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The Illborn Saga #1
Illborn
Long ago, The Lord Aiduel emerged from the deserts of the Holy Land, possessed with divine powers. He used these to forcibly unite the peoples of Angall, before His ascension to heaven.
Over eight hundred years later, in a medieval world which is threatened by war and religious persecution, four young men and women begin to develop supernatural abilities. These forbidden and secret powers will shatter the lives that they have known, and will force each of them to confront the mystery of the ethereal Gate which haunts their dreams. What does the dream mean, and how is it connected to their burgeoning abilities?
As they experience conflict, love, lust and betrayal, in lands which are being overtaken by war, they must try to stay ahead of and to survive the sinister forces which are now pursuing them. For they are being hunted…
ILLBORN is Daniel T. Jackson's powerful and gritty debut novel, and is the thrilling opening chapter in the epic fantasy story of The Illborn Saga.
Over eight hundred years later, in a medieval world which is threatened by war and religious persecution, four young men and women begin to develop supernatural abilities. These forbidden and secret powers will shatter the lives that they have known, and will force each of them to confront the mystery of the ethereal Gate which haunts their dreams. What does the dream mean, and how is it connected to their burgeoning abilities?
As they experience conflict, love, lust and betrayal, in lands which are being overtaken by war, they must try to stay ahead of and to survive the sinister forces which are now pursuing them. For they are being hunted…
ILLBORN is Daniel T. Jackson's powerful and gritty debut novel, and is the thrilling opening chapter in the epic fantasy story of The Illborn Saga.
713 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 19, 2021
512 people are currently reading
20025 people want to read
About the author
Daniel T. Jackson
3 books608 followersDaniel T. Jackson is a fantasy enthusiast, with a love for fantastical worlds and epic adventures. After 25 years of creating stories for friends and family, Daniel finally escaped from his day job to fulfil his lifelong ambition of writing Illborn. With The Illborn Saga, he hopes to create the next classic fantasy series.
Daniel can also be found on Instagram on danieltjackson_illborn and on Threads (again, as danieltjackson_illborn).
Daniel is married with four children, and lives in the United Kingdom. He also loves hiking, cycling and piano, and volunteers for a number of good causes. Illborn was his first published novel, and he continued the epic story with Aiduel's Sin. Book Three, Gatebound, was published on 28th February 2025.
Daniel can also be found on Instagram on danieltjackson_illborn and on Threads (again, as danieltjackson_illborn).
Daniel is married with four children, and lives in the United Kingdom. He also loves hiking, cycling and piano, and volunteers for a number of good causes. Illborn was his first published novel, and he continued the epic story with Aiduel's Sin. Book Three, Gatebound, was published on 28th February 2025.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 572 reviews
January 13, 2022
Review copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
By the Lord, this was amazing. Illborn is an absolutely compelling character-driven epic fantasy debut.
Before I begin my review, I would like to say that I think Illborn needs a better cover art. The current cover art is alright, but it's not representative of the quality of the captivating story Jackson has crafted in his debut. Frankly, if it wasn't due to the highly positive word-of-mouth circulating on Bookstagram and Twitter, I doubt I would give Illborn, the first book in The Illborn Saga by Daniel T. Jackson, a try. Fortunately, I did give it a read despite my feelings on the cover art, and I’m truly grateful I did. It's so surprising that this is a debut, a ridiculously underrated one. At the time of writing this review, there are only 160 ratings on Goodreads, and that's unacceptable. Illborn deserves a much bigger audience. If I had read Illborn in 2021 instead of 2022, it would’ve won my best fantasy debut of 2021. It would overtake The Hand of the Sun King by J.T. Greathouse, which I loved so much. I know that sounds crazy, but that's just how good this debut is. Illborn is another example of why I love searching for underrated fantasy books. Finding hidden gems like this brings me joy.
More than eight hundred years ago, the Lord Aiduel emerged from the deserts of the Holy Land. Aiduel used his divine powers to forcibly unite the peoples of Angall before His ascension to heaven. Now, in the year 767AA where the main story takes place in a medieval world threatened by war and religious persecution, four young men and women of the same age (18 years old) begin to develop supernatural abilities. These forbidden and secret powers will shatter the lives that they have known. Each of them has to confront the mystery of the ethereal Gate, which haunts their dreams, and find out how it's connected to their burgeoning abilities? These four characters will experience conflicts, love, lust, and betrayal, and unbeknownst to them, they must also try to stay ahead of the sinister forces pursuing them.
As you can probably guess from the premise, Illborn is an incredibly character-driven story with a heavy focus on faith, religions, responsibility, survival, love, friendship, and leadership. Character-driven epic fantasy novels have always been my favorite type of fantasy book to read, and I do believe Jackson has created something special here. If you need a small proof of Jackson's storytelling skill, I strongly suggest you check out the superb prologue. The prologue in Illborn is one of the best prologues I've ever read, and reading it will be more convincing than reading my review. Immediately, you'll know whether you'll be interested enough to continue or not from it. And let me assure you, the brilliant immersion and tension of the prologue remains consistent throughout the entire novel; in my opinion, it gets better and better with each page. And it's all thanks to Jackson's absolute control over his characters and characterizations. I genuinely can't decide which one I love to read more between Alanna, Corin, Arion, and Leanna.
Each main character's story arc has themes that revolve around three words. Lust, power, and domination are Alanna's. From my assessment, I think it's safe to say that Alanna will be the most divisive character among the readers of Illborn. Growing up as a daughter of a courtesan, Alanna has lived a hard life. And destiny won't give her a break at all. Things only get worse for her since she acquired her power, but I think her determination to survive—whether you agree with her or not—is astounding. Alanna is ruthless, she prioritizes survival at all costs, lies, and she's also self-righteous. All of these traits made Alanna a morally grey and unlikable character. However, there's something impressive about her plot. Despite my feelings towards Alanna, I never felt bored reading her narration. It felt like I was reading a well-written origin story of a self-righteous villain. That's Alanna's story arc for me.
And next, we have Corin. Fear, control, and order determine Corin's life. Unlike Alanna, it was easy for me to care for Corin. He and Agbeth—Corin’s lover—are kind-hearted characters living in Viking inspired society where might, pillaging, and bravery are at the center of their lifestyle. But Corin is not a warrior, while Agbeth is physically disabled; conflicts arise from these. In a similar fashion (but also different) to Alanna, Corin and Agbeth's story is about survival. Out of all the main characters in Illborn, Corin is more separated from the other three main characters. But this doesn't mean Corin's story was ever lacking in impact and emotions. It was super engaging to read Corin and Agbeth's story of survival, and hey, there's even an "animal" companion in his story. I'll leave it at that for you to find out for yourself. But there were many intense and satisfying moments and scenes in Corin's story that I loved.
Before we get to the last character, I need to talk about Leanna. Devotion, sacrifice, and salvation guide her path, and Leanna is definitely the most surprising character for me. As I mentioned earlier, faith is a dominant theme in the narrative. Many deadly conflicts in Illborn occurred because of religions and misguided beliefs. Leanna's story started relatively peaceful and simple; on first impression, her story was the one that felt like it wouldn't go anywhere too far. And I couldn't be more wrong on this. Leanna's story is crucial to the series, and seeing the destruction caused by the corruption of faith was infuriating—in a good way because it's so understandable—and tension-packed. The topic of brutality and discord invoked by blind fanaticism isn't something new in literature, and it's in Leanna's POV chapters where Jackson managed to showcase the finest kind of unputdownable story on this topic. I can't get enough of it, and the last chapters of her story (or all the characters, really) were totally stunning.
Lastly, the fourth and final main character of Illborn: Arion. As I said, I found all four main characters' narration equally compelling. However, if I have to choose only one favorite POV character in Illborn to read, it will probably be Arion. Why? Arion Sepian's story reminded me of Vaelin al Sorna from Blood Song by Anthony Ryan. Not in the way it's told, but due to the familiar elements and tropes embedded in Arion's POV chapters. Arion's story starts with his dominant father forcing him to become a priest because he's the third son in the family. And somehow, this was so captivating already. I loved reading his brotherhood with Gerrion and Delrin, but that's not all; Arion's POV featured the battle school trope. Yes, one of my favorite tropes in fantasy is in Arion's POV chapters, and I immensely enjoyed reading Arion's continuous friendship with Sendar Pavil and rivalry with Berun. Jackson executed this trope wonderfully to its maximum effect. Filled with a storyline that centers around strength, victory, and glory, Arion's storyline displayed carnage, battle frenzy, glorious power, bloody slaughter, and the grim nature of humanity and war. And if you're worried that Arion is a Gary Stu, rest assured that he's not perfect. He made questionable decisions, and I loved every moment of reading his POV chapters.
Look, this review is long enough already, and I feel like I just scratched the surface of the greatness of this book. There are so many things to love in Illborn. So many chapters ended on a cliffhanger that made me eagerly look forward to their next chapter, and it went on for the entire novel. The world-building felt intricate, and I lost many sleeping hours absorbed in Illborn. Every moment I was free, I used it to steal-read a chapter or two. The story in Illborn ranges from 767AA to 769AA, and within two years, the development that the characters endured was utterly astonishing. I seriously cannot wait to read the next book in the series as soon as possible. “With The Illborn Saga, he hopes to create the next classic fantasy series” is written on the first page of the book, and if Jackson can keep this excellence up—or improve upon it, no idea how—for the rest of the series, he will succeed at it. Illborn is one of the most magnificent epic fantasy debuts I’ve ever read. Brimming with pulse-pounding stakes, vivid actions, and believable moral dilemmas, character-driven epic fantasy readers will instantaneously love Illborn. From the beginning to the end, Illborn provides an incredibly absorbing story about well-realized characters doing their best to survive in a brutal world ravaged by violence, injustice, and religious oppression. The year 2022 has just begun, but I have no doubt Illborn will remain in one of my top 10 reads of the year by the end of it. Read this awesome debut, and you can thank me later.
You can order this book from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Blackwells (Free International shipping)
You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions | I also have a Booktube channel
Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!
My Patrons: Alfred, Andrew, Annabeth, Ben, Blaise, Diana, Dylan, Edward, Element, Ellen, Ellis, Gary, Hamad, Helen, Jimmy Nutts, Jennifer, Joie, Luis, Lufi, Melinda, Meryl, Mike, Miracle, Neeraja, Nicholas, Oliver, ReignBro, Reno, Samuel, Sarah, Sarah, Scott, Xero, Wendy, Wick, Zoe.
By the Lord, this was amazing. Illborn is an absolutely compelling character-driven epic fantasy debut.
Before I begin my review, I would like to say that I think Illborn needs a better cover art. The current cover art is alright, but it's not representative of the quality of the captivating story Jackson has crafted in his debut. Frankly, if it wasn't due to the highly positive word-of-mouth circulating on Bookstagram and Twitter, I doubt I would give Illborn, the first book in The Illborn Saga by Daniel T. Jackson, a try. Fortunately, I did give it a read despite my feelings on the cover art, and I’m truly grateful I did. It's so surprising that this is a debut, a ridiculously underrated one. At the time of writing this review, there are only 160 ratings on Goodreads, and that's unacceptable. Illborn deserves a much bigger audience. If I had read Illborn in 2021 instead of 2022, it would’ve won my best fantasy debut of 2021. It would overtake The Hand of the Sun King by J.T. Greathouse, which I loved so much. I know that sounds crazy, but that's just how good this debut is. Illborn is another example of why I love searching for underrated fantasy books. Finding hidden gems like this brings me joy.
“Aiduel reminds us that he who does not search shall never find.”
More than eight hundred years ago, the Lord Aiduel emerged from the deserts of the Holy Land. Aiduel used his divine powers to forcibly unite the peoples of Angall before His ascension to heaven. Now, in the year 767AA where the main story takes place in a medieval world threatened by war and religious persecution, four young men and women of the same age (18 years old) begin to develop supernatural abilities. These forbidden and secret powers will shatter the lives that they have known. Each of them has to confront the mystery of the ethereal Gate, which haunts their dreams, and find out how it's connected to their burgeoning abilities? These four characters will experience conflicts, love, lust, and betrayal, and unbeknownst to them, they must also try to stay ahead of the sinister forces pursuing them.
As you can probably guess from the premise, Illborn is an incredibly character-driven story with a heavy focus on faith, religions, responsibility, survival, love, friendship, and leadership. Character-driven epic fantasy novels have always been my favorite type of fantasy book to read, and I do believe Jackson has created something special here. If you need a small proof of Jackson's storytelling skill, I strongly suggest you check out the superb prologue. The prologue in Illborn is one of the best prologues I've ever read, and reading it will be more convincing than reading my review. Immediately, you'll know whether you'll be interested enough to continue or not from it. And let me assure you, the brilliant immersion and tension of the prologue remains consistent throughout the entire novel; in my opinion, it gets better and better with each page. And it's all thanks to Jackson's absolute control over his characters and characterizations. I genuinely can't decide which one I love to read more between Alanna, Corin, Arion, and Leanna.
“How does the opportunity ever arise for one person to alter the destiny of a world?”
Each main character's story arc has themes that revolve around three words. Lust, power, and domination are Alanna's. From my assessment, I think it's safe to say that Alanna will be the most divisive character among the readers of Illborn. Growing up as a daughter of a courtesan, Alanna has lived a hard life. And destiny won't give her a break at all. Things only get worse for her since she acquired her power, but I think her determination to survive—whether you agree with her or not—is astounding. Alanna is ruthless, she prioritizes survival at all costs, lies, and she's also self-righteous. All of these traits made Alanna a morally grey and unlikable character. However, there's something impressive about her plot. Despite my feelings towards Alanna, I never felt bored reading her narration. It felt like I was reading a well-written origin story of a self-righteous villain. That's Alanna's story arc for me.
And next, we have Corin. Fear, control, and order determine Corin's life. Unlike Alanna, it was easy for me to care for Corin. He and Agbeth—Corin’s lover—are kind-hearted characters living in Viking inspired society where might, pillaging, and bravery are at the center of their lifestyle. But Corin is not a warrior, while Agbeth is physically disabled; conflicts arise from these. In a similar fashion (but also different) to Alanna, Corin and Agbeth's story is about survival. Out of all the main characters in Illborn, Corin is more separated from the other three main characters. But this doesn't mean Corin's story was ever lacking in impact and emotions. It was super engaging to read Corin and Agbeth's story of survival, and hey, there's even an "animal" companion in his story. I'll leave it at that for you to find out for yourself. But there were many intense and satisfying moments and scenes in Corin's story that I loved.
Before we get to the last character, I need to talk about Leanna. Devotion, sacrifice, and salvation guide her path, and Leanna is definitely the most surprising character for me. As I mentioned earlier, faith is a dominant theme in the narrative. Many deadly conflicts in Illborn occurred because of religions and misguided beliefs. Leanna's story started relatively peaceful and simple; on first impression, her story was the one that felt like it wouldn't go anywhere too far. And I couldn't be more wrong on this. Leanna's story is crucial to the series, and seeing the destruction caused by the corruption of faith was infuriating—in a good way because it's so understandable—and tension-packed. The topic of brutality and discord invoked by blind fanaticism isn't something new in literature, and it's in Leanna's POV chapters where Jackson managed to showcase the finest kind of unputdownable story on this topic. I can't get enough of it, and the last chapters of her story (or all the characters, really) were totally stunning.
Lastly, the fourth and final main character of Illborn: Arion. As I said, I found all four main characters' narration equally compelling. However, if I have to choose only one favorite POV character in Illborn to read, it will probably be Arion. Why? Arion Sepian's story reminded me of Vaelin al Sorna from Blood Song by Anthony Ryan. Not in the way it's told, but due to the familiar elements and tropes embedded in Arion's POV chapters. Arion's story starts with his dominant father forcing him to become a priest because he's the third son in the family. And somehow, this was so captivating already. I loved reading his brotherhood with Gerrion and Delrin, but that's not all; Arion's POV featured the battle school trope. Yes, one of my favorite tropes in fantasy is in Arion's POV chapters, and I immensely enjoyed reading Arion's continuous friendship with Sendar Pavil and rivalry with Berun. Jackson executed this trope wonderfully to its maximum effect. Filled with a storyline that centers around strength, victory, and glory, Arion's storyline displayed carnage, battle frenzy, glorious power, bloody slaughter, and the grim nature of humanity and war. And if you're worried that Arion is a Gary Stu, rest assured that he's not perfect. He made questionable decisions, and I loved every moment of reading his POV chapters.
“When greatness is surrounded by mediocrity, it always finds a way to rise to the surface.”
Look, this review is long enough already, and I feel like I just scratched the surface of the greatness of this book. There are so many things to love in Illborn. So many chapters ended on a cliffhanger that made me eagerly look forward to their next chapter, and it went on for the entire novel. The world-building felt intricate, and I lost many sleeping hours absorbed in Illborn. Every moment I was free, I used it to steal-read a chapter or two. The story in Illborn ranges from 767AA to 769AA, and within two years, the development that the characters endured was utterly astonishing. I seriously cannot wait to read the next book in the series as soon as possible. “With The Illborn Saga, he hopes to create the next classic fantasy series” is written on the first page of the book, and if Jackson can keep this excellence up—or improve upon it, no idea how—for the rest of the series, he will succeed at it. Illborn is one of the most magnificent epic fantasy debuts I’ve ever read. Brimming with pulse-pounding stakes, vivid actions, and believable moral dilemmas, character-driven epic fantasy readers will instantaneously love Illborn. From the beginning to the end, Illborn provides an incredibly absorbing story about well-realized characters doing their best to survive in a brutal world ravaged by violence, injustice, and religious oppression. The year 2022 has just begun, but I have no doubt Illborn will remain in one of my top 10 reads of the year by the end of it. Read this awesome debut, and you can thank me later.
You can order this book from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Blackwells (Free International shipping)
You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions | I also have a Booktube channel
Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!
My Patrons: Alfred, Andrew, Annabeth, Ben, Blaise, Diana, Dylan, Edward, Element, Ellen, Ellis, Gary, Hamad, Helen, Jimmy Nutts, Jennifer, Joie, Luis, Lufi, Melinda, Meryl, Mike, Miracle, Neeraja, Nicholas, Oliver, ReignBro, Reno, Samuel, Sarah, Sarah, Scott, Xero, Wendy, Wick, Zoe.
August 26, 2021
One of my favourite reads of 2021!
I finished reading Illborn 30 minutes ago, and I am trying to summarise how I feel about this book. Illborn is simply put...FANTASTIC! It has been a while since a story has gripped and consumed me like Illborn. I don’t think that I will justify how much I enjoyed this book in a single review, but I will try my best to convince everyone to pick up this book.
Firstly, the character work is astonishing. Illborn follows four different main characters who all start to develop supernatural abilities. These magical abilities are strictly forbidden and add an element of chaos to the lives of these characters. It is rare for me to enjoy all the POVs when a book focuses on multiple characters. However, Daniel T. Jackson made me feel engaged and immersed in all four plotlines. Each character’s arc is exciting, impactful and gripping! I was emotionally invested in each plotline, which made reading this book so much more intense and riveting. The ending of this book is fantastic, and the epilogue shocked me!
The world-building is also terrific. Illborn is set in a medieval world, which is threatened by war and religious persecution. I loved seeing the impact religion had on society and how the religious authorities were abusing the faith to further their own interest. However, Jackson never blames religion itself for being the reason for corruption or abuse of power. It is human beings twisting religion who are at fault – not the religion itself. Having religion as a central theme is always tricky, but Jackson handles this theme masterfully.
Illborn emotionally gripped me from the first chapter. There were several moments in this book that made my heart ache or made me gasp. Although this is a thick book at 700+ pages, there was not a chapter that I didn’t enjoy. Finishing this book instantly gave me a book hangover which is quite rare! It is quite remarkable that this is Daniel T. Jackson’s debut! Illborn is, without a doubt, one of my favourite reads of 2021.
Illborn is criminally underrated at the moment. If you are a fan of epic fantasy, Illborn is a must-read!
5 / 5
A special thanks to Daniel T. Jackson for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.
I finished reading Illborn 30 minutes ago, and I am trying to summarise how I feel about this book. Illborn is simply put...FANTASTIC! It has been a while since a story has gripped and consumed me like Illborn. I don’t think that I will justify how much I enjoyed this book in a single review, but I will try my best to convince everyone to pick up this book.
Firstly, the character work is astonishing. Illborn follows four different main characters who all start to develop supernatural abilities. These magical abilities are strictly forbidden and add an element of chaos to the lives of these characters. It is rare for me to enjoy all the POVs when a book focuses on multiple characters. However, Daniel T. Jackson made me feel engaged and immersed in all four plotlines. Each character’s arc is exciting, impactful and gripping! I was emotionally invested in each plotline, which made reading this book so much more intense and riveting. The ending of this book is fantastic, and the epilogue shocked me!
The world-building is also terrific. Illborn is set in a medieval world, which is threatened by war and religious persecution. I loved seeing the impact religion had on society and how the religious authorities were abusing the faith to further their own interest. However, Jackson never blames religion itself for being the reason for corruption or abuse of power. It is human beings twisting religion who are at fault – not the religion itself. Having religion as a central theme is always tricky, but Jackson handles this theme masterfully.
Illborn emotionally gripped me from the first chapter. There were several moments in this book that made my heart ache or made me gasp. Although this is a thick book at 700+ pages, there was not a chapter that I didn’t enjoy. Finishing this book instantly gave me a book hangover which is quite rare! It is quite remarkable that this is Daniel T. Jackson’s debut! Illborn is, without a doubt, one of my favourite reads of 2021.
Illborn is criminally underrated at the moment. If you are a fan of epic fantasy, Illborn is a must-read!
5 / 5
A special thanks to Daniel T. Jackson for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.
April 12, 2024
Watch my video review by clicking here.
4.5 rounded down. A very solid book that was held back from greatness due to the extremely disconnected POVs which held back any sense of a narrative connection between the four stories.
4.5 rounded down. A very solid book that was held back from greatness due to the extremely disconnected POVs which held back any sense of a narrative connection between the four stories.
September 10, 2023
Illborn by Daniel T. Jackson has potential but makes a lot of missteps on its way to attaining the epic, dark feel that it chases. The book reminds me of a fantasy soap opera that hasn’t aged well. It’s written in the same episodic style, with alternating chapters from different perspectives that each serve to introduce one plot twist or event. Also like an old soap opera, Illborn has one objectified character who gave me a persistent uncomfortable feeling from start to end.
This book follows four young adults in a grim medieval world who all dream of the same Gate and a hand that beckons them forward, into the golden light. Thereafter, they gain mysterious abilities of healing, warfare, seduction, and mind control. Although these new abilities bring them addictive power, they also catch the eye of the church, whose military force has only one goal: executing anyone labeled a heretic.
Having four points of view is a great way to show off your writing skills, especially by giving each of the four main characters unique voices to match their different stories. However, this opportunity was missed in Illborn. Allana, Arion, Leanna, and Corin all receive the same style of narration. They also speak the same way and use the same mannerisms (or lack thereof), which makes their perspectives feel nearly identical even though they are quite different from each other in terms of mood and plot.
The writing is not emotional enough in key moments considering the enormity and horror of everything happening to the characters. Feelings are consistently told instead of shown. Because each chapter has roughly the same pace, moments when readers should feel content and peaceful are rushed. The development of relationships among characters are revealed almost like in a Wikipedia article, for example: “By the time that several weeks had passed in the Academy, Arion had become close friends with his roommates.” Because of this, I could not grow attached to any of the side characters. Additionally, there is very little attempt to build the atmosphere of the different settings or to make the world feel lived-in and immersive. I think just a bit of this could have gone a long way. Every location feels transitory right now. On the positive side, the episodic nature of the chapters means the pacing is very good. It’s easy to keep reading this book. There is no extreme learning curve or overwhelming exposition.
Here we get into the characters… and one in particular who gave me the ick.
Allana is an eighteen-year-old whose supernatural power is lust, which plays out just as uncomfortably as you might expect. I’m not saying the author wrote her this way only as wish fulfillment or fan service. But I am saying this should have been thought through more. There were ways to make this not feel like objectification. Allana is not a great person herself, but villains aren’t interesting if they’re just archetypes, and villains can be objectified too even if they also do terrible things to other people.
Allana and her victims weren’t given enough respect from writer to character to pull off such a deeply uncomfortable plot. Allana’s motivation of survival is not written with enough complexity, emotion, or consideration to make a compelling character. She clearly has some internal conflict between wanting to survive and feeling bad at least momentarily about violating men’s autonomy, so why was this glossed over every time? The most promising part about Allana’s chapters was the question of morality in the face of self-preservation: how far can you go to save yourself, how many people can you hurt and abandon along the way until you’re in the wrong? There’s so much potential there, and I don’t think it was explored as deeply as it should have been. The book doesn’t have to apologize to the reader for discussing disturbing scenarios, but it should probably spend more time on the meat of the story—this internal conflict—and less on the seduction. That way Illborn would actually explore the character instead of peering at her from some remote, detached place occupied by the readers and writer. She’s never allowed to be more than this shallow depiction. Even when other characters have an emotional moment about her, it always comes back to how she looks, for example, “Her perfect physical form had been cut and bloodied.” The way she defeats her pursuers at the end is so ridiculous and compounds every other objectifying scene that preceded it. Imagine the most cringe-inducing scene you can based on the other information that I’ve given you about her character. That will probably be pretty close to what actually happens.
Another female character whom I was unsatisfied with was Agbeth, who is the wife of Corin, another POV character. His path has not yet connected with the paths of Arion, Allana, or Leanna, so I don’t know what role he will play in the larger plot yet. Corin is the “runt” in a remote clan eternally at war with another clan. It’s never explained why they keep battling each other. This is part of the point—why engage in senseless killing if no one ever gains anything?—but it’s also hard to believe that entire clans would wholeheartedly consent to slaughtering each other when there’s no convincing reason to keep doing so. Throughout Corin’s journey of exile and coming into his powers, Agbeth stays by his side. It’s difficult to articulate exactly what unsatisfied me about her character. She doesn’t have enough of her own personality; we never see that there is anything else going through her head except concern for Corin. Consequently, I thought she read as a wife who gets fridged repeatedly so he can rescue her and come into his full power. There’s nothing wrong with a person taking care of another person, but the complete lack of focus on any of Agbeth’s individuality makes it lean too close to fridging for my enjoyment. Her story is always used to push Corin to do something.
There isn’t much to say about Arion, the fourth POV character. He was the only main character who wasn’t strongly associated with a theme of the book. I was excited for his scenes at the military academy, because I love schools in fantasy, but that was summarized with as little detail as possible. He fought in a battle that took me by surprise because I wasn’t sure why it was happening.
I thought Leanna’s chapters were the most compelling out of the four main characters. I really liked reading about her—she didn’t rely on any of the gray morality that I thought was too shallow with Allana and Arion. If I read the sequel to Illborn, it will only be for Leanna. The final full chapter, which was written from her perspective, was probably the best chapter of the book. It managed to give me chills.
Leanna is the most well-adjusted of the four. She is kind, thoughtful, and trustworthy. She is the only one who’s achieved inner peace. Leanna is training to be a priestess, along with her best friend and tentative love interest Amyss. I wish their relationship had been developed by the author more. We aren’t shown much about Leanna’s feelings for Amyss, so the progression of their relationship honestly shocked me. I thought Leanna had no romantic interest in Amyss because that was never something she thought about. I actually felt a bit uneasy whenever Amyss tried to start something with Leanna because I thought Leanna hadn’t consented, which was heavily implied in the first scene of that kind.
Throughout the book, there’s a lot of fear and dread in Leanna’s chapters. This is especially effective because the first few chapters are so simple and pleasant. Later on, she has to confront the religious fanatics known as Aiduel’s Guards who pervade cities across the fantasy world, seeking heretics to burn and driving even the devout into timidity. They are the law: since they were purportedly chosen by Aiduel to purify heretics, anyone who opposes their tyrannical rule is automatically a heretic themselves.
For a book that focuses so much on religion, I wish more details were given about beliefs. The religion of Illborn is essentially medieval Christianity, and the novel relies on the reader’s possible familiarity with Christianity to fill in the blanks. I thought this backfired. The religion is not specific enough to be a nuanced commentary on medieval Christianity (warfare, zealotry, beliefs, control over society). However, since it isn’t distinguished enough from that religion, it fails to be convincing creatively either. Since the sequel is called Aiduel’s Sin, I anticipate that the author will address this issue and differentiate the world’s religion from Christianity more. Additionally, the larger plot centers around Aiduel, but readers know very little about the god, so it’s impossible to make educated predictions to guess where the series is going. There are very few hints for a book of this size about the question of why when it comes to the characters’ powers.
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy reading Illborn. It was not immersive or thrilling enough for me, especially since the characters stayed at arm’s length and the world felt only roughly sketched.
1.5/5
This book follows four young adults in a grim medieval world who all dream of the same Gate and a hand that beckons them forward, into the golden light. Thereafter, they gain mysterious abilities of healing, warfare, seduction, and mind control. Although these new abilities bring them addictive power, they also catch the eye of the church, whose military force has only one goal: executing anyone labeled a heretic.
Having four points of view is a great way to show off your writing skills, especially by giving each of the four main characters unique voices to match their different stories. However, this opportunity was missed in Illborn. Allana, Arion, Leanna, and Corin all receive the same style of narration. They also speak the same way and use the same mannerisms (or lack thereof), which makes their perspectives feel nearly identical even though they are quite different from each other in terms of mood and plot.
The writing is not emotional enough in key moments considering the enormity and horror of everything happening to the characters. Feelings are consistently told instead of shown. Because each chapter has roughly the same pace, moments when readers should feel content and peaceful are rushed. The development of relationships among characters are revealed almost like in a Wikipedia article, for example: “By the time that several weeks had passed in the Academy, Arion had become close friends with his roommates.” Because of this, I could not grow attached to any of the side characters. Additionally, there is very little attempt to build the atmosphere of the different settings or to make the world feel lived-in and immersive. I think just a bit of this could have gone a long way. Every location feels transitory right now. On the positive side, the episodic nature of the chapters means the pacing is very good. It’s easy to keep reading this book. There is no extreme learning curve or overwhelming exposition.
Here we get into the characters… and one in particular who gave me the ick.
Allana is an eighteen-year-old whose supernatural power is lust, which plays out just as uncomfortably as you might expect. I’m not saying the author wrote her this way only as wish fulfillment or fan service. But I am saying this should have been thought through more. There were ways to make this not feel like objectification. Allana is not a great person herself, but villains aren’t interesting if they’re just archetypes, and villains can be objectified too even if they also do terrible things to other people.
Allana and her victims weren’t given enough respect from writer to character to pull off such a deeply uncomfortable plot. Allana’s motivation of survival is not written with enough complexity, emotion, or consideration to make a compelling character. She clearly has some internal conflict between wanting to survive and feeling bad at least momentarily about violating men’s autonomy, so why was this glossed over every time? The most promising part about Allana’s chapters was the question of morality in the face of self-preservation: how far can you go to save yourself, how many people can you hurt and abandon along the way until you’re in the wrong? There’s so much potential there, and I don’t think it was explored as deeply as it should have been. The book doesn’t have to apologize to the reader for discussing disturbing scenarios, but it should probably spend more time on the meat of the story—this internal conflict—and less on the seduction. That way Illborn would actually explore the character instead of peering at her from some remote, detached place occupied by the readers and writer. She’s never allowed to be more than this shallow depiction. Even when other characters have an emotional moment about her, it always comes back to how she looks, for example, “Her perfect physical form had been cut and bloodied.” The way she defeats her pursuers at the end is so ridiculous and compounds every other objectifying scene that preceded it. Imagine the most cringe-inducing scene you can based on the other information that I’ve given you about her character. That will probably be pretty close to what actually happens.
Another female character whom I was unsatisfied with was Agbeth, who is the wife of Corin, another POV character. His path has not yet connected with the paths of Arion, Allana, or Leanna, so I don’t know what role he will play in the larger plot yet. Corin is the “runt” in a remote clan eternally at war with another clan. It’s never explained why they keep battling each other. This is part of the point—why engage in senseless killing if no one ever gains anything?—but it’s also hard to believe that entire clans would wholeheartedly consent to slaughtering each other when there’s no convincing reason to keep doing so. Throughout Corin’s journey of exile and coming into his powers, Agbeth stays by his side. It’s difficult to articulate exactly what unsatisfied me about her character. She doesn’t have enough of her own personality; we never see that there is anything else going through her head except concern for Corin. Consequently, I thought she read as a wife who gets fridged repeatedly so he can rescue her and come into his full power. There’s nothing wrong with a person taking care of another person, but the complete lack of focus on any of Agbeth’s individuality makes it lean too close to fridging for my enjoyment. Her story is always used to push Corin to do something.
There isn’t much to say about Arion, the fourth POV character. He was the only main character who wasn’t strongly associated with a theme of the book. I was excited for his scenes at the military academy, because I love schools in fantasy, but that was summarized with as little detail as possible. He fought in a battle that took me by surprise because I wasn’t sure why it was happening.
I thought Leanna’s chapters were the most compelling out of the four main characters. I really liked reading about her—she didn’t rely on any of the gray morality that I thought was too shallow with Allana and Arion. If I read the sequel to Illborn, it will only be for Leanna. The final full chapter, which was written from her perspective, was probably the best chapter of the book. It managed to give me chills.
Leanna is the most well-adjusted of the four. She is kind, thoughtful, and trustworthy. She is the only one who’s achieved inner peace. Leanna is training to be a priestess, along with her best friend and tentative love interest Amyss. I wish their relationship had been developed by the author more. We aren’t shown much about Leanna’s feelings for Amyss, so the progression of their relationship honestly shocked me. I thought Leanna had no romantic interest in Amyss because that was never something she thought about. I actually felt a bit uneasy whenever Amyss tried to start something with Leanna because I thought Leanna hadn’t consented, which was heavily implied in the first scene of that kind.
Throughout the book, there’s a lot of fear and dread in Leanna’s chapters. This is especially effective because the first few chapters are so simple and pleasant. Later on, she has to confront the religious fanatics known as Aiduel’s Guards who pervade cities across the fantasy world, seeking heretics to burn and driving even the devout into timidity. They are the law: since they were purportedly chosen by Aiduel to purify heretics, anyone who opposes their tyrannical rule is automatically a heretic themselves.
For a book that focuses so much on religion, I wish more details were given about beliefs. The religion of Illborn is essentially medieval Christianity, and the novel relies on the reader’s possible familiarity with Christianity to fill in the blanks. I thought this backfired. The religion is not specific enough to be a nuanced commentary on medieval Christianity (warfare, zealotry, beliefs, control over society). However, since it isn’t distinguished enough from that religion, it fails to be convincing creatively either. Since the sequel is called Aiduel’s Sin, I anticipate that the author will address this issue and differentiate the world’s religion from Christianity more. Additionally, the larger plot centers around Aiduel, but readers know very little about the god, so it’s impossible to make educated predictions to guess where the series is going. There are very few hints for a book of this size about the question of why when it comes to the characters’ powers.
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy reading Illborn. It was not immersive or thrilling enough for me, especially since the characters stayed at arm’s length and the world felt only roughly sketched.
1.5/5
July 24, 2023
I think it is unpopular opinion time.
As I'm highly susceptible to a bookstagram hype, I decided to pick up Illborn. Sadly, as you will find out, this book left me with some very conflicting feeling. How could a book with so many 5 star ratings have such a major off putting flaw? Was it just me?
In the end I decided to write this review, because this book treats female characters in a way I personally find very offensive.
During the course of this review I will use some spoilers to make my point, but please read on before purchasing this book.
Illborn is your typical epic fantasy book. Set in a medieval world. Tension between several nations. Not one but four chosen ones to satisfy your cravings for the trope. The only thing slightly unique is the way the author incorporates his critique of the Roman Catholic church into the story. As others have noted this is done by basically copying medieval Europe, right down to one of the nations (this version of England) threatening sescesion from the church and installing its king as head of state. Henry the eighth anyone? It also goes heavy on crusades, witch burnings, sexual abuse, political manipulation and other heinous things the Roman Catholic church has taken part in over the centuries. As such, I would say this is not really fantasy, but more an exploration of faith in this world in a sort of historical fiction like setting.
Our four chosen ones, in order of appearance, are; Allana the daughter of a prostitute, Corin a cowardly viking, Leanna a pious girl who wants to be a priest, and Arion the son of a lord. All the protagonists have been blessed with a divine power that gives them a certain type of control over people distinct for every character.
This is where my problems start. Allana, who is described an extraordinary amount of times in the book as a natural beauty, gets bestowed the power of Lust. For the record, the character just turns 18 when this book starts.
Yeah.......... what could go wrong with that, right?
She can use this power to bend men to her will and make them "crave" her. This would be bad enough, but during the course of the book she uses this power in such a way that she corrupts the thoughts of two men who don't want to have sex with her at all. One is happily married and the other has vowed never to take another woman in loving memory of his departed wife. Allana then proceeds to basically mind rape these men into sexual devotion to her. She literally takes away their ability to consent. So repeat after me: "Sex without consent is rape".
But, some will say, she was almost raped herself in the first chapter and, she only uses this power to ensure her own survival. She is the victim here.
Yeah that still makes this rape.........
Now you think, how can this possibly get any worse? Well in the process of mind raping her victims, she also starts to feel an uncontrollable sexual urge for the men she is raping. Forming a sexual bond with the victim. This basically takes away her consent as well, making the perpetrator a victim of her own powers as well. So the sexualized relationship is now nonconsensual for both parties. Making the whole thing even more creepy. Have I mentioned that both of these men are also at least twice this girl's age?
So yeah happy readings.
Now this is just Allana's story, she is the personification of a favorite 70s, 80s and 90s female archetype in fantasy, the lust object.
Enter Leanna, the pious girl who want to be a priest. Although Leanna get a little character growth and redemption, along the way it is clear that she is just there to balance out Allana. Leanna is a virgin who becomes a nun/priestess. Vowing celibacy and service to god. Again we encounter a female archetype, the pure virgin.
Finally we get to the last female character of any significance, Agbeth the wife of Corin the viking. Again they are just 18 years old, but of course this is okay in a medieval setting. Agbeth has probably suffered a stroke causing a disability for which she is mocked in her village. This disability is not something used to show the strength of this character, but only serves the purpose of giving Corin someone to take care off. Like a good husband should. Agbeths only desire is to stay at home, love Corin, create a baby and support her husband. This perfectly describes the third archetype, the subservient wife.
One of the males, Arion is not much better. He is the personification of masculinity, and not in the ironic way like Abercrombies character Leo. All he wants to do is fight for his country. Leave the thinking to other men. Had a tumble with all the girls of the village. He also first judges every woman he meets from the queen of the country to Leanna the priest on their appearance first. At least the author doesn’t only do this with the women, Arion himself is also described as extremely handsome, many, many, times by the author. So apparently, physical appearance makes up a major part of a characters entire personality. Arion is basically a himbo.
So having gotten the problems with the world and characterization out of the way, we arrive at the quality of the writing. This also leaves much to be desired. The author has a tendency to draw out sentences to an unreasonable length. Making them convoluted and hard to read. He also has the tendency to have characters repeat the names of the people they are talking to, like a one of those annoying telemarketers. This book clocks in at an impressive 700+ pages, but with proper editing, I think one will be left with maybe somewhere between 400 and 500 pages max. There are also major pacing issues. At one point the author just skips nearly a year of time in half a page, where he draws some conversations out to 5+ pages.
All in all I really wanted to like this book. The prologue is actually really good, but after chapter 5 I was met with severe disappointment. This got worse as the story moved along. I’ve heard Illborn mentioned as having a unique plot and many even mention strong female characters, this book sadly has neither.
Please if you want to read a good critical review of the Christian faith and all its flaws, please pickup His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. It does something different from just copying the real world history.
If you want to read a book that has a strong female lead there are so many to choose from, but I love something actually written by a woman. Good examples are; She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan if you lean more towards Historical Fiction like fantasy or, The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin if you want it a bit more heavy on the fantasy.
I’m sorry for the long rambling review, but I feel very strongly about the topics remarked upon here and this resulted in a way more critical analysis than I intended.
As I'm highly susceptible to a bookstagram hype, I decided to pick up Illborn. Sadly, as you will find out, this book left me with some very conflicting feeling. How could a book with so many 5 star ratings have such a major off putting flaw? Was it just me?
In the end I decided to write this review, because this book treats female characters in a way I personally find very offensive.
During the course of this review I will use some spoilers to make my point, but please read on before purchasing this book.
Illborn is your typical epic fantasy book. Set in a medieval world. Tension between several nations. Not one but four chosen ones to satisfy your cravings for the trope. The only thing slightly unique is the way the author incorporates his critique of the Roman Catholic church into the story. As others have noted this is done by basically copying medieval Europe, right down to one of the nations (this version of England) threatening sescesion from the church and installing its king as head of state. Henry the eighth anyone? It also goes heavy on crusades, witch burnings, sexual abuse, political manipulation and other heinous things the Roman Catholic church has taken part in over the centuries. As such, I would say this is not really fantasy, but more an exploration of faith in this world in a sort of historical fiction like setting.
Our four chosen ones, in order of appearance, are; Allana the daughter of a prostitute, Corin a cowardly viking, Leanna a pious girl who wants to be a priest, and Arion the son of a lord. All the protagonists have been blessed with a divine power that gives them a certain type of control over people distinct for every character.
This is where my problems start. Allana, who is described an extraordinary amount of times in the book as a natural beauty, gets bestowed the power of Lust. For the record, the character just turns 18 when this book starts.
Yeah.......... what could go wrong with that, right?
She can use this power to bend men to her will and make them "crave" her. This would be bad enough, but during the course of the book she uses this power in such a way that she corrupts the thoughts of two men who don't want to have sex with her at all. One is happily married and the other has vowed never to take another woman in loving memory of his departed wife. Allana then proceeds to basically mind rape these men into sexual devotion to her. She literally takes away their ability to consent. So repeat after me: "Sex without consent is rape".
But, some will say, she was almost raped herself in the first chapter and, she only uses this power to ensure her own survival. She is the victim here.
Yeah that still makes this rape.........
Now you think, how can this possibly get any worse? Well in the process of mind raping her victims, she also starts to feel an uncontrollable sexual urge for the men she is raping. Forming a sexual bond with the victim. This basically takes away her consent as well, making the perpetrator a victim of her own powers as well. So the sexualized relationship is now nonconsensual for both parties. Making the whole thing even more creepy. Have I mentioned that both of these men are also at least twice this girl's age?
So yeah happy readings.
Now this is just Allana's story, she is the personification of a favorite 70s, 80s and 90s female archetype in fantasy, the lust object.
Enter Leanna, the pious girl who want to be a priest. Although Leanna get a little character growth and redemption, along the way it is clear that she is just there to balance out Allana. Leanna is a virgin who becomes a nun/priestess. Vowing celibacy and service to god. Again we encounter a female archetype, the pure virgin.
Finally we get to the last female character of any significance, Agbeth the wife of Corin the viking. Again they are just 18 years old, but of course this is okay in a medieval setting. Agbeth has probably suffered a stroke causing a disability for which she is mocked in her village. This disability is not something used to show the strength of this character, but only serves the purpose of giving Corin someone to take care off. Like a good husband should. Agbeths only desire is to stay at home, love Corin, create a baby and support her husband. This perfectly describes the third archetype, the subservient wife.
One of the males, Arion is not much better. He is the personification of masculinity, and not in the ironic way like Abercrombies character Leo. All he wants to do is fight for his country. Leave the thinking to other men. Had a tumble with all the girls of the village. He also first judges every woman he meets from the queen of the country to Leanna the priest on their appearance first. At least the author doesn’t only do this with the women, Arion himself is also described as extremely handsome, many, many, times by the author. So apparently, physical appearance makes up a major part of a characters entire personality. Arion is basically a himbo.
So having gotten the problems with the world and characterization out of the way, we arrive at the quality of the writing. This also leaves much to be desired. The author has a tendency to draw out sentences to an unreasonable length. Making them convoluted and hard to read. He also has the tendency to have characters repeat the names of the people they are talking to, like a one of those annoying telemarketers. This book clocks in at an impressive 700+ pages, but with proper editing, I think one will be left with maybe somewhere between 400 and 500 pages max. There are also major pacing issues. At one point the author just skips nearly a year of time in half a page, where he draws some conversations out to 5+ pages.
All in all I really wanted to like this book. The prologue is actually really good, but after chapter 5 I was met with severe disappointment. This got worse as the story moved along. I’ve heard Illborn mentioned as having a unique plot and many even mention strong female characters, this book sadly has neither.
Please if you want to read a good critical review of the Christian faith and all its flaws, please pickup His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. It does something different from just copying the real world history.
If you want to read a book that has a strong female lead there are so many to choose from, but I love something actually written by a woman. Good examples are; She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan if you lean more towards Historical Fiction like fantasy or, The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin if you want it a bit more heavy on the fantasy.
I’m sorry for the long rambling review, but I feel very strongly about the topics remarked upon here and this resulted in a way more critical analysis than I intended.
March 3, 2024
“Illborn”. Oh my.
This book was a Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO 7) semi-finalist last year. With the buzz surrounding this book coming into that popular contest, many readers thought the 700-plus page juggernaut had a real chance to make the finals or perhaps win the entire contest.
While this did not happen, “Illborn” remains on of the most hyped self-published fantasy books published recently. And of course, based on that, I was leery of a letdown, keeping this book high on my TBR for months, but not wading in. But recently, I felt the pressure of the sands of the hourglass running out, as new SPFBO (8) contest books would be taking precedence on my reading list.
I’m so grateful I finally took the plunge. Because “Illborn”, debut novel by author Daniel T. Jackson, and Book One in “The Illborn Saga”, a coming-of-age dark high fantasy, is spectacular.
The plot of “Illborn” revolves around the multiple POVs of four young people, two male, two female. Set a medieval-style world, with the bulk of the action taking place in the lands to the east of the Holy Land of the Christ-Like figure Lord Aiduel, the four youths, Allana, Corin, Leanna, and Arion have never met one another. Nevertheless, they are bound by a common, haunting dream that will irrevocably change their lives and set them off on a path towards an uncertain, yet seemingly inescapable destiny.
Allana lives in relative penury with her terminally ill mother, who was formerly a courtesan. Desperate, prompted by her dying parent, Allana turns to a former influential and high ranking member of the clergy for assistance.
But only sorrow awaits Allana when she takes the chance to reach out to High Priest Ronis for aid. The tragedy resulting from the fateful plea for help forces Allana to flee her homeland of Dei Magnus. But she is pursued by powerful forces seeking justice for crimes they believe Allana has committed, and they will not rest until she is captured and brought to judgement. Meanwhile, the haunting dream is also relentless, as it calls to Allana, with the words, “LUST, POWER, DOMINATION”.
A marriage match has been found for Leanna, who seems to be the perfect future husband. But Leanna experiences a sudden manifestation of Lord Aiduel, and feels compelled to pledge herself to Aiduel instead of her betrothed. Vowing to become a priestess of the faith, Leanna soon finds there is corruption, hypocrisy, and grave danger awaiting her on her journey towards trying to achieve spiritual fulfillment.
And the words “DEVOTION, SACRIFICE, SALVATION”, which drive her will be needed if Leanna is to achieve the sense of purpose and belonging that she seeks.
Arion Sepian is born a nobleman, the youngest heir of a great Duke. Sepain is skilled as a warrior, and dreams of being a great warlord, leading his father’s armies. But his father insists that Arion join the priesthood in order to increase the prestige and political sway of his noble house.
Yet fate has another plan for Arion, and he will pursue the meaning of the words that call to him: “STRENGTH, VICTORY, GLORY”.
Finally, Corin is called “The Runt.” Undersized, scorned, and ridiculed all his young life, he is given the chance for some small measure of redemption when his tribe goes on a war-raid. But Corin’s desire for self-preservation above all else leads to cowardice, and for his shameful actions he is exiled from his clan.
His faithful friend Agbeth is the only member of his group willing to join him on his travels to unexplored wilds. Corin will need to understand the words that hold his fate, “FEAR, CONTROL, ORDER”, so that he may survive what lurks, waiting to tear him apart.
All four of these characters, hearing their words whispering in their minds, begin to develop formidable powers, coinciding with the strange dream they all share. However, they must keep these burgeoning abilities to themselves, lest they be accused of witchcraft, heresy, and face the fires of the stake at the hands of those religious fanatics who exert enormous power and control in their society.
“Illborn” is precisely the type of book I adore: essentially a character-driven novel with emphasis on the evolution of the characters. The author does a superb job of moulding realistic characters that the reader can relate to, identify with, and ultimately care about deeply. Even if the reader will not always agree with the actions taken, it is highly likely that the characters motivations and choices will always be understood and seem very plausible.
Jackson brilliantly paints the picture for the reader as to how the main players discover their innate abilities, what the costs of using those abilities are to both themselves and others around them are, and just how far the characters are willing to go in order to achieve their goals. Each of the four narrative voices were very distinct, engrossing, and the reader will compulsively plough throw the book, NEEDING to know what happens to each main character.
I tremendously enjoyed all four protagonists, and I stayed up in the wee hours, irresistibly burning through pages, obsessively having to find out what happens next to each of them. I have not felt that attachment to SO MANY main characters at once since I read ASOIAF by the esteemed G.R.R.M.
This was one of the best paced books I have read for a book of this immense size. 700-plus page novels are rarely referred to as page-turners, but this one certainly qualifies. The book features one of the best prologues I have ever read in fantasy since “Hall of Bones” by Tim Hardie. The prologue is absolutely dynamite, dark, disturbing, and it only serves to whet the readers appetite for what is to come.
The constant spectre of the dream that binds the main characters together, and what it means for both them and the rest of the world, the continual individual trials and tribulations of the characters, and the gradual weaving together of the character’s physical locations as we wait to see how their paths will cross, and what the outcome will be when they do, really propel the story ruthlessly forward. This combination of these reasons to keep going through this book were heady, and I could not stop reading; you won’t be able to resist either.
Things evolve organically, and never feel too fast or too slow. The constant feeling of tension as we fret over the character’s fates, the violent confrontations, murders, and larger scale battle scenes, evil, depravity, love, lust, manipulation, and obsession, are intoxicating and make this book entirely unputdownable.
Jackson clearly states that his fictional world is based on medieval Europe and that is plain to see. “Illborn” at time feels like its historical fiction (another genre I love), and it works exceptionally well. While more generic, and with obvious inspiration from ancient Christianity, the English Reformation, the Spanish Inquisition, the Knights Templar, the Crusades, and more elements from the past, the descriptions of the settings are not heavily detailed. Somehow though, the book felt very fresh and inventive, despite the heavy reliance on borrowing from real history, and some beloved tropes.
Nonetheless, there is certainly enough elucidation to give the reader that feeling of ‘reality”, and that’s the most important thing when one considers the effectiveness of a writer’s worldbuilding.
Moreover, the world Jackson created is dark, can be brutal, and I found it very authentic.
Here we come to the thing that puts “Illborn” over the top for me and firmly into the “Book of the Year”: the dark, compelling themes and how they were handled by the perspicacious Jackson. The author tackles the weighty, sensitive, and utterly fascinating subject of religious intolerance, sectarianism, and seems to pose two interesting questions.
First question (for the reader perhaps) where is the line drawn between being a devout worshipper and being a zealot?
Second question (perhaps for the characters) where is the line drawn between being seen as a devout worshipper and being a heretic?
In “Illborn”, be utterly devoted to the point of fanaticism, and be willing to commit torture, murder, atrocities, in the name of religion, and one is a true believer. But dare have miraculous dreams or visions about Lord Aiduel, or believe one can do “miracles” in his name, and one can potentially be considered insane, and worst, an apostate and subject to sanctioned murder by the religious hierarchy.
This is a very complex and confounding contradiction humankind has grappled with about organized religion for centuries, and these are things I as a reader, writer, and person of faith have also personally struggled with. When a religious hierarchy – composed of other flawed, and sometimes even contemptible humans - decide who is a saint versus who is a sinner worthy of extermination, where is there any room for a genuine divine experience?
If one must live in constant fear of being “devout enough”, or being considered an iconoclast, does that not rob some of the joy of being a believer from those who believe? Does that not drive people away from the faith? How can one stay true to a religion whereby the people who control the religion might kill you for what you believe is the contrary: signs that you have actually being specially blessed by the deity?
Final comment, overall the book is very written. While not as ornate as I often enjoy, Jackson’s prose delighted me. It struck that perfect chord between keeping me engaged in the story and keeping things flowing, versus diverting me with how lovely the words on the page were.
Jackson spins a marvellous tale of desire, loss, forbidden powers, beatific visions, rife with political and religious intrigue, overcoming and adapting through adversity, facing ones fears, and thrilling action. Jackson skillfully weaves it all together via multiple POVs, each one, that the reader will care about. It’s a mastercraft effort, especially for a first novel. Everything about it resonated with me, and after more than 700 pages I did not want it to end. I wanted more.
Amongst a lot of phenomenal books, “Illborn” might end up being my BEST read in 2022. Highly recommended, stars off the rating scale. I will be thinking about this book forever, and can’t wait for the next installment.
Final word: BLACKPAW!!!
This book was a Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO 7) semi-finalist last year. With the buzz surrounding this book coming into that popular contest, many readers thought the 700-plus page juggernaut had a real chance to make the finals or perhaps win the entire contest.
While this did not happen, “Illborn” remains on of the most hyped self-published fantasy books published recently. And of course, based on that, I was leery of a letdown, keeping this book high on my TBR for months, but not wading in. But recently, I felt the pressure of the sands of the hourglass running out, as new SPFBO (8) contest books would be taking precedence on my reading list.
I’m so grateful I finally took the plunge. Because “Illborn”, debut novel by author Daniel T. Jackson, and Book One in “The Illborn Saga”, a coming-of-age dark high fantasy, is spectacular.
The plot of “Illborn” revolves around the multiple POVs of four young people, two male, two female. Set a medieval-style world, with the bulk of the action taking place in the lands to the east of the Holy Land of the Christ-Like figure Lord Aiduel, the four youths, Allana, Corin, Leanna, and Arion have never met one another. Nevertheless, they are bound by a common, haunting dream that will irrevocably change their lives and set them off on a path towards an uncertain, yet seemingly inescapable destiny.
Allana lives in relative penury with her terminally ill mother, who was formerly a courtesan. Desperate, prompted by her dying parent, Allana turns to a former influential and high ranking member of the clergy for assistance.
But only sorrow awaits Allana when she takes the chance to reach out to High Priest Ronis for aid. The tragedy resulting from the fateful plea for help forces Allana to flee her homeland of Dei Magnus. But she is pursued by powerful forces seeking justice for crimes they believe Allana has committed, and they will not rest until she is captured and brought to judgement. Meanwhile, the haunting dream is also relentless, as it calls to Allana, with the words, “LUST, POWER, DOMINATION”.
A marriage match has been found for Leanna, who seems to be the perfect future husband. But Leanna experiences a sudden manifestation of Lord Aiduel, and feels compelled to pledge herself to Aiduel instead of her betrothed. Vowing to become a priestess of the faith, Leanna soon finds there is corruption, hypocrisy, and grave danger awaiting her on her journey towards trying to achieve spiritual fulfillment.
And the words “DEVOTION, SACRIFICE, SALVATION”, which drive her will be needed if Leanna is to achieve the sense of purpose and belonging that she seeks.
Arion Sepian is born a nobleman, the youngest heir of a great Duke. Sepain is skilled as a warrior, and dreams of being a great warlord, leading his father’s armies. But his father insists that Arion join the priesthood in order to increase the prestige and political sway of his noble house.
Yet fate has another plan for Arion, and he will pursue the meaning of the words that call to him: “STRENGTH, VICTORY, GLORY”.
Finally, Corin is called “The Runt.” Undersized, scorned, and ridiculed all his young life, he is given the chance for some small measure of redemption when his tribe goes on a war-raid. But Corin’s desire for self-preservation above all else leads to cowardice, and for his shameful actions he is exiled from his clan.
His faithful friend Agbeth is the only member of his group willing to join him on his travels to unexplored wilds. Corin will need to understand the words that hold his fate, “FEAR, CONTROL, ORDER”, so that he may survive what lurks, waiting to tear him apart.
All four of these characters, hearing their words whispering in their minds, begin to develop formidable powers, coinciding with the strange dream they all share. However, they must keep these burgeoning abilities to themselves, lest they be accused of witchcraft, heresy, and face the fires of the stake at the hands of those religious fanatics who exert enormous power and control in their society.
“Illborn” is precisely the type of book I adore: essentially a character-driven novel with emphasis on the evolution of the characters. The author does a superb job of moulding realistic characters that the reader can relate to, identify with, and ultimately care about deeply. Even if the reader will not always agree with the actions taken, it is highly likely that the characters motivations and choices will always be understood and seem very plausible.
Jackson brilliantly paints the picture for the reader as to how the main players discover their innate abilities, what the costs of using those abilities are to both themselves and others around them are, and just how far the characters are willing to go in order to achieve their goals. Each of the four narrative voices were very distinct, engrossing, and the reader will compulsively plough throw the book, NEEDING to know what happens to each main character.
I tremendously enjoyed all four protagonists, and I stayed up in the wee hours, irresistibly burning through pages, obsessively having to find out what happens next to each of them. I have not felt that attachment to SO MANY main characters at once since I read ASOIAF by the esteemed G.R.R.M.
This was one of the best paced books I have read for a book of this immense size. 700-plus page novels are rarely referred to as page-turners, but this one certainly qualifies. The book features one of the best prologues I have ever read in fantasy since “Hall of Bones” by Tim Hardie. The prologue is absolutely dynamite, dark, disturbing, and it only serves to whet the readers appetite for what is to come.
The constant spectre of the dream that binds the main characters together, and what it means for both them and the rest of the world, the continual individual trials and tribulations of the characters, and the gradual weaving together of the character’s physical locations as we wait to see how their paths will cross, and what the outcome will be when they do, really propel the story ruthlessly forward. This combination of these reasons to keep going through this book were heady, and I could not stop reading; you won’t be able to resist either.
Things evolve organically, and never feel too fast or too slow. The constant feeling of tension as we fret over the character’s fates, the violent confrontations, murders, and larger scale battle scenes, evil, depravity, love, lust, manipulation, and obsession, are intoxicating and make this book entirely unputdownable.
Jackson clearly states that his fictional world is based on medieval Europe and that is plain to see. “Illborn” at time feels like its historical fiction (another genre I love), and it works exceptionally well. While more generic, and with obvious inspiration from ancient Christianity, the English Reformation, the Spanish Inquisition, the Knights Templar, the Crusades, and more elements from the past, the descriptions of the settings are not heavily detailed. Somehow though, the book felt very fresh and inventive, despite the heavy reliance on borrowing from real history, and some beloved tropes.
Nonetheless, there is certainly enough elucidation to give the reader that feeling of ‘reality”, and that’s the most important thing when one considers the effectiveness of a writer’s worldbuilding.
Moreover, the world Jackson created is dark, can be brutal, and I found it very authentic.
Here we come to the thing that puts “Illborn” over the top for me and firmly into the “Book of the Year”: the dark, compelling themes and how they were handled by the perspicacious Jackson. The author tackles the weighty, sensitive, and utterly fascinating subject of religious intolerance, sectarianism, and seems to pose two interesting questions.
First question (for the reader perhaps) where is the line drawn between being a devout worshipper and being a zealot?
Second question (perhaps for the characters) where is the line drawn between being seen as a devout worshipper and being a heretic?
In “Illborn”, be utterly devoted to the point of fanaticism, and be willing to commit torture, murder, atrocities, in the name of religion, and one is a true believer. But dare have miraculous dreams or visions about Lord Aiduel, or believe one can do “miracles” in his name, and one can potentially be considered insane, and worst, an apostate and subject to sanctioned murder by the religious hierarchy.
This is a very complex and confounding contradiction humankind has grappled with about organized religion for centuries, and these are things I as a reader, writer, and person of faith have also personally struggled with. When a religious hierarchy – composed of other flawed, and sometimes even contemptible humans - decide who is a saint versus who is a sinner worthy of extermination, where is there any room for a genuine divine experience?
If one must live in constant fear of being “devout enough”, or being considered an iconoclast, does that not rob some of the joy of being a believer from those who believe? Does that not drive people away from the faith? How can one stay true to a religion whereby the people who control the religion might kill you for what you believe is the contrary: signs that you have actually being specially blessed by the deity?
Final comment, overall the book is very written. While not as ornate as I often enjoy, Jackson’s prose delighted me. It struck that perfect chord between keeping me engaged in the story and keeping things flowing, versus diverting me with how lovely the words on the page were.
Jackson spins a marvellous tale of desire, loss, forbidden powers, beatific visions, rife with political and religious intrigue, overcoming and adapting through adversity, facing ones fears, and thrilling action. Jackson skillfully weaves it all together via multiple POVs, each one, that the reader will care about. It’s a mastercraft effort, especially for a first novel. Everything about it resonated with me, and after more than 700 pages I did not want it to end. I wanted more.
Amongst a lot of phenomenal books, “Illborn” might end up being my BEST read in 2022. Highly recommended, stars off the rating scale. I will be thinking about this book forever, and can’t wait for the next installment.
Final word: BLACKPAW!!!
January 17, 2022
5/5
Illborn, this character driven medivel fantasy novel by Daniel.T.Jackson is without a doubt THE best fantasy debut I've ever read...
How does this book only have like 180 ratings ?! It deserves a LOT of attention.
Illborn, the first book in the Illborn Saga is a novel about 4 individuals with forbidden mysterious powers as they experience Love, Lust, War, Religion and etc...
WHAT WORKED FOR ME IN THIS BOOK
Characters: The author, Daniel.T.Jackson did what many authors who writes with Multiple POV couldn't... He made me care about all the 4 lead characters. Each of them is unique. Each of them have a strong storylines and Each of them have a unique personality and distinct voice to them. I loved reading about all of them equally (Maybe i liked Corin's POV a bit more than others. what can I say I have a thing for the underdogs 😅)
Themes: All the themes touched in these book were handled perfectly. Love, Lust, Devotion, Religion, Heresy and many more with obvious inspiration from the real world. Kudos to the author for handling so many sensitive themes astonishingly.
Pacing: Illborn is one of the very few books that got my attention from the Prologue itself. I mean this books opens with a BANG. Pacing was increased steadily from the start and after the half way mark when the storylines starts to merge I just said goodbye to sleep and finished this book. Seriously, it got that good from the halfway point.
And also, I liked how it was real easy for me to follow the battle. I've struggled to follow many battle sequences in other novels but I could easily picturize the battle with the description provided by the author.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK FOR ME IN THIS BOOK
Since it's a character driven book it was a little low on action for my taste. But it's really a minor issue that most people wouldn't even notice.
FINAL WORLD: Illborn is a stellar debut by the author with intriguing and realistic morally grey characters. NEED BOOK 2 ASAP... 😬😬😅😅
Illborn, this character driven medivel fantasy novel by Daniel.T.Jackson is without a doubt THE best fantasy debut I've ever read...
How does this book only have like 180 ratings ?! It deserves a LOT of attention.
Illborn, the first book in the Illborn Saga is a novel about 4 individuals with forbidden mysterious powers as they experience Love, Lust, War, Religion and etc...
WHAT WORKED FOR ME IN THIS BOOK
Characters: The author, Daniel.T.Jackson did what many authors who writes with Multiple POV couldn't... He made me care about all the 4 lead characters. Each of them is unique. Each of them have a strong storylines and Each of them have a unique personality and distinct voice to them. I loved reading about all of them equally (Maybe i liked Corin's POV a bit more than others. what can I say I have a thing for the underdogs 😅)
Themes: All the themes touched in these book were handled perfectly. Love, Lust, Devotion, Religion, Heresy and many more with obvious inspiration from the real world. Kudos to the author for handling so many sensitive themes astonishingly.
Pacing: Illborn is one of the very few books that got my attention from the Prologue itself. I mean this books opens with a BANG. Pacing was increased steadily from the start and after the half way mark when the storylines starts to merge I just said goodbye to sleep and finished this book. Seriously, it got that good from the halfway point.
And also, I liked how it was real easy for me to follow the battle. I've struggled to follow many battle sequences in other novels but I could easily picturize the battle with the description provided by the author.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK FOR ME IN THIS BOOK
Since it's a character driven book it was a little low on action for my taste. But it's really a minor issue that most people wouldn't even notice.
FINAL WORLD: Illborn is a stellar debut by the author with intriguing and realistic morally grey characters. NEED BOOK 2 ASAP... 😬😬😅😅
November 18, 2021
You can find my full video review for Illborn here: https://youtu.be/bCPHvzxmcsM
Illborn is a 700-page beast that’s well worth your time if you like your epic fantasy baked with great characters, war, magic, fell beasts and holy warriors, with a liberal sprinkling of brutality, love and betrayal on top.
Four young men and women, spread across the world, begin to develop strange powers. As they begin to come to terms with their new abilities, and learn more about their capabilities, they are subjected to war and religious persecution.
The chapters in the book alternative between these characters, although there are a small number of interludes as well, which paint a different part of the overall story. The opening chapter, being one of these, is just trundling along nicely, slow and steady, then BAM! It smacks you around the head with its brutality, and that sets the tone for the rest of the book quite nicely.
There are plenty of dark and brutal moments in this book, but the overall feel of it, to me, somehow isn’t dark, and that’s probably because of the light of the characters, rather than the dark of what they are going through at various times.
The characters grow quite a bit as the book progresses, covering about two years of their lives, so you get to see a range of experiences and the emotions attached as they develop both in terms of people and in terms of the powers they manifest.
The world itself is really nicely put together and we see a lot of the lore through the religious teachings and upbringings of the characters. We also see the dark side of this religion, with heretics being hunted, tortured and burnt at the stake by the church’s holy warriors.
Overall, it’s a book that just keeps building with some really intense moments and the characters facing their share of cliffhanger moments throughout their chapters. All told, it’s a really impressive debut, and a great fantasy read.
Illborn is a 700-page beast that’s well worth your time if you like your epic fantasy baked with great characters, war, magic, fell beasts and holy warriors, with a liberal sprinkling of brutality, love and betrayal on top.
Four young men and women, spread across the world, begin to develop strange powers. As they begin to come to terms with their new abilities, and learn more about their capabilities, they are subjected to war and religious persecution.
The chapters in the book alternative between these characters, although there are a small number of interludes as well, which paint a different part of the overall story. The opening chapter, being one of these, is just trundling along nicely, slow and steady, then BAM! It smacks you around the head with its brutality, and that sets the tone for the rest of the book quite nicely.
There are plenty of dark and brutal moments in this book, but the overall feel of it, to me, somehow isn’t dark, and that’s probably because of the light of the characters, rather than the dark of what they are going through at various times.
The characters grow quite a bit as the book progresses, covering about two years of their lives, so you get to see a range of experiences and the emotions attached as they develop both in terms of people and in terms of the powers they manifest.
The world itself is really nicely put together and we see a lot of the lore through the religious teachings and upbringings of the characters. We also see the dark side of this religion, with heretics being hunted, tortured and burnt at the stake by the church’s holy warriors.
Overall, it’s a book that just keeps building with some really intense moments and the characters facing their share of cliffhanger moments throughout their chapters. All told, it’s a really impressive debut, and a great fantasy read.
July 30, 2022
Excellent fantasy indie read.
Fans of Anthony Ryan, Rothfuss, Lynch, Hobb and others will mostly likely enjoy Illborn, the start of what is going to be an epic fantasy series. It's a lengthy journey into a slow world building and the author definitely takes some risks but it pays off. The world building and the character development are the crown jewel of the book. The small kingdoms, clans and empire that simmer with political intrigue as well as religious zealotry really bind all the elements together to create a well conceived world that the reader easily slips into.
The author takes a big risk up front which is delving deeply into four different character POVs that are only connected by a single cryptic mystery but otherwise do not know one another and don't even live in the same location. Keeping the reader engaged over 4 different POVs like that is very challenging and I can say that the author definitely pulls this off because he makes every character interesting and coherent with the excellent world building. The four characters are simply very engaging to jump into right away and I read all POVs with great interest. There are many great plot developments and twists along the way which again keep you engaged even when you feel the pacing starts to sag a bit. Otherwise, I found the pacing to be quite good as well as the climax which is really pretty epic and clearly opens up to a second book that will be a fundamentally different world from the first book.
Of course the book isn't perfect. The author does a LOT of "telling" and not "showing" and this will be a turn off to a lot of people that are nit-picky about this. As an author myself, I actually think the advice to "show don't tell" is over emphasized. All story telling has some "telling" to a certain degree or all you get is tedium and stagnant pacing. The author does too much "showing" but I personally didn't care and actually appreciated it to accelerate the story telling. There is nothing special otherwise about the prose which, in the presence of good story telling, doesn't matter to me either. The characters were a little YA-ish but not terribly so. There were some tropes the author leans on a bit too much with the female characters: the pious virgin and the misunderstood sexual seducer. I would've liked to see a bit more complexity with the lead female characters but that doesn't mean I didn't like the characters.
Overall, very satisfyingly and I recommend.
Fans of Anthony Ryan, Rothfuss, Lynch, Hobb and others will mostly likely enjoy Illborn, the start of what is going to be an epic fantasy series. It's a lengthy journey into a slow world building and the author definitely takes some risks but it pays off. The world building and the character development are the crown jewel of the book. The small kingdoms, clans and empire that simmer with political intrigue as well as religious zealotry really bind all the elements together to create a well conceived world that the reader easily slips into.
The author takes a big risk up front which is delving deeply into four different character POVs that are only connected by a single cryptic mystery but otherwise do not know one another and don't even live in the same location. Keeping the reader engaged over 4 different POVs like that is very challenging and I can say that the author definitely pulls this off because he makes every character interesting and coherent with the excellent world building. The four characters are simply very engaging to jump into right away and I read all POVs with great interest. There are many great plot developments and twists along the way which again keep you engaged even when you feel the pacing starts to sag a bit. Otherwise, I found the pacing to be quite good as well as the climax which is really pretty epic and clearly opens up to a second book that will be a fundamentally different world from the first book.
Of course the book isn't perfect. The author does a LOT of "telling" and not "showing" and this will be a turn off to a lot of people that are nit-picky about this. As an author myself, I actually think the advice to "show don't tell" is over emphasized. All story telling has some "telling" to a certain degree or all you get is tedium and stagnant pacing. The author does too much "showing" but I personally didn't care and actually appreciated it to accelerate the story telling. There is nothing special otherwise about the prose which, in the presence of good story telling, doesn't matter to me either. The characters were a little YA-ish but not terribly so. There were some tropes the author leans on a bit too much with the female characters: the pious virgin and the misunderstood sexual seducer. I would've liked to see a bit more complexity with the lead female characters but that doesn't mean I didn't like the characters.
Overall, very satisfyingly and I recommend.
March 12, 2023
2nd read: 5 stars
It’s still fantastic and I will forever be recommending this book to anyone who loves character-driven epic fantasy! I enjoyed my reread immensely - I’ll be diving straight into book 2!
1st read: 5 stars
An absolutely brilliant book! I wish I could give even more stars. It simply blew me away!!
After seeing ILLBORN around a few times and hearing nothing but amazing things, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and get started. Because of that, my expectations were set pretty high … and wow, did ILLBORN deliver. It still astounds me that this is a debut, because it definitely didn’t read like one! The writing was smart, the characters so well fleshed out, the story intriguing from the get-go (that prologue!!), and the world-building incredible … I was sucked in from the beginning.
We follow 4 characters, and usually I prefer one POV over the other, but here I felt invested in all of them. I loved following their different storylines. They all had a very distinct voice and just felt so real which made it very easy to tell them and their chapters apart. The character work here is really top-notch! Seeing how and where they all started, and where they end up being by the end of this book is incredible (and this is only the beginning of what I’m sure is going to be an epic fantasy saga). It’s amazing how much character development Daniel T. Jackson was able to fit into these pages with so many main protagonists to focus on. Also … boy, does he know how to end a chapter! One character’s chapter would end and I would actually think about skipping ahead to see what was coming next. But somehow I did manage to stick to the intended reading order (I may have risked a glance once or twice, though ^^) and as soon as I started the actual next chapter, the next POV, I was invested in that particular character again. The anticipation of them finally meeting was killing me … I just couldn’t wait for their paths to cross, and to find out how their storylines intertwine. We do get some of that in ILLBORN, but since this is “only” the beginning of the story, there’s still a lot of crossing & intertwining to be done in future books! I cannot wait!!
The world-building feels big and imaginative, without being too overwhelming. The author manages to establish a world that can stand on its own and could easily exist somewhere out there. The story in book 1 focuses on a few specific locations, of course, but you can feel that there’s a lot more out there, and I’m sure we will explore more corners of this world in books 2 through 4. Also, it was interesting so see religion being a focal point in this story, and I am very intrigued by the various angles that are being explored here. Like many things, faith can act as a unifying force for good and provide peace & strength, or it can be used as a tool to further agendas and oppress opposing views, causing a lot of pain & hurt along the way. Daniel T. Jackson does a fantastic job of portraying the manifold facets as well as the impact and ramifications of such a powerful means, without blaming religion itself. People are responsible for their own actions.
Yes, with more than 700 pages ILLBORN is quite chunky, but don’t let that deter you. I literally flew through the chapters, because I just needed to know what was going to happen next. I started Friday night and was done by Sunday - even though there were things I was supposed to do, haha, but I simply couldn’t put this book down. And once I was done, I just wanted more … more pages, more chapters, but I guess that will have to wait until the sequel ^^
All I can say is: READ THIS BOOK!! ILLBORN is easily one of the best beginnings to a fantasy series I have ever read, and has firmly secured its spot as one of my favorite reads of this year … maybe ever. I still keep thinking about the characters and wondering what all this is building up to. The sequel is by far one of my most anticipated future releases. 2023 can’t come soon enough … I just need the next book!!
It’s still fantastic and I will forever be recommending this book to anyone who loves character-driven epic fantasy! I enjoyed my reread immensely - I’ll be diving straight into book 2!
1st read: 5 stars
An absolutely brilliant book! I wish I could give even more stars. It simply blew me away!!
After seeing ILLBORN around a few times and hearing nothing but amazing things, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and get started. Because of that, my expectations were set pretty high … and wow, did ILLBORN deliver. It still astounds me that this is a debut, because it definitely didn’t read like one! The writing was smart, the characters so well fleshed out, the story intriguing from the get-go (that prologue!!), and the world-building incredible … I was sucked in from the beginning.
We follow 4 characters, and usually I prefer one POV over the other, but here I felt invested in all of them. I loved following their different storylines. They all had a very distinct voice and just felt so real which made it very easy to tell them and their chapters apart. The character work here is really top-notch! Seeing how and where they all started, and where they end up being by the end of this book is incredible (and this is only the beginning of what I’m sure is going to be an epic fantasy saga). It’s amazing how much character development Daniel T. Jackson was able to fit into these pages with so many main protagonists to focus on. Also … boy, does he know how to end a chapter! One character’s chapter would end and I would actually think about skipping ahead to see what was coming next. But somehow I did manage to stick to the intended reading order (I may have risked a glance once or twice, though ^^) and as soon as I started the actual next chapter, the next POV, I was invested in that particular character again. The anticipation of them finally meeting was killing me … I just couldn’t wait for their paths to cross, and to find out how their storylines intertwine. We do get some of that in ILLBORN, but since this is “only” the beginning of the story, there’s still a lot of crossing & intertwining to be done in future books! I cannot wait!!
The world-building feels big and imaginative, without being too overwhelming. The author manages to establish a world that can stand on its own and could easily exist somewhere out there. The story in book 1 focuses on a few specific locations, of course, but you can feel that there’s a lot more out there, and I’m sure we will explore more corners of this world in books 2 through 4. Also, it was interesting so see religion being a focal point in this story, and I am very intrigued by the various angles that are being explored here. Like many things, faith can act as a unifying force for good and provide peace & strength, or it can be used as a tool to further agendas and oppress opposing views, causing a lot of pain & hurt along the way. Daniel T. Jackson does a fantastic job of portraying the manifold facets as well as the impact and ramifications of such a powerful means, without blaming religion itself. People are responsible for their own actions.
Yes, with more than 700 pages ILLBORN is quite chunky, but don’t let that deter you. I literally flew through the chapters, because I just needed to know what was going to happen next. I started Friday night and was done by Sunday - even though there were things I was supposed to do, haha, but I simply couldn’t put this book down. And once I was done, I just wanted more … more pages, more chapters, but I guess that will have to wait until the sequel ^^
All I can say is: READ THIS BOOK!! ILLBORN is easily one of the best beginnings to a fantasy series I have ever read, and has firmly secured its spot as one of my favorite reads of this year … maybe ever. I still keep thinking about the characters and wondering what all this is building up to. The sequel is by far one of my most anticipated future releases. 2023 can’t come soon enough … I just need the next book!!
January 18, 2022
If you've not read this book yet, what are you even doing? You need to drop everything and read this. Now. Or as soon as you can. Because as soon as you read the prologue, you'll be as hooked as I was.
Illborn is a debut novel, but it very much reads like something written by someone more seasoned. Had I read this without this knowledge, I'd be tracking down the author's backlog to read before the sequel comes out in November. It's been a very long time since a debut has overtaken my life as obsessively as Illborn has. I'll be talking and thinking about this book for a long time yet, and I'm already convinced the series will end up amongst my favourites - if each book manages to keep getting better.
Throughout my reading journey, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was a child. Ignorant. Oblivious. Barely touching the edge of what the author was capable of. In both the sense of me trying to guess what was going to happen, but also when it came to the depth of the world Jackson had spun and woven. Reading this feels like a beginning to something wonderful. And also an emerging of an amazing new voice within the fantasy community. It feels like there's still so much to tell, so much more to discover.
Personally, I'd recommend going into this book with little knowledge of what it's about. The blurb is actually vague enough to allow room for this, so I'll not attempt to reword it for. But I will say; if you like epic fantasy, you'll probably like this a lot. It has a bit of everything in it, plenty of different things so everyone can find something to like. From religion, war, politics to love, friendship and family. Each POV is distinctively different from the other, and very well crafted too. They all felt equally real and fleshed-out to me. At the end of the day I ended up liking Corin the most, but just about. They all deal with different aspects of the plot, and bring in angles, knowledge and motivation that you won't find in the other POVs. I'm also very interested to see how they all end up interviewing further, in the coming sequel.
All in all, I can't recommend Illborn enough! If I had to choose something that I either didn't like or didn't enjoy, it'd have to be some use of language. I'm being really specific and picky here for the sake of showing that I can still look at the contents of the book critically. For example, the use of 'Mum' within the fantasy medieval context (as opposed to 'ma' or 'mother' etc.) felt too modern, and quite British. This initially bothered me a bit at the beginning, but I wasn't noticing it by the end. I can't bring myself to find fault in the characters, world, or plot otherwise! Truly an extremely strong novel that deserves all the positive reviews it's been getting! And more!
Illborn is a debut novel, but it very much reads like something written by someone more seasoned. Had I read this without this knowledge, I'd be tracking down the author's backlog to read before the sequel comes out in November. It's been a very long time since a debut has overtaken my life as obsessively as Illborn has. I'll be talking and thinking about this book for a long time yet, and I'm already convinced the series will end up amongst my favourites - if each book manages to keep getting better.
Throughout my reading journey, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was a child. Ignorant. Oblivious. Barely touching the edge of what the author was capable of. In both the sense of me trying to guess what was going to happen, but also when it came to the depth of the world Jackson had spun and woven. Reading this feels like a beginning to something wonderful. And also an emerging of an amazing new voice within the fantasy community. It feels like there's still so much to tell, so much more to discover.
Personally, I'd recommend going into this book with little knowledge of what it's about. The blurb is actually vague enough to allow room for this, so I'll not attempt to reword it for. But I will say; if you like epic fantasy, you'll probably like this a lot. It has a bit of everything in it, plenty of different things so everyone can find something to like. From religion, war, politics to love, friendship and family. Each POV is distinctively different from the other, and very well crafted too. They all felt equally real and fleshed-out to me. At the end of the day I ended up liking Corin the most, but just about. They all deal with different aspects of the plot, and bring in angles, knowledge and motivation that you won't find in the other POVs. I'm also very interested to see how they all end up interviewing further, in the coming sequel.
All in all, I can't recommend Illborn enough! If I had to choose something that I either didn't like or didn't enjoy, it'd have to be some use of language. I'm being really specific and picky here for the sake of showing that I can still look at the contents of the book critically. For example, the use of 'Mum' within the fantasy medieval context (as opposed to 'ma' or 'mother' etc.) felt too modern, and quite British. This initially bothered me a bit at the beginning, but I wasn't noticing it by the end. I can't bring myself to find fault in the characters, world, or plot otherwise! Truly an extremely strong novel that deserves all the positive reviews it's been getting! And more!
January 25, 2022
A while back, I swore to never start a fantasy series that was incomplete. Well, here I am, swallowing my own vomit. But this time, there's no regret. Daniel T. Jackson pummels, stuns,and enthralls in a debut so good it could've come from the most seasoned pros and legends of Epic Fantasy.
If you want a book that thrills from start to finish, this is it. If you like your characters well done, tender to the taste and delightfully delicious, you have a banquet here. And, if you want a plotline that combines all of the best elements in fantasy and serves up a brilliant combo, Illborn is the real deal.
The story is a coming-of-age adventure of four protagonists destined for greatness. They are powerful, yes. But even power comes at a cost. In exercising their powers and discovering the limits of their own strengths, they cross the lines of propriety, trying to combine good intentions with great ambition.
The four protagonists are so flawed that they almost pass for actual antiheroes.
Alanna is the daughter of a dead whore. Blessed with magical powers, a beautiful form, her powers manifest accordingly, with the ability to bewitch all who look upon her with lust. Her quest for survival soon turns into one of ambition when she realises just how powerful she is. From there, it's a question of how high she can rise, how low she can fall, and how well she can delude herself that all her erratic actions are an absolute necessity.
On the other hand, Arion is the third son of a major Duke, learning the warrior trade in an elite military training school. His loyalties, and duties stand in the way of his guilt, even as he rises in the world, making a name for himself and his family.
Will his passions delude him, or be his salvation?
Corin, the Runt, is the clan outcast. Exiled in the aftermath of a disaster-causing major act of cowardice, he is forced to go into the wildlands. And there, in the company of his afflicted lover Agbeth, he discovers arcane powers, powers that transform him overnight from nonentity to tyrant.
What will he do to those who cast him away unfairly, delivering him and his woman to suffering and exile?
And then, there is Leanna. The holy priestess. A kind-hearted prude, but a brave one nonetheless. I don't want to say much about her because she's my favourite character....
I've said this before,and I'll say it again- Daniel T.Jackson writes like Feist. They both give the same "enjoy-your-read" effect.
The author writes with easy, natural ability that is sure to keep the reader perpetually hypnotized.
But one thing is certain. The imminent convergence promises to be insane.
World-class.
If you want a book that thrills from start to finish, this is it. If you like your characters well done, tender to the taste and delightfully delicious, you have a banquet here. And, if you want a plotline that combines all of the best elements in fantasy and serves up a brilliant combo, Illborn is the real deal.
The story is a coming-of-age adventure of four protagonists destined for greatness. They are powerful, yes. But even power comes at a cost. In exercising their powers and discovering the limits of their own strengths, they cross the lines of propriety, trying to combine good intentions with great ambition.
The four protagonists are so flawed that they almost pass for actual antiheroes.
Alanna is the daughter of a dead whore. Blessed with magical powers, a beautiful form, her powers manifest accordingly, with the ability to bewitch all who look upon her with lust. Her quest for survival soon turns into one of ambition when she realises just how powerful she is. From there, it's a question of how high she can rise, how low she can fall, and how well she can delude herself that all her erratic actions are an absolute necessity.
On the other hand, Arion is the third son of a major Duke, learning the warrior trade in an elite military training school. His loyalties, and duties stand in the way of his guilt, even as he rises in the world, making a name for himself and his family.
Will his passions delude him, or be his salvation?
Corin, the Runt, is the clan outcast. Exiled in the aftermath of a disaster-causing major act of cowardice, he is forced to go into the wildlands. And there, in the company of his afflicted lover Agbeth, he discovers arcane powers, powers that transform him overnight from nonentity to tyrant.
What will he do to those who cast him away unfairly, delivering him and his woman to suffering and exile?
And then, there is Leanna. The holy priestess. A kind-hearted prude, but a brave one nonetheless. I don't want to say much about her because she's my favourite character....
I've said this before,and I'll say it again- Daniel T.Jackson writes like Feist. They both give the same "enjoy-your-read" effect.
The author writes with easy, natural ability that is sure to keep the reader perpetually hypnotized.
But one thing is certain. The imminent convergence promises to be insane.
World-class.
September 12, 2022
*EDIT - The author blocked me due to this review. Apparently he blacklists anyone that criticises the book 🙄
For a while I wasn't sure how it was going for me, I had quite a few issues, whilst I couldn't put this down, the star rating reflects the problematic areas.
The story is unlike anything I've read before, following 4 POV's traversing through a turbulent world on the brink of war as a result of religious ideology and corruption. I felt like I was reading about the crusades in medieval England with some vikings thrown in for good measure.
Pros:
I could clearly visualise all of his settings and his characters, and particularly his battles.
He has created a story that is so interesting that you can't help but theorise as you go through. So many people have mentioned the prologue, which is epic, but the epilogue also had me too!
Cons:
Early on the language felt a little convoluted, it does get more confident as it continues though I felt it would have benefited greatly from an editor.
For me, I wanted more personality added into the dialogues I.e. Banter between characters. Sometimes it also felt a little too abrasive, making antagonists seem a little archetypal.
I had major issues with the portrayal of the female characters. Those that saw my stories would have seen I felt they were very 2-dimensional with minimal personality aside from their key traits, one being a seductress and the other being a priestess. The arc of the seductress is 'i hate sex' > 'almost raped' > 'realises she has the power to control men' > spends rest of book raping men. Honestly all this happens in around 3 chapters and it makes no sense aside from being a man's wet dream 🙄
Our other POV is a virginal woman who gets molested by another girl (I think it's supposed to be heartwarming (?)
Our final female is a disabled woman whose sole purpose is a plot device to aid her male counterpart 🤢
I just feel we definitely deserve better.
Despite being over 700 pages, I wanted more from some areas. For instance, one of our characters attends a military academy that was are told is gruelling and difficult, but it feels we aren't there long before he graduates and we don't get to see much of the difficulty, rather we are just told several unnamed characters didn't make it through. I would like to have spent more time there and really understand the hardships.
I really hope Jackson takes criticism onboard for book 2 but honestly I don't see myself picking it up after this experience unfortunately.
Despite my issues, this book is loved by sooo many and I did find the story addicting,I unfortunately can't overlook my criticisms 🙄
For a while I wasn't sure how it was going for me, I had quite a few issues, whilst I couldn't put this down, the star rating reflects the problematic areas.
The story is unlike anything I've read before, following 4 POV's traversing through a turbulent world on the brink of war as a result of religious ideology and corruption. I felt like I was reading about the crusades in medieval England with some vikings thrown in for good measure.
Pros:
I could clearly visualise all of his settings and his characters, and particularly his battles.
He has created a story that is so interesting that you can't help but theorise as you go through. So many people have mentioned the prologue, which is epic, but the epilogue also had me too!
Cons:
Early on the language felt a little convoluted, it does get more confident as it continues though I felt it would have benefited greatly from an editor.
For me, I wanted more personality added into the dialogues I.e. Banter between characters. Sometimes it also felt a little too abrasive, making antagonists seem a little archetypal.
I had major issues with the portrayal of the female characters. Those that saw my stories would have seen I felt they were very 2-dimensional with minimal personality aside from their key traits, one being a seductress and the other being a priestess. The arc of the seductress is 'i hate sex' > 'almost raped' > 'realises she has the power to control men' > spends rest of book raping men. Honestly all this happens in around 3 chapters and it makes no sense aside from being a man's wet dream 🙄
Our other POV is a virginal woman who gets molested by another girl (I think it's supposed to be heartwarming (?)
Our final female is a disabled woman whose sole purpose is a plot device to aid her male counterpart 🤢
I just feel we definitely deserve better.
Despite being over 700 pages, I wanted more from some areas. For instance, one of our characters attends a military academy that was are told is gruelling and difficult, but it feels we aren't there long before he graduates and we don't get to see much of the difficulty, rather we are just told several unnamed characters didn't make it through. I would like to have spent more time there and really understand the hardships.
I really hope Jackson takes criticism onboard for book 2 but honestly I don't see myself picking it up after this experience unfortunately.
Despite my issues, this book is loved by sooo many and I did find the story addicting,I unfortunately can't overlook my criticisms 🙄
January 7, 2023
Spoiler-Free Illborn Book Review
Illborn by Daniel T. Jackson is now one of my favourite fantasy books of all time! I picked it up after seeing all the fantastic reviews and in anticipation for book 2 in The Illborn Saga, Aiduel's Sin.
After reading this stunning debut, I will definitely be getting myself a copy of book 2 as soon as possible!
The Characters
When I first started Illborn I didn’t think I was going to finish it. The learning curve was steep and every chapter had a new point of view character, unrelated to the last. I am so glad I stuck with it.
I would recommend that anyone interested in this book reads at least two chapters of each POV to get really stuck and invested in these characters.
All four of the main POV characters felt distinct, with their own unique voices, motivations, aims and backgrounds. I never felt bored or like I wanted to skip a particular POV chapter.
As soon as a chapter ended, I would be burning through the next three to see what happened to them next, while feeling the same for the other three!
The Plot
That brings me onto the plot. Illborn has a little bit of everything you want to see in a fantasy narrative: training school/academy, battles and duels, strange magical abilities linked to a mystery to be solved… everything!
The pacing for each character’s plot was really well done, with no one’s feeling slow or irrelevant at any point. Something of significance always happened, whether the impact was small or large, and that would always leave a question at the end of each chapter.
I thought the ending was fantastic, with a twist or two that were satisfying. I’m almost desperate to find out what happens next though - book 2 can’t come soon enough!
The World
The world in this book feels sprawling and rich - I only wish I had read the paperback instead of the ebook because what I wanted to do was pour over a paper map and see how all these people and places linked!
Not only are the places distinct, but the cultures and people are too. We see several religions which play a major part in this world. I really enjoyed the exploration of religion and how it has impacted the culture and societies in the book.
Final Thoughts
Illborn was a fantastic book I would urge all fantasy lovers to pick up! Aiduel's Sin comes out soon and I am ready to find out what happens on the next stage of these characters’ journeys.
Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Illborn by Daniel T. Jackson is now one of my favourite fantasy books of all time! I picked it up after seeing all the fantastic reviews and in anticipation for book 2 in The Illborn Saga, Aiduel's Sin.
After reading this stunning debut, I will definitely be getting myself a copy of book 2 as soon as possible!
The Characters
When I first started Illborn I didn’t think I was going to finish it. The learning curve was steep and every chapter had a new point of view character, unrelated to the last. I am so glad I stuck with it.
I would recommend that anyone interested in this book reads at least two chapters of each POV to get really stuck and invested in these characters.
All four of the main POV characters felt distinct, with their own unique voices, motivations, aims and backgrounds. I never felt bored or like I wanted to skip a particular POV chapter.
As soon as a chapter ended, I would be burning through the next three to see what happened to them next, while feeling the same for the other three!
The Plot
That brings me onto the plot. Illborn has a little bit of everything you want to see in a fantasy narrative: training school/academy, battles and duels, strange magical abilities linked to a mystery to be solved… everything!
The pacing for each character’s plot was really well done, with no one’s feeling slow or irrelevant at any point. Something of significance always happened, whether the impact was small or large, and that would always leave a question at the end of each chapter.
I thought the ending was fantastic, with a twist or two that were satisfying. I’m almost desperate to find out what happens next though - book 2 can’t come soon enough!
The World
The world in this book feels sprawling and rich - I only wish I had read the paperback instead of the ebook because what I wanted to do was pour over a paper map and see how all these people and places linked!
Not only are the places distinct, but the cultures and people are too. We see several religions which play a major part in this world. I really enjoyed the exploration of religion and how it has impacted the culture and societies in the book.
Final Thoughts
Illborn was a fantastic book I would urge all fantasy lovers to pick up! Aiduel's Sin comes out soon and I am ready to find out what happens on the next stage of these characters’ journeys.
Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
September 12, 2023
After a second reading (in preparation for book 2), Illborn was still spectacular. This is still the best indie fantasy I have read (and I have read quite a few of them).
Original review:
STRENGTH. VICTORY. GLORY.
Daniel T. Jackson’s Illborn is just fantastic and one of the best books I’ve read this year. Set in a medieval world across multiple lands and kingdoms, it follows four young men and women as they start getting visions and supernatural powers. They attempt to navigate a tense political and religious landscape where discovery can lead to persecution and accusations of heresy by the powerful and fanatical church.
LUST. POWER. DOMINATION.
Told in alternating perspectives, we get to know each one of these four vastly different young people. In Allana, we find a desperate woman who is willing to do what it takes to survive. In Corin, a weak boy from a clan of warriors trying to prove his worth. In Leanna, a devout young woman who believes she has been blessed by the Lord. And in Arrion, a third son wanting to do his duty to his family. Despite their different backgrounds, we grow to like and understand each of them.
DEVOTION. SACRIFICE. SALVATION.
Despite the constant shifting of narratives per chapter, the storytelling and pacing remains sharp. Normally, I would find the constant breaks ruin the tension, but because we grow to love each of the characters, the interest is sustained throughout. Although not all plotlines intersect just yet, we get the sense of the scale the author has planned for the Illborn Saga and we are only just seeing the beginnings of something epic.
FEAR. CONTROL. ORDER.
Illborn is a truly spectacular debut novel and an awesome start to a new epic fantasy series. I already cannot wait for a sequel.
Original review:
STRENGTH. VICTORY. GLORY.
Daniel T. Jackson’s Illborn is just fantastic and one of the best books I’ve read this year. Set in a medieval world across multiple lands and kingdoms, it follows four young men and women as they start getting visions and supernatural powers. They attempt to navigate a tense political and religious landscape where discovery can lead to persecution and accusations of heresy by the powerful and fanatical church.
LUST. POWER. DOMINATION.
Told in alternating perspectives, we get to know each one of these four vastly different young people. In Allana, we find a desperate woman who is willing to do what it takes to survive. In Corin, a weak boy from a clan of warriors trying to prove his worth. In Leanna, a devout young woman who believes she has been blessed by the Lord. And in Arrion, a third son wanting to do his duty to his family. Despite their different backgrounds, we grow to like and understand each of them.
DEVOTION. SACRIFICE. SALVATION.
Despite the constant shifting of narratives per chapter, the storytelling and pacing remains sharp. Normally, I would find the constant breaks ruin the tension, but because we grow to love each of the characters, the interest is sustained throughout. Although not all plotlines intersect just yet, we get the sense of the scale the author has planned for the Illborn Saga and we are only just seeing the beginnings of something epic.
FEAR. CONTROL. ORDER.
Illborn is a truly spectacular debut novel and an awesome start to a new epic fantasy series. I already cannot wait for a sequel.
July 23, 2023
Well. This one blew me away. I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about this book (I knew I liked it but how much was the question I was asking myself) but the last 200 pages cemented it. Currently Illborn has an average score of 4.23 on Goodreads after 1,328 ratings. It's Daniel's debut book and it is a fantasy story.
Illborn is very much a character driven story. The prologue kicks us off with a shocking event that really set the tone for the world between the pages: ruthless and mysterious. The prologue starts six years before the main story in 761AA and there are interludes that go back eight hundred years that help explain the backstory of the world.
Now Illborn primarily follows the lives of four different characters in 767AA although there is a fifth, important character mentioned in the prologue and even a sixth, possibly even more important character, featured eight hundred years before this.
The view points change per chapter and are written in third person. I personally love this style and have done ever since I read A Song of Ice and Fire. You end up with a favourite character(s) and when you see the next chapter is all about them it gives you a reason to continue with just 'one more chapter'. Illborn very much has that reading vibe throughout. The time spent with each character is pretty equal and they're all very different, bringing something unique to the pages.
Each of these characters are around the same age and have their story arcs revolve around key words which play a part in shaping their story via methods I don't want to spoil for you.
In no particular order there is Corin who is part of a clan residing in the north-west in Bergen. He is the runt of a warrior family and finds it really hard to fit in. I really liked how his story evolved, possibly the most rapidly, since he changes a lot across the pages. There is an animal companion with Corin who I would say resembles the closest to a druid-like character. Corin's story is unique in that he is completely contained within Bergen whereas the other characters move across the main continent. His words are fear, control and order.
The next character is Alanna. She is the daughter of a prostitute and finds herself in the worst situation when her mother dies unexpectedly leaving Alanna to make the toughest decisions of the four to survive. She is hard to categorise, maybe a rogue or seductress like character. Her ability to survive the greatest odds stacked against her, along with her ruthlessness and her ability to justify to herself that she wasn't actually to blame for the results she causes, make her my favourite character of the four although it's to be seen where her path is going to take her... Her words are lust, power and domination.
Thirdly is Leanna, the holy one. She is due to be married but has a revelation, causing her to make a tough decision. Whether she will be happy with her decision is for you to find out but she has the strongest baseline within this story. She is very religious and it's her faith that allows her to overcome the obstacles that she faces. I would say she is almost the opposite of Alanna. Not just in her actions but also in the fact that her life was infinitely better than Alanna's, almost mirroring it. Her words are devotion, sacrifice and salvation.
Finally there is Arion. Arion is a cool character, a warrior for sure. He is part of a well-established family who have strong links to the King which makes him a regal-like character with servants and people who respect him because of his bloodline. He has a classic fantasy trope which I enjoy and I really liked where he ended up. I think it will be Arion who will play one of the biggest parts of a wider story after the events of this book although I'm sure all of the characters will play big parts. I really liked his transformation from where he was headed to where he ends up. His words are strength, victory and glory.
Daniel has done a fantastic job of writing characters who are all unique. They each have their own issues to deal with and they handle them all differently further cementing that this is a tale of four unique characters. They are each based around their own area within the world (there is a beautiful map inside to refer to as you read the story) but their paths cross one another's (excluding Corin) and it's when their paths cross that things become even more exciting.
There is a very heavy focus within Illborn on religion and faith. There are definitely some comparisons to Christianity within the book based off of the information we are given. As a Christian this didn't offend me or cause me to not enjoy the book at all (and it shouldn't offend anybody). I found Daniel's creation of a religion well executed and provided me a lot of enjoyment as a solid backbone throughout the story. I wanted to highlight this piece about religion because where as I enjoy it within stories, some of you might not want to read a story with so much focus. I will stress again that this forms an important backbone that only serves to enhance the story and thus your inevitable enjoyment of it.
I also really enjoyed the twists and turns within the book. At least twice there are parts where I thought to myself it would be easy for Daniel to write X here or to use Y there and on both occasions he didn't and he used the harder, more exciting storyline. Daniel's exciting choices within the story served to create something wonderful. This really is an excellent fantasy story, something that will shock and entertain you while simultaneously providing great writing and characters to accompany you on your journey.
When I finished the story last night I immediately posted stories to my Instagram because I was so shook up by how it all ended. It leaves so many questions that I can't delve into her due to spoilers and I should have really seen this coming. It was only two chapters into Illborn as part of the TBR Smasher's April book read that I ordered the second book, Aiduel's Sin, because I knew that it was going to be excellent. It just oozes epic fantasy from the prologue.
This is my favourite book of 2023 and I read Malice by John Gwynne at the start. Daniel has written a fantasy masterpiece that perfectly captures what fantasy storytelling is all about. Heroes, villains, magic, mystery, tension, good dialogue and worldbuilding
This is, for me, an S-Rank book and only my eight one ever given. By my ratings guide, this is the quality of book I will now actively look for in a special edition. It's really that good.
S-RANK
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Illborn is very much a character driven story. The prologue kicks us off with a shocking event that really set the tone for the world between the pages: ruthless and mysterious. The prologue starts six years before the main story in 761AA and there are interludes that go back eight hundred years that help explain the backstory of the world.
Now Illborn primarily follows the lives of four different characters in 767AA although there is a fifth, important character mentioned in the prologue and even a sixth, possibly even more important character, featured eight hundred years before this.
The view points change per chapter and are written in third person. I personally love this style and have done ever since I read A Song of Ice and Fire. You end up with a favourite character(s) and when you see the next chapter is all about them it gives you a reason to continue with just 'one more chapter'. Illborn very much has that reading vibe throughout. The time spent with each character is pretty equal and they're all very different, bringing something unique to the pages.
Each of these characters are around the same age and have their story arcs revolve around key words which play a part in shaping their story via methods I don't want to spoil for you.
In no particular order there is Corin who is part of a clan residing in the north-west in Bergen. He is the runt of a warrior family and finds it really hard to fit in. I really liked how his story evolved, possibly the most rapidly, since he changes a lot across the pages. There is an animal companion with Corin who I would say resembles the closest to a druid-like character. Corin's story is unique in that he is completely contained within Bergen whereas the other characters move across the main continent. His words are fear, control and order.
The next character is Alanna. She is the daughter of a prostitute and finds herself in the worst situation when her mother dies unexpectedly leaving Alanna to make the toughest decisions of the four to survive. She is hard to categorise, maybe a rogue or seductress like character. Her ability to survive the greatest odds stacked against her, along with her ruthlessness and her ability to justify to herself that she wasn't actually to blame for the results she causes, make her my favourite character of the four although it's to be seen where her path is going to take her... Her words are lust, power and domination.
Thirdly is Leanna, the holy one. She is due to be married but has a revelation, causing her to make a tough decision. Whether she will be happy with her decision is for you to find out but she has the strongest baseline within this story. She is very religious and it's her faith that allows her to overcome the obstacles that she faces. I would say she is almost the opposite of Alanna. Not just in her actions but also in the fact that her life was infinitely better than Alanna's, almost mirroring it. Her words are devotion, sacrifice and salvation.
Finally there is Arion. Arion is a cool character, a warrior for sure. He is part of a well-established family who have strong links to the King which makes him a regal-like character with servants and people who respect him because of his bloodline. He has a classic fantasy trope which I enjoy and I really liked where he ended up. I think it will be Arion who will play one of the biggest parts of a wider story after the events of this book although I'm sure all of the characters will play big parts. I really liked his transformation from where he was headed to where he ends up. His words are strength, victory and glory.
Daniel has done a fantastic job of writing characters who are all unique. They each have their own issues to deal with and they handle them all differently further cementing that this is a tale of four unique characters. They are each based around their own area within the world (there is a beautiful map inside to refer to as you read the story) but their paths cross one another's (excluding Corin) and it's when their paths cross that things become even more exciting.
There is a very heavy focus within Illborn on religion and faith. There are definitely some comparisons to Christianity within the book based off of the information we are given. As a Christian this didn't offend me or cause me to not enjoy the book at all (and it shouldn't offend anybody). I found Daniel's creation of a religion well executed and provided me a lot of enjoyment as a solid backbone throughout the story. I wanted to highlight this piece about religion because where as I enjoy it within stories, some of you might not want to read a story with so much focus. I will stress again that this forms an important backbone that only serves to enhance the story and thus your inevitable enjoyment of it.
I also really enjoyed the twists and turns within the book. At least twice there are parts where I thought to myself it would be easy for Daniel to write X here or to use Y there and on both occasions he didn't and he used the harder, more exciting storyline. Daniel's exciting choices within the story served to create something wonderful. This really is an excellent fantasy story, something that will shock and entertain you while simultaneously providing great writing and characters to accompany you on your journey.
When I finished the story last night I immediately posted stories to my Instagram because I was so shook up by how it all ended. It leaves so many questions that I can't delve into her due to spoilers and I should have really seen this coming. It was only two chapters into Illborn as part of the TBR Smasher's April book read that I ordered the second book, Aiduel's Sin, because I knew that it was going to be excellent. It just oozes epic fantasy from the prologue.
This is my favourite book of 2023 and I read Malice by John Gwynne at the start. Daniel has written a fantasy masterpiece that perfectly captures what fantasy storytelling is all about. Heroes, villains, magic, mystery, tension, good dialogue and worldbuilding
This is, for me, an S-Rank book and only my eight one ever given. By my ratings guide, this is the quality of book I will now actively look for in a special edition. It's really that good.
S-RANK
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
November 8, 2024
Illborn has been on my TBR for well over a year before I decided to take the plunge. After reading this novel cover to cover I am pleading with the rest of the fantasy community to not make the same mistake I did. Illborn is the beginning of an epic series heavily invested in religion in all its strengths and weaknesses. How the fear of the unknown can shape our vision and desires. How redemption is not a zero sum game and how our dreams are not always what we envisioned them to be when we were children. A four person POV story and I was pushed and pulled in so many direction by these characters that my favorite character was constantly changing. If this is what the author can offer to us in a debut novel, then we are all in for something special. Lets get into the main characters.
Before I begin there is one thing that I need to point out. Each of our four main characters at one point in the story witness the same dream of an archway on the top of a mountain. Once there, they see one figure exiting the archway and pointing a finger before the characters wake up. The affects of this dream will change our main characters in different, exciting, and in some cases tragic ways. Are you still with me? Good because now is the time for the main attraction.
Allana is the daughter of a prostitute in the city of Sen Aiduel. When we first see Allana her mother is on her death bed and she has little choice but to seek the help of the church. When the High Priest visits Allana, he is expecting to seek the services of Allana’s mother to learn she has passed. When the priest tries to take his passions out on Allana, she stabs him and decides to flee the city. Over and over again she is waking up from this strange dream where three words keep repeating in her mind: Lust, Power, Domination. These words will define her journey and you may not like where it turns out.
Corin is a tribe member in the Great Forest of Karn training to become a warrior. He constantly interacts with Agbeth who suffered a stroke in her youth and is always taunted by other tribe members but she is the only friend Corin has. When the tribe goes on a mission to raid an enemy tribe, Corin abandons his allies and flees when he refuses to murder a helpless mother and child. As punishment, Corin is exiled and Agbeth decides to join him. While traveling north and trying to find shelter, Corin has the same dream as Allana with these words in his mind: Fear, Control, Order. Corins journey is crazy, wild, and at the end of it all my favorite charcter by far. The ending is an adrenaline rush for sure.
Leanna is a young woman destined to be married to whom everyone desribes as the perfect match. Leanna has come to the realization that this is not the life she wants and decides to take the vows of submission to the Holy Church for training. Lord Aiduel is an important part of Leanna’s life as she is always praying to him for guidance. Eventually, Leanna is placed into a war zone as a healer for soldiers and this recuring dream hits her like a right hook. These are the three words she hears: Devotion, Sacrifice, Salvation. She won’t always be in the right place at the right time but he will be cheering for her throughout the story.
Arion is the third brother for the Duke of House Sepian. Arion is destined to take the vows of submission for the Holy Church by order of his father but all he wants is to be a captain in the war to come. When Arions brother reveals that he has decided to take his vows, Arion is given his wish to be a soldier but the road ahead will be tough. He goes through intense training and beatings but his dreams are keeping him awake at night with these three words: Strength, Victory, Glory. His life will never be the same.
Each character is given different powers with this same dream and they all will change the plot drastically. Nothing was predictable and nobody knows what the future will hold. Although the story is over 700 pages, the chapters just flew by and I was glued to each and every page. Characters are the bread and butter for Daniel Jackson series and probably the best case of this were the interlude chapters. Here we follow the journey of a boy escaping a slave camp with his friends and the revelation at the end just blew me away. You are all in for something special!
I already have the sequel to Illborn in hand and it will be read in short order. Illborn is one of the best debut novels I have read in a very long time. Without a doubt this will be a top read for 2023 and do yourself a favor and get this book on your TBR. I can’t wait for what is to come!
Cheers!
Before I begin there is one thing that I need to point out. Each of our four main characters at one point in the story witness the same dream of an archway on the top of a mountain. Once there, they see one figure exiting the archway and pointing a finger before the characters wake up. The affects of this dream will change our main characters in different, exciting, and in some cases tragic ways. Are you still with me? Good because now is the time for the main attraction.
Allana is the daughter of a prostitute in the city of Sen Aiduel. When we first see Allana her mother is on her death bed and she has little choice but to seek the help of the church. When the High Priest visits Allana, he is expecting to seek the services of Allana’s mother to learn she has passed. When the priest tries to take his passions out on Allana, she stabs him and decides to flee the city. Over and over again she is waking up from this strange dream where three words keep repeating in her mind: Lust, Power, Domination. These words will define her journey and you may not like where it turns out.
Corin is a tribe member in the Great Forest of Karn training to become a warrior. He constantly interacts with Agbeth who suffered a stroke in her youth and is always taunted by other tribe members but she is the only friend Corin has. When the tribe goes on a mission to raid an enemy tribe, Corin abandons his allies and flees when he refuses to murder a helpless mother and child. As punishment, Corin is exiled and Agbeth decides to join him. While traveling north and trying to find shelter, Corin has the same dream as Allana with these words in his mind: Fear, Control, Order. Corins journey is crazy, wild, and at the end of it all my favorite charcter by far. The ending is an adrenaline rush for sure.
Leanna is a young woman destined to be married to whom everyone desribes as the perfect match. Leanna has come to the realization that this is not the life she wants and decides to take the vows of submission to the Holy Church for training. Lord Aiduel is an important part of Leanna’s life as she is always praying to him for guidance. Eventually, Leanna is placed into a war zone as a healer for soldiers and this recuring dream hits her like a right hook. These are the three words she hears: Devotion, Sacrifice, Salvation. She won’t always be in the right place at the right time but he will be cheering for her throughout the story.
Arion is the third brother for the Duke of House Sepian. Arion is destined to take the vows of submission for the Holy Church by order of his father but all he wants is to be a captain in the war to come. When Arions brother reveals that he has decided to take his vows, Arion is given his wish to be a soldier but the road ahead will be tough. He goes through intense training and beatings but his dreams are keeping him awake at night with these three words: Strength, Victory, Glory. His life will never be the same.
Each character is given different powers with this same dream and they all will change the plot drastically. Nothing was predictable and nobody knows what the future will hold. Although the story is over 700 pages, the chapters just flew by and I was glued to each and every page. Characters are the bread and butter for Daniel Jackson series and probably the best case of this were the interlude chapters. Here we follow the journey of a boy escaping a slave camp with his friends and the revelation at the end just blew me away. You are all in for something special!
I already have the sequel to Illborn in hand and it will be read in short order. Illborn is one of the best debut novels I have read in a very long time. Without a doubt this will be a top read for 2023 and do yourself a favor and get this book on your TBR. I can’t wait for what is to come!
Cheers!
November 4, 2021
SPFBO7 Semi-finalist.
Placed in the Fantasy-Hive's batch of 30 books, you can read our reviews here:
Making it to semi-finalist:
https://fantasy-hive.co.uk/2021/08/sp...
Final Review:
https://fantasy-hive.co.uk/2021/10/il...
Happy Reading!
(Star rating reflects my personal opinion)
Placed in the Fantasy-Hive's batch of 30 books, you can read our reviews here:
Making it to semi-finalist:
https://fantasy-hive.co.uk/2021/08/sp...
Final Review:
https://fantasy-hive.co.uk/2021/10/il...
Happy Reading!
(Star rating reflects my personal opinion)
March 8, 2022
3.75/5
Engaging, entertaining, shocking, and just the beginning. These are some words to describe Daniel T Jackson’s debut book.
Illborn was a wild ride of 4 POV characters Allana the runaway, Leanne the Priestess, Arion the dukes son, Corin the outcast. These are all very different characters with their own separate adventures that don’t overlap until later in the book. As a result this feels like 4 stories rotating chapter POV right up until the climax.
Of the Characters I think Arion had to be my favorite with Leanna a close second.
Almost everything in this story just works. HOWEVER, it is a bit long in the tooth. Also, Corins POV feels tacked on and a bit disjointed seeing as he never interacts with the other POV. I also would like to have gotten to know what an Illborn is. By introducing this as a concept at the end of the book it makes everything feel kind of like a long 700 page prologue for what’s to come. It’s not a big issue but it does feel like the book just ends right as we are starting to find out what the big mystery is about.
A strong debut from a new fantasy author. I look forward to reading the next entry in the Illborn Saga
Engaging, entertaining, shocking, and just the beginning. These are some words to describe Daniel T Jackson’s debut book.
Illborn was a wild ride of 4 POV characters Allana the runaway, Leanne the Priestess, Arion the dukes son, Corin the outcast. These are all very different characters with their own separate adventures that don’t overlap until later in the book. As a result this feels like 4 stories rotating chapter POV right up until the climax.
Of the Characters I think Arion had to be my favorite with Leanna a close second.
Almost everything in this story just works. HOWEVER, it is a bit long in the tooth. Also, Corins POV feels tacked on and a bit disjointed seeing as he never interacts with the other POV. I also would like to have gotten to know what an Illborn is. By introducing this as a concept at the end of the book it makes everything feel kind of like a long 700 page prologue for what’s to come. It’s not a big issue but it does feel like the book just ends right as we are starting to find out what the big mystery is about.
A strong debut from a new fantasy author. I look forward to reading the next entry in the Illborn Saga
April 22, 2023
I’ve seen all the hype about this one, and of course, that always leaves me a bit trepidatious when deciding to take the plunge, but this time, that hype is definitely warranted! I loved this. From start to finish, I was enthralled with the overall story and our collection of characters. The mystery of what’s really going on is so intriguing that I’m still sitting here thinking about It even after finishing. I leaned so many different ways, and still think it could go differently than I expect. I’m trying to think of another fantasy story I could compare this to, but nothing is coming to mind at the moment. It feels unique and refreshing.
If you enjoy epic fantasy, mystery and strong characters, then I can recommend this for sure. It’s filled with action, has great pacing, and leaves you very much ready to jump into the next book. Easily 5/5 stars!!
If you enjoy epic fantasy, mystery and strong characters, then I can recommend this for sure. It’s filled with action, has great pacing, and leaves you very much ready to jump into the next book. Easily 5/5 stars!!
December 5, 2022
Authors, take note! Daniel T. Jackson knows how to write a book! If you like suspense, strong characters, intricate details, battles galore - unstoppable bringers of death to foes, cliffhangers, plot twists, and a need for a thrilling, epic fantasy, this book is for you!
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It's been a while since a book captivated me from the very beginning but, this book did it and it didn't slow down. Every single chapter ended on a cliffhanger that had me rushing into the next, regardless of time or responsibilities. I was fully immersed and invested in these characters lives as they played out over the course of the story. This is the kind of stuff that I live to read! Consider Jackson on my very short list of auto-buy authors!
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P. S. I need book 2 STAT, please!
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P. P. S. With more Blackpaw?! 🖤
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It's been a while since a book captivated me from the very beginning but, this book did it and it didn't slow down. Every single chapter ended on a cliffhanger that had me rushing into the next, regardless of time or responsibilities. I was fully immersed and invested in these characters lives as they played out over the course of the story. This is the kind of stuff that I live to read! Consider Jackson on my very short list of auto-buy authors!
.
.
P. S. I need book 2 STAT, please!
.
P. P. S. With more Blackpaw?! 🖤
August 4, 2022
Boy Howdy do I rarely write bad reviews. I feel like there are so many *huge* glaring issues that are being swept over regarding Illborn. I've spoken to quite a few readers who agreed, that it wasn't well written and the portrayal of the women in the book where downright awful, but decided to give it good ratings anyways since most people were. Everyone is absolutely allowed to scale their star ratings however they want! However, I feel that it really sets people up for expecting a show stopping book when this first installment of this saga feels like it needs several more revisions.
I also want to start off by saying, that Daniel T. Jackson wrote this Entire Book! Which is a feat in of itself, and someone's first book isn't going to be their best work all of the time. I hope that perhaps in the future, he might consider the message he is sending with the stereotypes he is portraying when writing characters. The women, disabled person and bisexuality felt like it was written from a book in the 1970s. If you're writing from a perspective that isn't your own, getting some insight from that group of people will help you develop well rounded, solid characters that folks can love and learn from. Otherwise you can accidentally continue harmful stereotypes.
I have DNF'd this book for an entire month and I'm going to continue reading it to post a full review, but I'm 400 pages in and I can't tell you one thing I like about this book.
The dialogue is clunky and needs polishing; it felt as though I were reading a script of a movie and there wasn't any life behind the words. I feel apart of this was due to lack of adjectives and descriptors. It was a lot of "he said, she said, he said" etc. And characters went on pages long monologues about world events with hardly any break for scene development. For instance, someone would talk about a meeting, and it would go on without break for a page or two, only for the next page or two of monologue to be separated by a single character saying something like "yes yes, continue" or something along those lines.
I could feel that there was this Whole world underneath all the telling-not-showing that constantly happens, but the readers are left in the dark so far. I would love to see the world, to have sweeping details and lengthy conversations about who the character is getting to know or what they are doing with their lives as they grow up ... But I have no idea what's even really happened so far. I am always left with more questions than answers, and really big ones that should be answered immediately, like; what is the religion even about? Though the religions appears to be the main driving point of the story (besides that it's based on Christianity), I don't know anything about it or how they practice or what they teach/preach? I don't even know what the plot is? Besides the fact that these kids are supposed to meet up at one point. I feel like I'm taking stabs in the dark to figure out what is going to be happening in the series.
So much of the detail is skimped on. Why are there wars between clans? What happens in all those months of Arion getting to become friends with other nobles? What the hell is this religion, what is it even about?? Tell me about the wars and the connections between state and church!
There are some generally pretty solid areas in every chapter but I'm almost immediately brought out of the moment because a character speaks. They all speak very .... rigidly. And sometimes the book is gritty for no real reason. For instance, when we meet a character for the first time, we are greeted with an entire page of him shitting his brains out because he's nervous ... it almost makes you want to give points for creativity because I've never read an introduction like that before.
But the huge glaring problem that I see, besides the poor editing and repetitive writing that makes me constantly put the book down, is the women.
First off, you have a character who is sexually assaulted right off the bat. First chapter and everything. Her mom dies and then she's assaulted by an older man. She is then catcalled and hooted at the entire time she is trying to get to the docks and then uses her new found power to force a man to want to have sex with her. She has done this repeatedly, with men who are technically attracted to her but they have wives and children etc. etc, but she literally sexually assaults them by mind controlling them. Which is so fucked.
And then you have your hyper religious, pure virgin character who could never do anything wrong in her life.
And then you have a disabled woman, who's entire personality is that she relies on a man to give her quality of life which is also so weird. I really like her character and I like her husband but it became clear to me pretty early on that her character is a pretty uncomfortable stereotype for disabled people. She feels like an accessory to the male character instead of her own person.
This is all I have to say so far about Illborn. I'd like to finish reading it and maybe find some light at the end of the tunnel but I've heard that the female characters only get worse and I can't stand the dialogue.
All of my favorite fantasy novels are slow-starters. Entire first books dedicated to setting the scene, but for some reason the way this book is written, it feels like it could be just summarized in a chapter or two because there is no detail to the world so far. I have read so much and learned not much at all and I'm halfway through a 700 page book.
I also want to start off by saying, that Daniel T. Jackson wrote this Entire Book! Which is a feat in of itself, and someone's first book isn't going to be their best work all of the time. I hope that perhaps in the future, he might consider the message he is sending with the stereotypes he is portraying when writing characters. The women, disabled person and bisexuality felt like it was written from a book in the 1970s. If you're writing from a perspective that isn't your own, getting some insight from that group of people will help you develop well rounded, solid characters that folks can love and learn from. Otherwise you can accidentally continue harmful stereotypes.
I have DNF'd this book for an entire month and I'm going to continue reading it to post a full review, but I'm 400 pages in and I can't tell you one thing I like about this book.
The dialogue is clunky and needs polishing; it felt as though I were reading a script of a movie and there wasn't any life behind the words. I feel apart of this was due to lack of adjectives and descriptors. It was a lot of "he said, she said, he said" etc. And characters went on pages long monologues about world events with hardly any break for scene development. For instance, someone would talk about a meeting, and it would go on without break for a page or two, only for the next page or two of monologue to be separated by a single character saying something like "yes yes, continue" or something along those lines.
I could feel that there was this Whole world underneath all the telling-not-showing that constantly happens, but the readers are left in the dark so far. I would love to see the world, to have sweeping details and lengthy conversations about who the character is getting to know or what they are doing with their lives as they grow up ... But I have no idea what's even really happened so far. I am always left with more questions than answers, and really big ones that should be answered immediately, like; what is the religion even about? Though the religions appears to be the main driving point of the story (besides that it's based on Christianity), I don't know anything about it or how they practice or what they teach/preach? I don't even know what the plot is? Besides the fact that these kids are supposed to meet up at one point. I feel like I'm taking stabs in the dark to figure out what is going to be happening in the series.
So much of the detail is skimped on. Why are there wars between clans? What happens in all those months of Arion getting to become friends with other nobles? What the hell is this religion, what is it even about?? Tell me about the wars and the connections between state and church!
There are some generally pretty solid areas in every chapter but I'm almost immediately brought out of the moment because a character speaks. They all speak very .... rigidly. And sometimes the book is gritty for no real reason. For instance, when we meet a character for the first time, we are greeted with an entire page of him shitting his brains out because he's nervous ... it almost makes you want to give points for creativity because I've never read an introduction like that before.
But the huge glaring problem that I see, besides the poor editing and repetitive writing that makes me constantly put the book down, is the women.
First off, you have a character who is sexually assaulted right off the bat. First chapter and everything. Her mom dies and then she's assaulted by an older man. She is then catcalled and hooted at the entire time she is trying to get to the docks and then uses her new found power to force a man to want to have sex with her. She has done this repeatedly, with men who are technically attracted to her but they have wives and children etc. etc, but she literally sexually assaults them by mind controlling them. Which is so fucked.
And then you have your hyper religious, pure virgin character who could never do anything wrong in her life.
And then you have a disabled woman, who's entire personality is that she relies on a man to give her quality of life which is also so weird. I really like her character and I like her husband but it became clear to me pretty early on that her character is a pretty uncomfortable stereotype for disabled people. She feels like an accessory to the male character instead of her own person.
This is all I have to say so far about Illborn. I'd like to finish reading it and maybe find some light at the end of the tunnel but I've heard that the female characters only get worse and I can't stand the dialogue.
All of my favorite fantasy novels are slow-starters. Entire first books dedicated to setting the scene, but for some reason the way this book is written, it feels like it could be just summarized in a chapter or two because there is no detail to the world so far. I have read so much and learned not much at all and I'm halfway through a 700 page book.
August 16, 2021
5 Stars!
Wow, I never thought I would be rating Illborn by Daniel T. Jackson this high.
Mid-way through Illborn, I thought at most, this would be a 3-star book for one main reason:
1. The Character depth and development.
- The conversations between characters (at times, seemed somewhat simple and each character could use a little more in-depth personality through their conversations.)
When I finished Illborn, I realized I loved this book and my previous thoughts seemed trivial. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the world, and the characters and can't wait for the 2nd book to be released.
Since this is Daniel T. Jackson's 1st novel, I'm hopeful his writing continues to improve and I'm looking forward to reading more of his future novels.
A great 1st novel. Well done.
Wow, I never thought I would be rating Illborn by Daniel T. Jackson this high.
Mid-way through Illborn, I thought at most, this would be a 3-star book for one main reason:
1. The Character depth and development.
- The conversations between characters (at times, seemed somewhat simple and each character could use a little more in-depth personality through their conversations.)
When I finished Illborn, I realized I loved this book and my previous thoughts seemed trivial. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the world, and the characters and can't wait for the 2nd book to be released.
Since this is Daniel T. Jackson's 1st novel, I'm hopeful his writing continues to improve and I'm looking forward to reading more of his future novels.
A great 1st novel. Well done.
September 4, 2023
4.0 Stars
This was a solid epic fantasy. The prologue was very memorable and I loved the other dark moments throughout this gritty story. This is a story I would recommend to readers who love character driven stories. I loved the complexity and moral challenges that each perspective faces. I would highly recommend this one to other fantasy readers looking for something a little less well known.
This was a solid epic fantasy. The prologue was very memorable and I loved the other dark moments throughout this gritty story. This is a story I would recommend to readers who love character driven stories. I loved the complexity and moral challenges that each perspective faces. I would highly recommend this one to other fantasy readers looking for something a little less well known.
January 2, 2022
Update - DNF’d 300 pages
The language was so juvenile, even for a YA book. Which is what I assume this is.
What baffles me the most about these reviews is the praise of the world building; there is no world building. there is no background/ history provided for any of it.
It seems to be set in some form of the Middle Ages but the language in the conversations are quite modern which is confusing.
A lot of the underlying religious themes seem to be borrowed from Christianity with reference to crusades but none of it goes into detail. Aside from naming a god there is nothing else specified about the religion. I find this odd as what connects the four characters is that they’re all having the same vision of their god?
I don’t know, I feel like I could go into much more detail, but I’ve already wasted enough of my time on this book.
Seriously wondering if all of these reviews are paid? 200 pages in and I’m really not seeing the hype.
The language was so juvenile, even for a YA book. Which is what I assume this is.
What baffles me the most about these reviews is the praise of the world building; there is no world building. there is no background/ history provided for any of it.
It seems to be set in some form of the Middle Ages but the language in the conversations are quite modern which is confusing.
A lot of the underlying religious themes seem to be borrowed from Christianity with reference to crusades but none of it goes into detail. Aside from naming a god there is nothing else specified about the religion. I find this odd as what connects the four characters is that they’re all having the same vision of their god?
I don’t know, I feel like I could go into much more detail, but I’ve already wasted enough of my time on this book.
Seriously wondering if all of these reviews are paid? 200 pages in and I’m really not seeing the hype.
February 6, 2022
This book finishes as it begins, with a flury of intrigue, excitement, and blood. This book has you guessing and searching for clues and answers the entire time. The interludes, and the prologue and epilogue may have been some of my favorite aspects of the book too. So. Well. Done! This is a slow burner book for sure. I remember thinking and wondering about the plot 200 pages in. No... this book is about your 4 MCs and their relationships and inner struggles. There is the potential here for a dynamite book 2! Well done Daniel T Jackson! 👏
June 12, 2021
I love discovering new gems in the fantasy genre, and "Illborn" is definitely one of them! Five solid stars for a new fantasy series, classic and beautiful!
"Illborn" set in a cruel, medieval-like world gripped by strict religious rules and a code of behaviour. Should you step out of the line and you can be outcasted as a heretic and burned on the pyre. Religious fanatics maintain the order and wish to spread that further to other kingdoms and lands.
There are four main and diverse characters in the book, yet they all united by a strange dream and a set of different supernatural skills they all possess. All four of them were born on a particular date and destined to change tides in the world. Having those powers is a dangerous thing. People like Allana, Arion, Leanna and Corin pursued by Aiduel's Guards for execution.
I loved a different scale of depth in all four characters. Allana, the daughter of a courtesan, has the power of domination and lust. She is a survivor. Even though I questioned her methods to get what she wants, I could understand that she had no other choice but to make complicated decisions to avoid danger for herself. Her storyline is complex and the most interesting to me.
Corin, a member of the Karn clan, can order and control others' minds. He is a nice guy but, in my opinion, very naive. I was screaming while reading his chapters! He has much to learn that breaking long-term traditions will never be an easy choice. I hope to see his growth in future books, but currently, he is doing okay only because he has his powers and amazing pet to assist. Or, he is also a lucky one because he has Agbeth by his side!
Arion, the youngest son of Duke Sepian, possesses the power to win in combat and lead armies toward victory. I think he is yet to demonstrate his best in future books despite his victory in the battle of Moss Ford.
Leanna, a religiously devoted girl, can read emotions and heal people. I think she is the most complicated and deep character with an inner light in her very core. What Leanna had to experience toward the end of the story is just astounded me. I think she is the key to milestones in the future.
I love the medieval setting in a fantasy series. It has its beauty, that charm only a person that appreciates history and fantasy can understand. It was so masterly done as I could imagine the world, places, people and the characters. This book doesn't feel like a writer's debut. This story is so beautifully crafted, and it had hooked me from the beginning. I am certainly interested in reading the rest of the saga!
"Illborn" set in a cruel, medieval-like world gripped by strict religious rules and a code of behaviour. Should you step out of the line and you can be outcasted as a heretic and burned on the pyre. Religious fanatics maintain the order and wish to spread that further to other kingdoms and lands.
There are four main and diverse characters in the book, yet they all united by a strange dream and a set of different supernatural skills they all possess. All four of them were born on a particular date and destined to change tides in the world. Having those powers is a dangerous thing. People like Allana, Arion, Leanna and Corin pursued by Aiduel's Guards for execution.
I loved a different scale of depth in all four characters. Allana, the daughter of a courtesan, has the power of domination and lust. She is a survivor. Even though I questioned her methods to get what she wants, I could understand that she had no other choice but to make complicated decisions to avoid danger for herself. Her storyline is complex and the most interesting to me.
Corin, a member of the Karn clan, can order and control others' minds. He is a nice guy but, in my opinion, very naive. I was screaming while reading his chapters! He has much to learn that breaking long-term traditions will never be an easy choice. I hope to see his growth in future books, but currently, he is doing okay only because he has his powers and amazing pet to assist. Or, he is also a lucky one because he has Agbeth by his side!
Arion, the youngest son of Duke Sepian, possesses the power to win in combat and lead armies toward victory. I think he is yet to demonstrate his best in future books despite his victory in the battle of Moss Ford.
Leanna, a religiously devoted girl, can read emotions and heal people. I think she is the most complicated and deep character with an inner light in her very core. What Leanna had to experience toward the end of the story is just astounded me. I think she is the key to milestones in the future.
I love the medieval setting in a fantasy series. It has its beauty, that charm only a person that appreciates history and fantasy can understand. It was so masterly done as I could imagine the world, places, people and the characters. This book doesn't feel like a writer's debut. This story is so beautifully crafted, and it had hooked me from the beginning. I am certainly interested in reading the rest of the saga!
August 29, 2021
Avis Lecture 🧐 📖 "Illborn" 🤲✨par Daniel T. Jackson
Coup de foudre 2021 ⚡ (j'ai mon TOP 3!!)
Lust / Devotion / Fear / Strength...
4 chemins, 1 rêve partagé, 4 vies changées à jamais ! 🤩
✨Olala comme il va m'être difficile de vous résumer ce que j'ai ressenti sur ce roman auto édité, je le précise car franchement... quelle claque! 🤩 Daniel T. Jackson n'a rien à envier aux plus grands auteurs de Fantasy !
✨La plume et le style de Jackson sont impeccables, mais ce qui m'a le plus marqué c'est sa capacité en quelques lignes, à nous faire aimer ses 4 personnages principaux.💕
L'auteur manie ses intrigues d'une main de maître et on peut dire qu'il a le sens du suspens et de la surprise. Le prologue m'avait totalement laissé sur les fesses 😂 😱
✨Le roman est très bien rythmé. On passe d'un point de vue à un autre à chaque chapitre, mais la fin de chacun se terminant avec une envie urgente de retrouver ce personnage et savoir ce qui va lui arriver... Et l'auteur fait ça pour les 4 ! 😂
On tient donc là un Page Turner totalement exaltant ! 😱💖
✨Le world building n'est pas en reste, loin de là. On est dans un monde médiéval, où la religion tient une place très importante. La Foi étant méticuleusement contrôlée et toute deviance faisant état de répression de la part des hautes sphères religieuses.
C'est d'ailleurs là que commencent les problemes pour nos héros car, à la suite d'un rêve commun, ils vont développer des dons, des pouvoirs qu'ils vont devoir cacher...
✨Je n'en dis pas plus, mais la Magie est... Géniale 😱💕
Elle vient des émotions et peut se montrer redoutable comme merveilleuse. 🤗
Et j'étais très surpris de la voir évoluer autant, en un seul tome !
✨Au final je dirai que la plus grande force de ce roman et de Jackson sont ses personnages. On a peur avec eux, on est exalté avec eux, on pleure avec eux... on ressent totalement toutes leurs émotions, les positives aussi bien que la charge mentale de ce changement dans leur vie... 🧐
✨Les scènes de combat sont très visuelles et... Le final TOTALEMENT ÉPIQUE ne vous laissera pas indemne ! 😱
Perso je n'étais sûr de rien jusqu'au dernier moment... 😂
Bravo M. Jackson et merci 🙏
Ce roman rejoint mon TOP 3 de 2021 😎
Coup de foudre 2021 ⚡ (j'ai mon TOP 3!!)
Lust / Devotion / Fear / Strength...
4 chemins, 1 rêve partagé, 4 vies changées à jamais ! 🤩
✨Olala comme il va m'être difficile de vous résumer ce que j'ai ressenti sur ce roman auto édité, je le précise car franchement... quelle claque! 🤩 Daniel T. Jackson n'a rien à envier aux plus grands auteurs de Fantasy !
✨La plume et le style de Jackson sont impeccables, mais ce qui m'a le plus marqué c'est sa capacité en quelques lignes, à nous faire aimer ses 4 personnages principaux.💕
L'auteur manie ses intrigues d'une main de maître et on peut dire qu'il a le sens du suspens et de la surprise. Le prologue m'avait totalement laissé sur les fesses 😂 😱
✨Le roman est très bien rythmé. On passe d'un point de vue à un autre à chaque chapitre, mais la fin de chacun se terminant avec une envie urgente de retrouver ce personnage et savoir ce qui va lui arriver... Et l'auteur fait ça pour les 4 ! 😂
On tient donc là un Page Turner totalement exaltant ! 😱💖
✨Le world building n'est pas en reste, loin de là. On est dans un monde médiéval, où la religion tient une place très importante. La Foi étant méticuleusement contrôlée et toute deviance faisant état de répression de la part des hautes sphères religieuses.
C'est d'ailleurs là que commencent les problemes pour nos héros car, à la suite d'un rêve commun, ils vont développer des dons, des pouvoirs qu'ils vont devoir cacher...
✨Je n'en dis pas plus, mais la Magie est... Géniale 😱💕
Elle vient des émotions et peut se montrer redoutable comme merveilleuse. 🤗
Et j'étais très surpris de la voir évoluer autant, en un seul tome !
✨Au final je dirai que la plus grande force de ce roman et de Jackson sont ses personnages. On a peur avec eux, on est exalté avec eux, on pleure avec eux... on ressent totalement toutes leurs émotions, les positives aussi bien que la charge mentale de ce changement dans leur vie... 🧐
✨Les scènes de combat sont très visuelles et... Le final TOTALEMENT ÉPIQUE ne vous laissera pas indemne ! 😱
Perso je n'étais sûr de rien jusqu'au dernier moment... 😂
Bravo M. Jackson et merci 🙏
Ce roman rejoint mon TOP 3 de 2021 😎
July 6, 2021
Sitting here, trying to write this review, and my brain is just making noises that my fingers don't know how to translate into letters that make any kind of sense. "Illborn" is flipping fantastic! The setting and characters are solid and richly constructed. The writing is astonishing. The plot is far more than enjoyable - it's all-consuming. Pack a survival kit for this one because you are not going to want to stop after you start reading... and this is only the beginning!
My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.
My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.
January 6, 2023
4.5
The prologue of this story is one of the best, if not the best, that I’ve ever read. I was totally surprised and taken aback when it ended.
The four main characters have special powers. Allana hears Lust, Power, Domination and she uses her skills to seduce people into doing things to help her. She’s the least likable character of the four. You definitely don’t like a lot of her decisions, even though you understand her motivation. Leanna hears Devotion, Sacrifice, Salvation and I find her to be the most interesting character. Corin hears Fear, Control, Order and he learns that he can connect to animals. I think he evolves the most out of everyone. Lastly Arion hears Strength, Victory, Glory and he becomes quite the warrior.
For most of the story these characters don’t interact. Only Corin never meets or knows about another one of his kind because he lives very far away. I enjoyed following their journeys whether I liked them or not. Religion is a central part of this novel and it’s handled well. You see the good, the bad, and the ugly of religious people and realize it’s not the fault of the faith but of the purported people of faith.
A very compelling first book by a first time author.
The prologue of this story is one of the best, if not the best, that I’ve ever read. I was totally surprised and taken aback when it ended.
The four main characters have special powers. Allana hears Lust, Power, Domination and she uses her skills to seduce people into doing things to help her. She’s the least likable character of the four. You definitely don’t like a lot of her decisions, even though you understand her motivation. Leanna hears Devotion, Sacrifice, Salvation and I find her to be the most interesting character. Corin hears Fear, Control, Order and he learns that he can connect to animals. I think he evolves the most out of everyone. Lastly Arion hears Strength, Victory, Glory and he becomes quite the warrior.
For most of the story these characters don’t interact. Only Corin never meets or knows about another one of his kind because he lives very far away. I enjoyed following their journeys whether I liked them or not. Religion is a central part of this novel and it’s handled well. You see the good, the bad, and the ugly of religious people and realize it’s not the fault of the faith but of the purported people of faith.
A very compelling first book by a first time author.
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