Beyond the Cobbled Road: Fading Light by Stacey Bureker

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

When I think about a fantasy and adventure story, Beyond the Cobbled Road: Fading Light is exactly what I am hoping to read. This book is truly an incredible story that will transport you from your reality into a world that is unexpected with a journey to protect the world and train to perform magic. Yes, in that order. 

It’s worth noting that I took this opportunity to do a “read and listen” meaning I listened to the audiobook while I followed along with the ebook. The narration is performed by Finian Schwarz who did an extraordinary job. His narration is truly best defined as voice acting. His voice is not only smooth, enjoyable and soothing to listen to, but he also brings the characters to the next level. His voices do a tremendous job giving personality to each one. He seamlessly moves from character to character with voices that match exactly how I would expect the character to sound. HIGHLY recommend a "read and listen" to everyone.

Stacey does a beautiful job setting the scene with a master level of world building and creation of a new magical environment. Her descriptions are marvelous and bring this fantasy adventure to life. I felt like I was in the room observing the story as it was unfolding. The magical environment she created is so thorough and creative. There are nine different schools of magic, each of which every mage is capable of but every mage has one they are strongest. I loved reading all of Kye’s attempts to find what his affinity would be, and I love even more the reasoning behind what his affinity turns out to be.

Beware Spoilers Ahead

One of my favorite moments and an “ah ha!” moments for me is when Kye learns he is a Traveler. The idea that humans are able to master teleportation easily because of how vivid human imaginations are was the most perfect explanation I could have ever hoped for. First, I love that Stacey explains that humans dream and the other beings do not dream. Any of us can relate to how vivid dreams can be. It makes this type of magic so tangible to humans because we CAN picture things and feel like we are there. We just don’t have the privilege Kye does of actually going there. Second, I love the development of Kye’s personality as being one who appreciates art, landscape, scenes, etc. He is frequently looking out the windows, looking at drawings/paintings, and just generally taking in his surroundings. The character is really well rounded with sprinkles through the story that just fit. Third and finally, I love how poetic it is that the human main character (who is a Traveler because of his ability to create scenes in his head so flawlessly) is written/created by a different human who has mastered the ability to create scenes in her head flawlessly. 

The relationships that form in Beyond the Cobbled: Fading Light make this story so personable and give some reprieve to the intensity of some of the other moments. Kye and Arden have the most wonderful acolyte/master relationship, almost like a pair of brothers with a decent age difference. They are fiercely protective of each other. They trust each other implicitly and slowly start to open up their emotions, thoughts, and fears as their time together progresses. Arden shows his role as a big brother type to Kye with his defense of Kye to the council and other magical beings, by empowering Kye to stand up for himself and build confidence, and by teaching and training Kye. All of these might seem like a standard “master” role, but when the person doing this also packs every statement with layers of sarcasm and some light teasing it feels more of a big brother type. I loved seeing Kye bloom under Arden's "watch", you can see pieces of Arden's personality come up in Kye as the story progresses.

Arden is powerful, sarcastic, protective, vicious when necessary, and extremely well versed in the game of politics. Though he doesn't "participate" he sure uses it to his advantage in the most brilliant ways. One of my favorite Arden moments is when Arden is defending his choice to take Kye as his acolyte to the council. The council is having an absolute tantrum about it and Arden uses their own vanity and rules against them. 

Despite human beings looked down on as a lesser being, Kye does manage to find a few people in addition to Arden who stick by his side. 

Celeste is the sweetest "mother adjacent" figure ANY of us could ever want. She's sweet and caring and her love language is food (same girl same). She and Kye have this budding friendship that is just the sweetest, and she really brings out a soft and sweet side of Kye. One of the most heart warming scenes in this story is when Kye wanders his way into the kitchen when Celeste is preparing for solstice and he picks up a knife to help her chop. It’s clear she is never helped and it shows just how caring and selfless Kye really is. 

Saiyah is a brilliant "elf friend" we all need, she's extremely smart  and openly challenges her peers and partners. Kye mentions several times that he finds her attractive and here’s me secretly hoping we will get the taste of a relationship between Saiyah and Kye. They just seem sweet. Initially Saiyah was not “team human” but when her blinders were removed and she got an opportunity to see Kye for who he was, she changed her tune and ended up isolating herself from so many other acolytes. Even if there is never a romance here, it’s clear that Saiyah and Kye will be a fierce duo in the books to come. The tracking stone bracelet that Saiyah gives Kye was a thoughtful gift that turned out to be crucial in finding Kye when Umbree came to get him. With how vast Saiyah’s knowledge of magical stones is and with how many stones she has, I am so excited to see how these will play a part in the books to come. Seeing that my theory is Kye and Arden will take it upon themselves to find all the creation stones in order to protect them from villains like Umbree and Orin, Saiyah’s knowledge seems to be foreshadowing her involvement in that hypothetical journey. 

Now the VILLAINS... I cannot express how much I love to hate a villain and let me tell you Umbree and Orin and the absolute worst. I want the worst to happen to them, worse than the worst. But of course in the best way. When Orin and Umbree created the army of shades I was utterly repulsed. I’m pretty sure my face was frozen in a shocked state with a hint of disgust. The level of evil that goes into making a decision like that and how they went about creating the army made me want to throw my iPad and yell into space. I cannot wait to see how the villainous activity moves into book 2. I’m also manifesting into the world that the audio will be ready at the same time because I would love to continue to “read and listen” this whole series. I'm just sitting here (im)patiently waiting for book 2!

If you are a lover of adventurous fantasy stories with extremely well developed characters and magical worlds, this is for you. 

Rating: 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Perfect for fans of: Lord of the Rings, adventure, fantasy series, world/character/magic building, found family, good vs evil, quests, battle, save the world vibes.

Potential Triggers: war, murder, peer ‘hazing’, enslaving a child, death of a parent