Found in Night By Ben Alderson Book Review

Ratings

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Content Warnings: Blood, Violence

Introduction

Found in Night is the second, action-packed book in the Dragori Series by Ben Alderson. It is full of twists and turns that lull you through the chapters. That is if you can get off the proofreading errors.

In this book, we travel again with Zacriah and his group as they search for a cure for Hadrian. However, it is this search that brings about destruction and danger to everyone. 

Will Zacriah be able to fix what he had done? Or will he lose everything?

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Plot

Similarly to Cloaked in Shadow, the plot of Found in Night is strong and cohesive. The story still kept my attention and I found myself thinking about what was to happen next when I wasn’t reading (which I love).

However, the book wasn’t as exciting as the first. There was a lot of back and forth between wanting to get the Staff of Light and staying in Eldnol. It honestly got old after awhile. 

There was also the issue, at least for me, of who was ruling over Olderim in Hadrian and the King’s place.

1. Are the council members ruling in their absence? 
2. Why isn’t anyone coming to look for them? 

Then this leads into my next concern: Why is Hadrian pledging to protect the people of Eldnol instead of his own people? 

1. What about them? 
2. Why are the Alorian elves more important?
3. Nothing was forcing the Zacriah and crew to stay in Eldnol, so why couldn’t they leave to go back home?

I can understand Queen Kathine providing support and resources to find the Staff of Light for Hadrian, but once that is ripped away, why is she forcing them to stay?

The other issue I had was the lack of clarity in the Dragori’s role in everything. 

1. Why do the Alorian elves hold them at such high esteem compared to the other elves? 
2. Why are they considered protectors?
3. Is it because they’re the only ones who can defeat the druids?

I need more background on the role the Dragori played in the times of the druids. 

Plot Thoughts

I also had some other plot-related thoughts that didn’t call for a whole paragraph to explain. 

• I wish we could have seen Zacriah learn to fly. It’s always fun to see the struggle and then to see the character triumph over the issue.
• Why did Illera not shift in the fight after they found her? She didn’t need a sword, she’s a fucking lion. 
• Abandoning the griffins? Really? They could have directed the griffins back to home base or something instead of abandoning newly training griffins in the wild. 

Characters

Zacriah

There was little growth from Zacriah in this book. The most we saw was him gaining more control over his powers and emotions. But that was it. 

However, we did get to see more of his personality that we missed in the first book, which was nice.

Hadrian

We didn’t see much of Hadrian. Instead, he was talked about more than anything. However, when we did see him, he was secretive and stand-offish or showcasing his royal title with speeches and elegant talks. 

I honestly hope he recovers soon because I’m ready for more page time between Hadrian and Zacriah. 

Side Characters

Nyah

Nyah is such a mother hen. She watches out for everyone, knows what’s going on, and is a step ahead when it comes to planning. She is a real anchor for this group.

We saw so much growth in this book. Nyah is really mastering her magic and skills as a leader. I hope to see more of this in the next book as well.

I adore Nyah and hope she can preserver through the loss of Jasrov and Bell. 

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Jasrov

Honestly, not sure why he was part of the group besides for comic relief/conversation and to be a love interest for Nyah. They served their purpose after directing the crew to the temple.

Regardless, he and Bell were fun and I enjoyed reading about them.

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Emaline

We also saw some growth in Emaline, along with her personality since we only got a snippet in the first book. Emaline opened up to Zacriah and others in the group, laughed with them, and slowly saw herself as part of the group.

I really like Emaline. She is complex and has so much potential in terms of growth and pushing the plot. I’m excited to see more of her.

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Cristillia

Cristillia had me fooled, but I also had a gut feeling she was going to be more involved in this story than what was led on. I just hate that it ended the way it did with her.

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Illera

I like Illera’s redemption arc. She’s really trying to prove herself and she did some soul-searching during the time we didn’t see her. I’m here for it, too. I love a good enemy-to-friend arc.

 However, I’m not a fan of her being a rebound for Emaline. Even if that is not the direction her relationship with Emaline is headed, it currently feels like it and both characters deserve better.

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Queen Kathine

Queen Kathine was being extremely selfish by keeping the Dragori in her kingdom and assuming they will protect only her people. 

I’m not a fan of Kathine as she seems to force things to go her way or manipulate the other party into doing what she wants, like with keeping Zacriah in the kingdom.

Writing

Much of the same issues we saw in the previous book are present in this one, with the exception of the character dialog. The dialog has improved tremendously.

Interactions between characters seem more natural and flow with the story, instead of stiff and choppy. I love seeing that kind of writing improvement. It made the experience so much better.

However, there was still many proofreading issues:

• Misspelled words
• Issues using “of” and “off” (example- page 188)
• Obvious portions cut out without the gap being smoothed over (example- example 192 and 222)

There were also a lot of awkward and fragmented sentences that just didn’t make sense nor flow properly. It was jarring and pulled me out of the experience abruptly. 

Again, I mainly blame the publishing company for this because that is what they are there for: to proofread and provide developmental feedback to an author’s book to ensure it’s ready for publishing. 

Hopefully, in the next book it’ll be better, but I don’t have my hopes set too high. 

Final Thoughts

In every series I’ve read, the second book is the worst. It’s either boring or filler leading into the third, and that’s what Found in Night was ultimately. 

But it wasn’t bad. I still enjoyed the book. The characters and the world and captivating and it pulls me in. I’m thoroughly enjoying the Dragori series and am looking forward to read the next book. 

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What did you think of the book? Did you like it or could you have done without it? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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