ILLBORN

If you've not read this book yet, what are you even doing? You need to drop everything and read this. Now. Or as soon as you can. Because as soon as you read the prologue, you'll be as hooked as I was. Illborn is a debut novel, but it very much reads like something written by someone more seasoned. Had I read this without this knowledge, I'd be tracking down the author's backlog to read before the sequel comes out in November. It's been a very long time since a debut has overtaken my life as obsessively as Illborn has. I'll be talking and thinking about this book for a long time yet, and I'm already convinced the series will end up amongst my favourites - if each book manages to keep getting better. Throughout my reading journey, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was a child. Ignorant. Oblivious. Barely touching the edge of what the author was capable of. In both the sense of me trying to guess what was going to happen, but also when it came to the depth of the world Jackson had spun and woven. Reading this feels like a beginning to something wonderful. And also an emerging of an amazing new voice within the fantasy community. It feels like there's still so much to tell, so much more to discover. Personally, I'd recommend going into this book with little knowledge of what it's about. The blurb is actually vague enough to allow room for this, so I'll not attempt to reword it for. But I will say; if you like epic fantasy, you'll probably like this a lot. It has a bit of everything in it, plenty of different things so everyone can find something to like. From religion, war, politics to love, friendship and family. Each POV is distinctively different from the other, and very well crafted too. They all felt equally real and fleshed-out to me. At the end of the day I ended up liking Corin the most, but just about. They all deal with different aspects of the plot, and bring in angles, knowledge and motivation that you won't find in the other POVs. I'm also very interested to see how they all end up interviewing further, in the coming sequel. All in all, I can't recommend Illborn enough! If I had to choose something that I either didn't like or didn't enjoy, it'd have to be some use of language. I'm being really specific and picky here for the sake of showing that I can still look at the contents of the book critically. For example, the use of 'Mum' within the fantasy medieval context (as opposed to 'ma' or 'mother' etc.) felt too modern, and quite British. This initially bothered me a bit at the beginning, but I wasn't noticing it by the end. I can't bring myself to find fault in the characters, world, or plot otherwise! Truly an extremely strong novel that deserves all the positive reviews it's been getting! And more!

Illborn is a one of a kind fantasy debut from Daniel T. Jackson, that instantly captured me (yes I'm looking at that prologue) and had me addictively reading it anytime I could. I can't fully describe my feelings after finishing it, so instead I'll try to convince each and every one of you to read it. Rarely has a book captured my attention so quickly and to this level. In fact I can probably count the authors who have achieved that on one hand. I started seeing more and more of this book appear online and after a few recommendations from friends decided to pick it up. I'm so glad that I did because this book blew my mind. The setting of Illborn had me completely engrossed. There were a lot of similarities drawn from medieval Europe, which yes is prevalent in a lot of fantasy, but in this case felt so fresh and different that it did not matter. Since history is another passion of mine I enjoyed seeing similarities to The Inquisition and The Crusades. There is a European-esque continent constantly squabbling over meaningless power struggles and on the verge of war, there are parts of a fanatical church vowing to increase their domination over it's people and there is of course the promised holy land that is so sought after. Jackson did a fantastic job of highlighting the issue with people rather than their religion. Normally fantasy with heavy elements of religion fall short of this, but I think Jackson handled this perfectly. What really stood out for me is how Jackson made his world feel alive and teaming with a unique characters and secrets to be found. I really felt like I was being introduced to a huge new world, that I wanted to discover more of. The characters in Illborn are what really stood out for me and you'll quickly realise why this book is so aptly named Illborn. Despite the overarching theme of the story, each character also had their own conflicts to deal with. The story follows four main characters, each possessing some kind of innate magical ability that coincides with their character also linking them to each other. Following their development while they each discovered this ability one by one, felt quite entrancing. Firstly there was Arion, son of a duke and wanting to make his mark on the world, Allana, who finds herself struggling to survive on her own, Leanna who is set to decide her future between two huge choices and lastly Corin who finds himself an outcast from his clan. What made these characters feel special is that each was so different to the other and came from such different backgrounds, while possessing different yet even complimentary abilities. The issues each character had to deal with felt real and aided in their character development. Now, I usually find I have a clear favourite character, but in this case all four were extremely likeable and relatable, so that I found self engrossed in every single one of their chapters. I will say Allana and Arion stood out for me just a tad bit more. Allana's struggle and drive to survive was an extremely addicting read and I found myself rooting for her survival. Arion on the other hand had a much more privileged upbringing, but was no less interesting due to his drive to become a leader among his people and prove to his family he was a capable of this. I will say, if you read fantasy for it's characters, then this is a must for you. The writing in Illborn was absolutely excellent and it surprises me just how good it is for a debut novel. It's clear that Jackson has a huge amount of experience writing and has decided it was finally time to make use of his skill by writing fantasy. Never was there a slow moment, so that I took in every sentence like the sweet taste of wine. I can at times be a serial skipper if a book doesn't engross me, but in this case I can safely say I savoured every-single-word. I cant express enough how much I can recommend this absolutely phenomenal book. This really is for anyone looking for a fresh character driven fantasy from an indie author, who I firmly believe everyone needs to know about. Really, just go read it! Oh, but be ready for that ending…phewwwww!

What a wonderous story Daniel T. Jackson has told in the first book of The Illborn Saga. I was gripped from the very first page to the very last in this terrific self-published page turner. Everything is there in this gripping epic fantasy novel, an action packed storyline, brilliantly developed characters, plenty of twists and turn and those cliffhangers! If you are a fan of high fantasy then you must buy this book! Congratulations Daniel with "Illborn", I'm already eagerly awaiting the next instalment.

STRENGTH. VICTORY. GLORY. Daniel T. Jackson's Illborn is just fantastic and one of the best books I've read this year. Set in a medieval world across multiple lands and kingdoms, it follows four young men and women as they start getting visions and supernatural powers. They attempt to navigate a tense political and religious landscape where discovery can lead to persecution and accusations of heresy by the powerful and fanatical church. LUST. POWER. DOMINATION. Told in alternating perspectives, we get to know each one of these four vastly different young people. In Allana, we find a desperate woman who is willing to do what it takes to survive. In Corin, a weak boy from a clan of warriors trying to prove his worth. In Leanna, a devout young woman who believes she has been blessed by the Lord. And in Arrion, a third son wanting to do his duty to his family. Despite their different backgrounds, we grow to like and understand each of them. DEVOTION. SACRIFICE. SALVATION. Despite the constant shifting of narratives per chapter, the storytelling and pacing remains sharp. Normally, I would find the constant breaks ruin the tension, but because we grow to love each of the characters, the interest is sustained throughout. Although not all plotlines intersect just yet, we get the sense of the scale the author has planned for the Illborn Saga and we are only just seeing the beginnings of something epic. FEAR. CONTROL. ORDER. Illborn is a truly spectacular debut novel and an awesome start to a new epic fantasy series. I already cannot wait for a sequel.

An absolutely brilliant book! I wish I could give even more stars. It simply blew me away!! After seeing ILLBORN around a few times and hearing nothing but amazing things, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it and get started. Because of that, my expectations were set pretty high … and wow, did ILLBORN deliver. It still astounds me that this is a debut, because it definitely didn't read like one! The writing was smart, the characters so well fleshed out, the story intriguing from the get-go (that prologue!!), and the world-building incredible … I was sucked in from the beginning. We follow 4 characters, and usually I prefer one POV over the other, but here I felt invested in all of them. I loved following their different storylines. They all had a very distinct voice and just felt so real which made it very easy to tell them and their chapters apart. The character work here is really top-notch! Seeing how and where they all started, and where they end up being by the end of this book is incredible (and this is only the beginning of what I'm sure is going to be an epic fantasy saga). It's amazing how much character development Daniel T. Jackson was able to fit into these pages with so many main protagonists to focus on. Also … boy, does he know how to end a chapter! One character's chapter would end and I would actually think about skipping ahead to see what was coming next. But somehow I did manage to stick to the intended reading order (I may have risked a glance once or twice, though ^^) and as soon as I started the actual next chapter, the next POV, I was invested in that particular character again. The anticipation of them finally meeting was killing me … I just couldn't wait for their paths to cross, and to find out how their storylines intertwine. We do get some of that in ILLBORN, but since this is "only” the beginning of the story, there's still a lot of crossing & intertwining to be done in future books! I cannot wait!! The world-building feels big and imaginative, without being too overwhelming. The author manages to establish a world that can stand on its own and could easily exist somewhere out there. The story in book 1 focuses on a few specific locations, of course, but you can feel that there's a lot more out there, and I'm sure we will explore more corners of this world in books 2 through 4. Also, it was interesting so see religion being a focal point in this story, and I am very intrigued by the various angles that are being explored here. Like many things, faith can act as a unifying force for good and provide peace & strength, or it can be used as a tool to further agendas and oppress opposing views, causing a lot of pain & hurt along the way. Daniel T. Jackson does a fantastic job of portraying the manifold facets as well as the impact and ramifications of such a powerful means, without blaming religion itself. People are responsible for their own actions. Yes, with more than 700 pages ILLBORN is quite chunky, but don't let that deter you. I literally flew through the chapters, because I just needed to know what was going to happen next. I started Friday night and was done by Sunday - even though there were things I was supposed to do, haha, but I simply couldn't put this book down. And once I was done, I just wanted more … more pages, more chapters, but I guess that will have to wait until the sequel ^^ All I can say is: READ THIS BOOK!! ILLBORN is easily one of the best beginnings to a fantasy series I have ever read, and has firmly secured its spot as one of my favorite reads of this year … maybe ever. I still keep thinking about the characters and wondering what all this is building up to. The sequel is by far one of my most anticipated releases next year. 2022 can't come soon enough … I just need the next book!!