BBNYA Spotlight - The Light Of Kasaban by Thomas Howard Riley
- Tabitha Tomala
- 1 minute ago
- 3 min read
The Light of Kasaban was the 7th place BBNYA 2025 finalist!
About BBNYA
The Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) is celebrating the books that made it to the semi-finals with a mini spotlight blitz tour for each title.
BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 (17 in 2025) finalists and one overall winner.
If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official.
The Light of Kasaban Details
Page Count: 212 Pages
Genre: Fantasy
Age Category: Adult
Date Published: September 17, 2024
The Story Graph Link: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/9083579d-d7af-4e7e-9ff9-b18213ca78b2
Blurb for The Light of Kasaban
In the brutal desert city of Kasaban, the old gods have had their statues crushed to powder by invading Priests, with magick forbidden to anyone but themselves. Merely being born as one of the magi makes even infants into fugitives, and the Priests and their spies are always watching, ready to toss their enemies into the purifying flames of execution.
Saya Ani Anai is the last of her family, dedicating her life to being a teacher of magick for little orphaned children. From within her hidden home, she provides the closest thing to a normal life these children may ever know. They help each other like family, working for what they can and stealing the rest to scrape by, forced to live every day under the yoke of oppression.
When the warren-boss who keeps their domain a secret suddenly demands a higher price to keep his silence, they must race to find a way to meet the demand or they will lose their home and their lives. But for the poor living in Kasaban, simply surviving is anything but easy.
With the Priests and their magick-hunters scouring the city for magi to burn, and the catastrophes of daily life intervening to crush her plans at every turn, Saya must risk everything to save her home and keep the children safe. But Kasaban is unforgiving. Its fires rage bright. If she fails, all her hopes will burn.
Book Review for The Light of Kasaban
The Light of Kasaban is a dark and brutal tale. From the beginning, the tone is set with a horrific execution. Those who bear magick, men too old to be swayed into the priesthood, and all women, are hunted down. Not even female infants are spared. Saya hides in plain sight among the people of Kasaban, bearing witness to the deaths of those with magick. A grim reminder of what could happen if she and her school were ever discovered.
Thomas Howard Riley has created an emotionally complex character in Saya. Though the story is shorter in length, every sentence goes into creating this compassionate and flawed character. Her backstory brings tragedy and an overarching sense of fear and guilt. And yet despite all the challenges thrown at her, she fights to keep her children safe at the risk of her own life.
And the magick system of this novel adds to the overall tension. If enough magick is used, there are lingering traces that cling to the user and leave trails for those of the priesthood with specialized monocles or glasses to see. The pressures of poverty, keeping a group of children hidden in a city determined to see them destroyed, and Saya’s own untended wants and needs blend together into a grimdark story that will keep any reader engaged.
To Purchase: Author's Website | Bookshop
About the Author
Hi, my name is Thomas Howard Riley. I am a writer of rated-R epic and dark fantasy sagas, where characters are dirty and flawed, the outlook hopeful, the violence brutal, the hard magick systems plentiful, the worldbuilding robust, the romance disinclined to fade to black, and the adventures equal parts quirky and terrifying. I am a former lead guitarist and sword-fighter who grew up on fantasy and sci fi. I spend most of my time creating new fantasy stories and being a very uncool dad to my two little warriors. I am obsessed with comic books, music (always have my headphones in), and playing very old video games whenever I'm taking a break from training my army of cats for world conquest. I like to stand in the rain without an umbrella and I always take at least one book wherever I go.
I can be found online at:
Website: https://thomashowardriley.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thomashowardriley/