Born of Defiance by Sherrilyn Kenyon – a Review

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Description:
Born an Outcast, Talyn Batur has spent the whole of his life fighting against the prejudice of his people. An Andarion without a father is not something anyone wants to be. But when his companion’s brother draws him into a plot against the Andarion crown, he finds himself torn between the loyalty to their planetary government that his mother has beaten into him and his own beliefs of justice and right. Now, he must decide for himself to remain a pawn of their government or to defy everything and everyone he’s ever known to stand up to tyranny. It’s a gamble that will either save his life or end it. And when old enemies align with new ones, it’s more than just his own life at risk. And more than just his homeworld that will end should he fail.

Story behind the story;
THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY

For those who are wondering about the order reversal of Born of Betrayal (Fain) versus Born of Defiance (Talyn), I originally intended to write Fain’s book first and then go back in time to do Talyn’s. But as I was writing Fain’s book, I realized that because Talyn’s book takes place first there were too many spoilers in Fain’s book for Talyn. Too many things that needed to be revealed in Talyn’s story before we had Fain’s. Not to mention the Andarion political unrest and how Cairistiona regained her freedom and overthrew her mother, which is the plot for Born of Defiance (Talyn), plays directly into the plot of Born of Betrayal (Fain). So, it was only natural that they come out back-to-back in chronological order. I know it sounds a bit confusing when I try to explain it in vague terms to avoid spoilers, but it isn’t confusing in the books themselves. Just as in movies and TV shows, sometimes you have to go back in time to show how certain things develop and how some relationships are formed to give the audience a full understanding of the world where everything takes place.

As to why Talyn is considered a Gen 1 book and not Gen 2 (aside from the fact that it takes place a little before Born of Night) there’s only sixteen years between Fain and Talyn, and Andarions age slower than humans do. To put their ages in perspective, Fain is only a couple of years older than Dancer and Talyn is only a few months younger than Darling and Maris, i.e. Darling would have only been one grade ahead of him in school, and Talyn is a lot older than Adron, Jayce and the rest of the Gen 2 characters.

When it comes to the Gen 1 and Gen 2 designations, age has nothing to do with the separation. What makes a book or character Gen 1 or Gen 2 is where we are with The League at the time they are taking place. Gen 1 is under the old League rule and Gen 2 is under new League rule after the war between The League and The Sentella. I won’t tell you how that war ends as we’re in the middle of fighting it. But eventually, the war will end and Gen 2 begins when it does. There will be many surprises about the war and both factions in upcoming books, so please stay tuned.

Review;

Okay, after all that info, Sherrilyn Kenyon rocks!!! I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy, as I bow down before her. In all the years I’ve been reading Ms. Kenyon’s works, she never ceases to amaze and blow me away with her imagination, creativity and ability to create worlds and characters you swear could be real. She is just that good at her craft in my honest opinion and Born of Defiance is an excellent example. Once again she pulls us into her League series that’s filled with many creatures/species all vying for supremacy by being deceitful, sneaky, underhanded and unfair to anyone who stands in their way. There are no means that some of these characters won’t go to in order to gain what they want. We get an in depth look into Andarian culture in Born of Defiance and I have to say that Ms. Kenyon appropriately named this book because Talyn definitely defies all the odds and everything thrown his way. No matter what happens to him in this book, one thing very clear is that he has a will of iron and will always stand strong no matter what. He didn’t get the Ring name Iron Hammer for nothing baby!!

As Sherrilyn Kenyon explains a bit in her ‘story behind the story’ the events in this book take place before and during Nykyrian’s book(Born of Night-book 1). I will admit there was some confusion on my part due to certain events that take place, but it didn’t derail my ability to love this book. I absolutely loved Talyn’s character. I have no idea how Kenyon can write compelling character after character but she does. Just when I think another one of her characters can’t worm their way into my heart they do. There isn’t a single thing about Talyn you won’t love. Aside from being drop dead gorgeous according to his female Felicia, he’s also strong, brave, trustworthy, honourable, loyal, intelligent, and one Andarion you’ll always want on your side. Even though he’s born an outcast thanks to actions on his father’s(Fain Hauk) side, he doesn’t let it stand in his way no matter what. Sure nothing comes easy for him, but he eventually winds up earning everyone’s respect, even those who always looked down on him due to his caste. What’s a caste you ask, well according to Andarion culture, how you are born determines your worth in society you pretty much can say. So since Talyn was born without a father and family name to claim, he’s seen as an outcast in society and not worth anything. Anything Talyn has ever achieved he’s had to earn through blood, sweat and tears. Hence his Ring fighting career, which you could say is equivalent to our UFC fighting. Only on Andaria you fight to the death in most matches. Thanks to Talyn’s caste he can’t even marry and have a family of his own, so he turns to a companion service(kinda like an escort service only a bit higher up) and meets his female Felicia, who you will love as much as you love Talyn. These two really are sweet and just perfect for one another. Many times my heart was breaking for these two as we see all the garbage they have to deal with daily.

Along with learning about Andarion culture and events that lead up to present day in this series, once again Sherrilyn has some very interesting and surprising reveals we don’t see coming as usual. We have reveals about Talyn himself and Jayne, which we will see relates to Talyn, Jayne’s husband Hadarian, and Nero who’ve meet in previous books. We also learn why Fain did what he did and that it wasn’t all his fault. Thanks to Nykyrian’s fraternal twin Jullian, his grandmother, and relatives, poor Talyn was dealt the life he’s had to deal with. There were so many times I was disgusted by their behaviour towards Talyn and his mother I wanted to step into the Splatterdome and tear into them like the Iron Hammer could do. They’re an awful group of Andarians, and like I said, there are creatures/species who will stop at nothing to get what they want and this is exactly how Jullian, his grandmother and relatives act towards anyone they see as a threat to themselves, including their own blook, Nykyrian. We’re also given more information regarding Nykyrian’s treatment from his family. All these reveals just blew me away. Tack on the Iron Hammer’s Ring matches, the fights between the Tavali and Andarions, battles between Tayln, his mom and Jullian and company it makes for a very action packed story.

Born of Defiance is another great installment to Kenyon’s The League Series. There was never a dull moment in this book. It has everything any Kenyon fan has come to be familiar with when reading one of her stories. There’s action, adventure, tons of emotion rolling off the pages, well developed plot lines and characters, fun and and imaginative worlds and stories within stories that keep us occupied from beginning to end. To my fellow Kenyon Menyon I promise Born of Defiance does not disappoint, and for those who aren’t a fan yet, I promise you will be after your read this one. However, I do suggest going back to the beginning of the series first.

Until next time, happy reading!!

Reviewed by Marcie