THE JOURNEY

Who is RYan?

Ryan Cahill is the award-winning author of the bestselling epic fantasy series, The Bound and The Broken.

Born and raised in Ireland, Ryan now resides amongst the rolling hills and hobbit holes of Middle-earth, New Zealand. He does not own enough swords, would sell his left kidney for a dragon egg, and despises mushrooms in all their eldritch forms.

The Start

Back in early 2020, while working in a chemistry lab in Dublin during the 'unspoken of' times, Ryan decided it was the perfect time to try writing that book he had always dreamt of writing. You know that book? The one they say is inside of everyone? Yeah, that one.

Fast forward to a little later that year, and that book is now written. But what did he do now? Did he reach out to agents and publishers and put the future of this new book, this new world, into someone else's hands? Or potentially even (more likely) just sit in the querying trenches for the next decade and resign himself to the fate of never being published?

Even just the thought of either scenario caused him to shiver the way Ryan Reynolds does in that now-famous gif from Van Wilder.

Ryan then made a promise to himself. A promise that contained two parts.

I will not fail because somebody else deemed it so.
I will not fail because I didn't try hard enough.

This promise is what led Ryan down the path of self-publishing.

The middle

On the 17th of March 2021, the first book in The Bound and The Broken was self-published worldwide and Ryan's life changed forever.

Of Blood and Fire was the beginning of everything, followed quickly by The Fall (Ryan's first novella), and then by Of Darkness and Light (Book 2) on New Year's Eve later that year.

As of July 2025, Ryan has written and published 1.5 million words across four novels, three novellas, and three short stories.

The Bound and The Broken has sold over half a million copies worldwide and has been translated into multiple languages.

In late 2024 the worldwide print right to the series was acquired by The Broken Binding Publishing in a major deal. The physical books are now due for re-release beginning in February 2026.

The End

All journeys must have a beginning a middle and an end.

But hopefully the end of this journey isn't for a very, very long time.

There are a thousand more stories to tell, a thousand more characters to explore, a thousand more worlds to become lost in.

As always: you keep reading, I'll keep writing.

Myia nithír til diar.
My soul to yours.

Ryan