Shadows at Nightfall

Quest of Fire #3

by Brett Armstrong

The hour has arrived... with all its terrors

The shadows of Jason's past have caught him. Having stepped into the Quest of Fire, Jason is pursued by a league of assassins formed of pure darkness. To his horror he discovers these creatures also were contracted to eliminate Anargen and his friends as they sought to understand the Tower of Light's oracle. To unravel the mystery of who wants him dead and how he fits into the ages old quest, Jason must travel the lengths of the Lowlands. In the Ziljafu deserts a secret awaits him that will shake him to his core. He'll have to move fast and cling fiercely to hope, as Anargen's story twists down a bleak path to almost certain failure.

The creatures of darkness in the Lowlands have long waited for men to spurn the High King's laws. With few concerned for the light and everything falling apart around them, Jason and Anargen will face the shadows of night's falling as their world hangs in the balance.

Genres: Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Adventure

450 pages, Paperback

Published September 14, 2021

Reviews

[InD'tale Magazine · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exciting fantasy-filled monumental fable by Mr. Armstrong!

Read full review in the 2021 November issue of InD'tale Magazine.

[Carol Keen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have done it again, dropped into a book midstream in a series. This is book three, and I really needed to have read the other two, first. Opps! It's Sci-Fi, which I love. It's also dual timeline and fantasy as well. I know, that a genre mix, but it did work for this story. Jason is one of the main characters and he's being chased by killers. So starts this story that is sometimes a bit of a allegoric in content in places. I liked the faith leading elements. This book is packed with action and adventure. It's fast to read because it's easy to get sucked into it. I does have a cliffhanger, so I think there is another book coming, but I need to read the others first!

Thanks to Celebrate Lit for my digital copy of this book. This review is my own. A positive review is never required and this review contains what I thought about this book.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read “The Gathering Dark” I was looking forward to the sequel. Once again, we see the 2 stories working in tandem: Jason who is on his own journey leaving his home and brother while he continues to listen to Anargen’s story of yesteryear. Anargen is now set off with his own ‘fellowship’ to mediate peace talks between two warring foes.

Armstrong loves fight scenes and writes them well. This story has many of them. He also has crafted some excellent characters, Anargen, Seren, Cinead, Sir Cinead (are they the same person?) and Aria who is Jason’s companion and granddaughter of Cinead. He crafts some great bad guys and very scary creatures and does a good job describing them in all their horrific detail.

I felt this story would have been tremendous if only 250 pages rather than 450. There were simply too many fight scenes, Between the two timelines, there appeared to be a fight scene every time Anargen or Jason made some progress. I lost interest and frankly, forgot, what the overall story was about. What were both Jason and Anargen trying to achieve? And in the end Jason’s story completely surprised me as I had forgotten so much of what had happened earlier and led him on his original journey.

Clearly, Armstrong enjoys the epic story of good and evil. But I find the really good ones build suspense in a way that the reader keeps turning pages because the tension is so high and we’re fearful for the protagonists. We also can keep the protagonist’s ultimate goal clearly in mind. Think Frodo, even though the fellowship came up against regular opposition, Tolkien both built the tension and we never lost sight of what Frodo was aiming to do. With this story, I struggled to get through all the fight scenes because they were so constant and there was insufficient tension or suspense built because of this constancy and they became predictable. Plus, I struggled to keep in mind what both Anargen and Jason were trying to do.

“Less is more” is a well-known maxim in creative writing especially when building suspense. I wonder if the story would have been more impactful and dramatic if it had been much shorter keeping the reader on their toes.

It appears the saga hasn’t ended, and I actually would like to see how both Anargen and Jason end up.

[Ejayen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't struggle with jumping into the middle of this series, I struggled with the cliff hanger ending.

Got an ARC, can say what I want.

[Meagan Myhren-Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shadows at Nightfall
Quest of Fire #3
By Brett Armstrong

This book book picks up with Jason and the old storyteller escaping from their accusers and heading back to rescue Aria. But most surprising to them as they make their escape is that Jason seems to be the target and not of capture but of death.

We like Jason are left to wonder why. As Jason continues on with his new companions he hears further tails of Sir Cinaed's deeds of valor in the past. Can the quest that Sir Cinaed pursuit all those years ago be a parallel to the one Jason finds himself on now?

I really enjoyed this book and was not let down from the previous two books. This one jumps into the action from the first line and continues on to its rather surprising conclusion. I will admit I'm not sure if the series ends with this book or continues on. The way it ends it could go either way. Personally, I'm hoping for a fourth book.

Shadows at Nightfall is the third book in the Quest of Fire series and it should be read in order - so if you haven't read the first books do so. And believe you want to read these books they are excellent reading especially if you are a fan of Speculative or Fantasy Fiction. Fans of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Bryan Davis, or Chris Walley will want to give these a try.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book with no expectations but that I provide my honest opinion - all thoughts expressed are my own.

[Charmy Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not going to lie: I was in a reading slump when I started this book so it took me a few chapters to get into it. This book completely pulled me out of that slump and had me reading as quick as I could because I wanted so desperately to know what would happen to the characters that I had grown so attached to. The storyline was amazing and I loved to see how the characters grew over the course of the story; there were some characters that I wanted to shake because I was so annoyed with them. As the story progressed, however, they grew and changed in ways that demonstrated how God’s grace (or in the context of the story the High King’s grace) could work in people. The faith element of this story was so inspiring and brought tears to my eyes. It was amazing to see how the author incorporated the forgiveness God gives us and that we cannot repent of our sins without Him first convicting us and also seeing us through the process. I loved this story so much and I just could not put it down. As the second novel and third installment of the series, I had already formed an attachment to the main characters but this book grew that attachment, particularly to the present day characters. In this book, we got to see much of their story and struggles, which really helped to push the story forward and show the connection to the past. I loved how the author was able to show the struggles each character felt in a way that made me feel them, too. The unsurety Jason felt was written so well that I felt it, too, as I read. Each timeline’s story just pulled me further into the world the author created and had me wanting to know how they were going to get out of their plights. The story was amazing and I can’t say enough good things about it! Each time I read a book from this series, I am always touched by the faith element; it is so well written and feels so natural to the story that it makes me think of my own faith and how it could be stronger. This would be an excellent series to help younger readers understand God’s sovereignty and His care for us. It wonderfully show how, even though we may fall, God will steer us back to the right course and He can use our sinful actions to show His goodness and glory. I can’t express how wonderful this story is and would highly recommend it to those who enjoy fantasy.

WARNING FOR PARENTS: As I stated above, I think this is a wonderful series but I know some parents are apprehensive with some content. This book does have dark creatures and elements of magic. These can be points of concern for some parents so I did want to be sure I mentioned it. There is talk of witches, potions, and spells but it is all described in no uncertain terms as evil and to be in opposition to the High King’s (God’s) commands. It is not described in detail, in my opinion, so I do not want to discourage parents because it is shown to be sinful and evil. There is some violence but is not graphic at all. One last point I feel I should mention but is not to discourage from reading the book is that some characters’ eyes linger on some of the female characters’ figures, describing them as curvaceous or voluptuous. It was not enough to make me feel uncomfortable or anything; I just know some parents are discerning over these elements. Again, I do not want to discourage parents from allowing their older kids/teens from reading this book and series because it is wonderful and amazing with its faith element. It would make a great talking point about what the Bible says about magic, as it is shown to be evil.

Thank you for reading my review! I hope you will give this series a try because it really is one of the most well-written with a massively strong faith element that is so inspiring. It is certainly a favorite of mine! Thank you, Brett Armstrong, for this wonderful read; I can’t wait to read more of this series!

This book was provided through Celebrate Lit and author for me to read. The opinions expressed are my own thoughts.

[Kendra Neal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brett Armstrong is a new to me author. I am not one who normally reads Christian Fantasy books, but it also looked like something my Teenage boys would enjoy, so I wanted to read it also. Shadows at Nightfall is the 3rd book in the Quest of Fire series. I have not read the other 2 books yet.

This book brings back the characters from Book 1 in this series, Jason and Anargen. Jason's past is haunting him. A League of Assassins are pursing Jason and Anargen and his friends. Jason must now travel to the Lowlands to figure out who wants him dead. He reaches the Ziljafu deserts and he discovers a MAJOR secret that really has him scared. Jason knows he has to move fast to save his friend Anargen. Will Jason save himself and his friend Anargen? What is the big secret that has Jason terrified?

I wanted to give this genre a chance and also wanted to read it to see if it would be something that my boys would enjoy. I personally could not understand the storyline and I was quite lost throughout the book. I do feel Jason was a STRONG person who wanted to make sure others were safe, especially his friend Anargen. Jason was a GREAT character for the book. Although, I personally didn't enjoy the genre of Christian Fantasy, I think my teenage sons would enjoy this book fully. I also think those who enjoy Christian Fantasy would enjoy this book greatly. Good Book!

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll start off by saying, if you haven't read book 1 and 2, I highly suggest doing that because coming in to the series at book 3, I was completely lost with the first part of the book. I did have the option of reading the first two, but just not enough time in the day to get to them before doing this review.

While it took me quite a few chapters to shake off my confusion as to what was going on, I finally got a feel for the story and the characters. This is a time-split novel, but an old era and a super old era. lol It had very LOTR vibes. In the super old era, three teens are on a quest with their leader. They rely on the High King (God) as their strength and guide through everything.

Then there's the old era where Jason and Aria are trying to stay alive. They seem to have a relationship that is a bit more than just friends. That develops more as we dive more into this story. I'm with Jason in trying to figure out just how old Aria is. Is she as ancient as her grandfather, Cinaed?

The darkness of the evil that tries to take out the Knights in the super old era and the more current one is relentless, just like our enemy in today's world. I really loved how the author continued time and time again to show the Light of the High King, that that's where all of their strength comes from. I also loved how the High King showed himself in the midst of their battles, occasionally surprising the characters.

In the super old era, I was trying to figure out the relationship with the teens. While they seemed like they were a team, they also seemed like they were at odds with each other. Seren was part of the reason, but it seemed like all 3 had different views on what their quest should look like and how much they should listen to Cinaed. They dynamics really drive this story!

One of the difficulties I had was keeping track of who a couple of the characters were. A couple of the names seemed interchangeable, in that I thought it was one person and then it seemed like another. There were some grammatical errors as well, which stuck out to me, but didn't hinder the reading of the story.

While I think this story would be great for young adults, I really enjoyed it. Now I just need to get my hands on the first two so this all makes more sense. I wasn't prepared for the ending so now I'm wanting book 4 immediately!

*I received the ebook for review. This is my personal opinion.

[Connie Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shadows at Nightfall is book three in the Quest of Fire series. I have read one of the other books. I would recommend reading the books in order so that you can fully grasp what is going on. This series is written by Brett Armstrong. It is a Christian/Fantasy series. The book is well written. While, fantasy is not my favorite genre this was a good read and kept me engaged.

This is a sci-fi type of books also. This is also a dual timeline book. There is action, war and violence. My son usually reviews these types of books with me, but since we had not read the other two together, he did not read this one. I would recommend this for middle grade teens. My son is 10, but reads at a higher level. He really enjoys this type of book.

Jason is pursued by a league of assassins formed of pure darkness. He has been running from his past for so long. He needs to find out who wants him dead and why. The story takes you on an adventure trying to figure it all out. Jason is a well written character and was probably my favorite out of the two books that I have read.

The author is a talented author. He writes well toward his audience. He will keep you engaged. I hope to read more from this author. Thank you to Celebrate Lit, the author and the publisher for allowing me to read a copy of this book, all thoughts are my own.

[Deana Dick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a unique story with dual time lines mixed in a fantasy genre. I have not read anything like this before and was entertained by the two different eras in the story. There are quite a few characters so it was a bit hard for me to keep up what all was going on. I did become invested in Jason and how determined he was to find out who wanted him dead. Darkness follows Jason on his journey and stumbles upon creatures that are not of this world.

Anargen is front and center in the story as well as he fights to complete his mission. I kept thinking that he and Jason were on a parallel adventure that will collide at some point. That is what makes this story so fascinating. Each detail the author gives draws me deeper into two worlds both seeming to achieve safety while exposing secrets that could be deadly.

Get ready for surprises, danger and an explosive adrenaline rush of excitement as we follow these two main characters . I did like Jason the most because he has a sincere heart and was easy to connect to. The ending is one that caught me by surprise and I’m not sure how I feel about it. If you are a fan of fantasy, this is a must read.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, let me say that this is book three in a series. You’re going to want to read the first two books before this book. It is one of those series that is best read in order though I have been told you can read it out of order. I’m a huge proponent of always reading series in order so you don’t miss out on anything.

This is a science fiction type novel. I’m not a huge fan of this genre but my children are so I read it to make sure it’s suitable for them. This series does have violence and war within it. So, if you have a teen who can handle that, this would be a good series for them.

I would recommend this for fans of Lord of the Rings and series such as it. It does have good vs evil vibes and will have you rooting for one side or the other. I did enjoy this book and the series, but it’s not a series I would read over and over.

I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from Celebrate Lit. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.

[Ashley Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to start out by saying this book will probably flow better and be easier to understand if you have read the previous 2 books in the series. With that being said, this was such a good book! The author has an addictive writing style that draws you in and demands you read and read and read.

I liked the complex characters, the other worldly creatures, the adventure, the friendship...there is just a lot to love about this story. The dual timeline/story was great, I loved watching both unfold. That ending though, I have questions! This is a series I know my 14 year old will love so I'm sharing with him.

5/5

Thank you to the author/publisher for the review copy of this book via Celebrate Lit. I received this book in exchange for an honest review and the opinions stated above are 100% mine.

[Heather Greer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I worried that I would be lost when I read this sequel because I hadn’t read the first one in a while. I was wrong. From the first page, I was sucked into the story as if no time had passed at all. I love the way the story takes place in two different times. It makes the experience richer. Readers get two adventures for the price of one, and the stories are epic adventures. The author also does a great job at building a world, actually two, that readers can really immerse themselves in. I look forward to reading more from Brett Armstrong. I give Shadows at Nightfall five stars. I received an ARC of this book through Celebrate Lit. The reviews and opinions are my own and freely given.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not sure what to say about this book. I guess I have to be honest and say I am not a fan of "Shadows at Nightfall" by Brett Armstrong. I struggled all the way through it and was lost reading it. It would be a great book if a reader likes Christian fantasy and likes reading about good versus evil. I really struggled with writing this review because at a different time in my life, ( when I'm not struggling with grief and really able to concentrate I might like this story.
This book is a duel time line tale

I do recommend reading the other two books in the series first!

I received a complimentary copy from the author and Celebrate Lit and these opinions are my own.

[Patti Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third book in the Quest of Fire series, this book continues the story of Jason. I found this book interesting. I definitely recommend reading the books in order.

The story takes place in two different time periods, so you need to keep that in mind if you decide to read this book. I felt like the author created well-developed characters and an excellent storyline. If you appreciate Christian fantasy, you should check out this book yourself.

I received a complimentary copy of this book, but this in no way influenced my review. All opinions are my own.

[Barbara Keigher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say at the start, there were just too many fight scenes,
to the point I eventually started to speed read thru the fights.

However, it was actually well written,
and had some Christian values.
Still, I wish there were verses,
application of verses, etc.
It did have a Christian flow to it.

The jumping back and forth in time lines,
was also a bit much at times.

I may read the next in the series,
but if it basically continues with so so many fight scenes,
and not 'enough' Christian content...
I might have to give it up?

[Amy Anguish · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, so, so good! I think this may be my favorite of the series so far. Armstrong has this ability to build a world that seems so real you forget you don't live in it while reading. The mythology is powerful and reminiscent of Tolkien. Beautiful faith woven into the fabric of a great tale. Can't wait for the next one to release in a few months!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shadows at Nightfall is the third installment from the Quest of Fire series by Brett Armstrong. It is, also, my first book I have read by this author. Even though this is part of a series, I believe it can be read as a stand alone. I had the pleasure of reading book two, Succession, and was happy to have the opportunity to read this one. I was far from being disappointed. I enjoyed this one even more. It was a great read that included action, adventure and danger. The characters were easily to connect with and it was entertaining to be part of their story.

I am giving Shadows at Nightfall four and a half stars. I am still interested in reading the first book from the Quest of Fire series, Gathering of Dark to see what happened previously. I recommend this one for readers who enjoy clean fantasy.

I received a digital copy of Shadows at Nightfall from the publisher, but was not required to write a positive review. This review is one hundred percent my own honest opinion.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series. It reminds me of The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I did find it much easier to read than The Lord of the Rings. Readers will also catch glimpses of Bible stories in similar plot lines.
Brett Armstrong uses a dual timeline to tell the story. I appreciated the chapter titles which help readers determine right away which timeline the chapter is focused on.
I have previously read Succession and The Gathering Dark, the other books in the Quest of Fire series. I think the titles should be read in order because there is a lot going on in the plot. I was wishing as I started reading Shadows at Nightfall that there was a synopsis of the previous titles as it had been a while since I read them. It would have been helpful to help me remember as I was a bit lost at first. I later found the synopses at the end of the eBook copy I was reading.
Brett Armstrong left readers with a couple of cliff hangers so I hope there is another volume coming in this fantastic fantasy series.
Shadows at Nightfall and the other books in the Quest of Fire would make great additions to a K-12 Christian school library. I think fantasy lovers in middle school and up will enjoy them.
I received a complimentary copy of Shadows at Nightfall. This is my honest review.