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Firedark #5
A Fire in the Darkness
The kingdom of Candelaon has fallen into darkness. The flicker of her flame has all but gone out.
Escaping the royal city as it is overrun, Garridon sets out to save King Haylan from the clutches of the enemy, but can such a thing be done? Is King Haylan even still alive?
Gabrel and Kalla have returned to Candelaon and are also seeking to save her and Haylan, but they soon begin to wonder if their true mission has been misunderstood. The glorious battle they had expected to fight upon returning is not going as anticipated.
Meanwhile, Iyt has been dragged away with a mission of her own. But can she truly succeed? Can any of them succeed? Will the last lingering spark of the dying fire catch and spread? Or will the darkness prevail, snuffing out the spark for good?
A Fire in the Darkness is the fifth and final book in Mereda Hart Farynyk’s Firedark series.
Escaping the royal city as it is overrun, Garridon sets out to save King Haylan from the clutches of the enemy, but can such a thing be done? Is King Haylan even still alive?
Gabrel and Kalla have returned to Candelaon and are also seeking to save her and Haylan, but they soon begin to wonder if their true mission has been misunderstood. The glorious battle they had expected to fight upon returning is not going as anticipated.
Meanwhile, Iyt has been dragged away with a mission of her own. But can she truly succeed? Can any of them succeed? Will the last lingering spark of the dying fire catch and spread? Or will the darkness prevail, snuffing out the spark for good?
A Fire in the Darkness is the fifth and final book in Mereda Hart Farynyk’s Firedark series.
547 pages, Paperback
Published November 10, 2021
1 person is currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
Mereda Hart Farynyk
25 books50 followersMereda Hart Farynyk has always been captivated by fairy tales and far off places. From the earliest age, she would wander the forest, looking at the light filtering through the branches, and dream up endless fantasies of fairies and princes and great evils being overcome. She would drink up the study of ancient civilizations and marvel at how mysterious and foreign they were. Growing up in theatre and dance, she immersed herself in countless lives and emotions and perspectives, and what started out as a simple fascination with the magic and mystery of other worlds soon became a deep love of how those other worlds could help us to better understand the richest truths of this one.
Spanning a variety of genres, her books explore questions of spirituality, love, the search for truth, and the motivations of the human heart.
She grew up in North Carolina and resides there still with her husband and two sons.
Spanning a variety of genres, her books explore questions of spirituality, love, the search for truth, and the motivations of the human heart.
She grew up in North Carolina and resides there still with her husband and two sons.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 6, 2025
Gosh where do I even begin! I watched my mum finish this series before I did and her emotional reaction at the end made me pause and drag out finishing as long as I could. I didn't want to end my journey with Kalla and Gabriel (and the rest of the gang) but alas it had to come to a close. Without giving any spoilers I absolutely loved it! The depth of the characters that was revealed in this book was incredible, how each character was connected to others in their relationships and friendships, the heartache that you felt alongside everyone but also the immense joy. This whole series was just so well thought out and executed, I cannot imagine a more perfect - albeit absolutely emotion filled - ending.
March 30, 2023
I didn’t want it to end!
This was a crowning end to the series. I wanted to go on learning about the lives of each of the couples and their next adventures. The book gave me great pause to examine my own walk with God, and the contemporary battle between good and evil. Excellent read!
This was a crowning end to the series. I wanted to go on learning about the lives of each of the couples and their next adventures. The book gave me great pause to examine my own walk with God, and the contemporary battle between good and evil. Excellent read!
June 10, 2025
As I sit here crying, completely wrecked by this book, I will also say I found it healing.
The Firedark series will be a favorite of mine for a very long time I think.
The Firedark series will be a favorite of mine for a very long time I think.
July 31, 2023
I’ve said it before, and I need to say it again: Mereda is an incredible, engaging, and thrilling storyteller. I had planned to have this book last me through all of my vacation and flights to and fro, but I just couldn’t slow down. :)
I really loved the pacing of this book and, again, the beautiful biblical allegories laced into each chapter, representing so many facets of being disciples as well as disciple-making. Mereda managed to pack this book full of both excellent writing as well as deep theology. She uses her characters and plot to powerfully—and tenderly—depict both rejection of Truth and also repentance, restoration, sacrifice, and forgiveness…to remind her readers of the urgency of the message of Truth and its mission. Much (needed) heart searching took place during my read. :)
Mereda’s characters have become my friends. Only after reading a really good book can you experience the bitter-sweet vex of a satisfying story and then having to leave it behind…but, actually, I believe this story will stay with me for quite a while even after I put the books on the shelf. :)
I really loved the pacing of this book and, again, the beautiful biblical allegories laced into each chapter, representing so many facets of being disciples as well as disciple-making. Mereda managed to pack this book full of both excellent writing as well as deep theology. She uses her characters and plot to powerfully—and tenderly—depict both rejection of Truth and also repentance, restoration, sacrifice, and forgiveness…to remind her readers of the urgency of the message of Truth and its mission. Much (needed) heart searching took place during my read. :)
Mereda’s characters have become my friends. Only after reading a really good book can you experience the bitter-sweet vex of a satisfying story and then having to leave it behind…but, actually, I believe this story will stay with me for quite a while even after I put the books on the shelf. :)
January 22, 2025
Wow. Just... wow. I have enjoyed this series so much and its conclusion went places I was not remotely expecting. Rarely do I tear up reading a book... but this one did it. The stellar character development I enjoyed so much in the previous books continued. Most importantly though, as the tale moved toward its close, I was left freshly in awe of the real-world truth, love, and sacrifice the story reflected. Excellent.
Read
February 28, 2024Well. It was different parts of it that did it this time (compared to when I was writing it and preparing it for publication), but this book still makes me WEEP. Oof. What an emotional and spiritual journey.
December 17, 2025
What will I do without these characters??? You did something special with this series, Mereda, and I'm not really sure what you did. But the characters in this series feel like my friends in a way that no other characters in any other books have done. With most books that I like, I do get to know the characters very well, but it's sort of in an "I really wish this person was actually real" sort of way. These characters are real. When I'm reading, I get the same peaceful, comfortable, satisfied feeling I get when I'm talking with my best friend. (Except when you killed people, then I cried, like, a lot.)
Anyways. Even though there are already five, I wish there were more books in this series. I feel like I'm walking away from my best friends.
(May contain spoilers after this point)
HIGHLIGHTS (cuz for some reason they're not showing up...)
"While loving Ky had really always been about herself--about feeling happy and secure and safe--in loving Drex, she found that she often forgot herself."
"Hang what they believe. I will tell them the truth."
"To speak the truth, I do not know if I even especially like her or if it is only that I find her less boring than most people are."
"Just that afternoon, Farh had told Garridon that she was no longer afraid, and he had believed her; but now he saw that letting go of fear was undoubtedly a road of many steps. She was still afraid of being left alone."
"Neither Drex nor Farh wailed or sobbed, and Garridon himself felt so incorporeal, so not really there, that he did not think he could cry. He was not solid enough, not real enough, to cry."
"This is not freedom, Ryownen," he said to her prone form. "This is further bondage."
"The truth was built into us, Kalla, though life tried to convince us that it was a lie."
"She had felt the anguish seeping out of him into her, and she had been glad to take it for him."
"There had been no great declarations between them. There had been no need for that."
- Note: I love the contrast between their (Iyt/Drex) romance and Garridon and Farh's. I love the different ways the couples in this book experience their romance.
Anyways. Even though there are already five, I wish there were more books in this series. I feel like I'm walking away from my best friends.
(May contain spoilers after this point)
HIGHLIGHTS (cuz for some reason they're not showing up...)
"While loving Ky had really always been about herself--about feeling happy and secure and safe--in loving Drex, she found that she often forgot herself."
"Hang what they believe. I will tell them the truth."
"To speak the truth, I do not know if I even especially like her or if it is only that I find her less boring than most people are."
"Just that afternoon, Farh had told Garridon that she was no longer afraid, and he had believed her; but now he saw that letting go of fear was undoubtedly a road of many steps. She was still afraid of being left alone."
"Neither Drex nor Farh wailed or sobbed, and Garridon himself felt so incorporeal, so not really there, that he did not think he could cry. He was not solid enough, not real enough, to cry."
"This is not freedom, Ryownen," he said to her prone form. "This is further bondage."
"The truth was built into us, Kalla, though life tried to convince us that it was a lie."
"She had felt the anguish seeping out of him into her, and she had been glad to take it for him."
"There had been no great declarations between them. There had been no need for that."
- Note: I love the contrast between their (Iyt/Drex) romance and Garridon and Farh's. I love the different ways the couples in this book experience their romance.
Read
January 9, 2025I wrote the below on Instagram when I finished this book in February 2024, but I just realized that I never put it on here and figured that I might as well do so.
__
Wow.
What an emotional and spiritual journey this story takes me on.
I just finished my first read through of this series since I published the last three books of it in 2021, and it was so special to see my reaction to it now after having gained some distance from its creation. There were so many elements of it that jumped out at me this time that never have before (or at least not in the way that they did now).
I shed many tears while writing and working on these books (something that’s common for me whilst writing but quite uncommon in my general reading life; books that aren’t mine almost never make me cry), and entirely different parts of it made me cry this go-round.
There is *so much* here, so many ideas and emotions and events, and yet it is, at its core, very simple, I think.
I’m grateful to have gone on this journey again with these dear, dear characters who will forever hold such special places in my heart.
“If they are filled with the light, there will be no room for the dark.”
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
__
Wow.
What an emotional and spiritual journey this story takes me on.
I just finished my first read through of this series since I published the last three books of it in 2021, and it was so special to see my reaction to it now after having gained some distance from its creation. There were so many elements of it that jumped out at me this time that never have before (or at least not in the way that they did now).
I shed many tears while writing and working on these books (something that’s common for me whilst writing but quite uncommon in my general reading life; books that aren’t mine almost never make me cry), and entirely different parts of it made me cry this go-round.
There is *so much* here, so many ideas and emotions and events, and yet it is, at its core, very simple, I think.
I’m grateful to have gone on this journey again with these dear, dear characters who will forever hold such special places in my heart.
“If they are filled with the light, there will be no room for the dark.”
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews