Book Review for The Light of Mezzara

The Light of Mezzara by T.J.McKay

"Dream at thy peril, for nightmares lie on the edge of hope."

Selvandrea, the city of light, has fallen. Its lord, shamed and exiled. Its heroes, scattered.

From the city’s ashes, an evil god is waking. A god who craves chaos, and feeds on despair. The god of dragons, whose dark messiah even now paves the way for his return.

Valdaris, the Cereman warrior of the pit, may be the only one who can stop him, but his allies are lost. Snatched by monsters, buried in unholy ruins, or stranded on the brink of madness. Should he fail to unite them, or give in to the shadow himself, their world will fall, and a soul far darker will take his place.

Full of beasts and battles, magic and monsters, twisted prophecy and foul ambitions, The Light of Mezzara follows broken souls in the aftermath of calamity, where amidst the chaos there is hope and terror in equal measure, and no one is safe.

Save for those with the luck of a fallen god.

Or those rare few with courage enough to start anew, and carve their own path through the mire.

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I recently had the privilege of ARC reading The Light of Mezzara by T.J. McKay. If you’re unfamiliar with Tim’s work, he writes dark tales with a plethora or beasts and monsters, phoenix, sirens, wyverns, and… dragons. We all love a good dragon story. In The Draemeir Chronicles, these dragons are not the easy-going “let’s ride a dragon” kind of beasts. Every creature that you encounter is likely hunting, and out for a kill.

"But I direct my hatred toward evil, not the fools who fall for its schemes."

This is one of those stories that I feel like words won't do it justice, and you should just go and read it, and experience it and all its epic-ness for yourselves. I could go on and on about how much I loved this book!
 
The Light of Mezzara comes after The Fall of Sevlandrea, and is the second book in The Draemeir Chronicles. The Light of Mezzara starts up right where The Fall of Selvandrea left off, and reintroduces you to all the characters from book 1, plus with a few new characters are introduced. Selvandrea has fallen (hence the name), and our heroes are no match for the evil at work, aiming to take control over the world. Everyone’s will is up for grabs, even those with the gilden strain of Valdaris. No one is exempt from hearing the whispers, feeding on doubt and discord.

Forces so grand and overwhelming are growing. Allies turn to enemies. Enemies become allies, but trust is in short supply. Betrayals hit hard, and the fate of the world is left to the few with the strength to endure, and the will to fight.

“And if there was one charge to which Einath would hold, one vestige of his former life he refused to relinquish, it was the calling to protect that which malice held in contempt.”

The worldbuilding is immense, and has so much depth in it that often it can feel overwhelming (in a good way). I got the impression that it's meant to feel that way so that the grandness of the plot, and the task these characters have before them feels impossible. But even though the characters recognize how impossible their goals seem, they're going to press on anyway.

Each character has real relatable flaws, and seeing their struggle not only against external forces, but made worse by their own doubts and inabilities just made me want to see them succeed all the more.

​By the end, I was starting to get a bit of a Return of the King vibe with what's to come, and I’m eager to see how things will continue to build from here in volume 3.

"Fast walkers are the worst sort of busy."
​(I love Rhyn).

If you love grand-scale stories with complex, in-depth characters and a winding, engaging plot that is unpredictable and exciting, then definitely go and read this series (see link below).

T.J.McKay's profile

On another note: Look at those covers! Artist Joe Requeza contributed his talents to these covers, as well as to some interior work in both books, and they're absolutely amazing! If you want to see more of his work, click his name to check out his Instagram profile and give him a follow.