3 out of 4 stars
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Fallen Light by Benjamin A. Sorensen is an Epic Fantasy that spans over more than a year following Mordinion, a young man who is struggling to find his purpose. It also follows the destinies of those he meets. It is set over many places; villages, cities, magical forests and fortresses made entirely of crystal.
Mordinion lives in a small town and has come of age. In his lands, coming of age means he can use his full name and a feast is spread for him at the family table. But, Mordinion is troubled. He has not found a single skill within his home town that he loves and is unsure of his path. He is not social and so he has but one friend, Ari. One day a Watcher travels by and tells Mordinion he is of an order which guards the lands against Barbarian attacks and so Mordinion believes this to be his destiny and soon becomes a highly respected fighter. He befriends Rael, a man whose skills are incredible, superior, and find they have fallen in love with the same woman. After a tragic event in which Rael inadvertently and accidentally causes the death of the woman, Mordinion can see nothing but his desire to kill Rael, his best friend. And so, the book follows that path, but there are many obstacles, enemies and morals between him and his goal.
While reading Fallen Light, I can honestly say I have never before experienced the amount of frustration and outright anger towards a book or character before. At first I felt the book lacked emotion. The storytelling was cold, the descriptions leaving a lot to the imagination, but I soon came to realise there was a need for this style. Mordinian barely shows emotion but is constantly thinking. Conversations in this book are exhaustive and puzzling and full of circular arguments. I had to rest often while reading. Fallen Light is drenched in morals and philosophy and would welcome the kind of readers that love debates of wisdom. Though for all the deep thinking within the book, there are higher powers with their own goals to achieve.
My frustration and anger came from the deep care I had for these characters. Mordinion's vengeful focus on Rael and his declaration to have him answer his crime with death, outdid many other needs of those around him. It even cost their lives. I began the story feeling sympathy for Mordinion, and soon that became hate at his actions and decisions and then there were so many twists and turns, I became an emotional wreck. These are the things I loved about this tale. A book, in my opinion, should have the power to make you feel this way and more.
The parts I did not like were the heavy conversations and then the potential action scenes being glossed over with sentences like 'after the enemy was beaten'. After so much dialogue, I was longing for descriptive fight scenes but many were just a simple passage of time. There are also many subplots to keep track of with magical beings that don't always get much explanation for their existence. However, they are very unique from any other fantasies I have read. Beings that attack with the power of moonlight, against those who shy away from it, was intriguing and refreshing.
Fallen Light is a strong 3 out of 4 stars. It is well edited, the plot is steady and focused and the author does a great job of holding all the subplots together neatly throughout the novel. The reason I am not giving it the full 4 stars is due to the many characters speaking with almost the same 'voice' as the main character and Rael, all having a penchant for long debates about a single moral. I had a need to take regular breaks from them. There are many readers, however, that would love this kind of conversation and I urge them to pick up this book as they may see the parts that slipped by me.
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Fallen Light
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