While fundamentally a character-driven fantasy, A Touch of Light also shines in its ambitious and detailed worldbuilding.

However, Sentinels risk losing their minds if their powers are overused. By combining her anger with Vedyr’s power, Lynn can gain superhuman strength and swiftness. Lynn’s bond with her griffin, Vedyr, is created through their shared anger. The Sentinels enhance their physical powers by forming emotion-based bonds with griffins. Those afflicted with the Madness become uncontrollably violent, even wearing the peeled-off skin of the dead as a type of necrotic mask. For the death-fearing people of the Domain, the return of the Madness is an unspeakable horror. My favorite character is Lynn, a Sentinel warrior from the Domain who is fighting against the resurgence of a plague known as the Madness. Nasha is a hunter from the clan lands who is beleaguered by a mysterious curse and is struggling to find her place in a hierarchical society. Adrian is a prince from the Domain, whose beloved brother Jovu has recently died under unknown circumstances in the clan lands. However, the inhabitants of the clan lands are almost too eager to sacrifice people who show any sign of weakness.Ī Touch of Light is told as an interwoven tale from three point-of-view characters. To prevent Zala’s return, they embrace death as necessary for keeping the earth alive and maintaining a healthy circle of life.

While the Seraph is a goddess of life, in the south the people of the clan lands live in fear of Zala, the goddess of death. The others are burned and forgotten, never to be spoken of again.

The bodies of the pure can be preserved, with the understanding that the Seraph can bring them back to life upon her return to Avarin. To the inhabitants of the Domain, death is the ultimate sin against the Seraph herself, bringing shame to one's family. In the north, the Seraph blesses the people of the Domain with unnaturally long lives. The world of Avarin is divided into two clashing civilizations with diametrically opposed views on death. My complete review is available at Grimdark Magazine.ĭeath is an unhealthy obsession in A Touch of Light, the debut high fantasy novel from Thiago Abdalla and the first entry in his new series, The Ashes of Avarin. Congratulations to Thiago Abdalla on becoming an SPFBO8 finalist!

A Touch of Light by Thiago Abdalla