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The Relics of Antiquity #2
Borne Rising: Beyond the Shadows
The much-anticipated second novel in The Relics of Antiquity
When the Borne rise, empires will fall…
After the harrowing events of the Shale Prison, Will Davis needs answers. Burned and stripped of the power he’d always known, his only hope comes in the form of the mad Lightborne, Jero din’Dael. Together they venture to the Sapholux, the sacred bastion of Radiance. For within the walls of an ancient fortress, din’Dael harbors his most closely-guarded secrets—secrets that could shake the very foundations of Aeril.
But there is something amiss in the lands of Aeril; the land is in flux. War is looming. The heavens hang shattered in the sky. And an old enemy has shown their face.
In order to overcome the battles ahead, Will knows that he must reunite with his brother. Only, Madigan is nowhere to be found. No one has seen nor heard from him. Only rumors—rumors linking his brother to an evil, manipulative Shadowborne—persist. Rumors of a Borne so dangerous, so twisted, that Madigan may not escape with his life.
Racing against time as powerful forces threaten to collide around him, Will must make a choice. Will he stand and fight? Or will he risk everything in an attempt to save his brother?
In this thrilling sequel to Shadowborne, Matthew Callahan has crafted a work of limitless imagination, breaking from the confines of genre. Borne Rising: Beyond the Shadows takes readers on a thrilling joyride into a world of powerful magic, riveting action, and brutal battles.
When the Borne rise, empires will fall…
After the harrowing events of the Shale Prison, Will Davis needs answers. Burned and stripped of the power he’d always known, his only hope comes in the form of the mad Lightborne, Jero din’Dael. Together they venture to the Sapholux, the sacred bastion of Radiance. For within the walls of an ancient fortress, din’Dael harbors his most closely-guarded secrets—secrets that could shake the very foundations of Aeril.
But there is something amiss in the lands of Aeril; the land is in flux. War is looming. The heavens hang shattered in the sky. And an old enemy has shown their face.
In order to overcome the battles ahead, Will knows that he must reunite with his brother. Only, Madigan is nowhere to be found. No one has seen nor heard from him. Only rumors—rumors linking his brother to an evil, manipulative Shadowborne—persist. Rumors of a Borne so dangerous, so twisted, that Madigan may not escape with his life.
Racing against time as powerful forces threaten to collide around him, Will must make a choice. Will he stand and fight? Or will he risk everything in an attempt to save his brother?
In this thrilling sequel to Shadowborne, Matthew Callahan has crafted a work of limitless imagination, breaking from the confines of genre. Borne Rising: Beyond the Shadows takes readers on a thrilling joyride into a world of powerful magic, riveting action, and brutal battles.
- GenresFantasy
426 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 13, 2020
36 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 20, 2024
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The journey was incredible, and the characters are coming together nicely. It makes me very excited to read the third book (hopefully there will be one because that cliffhanger....wtf).
Saying that there are very areas I think need improvement. Firstly, the writing was a bit confusing at times. The descriptions were always not very clear.
I also wish we had more of the two brothers coming together again and resuming their journey together, learning to control their abilities and batteling together. While I appreciate their separate journeys, I still wanted to see their bond grow.
My major issue with this book was that bloody name change. Initially, I liked the rebranding of Will's character. However, the name change was pretty different to see. He left his old life behind and was prepared to do what it took to save everything. He took on a new persona while also internally battelling himself. But the return to him using his old name felt rushed and didn't pack the punch the author wanted it to. In my opinion, it would have been better to save the name change for the end. You see Will battling between wanting to be himself and wanting to please his mentor by being the soldier Notics. At the final battle, it would have been nice to see Madigan show up at the last moment to fight side by side with Will, and then have Will realise that this fight couldn't be won by Notics but by being himself, following his grandfather's teachings and fighting alongside his brother, the change of name would have been much better off here and would have packed that punch the author wanted it to.
To sum up, I really enjoyed both these books and hope to see the third soon. Would definitely recommend.
Saying that there are very areas I think need improvement. Firstly, the writing was a bit confusing at times. The descriptions were always not very clear.
I also wish we had more of the two brothers coming together again and resuming their journey together, learning to control their abilities and batteling together. While I appreciate their separate journeys, I still wanted to see their bond grow.
My major issue with this book was that bloody name change. Initially, I liked the rebranding of Will's character. However, the name change was pretty different to see. He left his old life behind and was prepared to do what it took to save everything. He took on a new persona while also internally battelling himself. But the return to him using his old name felt rushed and didn't pack the punch the author wanted it to. In my opinion, it would have been better to save the name change for the end. You see Will battling between wanting to be himself and wanting to please his mentor by being the soldier Notics. At the final battle, it would have been nice to see Madigan show up at the last moment to fight side by side with Will, and then have Will realise that this fight couldn't be won by Notics but by being himself, following his grandfather's teachings and fighting alongside his brother, the change of name would have been much better off here and would have packed that punch the author wanted it to.
To sum up, I really enjoyed both these books and hope to see the third soon. Would definitely recommend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 1, 2022
I really want to give this book 3.5…but I don’t want to give it 3 stars so I guess 4 stars it is.
My pet peeve in stories is when the characters are intentional stupid or purposely misunderstand things or don’t notice things just to drag out the plot.
A perfect example (I don’t think this is a spoiler but please skip this next bit if you don’t any to risk it):
When someone talks to Will about voices in his head who randomly give commands and Will’s response essentially is “I don’t know what you could possible be talking about”, despite there being a whole section about him hearing a voice. And it’s not that Will is pretending not to know about the voices because he doesn’t want to appear crazy, apparently it’s because he really has no idea???
Also, there is a very big overuse of the word “sniggered” and to a lesser extent, “sardonic”. Why is everybody sniggering??? I don’t want to see that word again for a while.
Overall though the book is well written, and a lot of thought has been put into the world and the characters, so if you’re into this type of fantasy it’s probably still worth a read.
My pet peeve in stories is when the characters are intentional stupid or purposely misunderstand things or don’t notice things just to drag out the plot.
A perfect example (I don’t think this is a spoiler but please skip this next bit if you don’t any to risk it):
When someone talks to Will about voices in his head who randomly give commands and Will’s response essentially is “I don’t know what you could possible be talking about”, despite there being a whole section about him hearing a voice. And it’s not that Will is pretending not to know about the voices because he doesn’t want to appear crazy, apparently it’s because he really has no idea???
Also, there is a very big overuse of the word “sniggered” and to a lesser extent, “sardonic”. Why is everybody sniggering??? I don’t want to see that word again for a while.
Overall though the book is well written, and a lot of thought has been put into the world and the characters, so if you’re into this type of fantasy it’s probably still worth a read.
April 8, 2020
I found this book exciting and imaginative. Quite a thrill ride.
If you like mystery and magic, good against evil, and the degrees of each that can exist. Matthew Callahan weaves a great story of battles and danger, rumors of wars and powerful forces and an old enemy upon the land. This edge of your seat sequel to Shadowborne is a thrilling and imaginative work.
If you like mystery and magic, good against evil, and the degrees of each that can exist. Matthew Callahan weaves a great story of battles and danger, rumors of wars and powerful forces and an old enemy upon the land. This edge of your seat sequel to Shadowborne is a thrilling and imaginative work.
April 19, 2020
This sequel to Shadowborne by Matthew Callahan was so good! There was excitement, suspense, a little bit of romance (Morella is quite independent, and dang, she is not afraid to show her true colors). The characters are dynamic and there are so many twists and turns to the story. I can’t wait for the next installment.
May 26, 2023
Character development was lacking a bit in this sequel to Shadowborne. Overall story was still good. The lack of depth to the female characters made these characters annoying to read. Since the story focus is on the two brothers, I tried to just speed through the female characters as much as possible. Hopefully future books will develop the characters more.
November 22, 2023
excellent
First book piqued my interest but some good some bad. Now the brothers are growing and complex, story is convoluted and infuriating, keeps turning and grabbing me by the throat.
First book piqued my interest but some good some bad. Now the brothers are growing and complex, story is convoluted and infuriating, keeps turning and grabbing me by the throat.
January 18, 2024
Never thought I’d enjoy an epic book like this now I want more. It was fun, heartwarming, heartbreaking and crazy good and I enjoyed the relationship between the brothers. Waiting for Callahan to write more books….
February 9, 2024
A very interesting world with interesting and seemingly immortal characters most of whom are mysterious and hiding things. The main characters are two of the most irritating and stupid characters, the book is decent despite them because I want to know more about the other characters.
April 13, 2023
Lots better than book 1
September 21, 2023
I actually took this off my list. I found it very boring to read. The audiobook was well done though for while I walked the dog.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews