, on occasion, Mother (imagine exasperated eye roll and classic huff of testy adolescent). Today, she spends most of her time raising her twelve-year old triplets (two boys and a girl), assisting her husband in his law practice, and writing fiction. She's forever hauling her very active pre-teens all over creation. They keep her on her toes and on the go, but she wouldn't have it any other way. She's a Double Dawg, having received both her undergraduate business degree and her law degree from the University of Georgia, and she's convinced Athens, GA is the most fabulous place this side of heaven. She is the author of A Flame in the Night, the first book in her young adult epic fantasy series, The Legends of Aewyr, and the memoir Triple Treasures: Our Journey From Infertility Through The First Year With Triplets. She lives in Southwest Georgia with her family, their three dogs, and their three cats (she's all about symmetry).

Reviews

[Karen (BaronessBookTrove) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book for free from the Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Will Lakyn be able to find out who she truly is?
A Flame in the Night by Holland C. Kirbo sounded good but I was nervous about it as I wasn’t sure if I would like it or not. I am happy to report that I loved it.

It did take me a while to read mostly that’s because I had a lot of things to do. When I posted my currently reading picture, I was with my great aunt. Anyways back to the book. I enjoyed reading this book a lot, and it’s a wonderful story.
What I liked about this book:

It’s on a different planet basically, and it seems cool. We don’t know much, and I am so happy with the entire story. I felt like I was right there with the characters as they are going through the whole book.
We got to follow a lot of different characters. Mrs. Kirbo did a great job of having us see through different characters all the while keeping to one main character. We got to see more of the planet that way.
The main character is a girl named Lakyn. Lakyn's life gets turned upside down basically a bunch of times. She is having a bit of a hard time dealing with all of it.  I loved how she also discovered her powers.The way she learned how to control and summon some of them.
I loved the way that Ms. Kirbo changed some of the words that we are used to saying and seeing for some simple things. Especially the different kingdoms that they visited, but it was something that I was able to go “Oh so that’s what they call a king” and stuff like that.
That despite everything going wrong Lakyn has inner strength to move forward with her sister’s help and focusing on things that she needs answers too.

What I disliked about the book:
What I disliked about this book was a times the lengthy descriptions of comings and goings that Lakyn was going through. I think that is my only dislike, but I also got the reason for them.
What I am curious about:
I am curious about knowing more about this mysterious lady from the beginning of the book. Oh, yes and more about Lakyn and two other immortals that think of her as their long-lost mate.
Five Stars
A Flame in the Night by Holland C. Kirbo is a magnificent book. It was so good that once I hit that 50% mark of the book I didn’t want to do anything else but read. I can’t wait to read the second one. I am giving this book a five-star rating, and I will be recommending this book to anyone that likes this type of book.

 

 

 



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This review was originally posted on Baroness' Book Trove

[Arlena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title A Flame in the Night
Author: Holland C. Kirbo
Publisher: Illadian Publishing, LLC
Series: The Legends of Aewyr Book 1
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Five
Review:

"A Flame in the Night" by Holland C. Kirbo

What a good intriguing fantasy read the "A Flame in the Night" was that will keep your attention turning the pages to see what was coming next especially for Lakyn. The author's style of writing was well done being so full of descriptions in the fantasying world along with some very unique characters who had some unique positions and experiences. What will happen when Lakyn's family is attacked, journey with her sister and nephew to a new place and start training to control the powers that control her? What was up with the nightmares that Lakyn had suffered from since childhood? Who and why were the Maal and his army out to get this family [especially the baby]? I liked the interest that seemed to be their between Lakyn and Reuel, however, will anything come of it? To find all of the answers and so much more you will have to pick up "A Flame in the Night" to see how well this story comes out for Lakyn.

I will say all of these characters as they are well presented in the this story will show their 'histories, gods, immortals, battles and myths' as the reader will be drawn into this first series of 'The Legends of Aewyr' and will definitely leave you wanting more.

[K.J. Simmill · Rating 5 out of 5]

The birth of her sister's child stirred a gift Laykyn had never imagined. All it took was one touch of the newborn and she had a vision, one of fire and violence. A dangerous force sought the child, but why any would wish to harm a baby was beyond her. Then there were the dreams, a similar theme of fire, but his time it was she who was trapped, at first by her own fear, and then by a man who barred her path. Her mother suggested, perhaps, given how long she had had them there was something divine in their nature, something that needed to be understood, how right she was. Unbeknown to Laykyn the world is changing, dark forces have awoken in the west, and most of Theranyn has fallen to Maal, the ruler of Hael who wishes to force himself into physical form and take their world for his own. Her nephew's birth was a thing of significance, a catalyst, but not in the way any had expected.

Holland C Kirbo has an excellent writing style filled with rich and beautifully descriptive narrative, fantastic world building, and an array of unique and interesting characters forged into their own person by their unique experiences. There was no choice but to be drawn into the fabulous world, and marvel at all within. Rich histories, myths, and attention to detail have all been woven to create this amazing tale, and since A Flame in the Night is the first book in The Legends of Aewyr series it shows fantastic promise for the rest of the series. This book really made it easy to get excited about fantasy, I loved the complexes, the characters and the obvious thought and scope that has clearly gone into its writing. I am looking forward to book two.

[Velma Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well thought out, fairly fast read. I loved the characters and their interaction. I could almost see the characters in my mind as I read and their conversations were well thought out, believable. I read the insert of the next book in this series. I was a little disappointed that it isn't a continuation of the first book. But rather, the same story-line as the first but with different characters. I hope the author writes an another with the characters from the first book. Many questions need to be answered! Good Job!

[J.A. Cintron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was weird good. There were Pov's that I didn't care for like the dude from the other continent but Larkyn was such a badass sure a little whiny but she'd just lost her mother and brother in law so she was allowed. Plus she was basically a ticking time bomb with all the new power running through her so she was definitely allowed her tantrums. Otherwise I liked this book.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well I took a bit longer than anticipated to finish this one but I was so into it and I didn’t want to miss anything. This was an excellent read and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys fantasy. There are some very well developed characters and you can’t help but like them. I look forward to the next book in the series.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable. Well written, fast paced, keeps you wanting more. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

[Lora Shouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an engaging story, and well written. However, it seemed a little too complicated for me. I was never sure quite who was trustworthy, who was who, or what anybody really was. I also didn’t really understand the strange love triangle between Lakyn and Reuel. And Lakyn’s real identity and so many other things were never truly revealed. The book is categorized as a Christian fantasy, but while there are definite religious overtones, I didn’t detect anything specifically Christian about them.

Lakyn Trahearne has a vision on the day her nephew is born – a vision of some black entity coming for her baby nephew and killing her mother and brother-in-law. A few days later, this vision is fulfilled. A zhul (an evil sort of being) comes to their home and demands the child, and kills her mother and brother-in-law just as she foresaw. But Lakyn can’t let the demon have the baby, so she summons some sort of psychic power and attacks him back. A daimon horde attached to the zhul attacks her, but luckily a group of immortals shows up before they can kill Lakyn and destroys the daimons. Meanwhile, Lakyn’s attack has destroyed the zhul.

The Immortals and the two princes of Ceredwyn who are now accompanying them gather up Lakyn and her sister and nephew and take them back to their capital, Kaelin. There they heal her and try to train her in the use of her powers.

Lakyn develops an exceptionally complicated love-interest in one of the Immortals, but it looks like not working out. And before she can be anything like completely trained, the top evil being who has already taken over much of Aewyr attacks the summer palace where the children of the royal family, including one or two whom the evil beings would particularly like to get their hands on, have been sent.

[E Varady · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me

Not a bad read but the concept gets buried under excessive descriptions, awkward phrasing, and difficult word choice. I didn't like the heavy religious theme (particularly how similar the terms were to modern Christian religions), and it seemed everyone's name had a 'y' in it. I didn't like the use of patru and matru in place of father and mother, or the replacements for king, queen, prince, princess, and kingdom. The story would have been better and flowed more smoothly without those attempts to make it exotic. I also found the main character to be whiney and her constant fainting spells were annoying. I struggled with the romance as well, since it seemed to come out of nowhere and she falls in love with him in a matter of days. Mates or not, insta love is not my cup of tea.

I guess this is a Christian fantasy read which both surprised me and didn't. It doesn't play off as a one god religion in the story but then the parallels in language to Christian religious terms argue differently. I found this out after finishing the book, so while it didn't affect my rating of this book (I was only giving it 2 stars regardless), it does mean I won't be picking up book 2, which I was in the fence about.