Nocturne, a wilderness of eternal night.Solis, a wasteland of endless day.Nazafareen is a Breaker, a mortal who has the rare ability to shatter spell magic—although her power carries a high price. With the memories of her former self erased and nowhere else to turn, she comes to Nocturne hoping to start a new life under the triple moons of the darklands.But when an assassin forces Nazafareen to … assassin forces Nazafareen to flee to the sunlit mortal city of Delphi, she finds herself embroiled in a deeper mystery whose origins lie far in the past. Why was the continent sundered into light and dark a thousand years before? And what really happened to the elegant but ruthless creatures who nearly reduced the world to ashes? The new Oracle might know, but she’s outlawed magic and executes anyone caught practicing it. Nazafareen must hide her powers and find a way out of the city—before it’s too late.
As the net slowly tightens, something ancient and vengeful begins to stir in the arid death zone called the Kiln. A dashing daeva named Darius is pursuing Nazafareen, but so are a multitude of enemies. War is brewing again. Can she stay alive long enough to stop it?
Praise for Nocturne
“A historical fantasy that crackles with electricity…The narrative’s magical components never overshadow the players and their struggles. And the characters newly taking shape are thrilling to behold. Layered subplots featuring Culach, Mina, and Javid provide an embarrassment of riches. The finale primes audiences to learn about the legendary Vatras, who did what other elementals can’t—control fire.” –Kirkus Reviews
“If you haven’t read this series, you definitely need to get on it. Like yesterday.” –Haddie’s Haven
“The world of Nocturne and Solis is comparable to the expansive fantasy worlds found in epics by Tamora Pierce, Cassandra Clare, and Sarah J. Maas. With her lyrical prose, expansive world-building, and mastery of various voices, Ross is my new favorite for long-running fantasy epics.” –Crazy for YA
“Nocturne is brilliant…. Kat knows how to take us on an adventure and keep you totally sucked in.” –Am Kinda Busy Reading
“Absolutely fantastic! From page one it just hit the ground running… Ross has managed to create something truly magical, beautiful and complex.” –Rattle the Stars
“Perfect for fans of City of Brass… As much as I loved the characters, I have to say the plot in this story stole the show. I could not put this book down. I loved it, I loved it, I loved it.” –Book Briefs
“This book is a whirlwind of emotions. Lots of drama, action, and even some romance. I’m so looking forward to the next book in the series.” –Jazzy Book Reviews
“A passionate and riveting action-packed fantasy that will draw readers into a world of danger, deception and powerful forces… Fast paced, exciting and with so much going on, Nocturne was a superb read and leaves me dying to delve into the next novel Solis as soon as I can!” –The Rest Is Still Unwritten
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A true epic fantasy that is sure to draw you in right from the start.
Kat Ross introduces us to a strange world where there is no day night as we know it. Nocturne is the part where the sun doesn’t shine, pun not intended. The story is about a young lady, Nazafareen. She was saved, although you may not think it was an actual rescue as you learn more. Darius does have feelings for her and is trying to track her down to get her back to safety. So does Culach of Val Moraine. Culach may or may not be the oppressor in this tale, for sure his father is a dictator and their world is ice covered and dark. Nazafareen strikes out on her own when an airship visits Danai, where she has been living and recovering. In her flight she begins to manifest her abilities and takes on a different identity to hide, even from the airship pilot as the both seek to survive as she seeks answers to who she is.
Safe reading for all, even with the violence it is okay for youngsters.
Some books leave you happy, sad, or just plain bored. None of those apply here. Do not know where this author has been hiding, but I will seek out her writings. They entertained, moved quickly but with satisfy detail and left me wanting more. My favorite kind of writing.
Easy read but original
This is a great world with fascinating twists on mythology. With the chapters often split to follow different characters, the plot plods a little. The author DOES NOT stoop to chapters of abject pornography as so many other do. I bought the next in the series and I am reading it now, but it is a little pricey to continue.
Looking for a true Fantasy to dive into? Nocturne will fit the bill perfectly. Beautifully written and full of easy-to-follow fascinating characters, this story pulled me in and refused to let go. And now I really want to know who The Fourth Talisman is!
Great story and characters .Will definitely buy the next one in series.
Good plot but for my tastes, too many sub-plots and characters with unusual names to easily remember. My life is complicated as it is so I want easy reads lately.
Good story although I had to skim through some of the tedious parts.
On an alternate Earth, the planet has stopped rotating and one side is bathed in perpetual day while the other is in perpetual twilight. On the day side, there exists two civilizations, one modeled on classical Greece, the other on Sassanid Persia. On the moonlit side are daevas, non-humans (but mostly human in appearance), who have magical skills tied to the three traditional elements of earth, air and water. A human girl, Nazafereen, lives among them; her memory is gone. Somehow she has the power, though, to travel to a magical “in-between” place that gives access to various parts of the world. It’s a creative setting, although bringing in themes from Earth’s history doesn’t seem necessary (but it does save the author having to dream up new civilizations).
The Greek-like civilization has been taken over by a new Delphic oracle who outlaws magic and hence, any daevas venturing in there get enslaved. Nazafereen, searching for her past, leaves her daeva clan to go to the human side, but the vessel (a balloo-type ship) crashes on the border and so the adventures begin. Among the daevas, there’s conflict between earth tribes and air tribes, so that adds the to suspense. Interesting characters, a fascinating setting (even if hard to believe in astrophysical terms) and well-written. I’m already on the second book in this series.
Welcome to Nocturne.
Well written story with great world building and character description. The story flows smoothly in a world of humans, gods and goddesses and the mindset of the people held in those beliefs. Deception, betrayal, control and the ever-eternal search for riches mixed with the mysteries of magic. Great read and highly recommended for anyone who loves a great story!
Exceptionally written tale! Generous world building where the descriptions are easy to imagine you’re standing right there with Nazafareen and Darius. Excitement and action a plenty. Can’t wait to see where Nazafareen ends up next and what Darius will do to get out of his current situation.
High praise to Kat Ross for this wonderful start to a series.
Kat Ross
A classic epic fantasy
Book 1 in the Fourth Talisman series, this is a new to me author so I didn’t know quite what to expect. At the beginning, it seemed like I’d gotten dropped into the middle of the story and I felt a little lost. In fact I double checked that this was really the first book of the series, and I discovered a previous series (The Fourth Element Trilogy) that apparently helps sets up events for this book. So I’d highly recommend reading that trilogy first.
There’s a large cast of characters here (not unusual for an epic fantasy) with intriguing abilities–the world building was amazing. While it took me a while to connect with Nazafareen and Darius (reading the previous trilogy would have probably helped there), I was surprised at how quickly I got pulled into Culach and Mina’s part of the story.
The plot is complex and layered to go along with the world-building, and there’s plenty of action to keep things interesting. I did struggle a little with the viewpoint changes at first, as it felt like every time I really started to get into the story the viewpoint would change to a new character. It got better towards the end as I got more invested in the various characters, and as the mystery and suspense woven into the plot sucked me in, especially with all the cliffs those characters were clinging to at the end.
A classic epic fantasy, with superb world building, an intricate plot and an amazing cast of characters, this is well worth a read by fantasy fans. I’m going to go read The Fourth Element Trilogy before picking up the next book in this series. 4.5 stars that would probably have been a full 5 stars if I’d read that previous trilogy first.
B2B Kelly
This book starts out with a lot of references to events prior to this book. At one point I had to check that I was indeed in book one. If you are patient, the story does unfold and becomes interesting.
just could not get into it.
What a great start to a new series. We start with some awesome world building that takes us to a whole new world full of magic, intrigue, and a simmering battle to come between several groups that have been fighting for generations. It is full of several strong characters giving multiple POV but at the same time we always catch up with Nazafareen. If you love losing yourself in a great fantasy novel for a while then you really have to give this book a try. I really enjoyed it so I give it 4/5 stars. The cliff hanger at the end just makea me anxious to read the next installment.
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
When I started this book, I was thinking I’m missing something, something important, and that feeling stayed with me right the way through, and to be honest, I nearly dumped it a couple of times. I’m still not sure what kept me reading, but I did and that feeling led me to look at the author’s other books.
And there is folks! What I’ve been missing is a whole THREE books set before this one, revolving around these main characters! Why was I not told this, when asked to read this one?? I don’t know, but I’m annoyed, because whatever happened in those three books has a HUGE impact in this one, and my reading enjoyment suffered, greatly.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, the book is well written, from all the major players points of view. It’s neither graphic nor explicit, it moves at a fair and even pace. I saw no spelling or editing errors.
There is a much bigger picture that I’m not seeing going on. Whether that is because I didn’t read the previous books, I don’t know. It might just not have been laid out fully yet and all will become clear in the next books.
But for me, I can’t get past not knowing about the other books that I SHOULD have read first. So if you come across this review, please PLEASE go back and read The Fourth Element trilogy before you read this one. You WILL need it.
Will I read future books in the series?? Probably not.
Because I DID finish it, and because everyone who needs to has a say…
3 stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**