Daniel T. Jackson turned out to have written one of my favourite books of last year. Illborn was a breath of fresh air in the fantasy space – not all about one special individual written in some ye olde language that has become almost what feels like a necessity for epic fantasies. Instead, it was a well but simple-written book with a very gripping storyline that, despite the large page count, I didn’t feel was a long book. Aiduel’s Sin is the sequel to Illborn, building on everything
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If you’ve not yet read my review of Illborn, you can do so here to find out my thoughts on that.
Aiduel’s Sin carries on the story of our four Illborn who are finding out about their powers and the additional abilities they have. The world around them begins to turn into turmoil in chaos as religions and politics collide, slowly bringing all of the Illborn closer together.
Aiduel’s Sin characters – 4/5
As I just touched on, the Illborn are our main protagonists in this Aiduel’s Sin – their stories are the ones we switch between and follow throughout the book. They continue to grow, develop and change throughout the book as different things affect their lives and journies.
None of the protagonists is particularly stand-out – none of them have an amazing sense of humour or an incredible redemption story that makes you fall in love with them. However, they are all quite different in their choices, and defining personalities which is such an important part of not only helping you build favourites but also simply knowing whose stories you’re reading (there are some frustratingly similar names in this series).
However, one of my favourite aspects about the characters is that none of them is perfect – all of them are making morally difficult decisions and often have to accept that the decision they make isn’t the best for everybody. In fact, one character, in particular, ends up being incredibly morally grey and I’m absolutely fascinated to see where Jackson is taking their story considering you’re consistently told how it should all end.
Aiduel’s Sin plot – 4.75/5
I loved Illborn because it had a storyline that wasn’t overly sweeping and complex and focused on the individual stories of the Illborn. This allowed you to easily pick up the different storylines as they happened and eventually began to interweave.
Aiduel’s Sin continues this trend whilst building on the amazing story that Illborn has placed before it. Aiduel’s Sin takes all of the stories that built up throughout Illborn and then took them to a whole new level. For example, the world in which the Illborn find themselves is slowly beginning to turn to turmoil as religion and politics collide. This results in the stories of each of the Illborn being affected and the stakes dramatically increasing.
Because this is clearly intended to be a series, obviously we have no final conclusions here however, the journies and epic moments our characters take part in do have a conclusion each which results in them being perfectly set up for any future stories to come.
Aiduel’s Sin final rating – 4.5
When the first book is a debut, you’re always nervous about the sequel and whether it will live up to the first. Aiduel’s Sin is a wonderfully successful sequel to Illborn. It builds upon the stories, continues to great characters journies and has continued the great writing style that made Illborn so approachable and likeable. Aiduel’s Sin is another excellent fantasy book that continues my enjoyment of Jackson’s ongoing Illborn series which I’m hoping continues for a long time to come.
Pick up a copy of Aiduel’s Sin from Amazon.
