Book Review: Aiduel’s Sin (The Illborn Saga, #2) by Daniel T. Jackson
ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Aiduel’s Sin by Daniel T. Jackson
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Illborn Saga (Book #2 of 4)
Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy
Pages: 650 pages (Paperback Edition)
Published: 28th January 2023 by Troubador Publishing (Indie)
Aiduel’s Sin is filled with compelling narrative, debatable actions, violent battle scenes, and revelations that left me excited for the rest of the series.
It has been one year and six months ago since I read Illborn by Daniel T. Jackson. Some of you might know already that Illborn provided me a riveting reading experience, and it is not far-fetched to say it is one of my favorite fantasy debuts. This is to say, Aiduel’s Sin has tall expectations to live up to, and fortunately, it did. We are halfway through the series now, and I can confirm that this second book in The Illborn Saga is another thrilling novel that rarely lets up its momentum. If you’re a fan of the first book, it is almost guaranteed you will love reading this one, too.
The story in Aiduel’s Sin begins three months from where Illborn ended. As the nations of Angall move closer to a Holy War, the four Illborn face momentous challenges while seeking answers about who they are and what their growing powers mean. I will not touch too much on the detail of the story in my review here. This is the second book of a series, and I prefer readers reading this book encounter the twists and turns of Aiduel’s Sin on their own. But if you have read the first book, you will know The Illborn Saga is a series about destiny, love, survival, responsibilities, leadership, and faith. This notion hasn’t changed here. And once again, as exhibited in the storytelling, Jackson knows how to craft a narration that is hard to put down. The way he ended each character’s POV chapter with a cliffhanger while making sure the beginning and the meat of every chapter were interesting is incredible. I am a fan of character-driven fantasy stories, and as the four main character’s storyline starts to converge more in Aiduel’s Sin, the overall scope and stakes feel heightened.
Considering the character-driven nature of the series and how I wrote my review of Illborn based on my thoughts and feelings on each POV character, I will repeat that style again in this review. And I will start with Alanna. Since the first book, Alanna has always been a character that will test the reader’s patience in Illborn. Here’s the thing, I do believe she is intentionally written to be a hateable character. And in Aiduel’s Sin, she’s straying further into the darkness, especially with the new display of her power. I never liked Alanna, not since the first book, and definitely not here. I despise her even more now. Alanna is extremely selfish, never wanting to admit she is at fault, constantly causing damage to everyone, and will do any reprehensible actions for survival. But the way I see it is this. She was always established and written to be a villain. We’re meant to hate her and her actions, and for that, I believe Jackson nailed his mission in writing her character. And more importantly, it cannot be denied her awful actions help make the other character’s story more intriguing.
Leanna, on the other hand, is the complete opposite of Alanna. If Alanna is on deeper descent into darkness, Leanna is on the path of light and kindness. Out of all the POV characters in Illborn, Leanna is the one that I felt I grew to like the most when they are compared to the first book. We have seen her capabilities with her power in Illborn, and in Aiduel’s Sin, similar to Alanna, we get to witness the next level of her power, and it was badass. But her power alone is not the sole element that turns Leanna into a more likable character. But the characterizations and her firm decisions regarding how to use her gifted power were the things that made it easy for me to like her character. It was so enjoyable to read her chapters, and as she and the other main POV character’s story converges deeper in Aiduel’s Sin, the character’s dynamic and interactions felt even more engaging.
I have mentioned in my review of Illborn that out of the four POV characters, Arion was the POV character I liked the most. The coming-of-age and battle school trope in his story felt familiar and immersive to me. It was also great and satisfying to witness how great he is at his battle skills now. And although, in my opinion, there is no weak POV character in Aiduel’s Sin, I cannot choose Arion as my favorite POV character to read here. This, again, is not because the quality of Arion’s chapters felt weaker. However, due to the toxic infatuation he has with one of the Illborn, it felt a bit repetitive to see him constantly making the wrong decisions. This isn’t a fault per se, the reason behind this repetition never felt off, and it was definitely in line with the narrative and character development. But on the downside, it did result in the way his storyline developed being the most predictable. Fortunately, this did not persist throughout the whole novel. By the end of Aiduel’s Sin, especially after all the battles, and the life-changing revelations and prophecies, I am incredibly intrigued to read the next phase of his story.
And all of this led me to the last character to discuss, Corin. At the moment, Corin and Leanna are my favorite POV characters to read in Illborn. I am genuinely terrified and invested in their fates. Although Corin did not make as many appearances in Aiduel’s Sin compared to the other three converging POV characters, Corin’s storyline provided the needed answers and hints regarding the history and the world of Illborn. Indeed, Corin’s story did not cross the path of the other three POV characters in this book, but his storyline never felt disjointed from them. The secrets uncovered in his chapters are undoubtedly still related to Alanna, Leanna, and Arion.
One more thing, I have been talking about the same four characters from Illborn in my review here, but in Aiduel’s Sin, Jackson put more spotlight on the characters in the prologue of Illborn. And I am impressed. I did not expect the development of this character at all, and it was all for the better. Unfortunately, discussing this is heavy spoiler territory, and I will leave it to you to find out for yourself.
With all that said, after everything I read in Illborn and Aiduel’s Sin, I am confident in marking The Illborn Saga as one of my favorite ongoing series right now. We are still two books away from the completion of the series. And as a sequel, Aiduel’s Sin is a high-energy action-packed sequel brimming with surprising revelations and prophecies that will keep readers guessing what events will unfold next in the penultimate volume of the series. I am in the middle of waiting for my copy of The Broken Binding Press edition of Illborn to arrive, and I hope The Broken Binding will release a stunning edition of Aiduel’s Sin, too, in the future. I guess that means I will be waiting for two books by Jackson next, The Broken Binding Press edition of Aiduel’s Sin, and of course, the next installment of The Illborn Saga. Until then, if you love reading a gripping character-driven fantasy series with characters that makes questionable decisions, pick up this series.
You can order this book from: Blackwells (Free International shipping)
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