Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth

Divinity's Twilight Book One

Fiction - Fantasy - Epic
498 Pages
Reviewed on 08/26/2020
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

Christopher Russell (native of Williamsburg, VA) is a 27-year-old mechanical and aerospace engineer (graduate of the University of Virginia) who has loved reading since the day he picked up a book and writing since he could scrawl his first letters. After voraciously consuming titles from every genre—ranging from Star Wars to Lord of the Rings—he decided to combine the expertise from his professional education, passions, and Christian faith into a fantasy epic bridging the gap between magic and science. He currently resides in Charlottesville, Virginia, with his loyal dog, Vallen, named after the protagonist of his first work.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Eduardo Aduna for Readers' Favorite

Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth by Christopher Russell is the first book in what promises to be a breathtaking epic fantasy series. The powerful Sarcon is opposed by his two brothers. Their conflict shatters the world, and their descendants continue their fight hundreds of years after. As the imprisoned Sarcon awakens, three students -- the brilliant but unsure Matteo, together with the powerful Vallen and the capable Sylette -- must learn to grow into their own as they lead a young group of students to safety amidst the ravages of a war centuries in the making.

As the first book of an epic fantasy series, Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth manages to set a grand stage and populate it with fully fleshed-out characters. Top tier world-building coupled with well-crafted history and lore made Rebirth an enthralling read, with events and characters clicking into place at a breakneck pace. Every main character, villains and heroes alike, share an ambiguity in both traits and intentions that made every twist unpredictable. Russell uses events to impact characters and vice-versa, resulting in a dynamic living world that stimulates the imagination and takes the reader on a wild ride. Classic fantasy archetypes are thrown to the wind while tropes are shattered and fused anew to create characters that reek of familiarity but brim with mystery, intrigue, and uncertainty. Christopher Russell is an excellent author and this first book has made me look forward to the entire Divinity’s Twilight series in the hopes that the succeeding books meet and exceed the high bar Rebirth has set.

K.C. Finn

Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth is a work of fiction in the fantasy, action, and adventure sub-genres, and was penned by author Christopher Russell. Written as book one in the series of the same name, this work does contain some graphic violence appropriate to war and battlefields but is otherwise accessible for readers of all sensitivities. In a far-off world, a centuries-old history appears to have been put to rest, and new civilizations have risen up from the ashes of the Battle of Har’muth. But someone within those wastelands, an ancient power still looms, waiting for the descendants of that original war to rise up and face the truth about the past.

Author Christopher Russell has crafted a true epic fantasy and a seriously committed starter to a fantastic new world of characters and adventures. By far the most impressive thing in this novel is its worldbuilding, which affords us a long and bloody history and excellent, logical reasoning for the territories and politics which we see in the current state of the land. I loved the combination of magic and technology and the balance and difficulties which that brings about. The novel starts slowly with this rich plethora of new things to discover, but the action picks up more and more with every chapter as the characters and their plotlines start to come together and fit with the history. Overall, I would certainly recommend Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth for readers seeking immersive epic fantasy written with immense care and imagination.

Jose Cornelio

Rebirth is the first book in Divinity’s Twilight series by Christopher Russell and a compelling epic fantasy. The reader is transported to a world fragmented by a war that was once fought and never completed. The Illyriite War was won on the plains of Har'muth where Darmatus and Rabban Aurelian slew their elder brother, Sarcon, to stop a powerful evil from engulfing their world. That was seven centuries ago. But the sacrifice of the two brothers after killing their brother might not have kept the evil at bay. Lozaria is in grave danger and the states of Darmatia, Rabban, and Sarconia that have kept their mistrust for seven centuries are pulled into a new conflict. An evil forged in Har'muth is catching up with them and this time it is about the reckoning. With advanced technology and magic, who will survive the onslaught of evil that stares this world in the face?

Divinity’s Twilight is a promising series for readers who enjoy epic fantasy with powerful characters, a strong conflict, and a world of power and magic. The setting is an imaginary world and I enjoyed the author’s ingenuity in creating this universe that has its unique rules. An evil that happened in the past is catching up many centuries after. That is enough for a conflict that will rock a world that has been under control for centuries. I loved the imaginative nature of this novel and the world building. The strong imagery pulls the reader away from their immediate surroundings and transports them into the world of the characters. The setting is like a character in the novel, a world that is fascinating and filled with danger, with warring factions keeping the fever high. Christopher Russell creates a phenomenal conflict and heroes that readers will enjoy. Rebirth is written in excellent prose. It is engaging and transporting; one of those stories that make readers lose track of time.

Maureen Dangarembizi

Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth by Christopher Russell is the first installment in an amazing sci-fi/epic fantasy series. The story opens with a great war that took place 700 years before the events of the actual story. Set in a land called Lozaria, three brothers have markedly distinct beliefs on how to achieve peace. In the end, brothers Darmatus and Rabban team up and defeat their brother Sarcon and his forces. Seven hundred years later, the war still rages and the continent is divided into three parts according to the three brothers' beliefs. The empire of Sarcon still seeks to bring peace by force and use of arms. Rabban has developed the best technology which they believe will eventually lead to peace, while Darmatus still upholds the values of peace through understanding between the various races. Add these differences to a great evil from the past and you’ve got an epic story about to unravel as youths from these empires strive to save their world.

Christopher Russell is an outstanding worldbuilder. From the start, I was drawn in by the innovative mix of tech and elemental magic. The world of Lozaria is sure to become a favorite with many readers with its various fantastical races and the complexities that make each different from the other. I loved the age-old good versus evil story and Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth doesn’t disappoint. The evil force is very real and its threat so profound that it forces former enemies to lay down their differences to save their world. I loved that the youngsters set to fight the enemy are so well defined and I can’t wait to see how they will go about saving their world in the next installment of this story.

Rabia Tanveer

Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth is the first book in the Divinity's Twilight series by Christopher Russell. Nothing was the same after the Illyriite War in Har’muth. Sarcon, Rabban, and Darmatus had their beliefs and their followers believed in them. After almost 700 years, the war was still going strong but with new heroes and leaders. A lot had changed over the years, but it seemed like the bad days were never going to end. An old enemy of peace was awakened and it was up to Sylette, Senior Cadet Matteo, Terran Senior Cadet Leonel “Leon” Descar and the rest to fight against it. This war might be bigger than the Illyrian War and its consequences might be more severe. Will Matteo and Co. even stand a chance of winning?

Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth is a mix of magic with fantasy, a combination that seldom works for me. However, this book was different. Maybe it was the background and the setting or maybe it was the execution of it all, but somehow, author Christopher Russell made it work. When I started this novel, my first thought was that there were too many characters. But as the story progressed and each character established their place in the story, everything made sense. It was genius to divide the story into three parts and giving a separate Epilogue and Glossary was helpful as well. The background building was magical. It established the story for me and made it easier for me to get invested. Of course, the action was brilliant and it began the moment the story opened. Out of all the characters, Matteo was my favorite. He was a smart leader and that drew me in. My second favorite was Lilith. She added just the right amount of sass and spunk to the story that I needed. This book was perfect in its complexity and the layers of the plot.