These Hallowed Binds
These Hallowed Binds (The Empyreal Guardian Saga #1)
By: A.M. Daylin
[Fulfills one of the two for prompt: ‘Two books by the same author’ for the Shelf Reflection 2026 Reading Challenge]
“‘Please don’t let a lie steal your destiny. El-Alam summoned you knowing every action you’d ever take or fail to. And I need not remind you, He’s not one to make mistakes.’”
This is a new-to-me author and I am loving this series! (I already started the second book before I started writing this review so hopefully I can keep my thoughts here to this book specifically.)
The first line of the book says, ‘Children are swimming in the lake that murdered my father, but no one else seems to care.’ And I was immediately invested in this story!
In short, this is the story of a girl, rescued from the same fate as her father and called on a quest to save her world from a curse that threatens to destroy it.
Daylin has created a really interesting world with unique characters. It explores themes like found family, identity, hope, bravery, and belonging.
This book falls into the YA Christian fantasy genre but even if you are not a Christian, I think you can really get into this story. Everyone enjoys a good good vs evil story, an adventurous quest to fulfill a destiny, and magical powers! With the added romantic interest, there is something for all kinds of preferences.
Further down I’ve shared images from the back of the book that show the four main characters’ bios. I really liked that Daylin included that. It will help us follow along on each character arc as they encounter conflicts that tap into their biggest fears and desires or play to their strengths.
I’ll give some background and plot points (future reference for myself in keeping all the fantasy series I read straight) and then share some comments about the allegory in the story, the love triangle, the magic system, and what I expect to come in the next book.
Summary/ Plot Points
The world of Silvirdia, created by El-Alam, is watched over by their Empyreal Guardian— Toaph Elbara. Until Toaph is slain by the corrupt and immortal Ta’Nathel. Ta’Nathel unleashes a curse over the entire world, trying to destroy it so that he can be released to go elsewhere.
The Sentries (wolf-like characters) went from being protectors to hunters. The Wardens, endowed with power from El-Alam himself, are the only protectors left. But King Arlo and many of his people (wrongly) believe them to be working with Ta-Nathel and has sent out Hunters to kill any Warden they find. The Wardens must now work secretly.
Meanwhile, in the kingdom of Alémore, and the city of Behria, 18-year old Norielle has found herself an outcast. A year ago her father was killed in Lake Daelia when the lake suddenly became sentient and pulled him down to the bottom, wrapping his legs in seaweed and holding him down until he drowned. Nori managed to escape, but no one believes her when she tells them what really happened.
They believe their city has been favored and protected by El-Alam from Ta’Nathel’s world-wide curse. She is given an ultimatum— stop telling people the lake can come alive and murder people or leave town; if you stay and keep bringing it up, we’ll take away the allowance your widowed mother needs to help feed your brother and sister.
She decides to face her fear and go back in the lake and see if she was right. Again, the lake tries to pull her down and drown her. But this time, she is rescued by a young man. Turns out he had been given a vision and had run for days to get there in time to save her. He tells her that she has been called by El-Alam to join him in his group (his Bind) on a mission not yet explained.
When she goes home and tells her mom about the lake and her mom still doesn’t believe her (even though her sister witnessed it too) she realizes the only decision to be made: she must leave.
But she can’t tell her mom the truth about where she is going. The man who rescued her— Calden— is a Warden… and the Warden Prince.
So the rest of the book is about her journey with Calden away from home to the hidden Citadel where she will be inducted into the Ward and begin her quest for El-Alam. Of course, the journey back is not easy and they must face Hunters, cursed beasts, and Blood Wardens (those who defected from the Ward to use corrupted power instead).
She ends up meeting Elias, a scout and friend to Calden, who accompanies them back, and Alani, another member of their Bind who comes from a naval family of wardens.
Still dealing with the guilt of ‘abandoning’ her father at his death, Nori is both anxious and determined as she explores what her new role and life will look like. Her faith and resolve will be tested.
“‘It is better for the whole world to perish while upholding its faith in El-Alam than to turn against our Creator in worship of Ta’Nathel. For one death is temporary, and the other, everlasting.’”
I’m going to add here that I loved the character of Ila. My closest late great-aunt was named Ila and had a big impact on my life, including my love of books and puzzles. Characteristically, I’m not sure how similar my Ila is to the book-Ila, but just reading her name made me smile.
Biblical Allegory?
Of course no allegory is perfect, but I really loved the way Daylin weaved into this story the gospel message. (It’s possible that was not her intent, but I couldn’t not see it) A Creator (El-Alam) who desires to rescue us from the curse (of sin) and give us the power to resist evil. He calls us to something greater and wants to work through us to draw more people into his kingdom (the Ward).
We like to see ourselves as the hero when we read stories like this, and that’s all well and good, but what I think is going to make this series special (if I’m correct) is that Daylin is not necessarily setting up the four main characters as the true heroes but just preparing the way for Toaph Elbara— what I wonder is the Jesus figure— to be the hero and to come back and break the curse, restoring the world.
“‘El-Alam is never late… the next Guardian will be presented in just the right time to save this world before it’s lost.’”
Another thing I started to speculate on was the character of Calden. He was found in a basket by the lake and adopted by the Sovereign Mother (think Warden Queen). This made me think of Moses. Calden has an unexplainable curse that manifests somewhat like the avatar state in Avatar: The Last Airbender and Calden had a similar experience to Aang hurting Katara with his power. Calden can’t control this curse and is also worried about hurting others.
We find out more about that in the second book, but when I was reading this first one I wondered if Calden is a Moses-like character who will be tasked with ‘delivering’ the people from Ta’Nathel.
I also wondered if he was Toaph Elbara incarnated as a baby to grow up and be the Jesus-figure, sacrificing himself for his people. I don’t really know what kind of beings the Empyreal Guardians are and if they’re material or spirit. If Toaph could be slain then maybe Toaph was already the Jesus-figure and Calden is his resurrected being that has not revealed his identity yet. But that doesn’t fit as well with Calden’s character since he is unaware of what’s happening to him. It also doesn’t really fit with the love triangle that Daylin has fashioned.
So all of this is speculation; we’ll see where the story takes us.
Love Triangle
There are many opinions about love triangles. They always seem to pop up in YA books. I’m not diametrically opposed to them, but I’m also not obsessed with the idea of them.
Nori has the classic rescue-fantasy-attraction to Calden. But then Elias enters the picture. At first Nori just sees him as smug and annoying. And then she realizes he is Kieran— a childhood friend her father had actually chosen for her to marry eventually. But Kieran’s parents died and he was sent away to live with his grandparents.
After realizing who he really was, their friendship is rekindled and their previous closeness comes back.
Now Nori has attractions to both of them.
I honestly like both of them and could see both paths being good, but if I HAD to pick a team, per expectations, I would choose Elias. I’m a fan of longtime friendships turning into romance. Plus her dad taught Elias how to play the lyre and Elias was playing her father’s music so it’s a connection to him that is really sweet. We aren’t given a lot of details on their childhood relationship so perhaps I’m exaggerating a relationship that wasn’t super deep, but nonetheless it seems to me a firmer foundation than the ‘trauma bond’ type of connection it seems like her and Calden started with.
I think Calden is going to have to do something sacrificial later on so I don’t think romance is going to be able to get in the way of his mission. I also think his feelings for Corene are still too fresh for him to move on yet.
While this love triangle has created some tension in Calden and Elias’ friendship, I do like that Daylin seems to be maintaining that relationship. (This might be more prevalent in book two)
The Magic
There are lots of different magic systems throughout the fantasy genre. In this particular series we have magic manifesting through wards which are specific symbols drawn and then activated by the mind. They are drawn with a special pen that is fueled with the tears of El-Alam. I’m not sure how they got his tears or if there is some sort of ‘blessing’ of water that turns it into tears? That wasn’t really explained.
The defectors no longer have the power of El-Alam so they create magic by using the drained blood of the Accursed. Sometimes defectors can be restored and brought back, but every time they use the corrupted magic their corruption becomes more and more permanent in their souls.
One part of the magic in this story that I love the most is the healing ward. Someone can heal another person with this ward, but they must absorb the person’s pain into themself. It’s a sacrificial thing. Which is so biblical. In order for justice and forgiveness to happen, a debt must be paid. Someone absorbs the cost of that. Biblically, it’s God who does this— that was the cross. So this magical healing process is a reflection of that. There is a cost to healing and someone has to absorb it, thus you must love the person you’re healing or you wouldn’t be willing to take on that pain.
We learn more in the second book about this process and exploring why Calden was able to heal Nori but Elias wasn’t.
Daylin added a section in the back for the Wards with pictures of the symbols and descriptions of what they do. I thought that was a helpful guide to have too!
Pronunciation Guide
I’m notorious for mispronouncing things so I had to find out how some of these things were said. She has a video for pronunciation for this book and the next on THIS Instagram post. I’ve put down the relevant ones for this particular book below:
Calden: Cal-den
Elias: ih-lie-us
Norielle: nor-E-elle
Alani: uh-lah-nee
Toaph Elbara: tow-off el-bar-uh
Ta’Nathel: tah-nah-thel
Behria (Nori’s hometown): buh-ree-uh
Lake Daleia: duh-lay-uh
Silvirdia (world): sil-ver-dee-uh
Alémor (kingdom): ah-lay-more
Raevre (enemy kingdom): Rave-ree
Critiques
So do I have any critiques? Not really. I do think there could have been more descriptions to help me picture the world. I’m not sure I can visualize the setting as strongly as I have been in other series.
I also think there could have been more explanation for what the Guardian Empyreals are/do— and are there other worlds and other Guardians? I’m guessing it’s hard to do that in an organic way since there’s not a narrator, and perhaps more will be revealed in future books, I’m just not entirely sure what the possibilities are with that part of the world’s dilemma.
Otherwise, no qualms!
How it Ended
I usually need this section when I’m about to start book two and can’t remember what happened last. If you don’t want the potential spoilers, scroll past!
Okay, so by the end, Calden has saved Nori from a crypt-crawler death but had to kill Corene in the process. They made it back to the Citadel where Nori finally meets Calden’s mother, the current Sovereign, and delivers the good news: while Nori had been captured and questioned by the Blood Wardens they revealed that Toaph Elbara is alive. They are trying to find him to get rid of him, but this knowledge is the hope everyone needs that freedom of the curse is at hand!
We also discover that Toaph may be trying to communicate with Calden and that his curse is not actually a curse but some sort of experience connected to Toaph, wherever he is.
Thus, the speculation is that their mission must be related to finding Toaph Elbara and helping him restore the world.
In the next book we will most likely meet the other Bind members, Nori will start training, she will wrestle more with her conflicting feelings about Calden and Elias, and will get a better idea of what her role will be in the Bind. Perhaps she will be able to pick a Master Talent (I love this concept), but that may be more of a book three thing.
At least I think there will be more than two based on how much of the story I believe is left to tell and what size of book the next one is…
Recommendation
I definitely recommend this book and this series! It’s a meaningful and creative world that champions compassion and sacrifice. The characters are easy to be invested in and the quest and adventure looms large.
It’s a very compelling read and I’m very glad I had the second book on hand to start right after finishing this one.
This book is a great introduction and launching point in the series and I look forward to all that is to come.
It looks like this is marketed to a young adult audience and I affirm that; readers as young as 13 would probably be fine reading this as well. And yet, even as an adult I’m excited about the series!
If you are curious about her other books, A.M. Daylin has a new stand-alone romantasy book that is releasing this fall called Eventide that I am interested in. She has a (more than funded) Kickstarter campaign for it that I’m eying! She is also an artist so one of the options for that is an illustrated copy with her one-of-kind artwork!
She also has started the Luminors trilogy (Where Darkness Cannot Follow) if you want to check that out.
You can be sure that I’ll be reading and reviewing some more of her books!
[Content Advisory: no swearing or sexual content; some death/violence but nothing gratuitous]
**Received a copy via the author in exchange for an honest review**
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