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Cast in Conflict
by
atomic bombs
action & adventure, fantasy in a Kindle edition that was published by MIRA Books on June 29, 2021 and has 544 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon, Audibles.
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Dragon's Moon
Sixteenth in The Chronicles of Elantra fantasy series for Young Adult readers and revolving around the adventures of Private Kaylin Neya, a young woman who serves the Hawks in the towering Halls of Law.
My Take
I think Bellusdeo is the primary focus. Her fears of betrayal, the trust she’s lost, drifting along through the days with no purpose, of no use. She’s has been through so much, and she’s still miserable.
Poor Emmerian has his own character arc, trying so hard to make Bellusdeo happy, to understand what she needs.
Poor Kaylin. She’s got one serious character arc. Learning to be polite, to think before speaking . . . Ravellon has its own arc. I’m not sure if it’s a series arc or a character arc, but each story reveals more about Shadow and the many, many components that make up Shadow, including beings like Gilbert and Spike.
Bellusdeo and Sedarias both want the Tower of Candallar, for different reasons. The latter’s purpose is much more selfish, and considering the enmity between Dragon and Barrani, that ending is a pip!
We do learn all these things through Sagara’s use of third person protagonist point-of-view from Kaylin’s perspective.
It’s exciting to have the Academia open up and see the streets and buildings clearing. Well, it is to me. Kaylin doesn’t see why anyone would get excited about going to school, lol. It is giving the fiefs the opportunity to open up and improve its people’s lots. We’re certainly meeting a number of fief captains. And we learn about some of the towers’ quirks and sources of origin.
Ooh, there is some more back history about Helen and her original design; how the towers came to be; and, more information about Dragons. About time!
It looks like Karriamis is going to be a problem in Cast in Conflict. He is not shy about poking at your weaknesses, although he does make an excellent point about the very young whose parents restrict them so “horribly”, lol.
Those Barrani are just scary. They have such weird cultural concepts. Okay, so they’re weird primarily because I don’t understand them . . . no, I can’t accept their culture. That everyBarrani out for themselves even amongst family. That there are no true friends. Family may be related but they’re still enemies.
We learn a lot about Teela’s and the cohort’s family histories. Geez. It’s one heck of a lot of character arcs being revealed and worked through. Sedarias especially has a lot to learn and overcome.
Oooh, mama, lololol. That comment of Bellusdeo’s to Sedarias about Kaylin being family! Hee-hee-hee. It’s a pip, and a truism.
Emmerian relates a bit of the past in discussing his friend who lost his hoard and what it meant to him.
I do like Mandoran. He doesn’t allow “accepted” prejudices to determine who he’s friends with. Poor Annarion has so much to catch up with, and he’s still so angry with Nightshade. As for Terrano. Oh man, his character arc is quite interesting as he pingpongs between wanting to escape the cohort and yet missing them so much.
Trapped in Ravellon for all those centuries, Bakkon has got to have some answers in the next installment!
Sagara does tend to focus too much on Kaylin’s whinging, and it’s hard to follow her thought processes as she struggles to solve problems.
That comment about “new knowledge sheds light on the incomplete knowledge it replaces” makes me consider revisionist history and its evils.
Holy cats! Or maybe I should say “holy familiars”! It’s been a cluster of battles, chases, escapes, arguments . . . oy, the arguments! While it is action packed, it’s primarily driven by its characters and their clash of cultures.
The Story
Candallar has violated the purpose of the fief, allowing a Barrani lord to walk into and out of Ravellon.
With the Academia unveiled, the housemates fear how their group will split, and Candallar begins to look like the answer.
This is the time for Shadow to strike, while alliances are fractured, and a fief is vulnerable.
The Characters
Corporal Kaylin Neya — corporal!!, she got promoted in Cast in Wisdom, 15 — is a mortal who has been Chosen. She’s allergic to external magic, is a Lord of the Barrani Court, and an officer of the Hawks. Hope is Kaylin’s familiar, a tiny dragon who can morph into a MUCH larger one, protects her, and helps her to see magic (Cast in Peril, 8). She lives in Helen, a sentient house which also includes Bellusdeo, the cohort, and Teela.
Bellusdeo is Kaylin’s Dragon roommate and the only female Dragon. Maggaron is Bellusdeo’s eight-foot-tall Ascendant, read bodyguard. The Norranir are his people who arrived in Cast in Chaos, 6, and whom Lord Tiamaris accepted into his fief. Spike, an historian and a being from Shadow in Ravellon, was carried out by a Barrani lord (Cast in Deception, 13).
The Barrani cohort are Kaylin’s other housemates and include Serralyn (Carmanne is her family?) and Valliant; Sedarias An’Mellarionne is their leader and the new head of her family; Annarion (Nightshade’s angry brother), Eddorian (Gennave is his family), Karian (the direct bloodline heir to Illmarin; Reymar is part of his family too), and Allaron (wants his family line) are acting as Sedarias’ personal guards; Terrano of Allasarre; Fallessian; Torrisant; and, Lord Mandoran of Casarre, who has been hanging out with Kaylin too much.
The Empire includes . . .
. . . the hoard of Dariandaros, the Eternal Emperor, a Dragon, and includes the city of Elantra. Lord Sanabalis is the new Arkon. Lord Emmerian is the youngest Dragon. Lord Diarmat is the highly traditional Dragon stuck with teaching Kaylin court etiquette, so the Emperor doesn’t have to eat her.
The Halls of Law are . . .
. . . three separate policing organizations of Elantra who work for the Emperor: the Hawks, the Swords, and the Wolves. Lord Grammayre, an Aerian, is in charge of the Hawks, who walk a beat and investigate crimes. Sergeant Marcus “Ironjaw” Kassan, a Leontine, is Kaylin’s direct superior. Corporals Teela, a.k.a. Lord An’Teela of the Barrani Court, and Tain are friends of Kaylin’s. Teela, a former Arcanist, had once been part of the cohort; she wields Kariannos, one of the Three.
Corporal Severn Handred, a former Wolf, has been partnered with Kaylin with the Hawks for some time. Elani Street is part of Kaylin’s usual beat and full of charlatans, including Margot.
The High Halls are . . .
. . . home base for the Barrani, another immortal race who are mortal enemies with the Dragons. The Tower of Test is the heart of the High Halls. Lord Evarrim is an Arcanist and Teela’s despised cousin. Kaylin holds Lord Ynpharion‘s True Name, and he hates it. He’s also proof that being of a superior race doesn’t make you superior.
The Hallione are sentient buildings that act as inns for the Barrani. Hallionne Alsanis is in the West March and had housed the cohort for centuries.
The Fiefs
There are seven fiefs, lawless neighborhoods that surround Ravellon and are responsible for guarding against its evil.
Tiamaris is . . .
. . . both Dragon and Lord of a fief and still a member of the Dragon Court. Tara is the Tower’s (and fief’s) avatar. I think she had been Maria originally.
Candallar is/was . . .
. . . Karriamis (a Dragon and scholar) before Candallar took over as captain (Cast in Wisdom, 15).
Nightshade is . . .
. . . the fief where Kaylin and Severn grew up. Lord Nightshade, a.k.a. Calarnenne, is its ruler and is an Outcaste Barrani. Its tower was built around one of the Barrani Ancestors, Durandel, distant kin to Androsse. Durandel’s brothers sleep in Nightshade’s basement and had attempted to destroy the Barrani High Halls.
Liatt had been . . .
. . . Aggarok, an aggressively responsible ancestor of Starrante’s. It’s captain/fieflord is Liatt. Liannor is her daughter. Riaknon and his brother, Zabarrok, both Wevarans, are kin to the tower.
Durant has . . .
. . . been captained by Durant, the fieflord, for the past 80 years. Marshalle is one of his people. Endoralle, a Barrani, had been the original.
Farlonne’s Tower is . . .
. . .captained by Farlonne who takes her responsibilities seriously. Beyanne, a Morphosys, was the original.
Ravellon is . . .
. . . the heart of Shadow and had been home to Starrante’s whole race. Bakkon is a Wevaran and a librarian who has been hoping for so very long.
The Academia, a . . .
. . . great school millennia ago with the library as its heart, has been rediscovered (Cast in Wisdom, 15). The highly respected Lannagaros, the former Arkon, has found his true hoard — the chancellorship. Starrante, a Wevaren; Kavallac had been a Dragon; and, Androsse had been a Barranni Ancestor. All three became librarians and arbiters. Killianas, a.k.a. Killian, is the sentient being that kept the Academia running. Larrantin is/was a Barrani legend who had been offered one of the Three. Garravus is new. Robin is one of the five students who remained.
Ferals are Shadow wolves, sort of. Barrani who gave up their names. Aerians are people with wings. Leontines are lion-like beings. The Ancients created all the races, think of them as gods.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a range of grays and reds. Two-thirds of the upper cover are a roiling gray sky above a pit filled with fire. Teela stands at the edge with her back to us, her black hair floating in the breeze, and wearing a red cloak, carrying a sword. At the top in a pale orange is a testimonial. Below that is an info blurb in white. Below that and above Teela’s head is the author’s name in white. Starting at Teela’s elbow is the title, also in white. The series info is at the bottom in the pale orange.
The title is less about Cast in Conflict, as about the Towers coming together to erase the conflict.
