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levanmatthew's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't like this guy nearly as much as his twenty palaces series.
wimerek's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
hostral's review against another edition
4.0
Harry Connolly doesn't really need me to write a review about his work, given that The Way Into Chaos had a massive and successful Kickstarter campaign and Connolly himself had previously received acclaim for a traditionally published Urban fantasy series.
It's rare that I come across a book that is an absolute no-brainer in terms of whether it should be part of my site. The Way Into Chaos is such a book, and I'll explain why below.
While hardly the first to do it, it's always interesting to see how an author who specialised in one style of fantasy shifts to a completely different one. In the case of Mr. Connolly the answer is 'very well indeed'.
In addition to sporting a wonderful cover and solid editing with few typos, the pace of the work in question really sets it apart from many of the traditionally published contemporaries. Others have likened it to a merging of thriller and fantasy, driving the plot forward and not getting bogged down in descriptions of clothing or excessive world-building.
Lar is royalty, and this likeable rapscallion is the heir to the throne. He is accompanied most of the time by a number of young cohorts who helpfully bounce off his dialogue. The most important of these cohorts is young Cazia, a sorceress who is both headstrong and entertaining.
Speaking of entertaining, the most enjoyable character is the seasoned veteran Tyr Trejohn Treygar, a man sworn into the service of the royal family and by extension, the prince. A stern authority figure who seems to serve as an arms-master of sorts at the beginning of the tale.
To put things politely, things go to hell in a hand basket very quickly. After a great deal of death and destruction, the Tyr finds himself in charge of making sure that the prince survives their journey into discovering just how to get rid of the threat that threatens to destroy them all.
Meanwhile, amidst all the devastation, young Cazia finds herself on her own journey. A journey as much of self-discovery as anything else.
The reason for my being vague about much of the plot is that in order to talk about it in any detail I'd have to spoil it, and that's the sign of a work that twists and turns in a most enjoyable fashion. There's little bloat to be found in this work, and as always the downside to that is that certain themes and world-building lack the expansion they would have been treated to in larger equivalent tomes.
Explosive start aside, things don't really heat up until the first third of the groundwork is laid out in the book, at which point Connolly quite vividly defies my expectations in a most delightful fashion. This turning point sucked me into the novel and made the remaining two thirds fly in.
Despite the high fantasy trappings, Connolly revels in subverting the typical plot armour and moral certitude that is so prevalent in older works. While this is more common in modern fantasy, The Way Into Chaos clearly displays aspects of writing that would be more commonly found in the Urban fantasy/thriller genres.
What's also nice to see is that in spite of the lack of space for typical fleshing out of the world in question, there is a deep exploration into the magic system and certain other aspects of the land that are gradually phased in throughout the plot.
It's by no means perfect, but it's a lot better than most of the fantasy being published lately. That this had to be crowdfunded is an indictment of the modern publication industry.
While it's apparent that this is the first third of a trilogy, an irritation that I've lamented many times, such is the strength of Connolly's prose and pacing that I honestly don't mind. I've docked one star due to the abrupt halt, but I understand entirely why it came about.
I really enjoyed reading this and fully intend to pick up the next two volumes and support Mr. Connolly's future ventures. As far as I'm concerned this man should still be signed to a major deal and I hope that the immensely positive reception of his work will provide him with just that.
It's rare that I come across a book that is an absolute no-brainer in terms of whether it should be part of my site. The Way Into Chaos is such a book, and I'll explain why below.
While hardly the first to do it, it's always interesting to see how an author who specialised in one style of fantasy shifts to a completely different one. In the case of Mr. Connolly the answer is 'very well indeed'.
In addition to sporting a wonderful cover and solid editing with few typos, the pace of the work in question really sets it apart from many of the traditionally published contemporaries. Others have likened it to a merging of thriller and fantasy, driving the plot forward and not getting bogged down in descriptions of clothing or excessive world-building.
Lar is royalty, and this likeable rapscallion is the heir to the throne. He is accompanied most of the time by a number of young cohorts who helpfully bounce off his dialogue. The most important of these cohorts is young Cazia, a sorceress who is both headstrong and entertaining.
Speaking of entertaining, the most enjoyable character is the seasoned veteran Tyr Trejohn Treygar, a man sworn into the service of the royal family and by extension, the prince. A stern authority figure who seems to serve as an arms-master of sorts at the beginning of the tale.
To put things politely, things go to hell in a hand basket very quickly. After a great deal of death and destruction, the Tyr finds himself in charge of making sure that the prince survives their journey into discovering just how to get rid of the threat that threatens to destroy them all.
Meanwhile, amidst all the devastation, young Cazia finds herself on her own journey. A journey as much of self-discovery as anything else.
The reason for my being vague about much of the plot is that in order to talk about it in any detail I'd have to spoil it, and that's the sign of a work that twists and turns in a most enjoyable fashion. There's little bloat to be found in this work, and as always the downside to that is that certain themes and world-building lack the expansion they would have been treated to in larger equivalent tomes.
Explosive start aside, things don't really heat up until the first third of the groundwork is laid out in the book, at which point Connolly quite vividly defies my expectations in a most delightful fashion. This turning point sucked me into the novel and made the remaining two thirds fly in.
Despite the high fantasy trappings, Connolly revels in subverting the typical plot armour and moral certitude that is so prevalent in older works. While this is more common in modern fantasy, The Way Into Chaos clearly displays aspects of writing that would be more commonly found in the Urban fantasy/thriller genres.
What's also nice to see is that in spite of the lack of space for typical fleshing out of the world in question, there is a deep exploration into the magic system and certain other aspects of the land that are gradually phased in throughout the plot.
It's by no means perfect, but it's a lot better than most of the fantasy being published lately. That this had to be crowdfunded is an indictment of the modern publication industry.
While it's apparent that this is the first third of a trilogy, an irritation that I've lamented many times, such is the strength of Connolly's prose and pacing that I honestly don't mind. I've docked one star due to the abrupt halt, but I understand entirely why it came about.
I really enjoyed reading this and fully intend to pick up the next two volumes and support Mr. Connolly's future ventures. As far as I'm concerned this man should still be signed to a major deal and I hope that the immensely positive reception of his work will provide him with just that.
styxnstonz's review against another edition
3.0
This book was odd for me. In parts, I really loved it, and there were pieces of lore I desperately wanted to know more about. They didn't pop up in this book. Other parts I just couldn't get into. They didn't strike me right, and I don't think it's because they were bad. I just think they weren't what I wanted. All this means this review is going to be pretty meh, because I truly don't want to turn others off this series. It might not have been for me, but it had interesting parts that I wanted to know more about and it was well written. Other people should definitely give it a try and see if it's for them instead.
barb4ry1's review against another edition
3.0
Actual rating: 3.5 / 5
Fire and Fury, this book left me with mixed feelings. The Way into Chaos participates in SPFBO 2017 contest and it’s just made it to the finals as the Ventureadlaxre choice. The book was founded through Kickstarter campaign and is part one of already finished epic fantasy trilogy about a supernatural invasion that destroys an empire.
It was marketed as “fantasy adventure without the dull bits” and “non-grimdark”. While I’m not sure about lack of the dull bits, I agree it was a nice relief from unnecessary violent and gritty books that seem to dominate fantasy market these days. This is not to say the book lacks violence; it’s just while that the characters main motivation and driving force is to do good.
The city of Peradain is the heart of an empire until, in a single day, it falls, overthrown by a swarm of supernatural creatures of incredible power and ferocity. Neither soldier nor spell casters can stand against them.
The empire's armies are crushed, its people scattered, its king and queen killed. As the creatures spread across the land, people discover they are not prepared to face the enemy that destroyed an empire.
The story is told from two radically different POV protagonists: Tyr Tejohn Treygar and Cazia Freewell. Tejohn is a short-sighted and grumpy old male soldier skilled in killing, and Cazia is a frustrated young female magician and a political hostage in the royal palace.
The choice of narration is good as it gives us a possibility to experience the action from wildly different perspectives.
World building is done, mostly, well. The societies, religion, and beliefs presented in the book are interesting and varied. In the beginning of the lecture, it may be a problem as we start out with not much in the way of familiar settings or tropes. I felt a bit lost and it took me some time to start feeling immersed in the world. As the book progresses, we learn more about the nature of The Way and magic in general. These revelations are well handled and help to build the tension.
The characters are a bit problematic to me. There’s a bunch of them and I think that author managed to give each of them personality. On the other hand, for most of the book, I didn’t care about POV characters at all. It changed around 80% of the ebook version, rather late if you ask me.
As a result, even though the pacing was fast and stakes were high, I wasn’t fully invested in the story. It is important to notice, there’s nothing wrong with these characters – they are complex and get some interesting growth. It’s just I can’t fully connect with them and that’s my main issue with this book. Having said that, I admit that in the end Cazia becomes interesting and she may transform in engaging heroine in the sequel.
Side-characters are a different matter entirely. Ivy rocks. I would gladly read a book told from this fierce and formidable twelve-year-old perspective. She rocks, guys. And she’s not the only one to shine. Arla Grimfield, a scout in her mid-forties, is not the one to mess with. Also, her backstory was interesting.
While the book doesn’t contain too graphic scenes of violence, the body count is considerable. People die. Blood is spilled. Monsters explode in the fire. Don’t expect this book to be uplifting. When it serves the plot, violent things happen, but I think none of the few brutal scenes pictured in the book is over the top. I appreciate that horror can be shown without overwhelming a reader with hectoliters of blood and viscera. Additionally, there’s no foul language in the book. Characters have their own swear words, for example “Fire and Fury”. I find it cool.
As you see I gave the book 3.5 stars. It means I consider it a good book but not everything worked for me. I must admit that the ending was so engrossing that I wanted to give it four stars. But it would be unfair to other books I judge. Emotions aside and after cold analysis of my updates and level of engagement throughout the story, it’s a fair rating.
Because for most of the story I didn’t really connect with two POV’s I wasn’t really invested in it. The stakes were high and some ideas to torment heroes were great, but without strong emotional bond with characters, it’s hard to fully appreciate plot and twists. The other thing is, it took me close to 43 % of the ebook to start to feel immersed in the world and another 30 % to start to care for protagonist. A bit too long. The last gripe - it’s not meant to be read as a standalone. I think this book should be approached as the beginning of longer epic story that serves as long introduction to the world and characters.
On the other hand, upon finishing the book, I think it’s quite innovative fantasy adventure that features varied characters who try to salvage humanity in the face of crazy odds. If you’ll feel a connection with characters faster than me, you’ll enjoy the ride.
Side note: I planned to listen to this book but, while audiobook is narrated well, I prefer the written word. Therefore I listened to it to about 15% and then switched to ebook.
Edit: There's a fun interview with Harry Connelly on The Nerd Book Review Podbean - check it out
Fire and Fury, this book left me with mixed feelings. The Way into Chaos participates in SPFBO 2017 contest and it’s just made it to the finals as the Ventureadlaxre choice. The book was founded through Kickstarter campaign and is part one of already finished epic fantasy trilogy about a supernatural invasion that destroys an empire.
It was marketed as “fantasy adventure without the dull bits” and “non-grimdark”. While I’m not sure about lack of the dull bits, I agree it was a nice relief from unnecessary violent and gritty books that seem to dominate fantasy market these days. This is not to say the book lacks violence; it’s just while that the characters main motivation and driving force is to do good.
The city of Peradain is the heart of an empire until, in a single day, it falls, overthrown by a swarm of supernatural creatures of incredible power and ferocity. Neither soldier nor spell casters can stand against them.
The empire's armies are crushed, its people scattered, its king and queen killed. As the creatures spread across the land, people discover they are not prepared to face the enemy that destroyed an empire.
The story is told from two radically different POV protagonists: Tyr Tejohn Treygar and Cazia Freewell. Tejohn is a short-sighted and grumpy old male soldier skilled in killing, and Cazia is a frustrated young female magician and a political hostage in the royal palace.
The choice of narration is good as it gives us a possibility to experience the action from wildly different perspectives.
World building is done, mostly, well. The societies, religion, and beliefs presented in the book are interesting and varied. In the beginning of the lecture, it may be a problem as we start out with not much in the way of familiar settings or tropes. I felt a bit lost and it took me some time to start feeling immersed in the world. As the book progresses, we learn more about the nature of The Way and magic in general. These revelations are well handled and help to build the tension.
The characters are a bit problematic to me. There’s a bunch of them and I think that author managed to give each of them personality. On the other hand, for most of the book, I didn’t care about POV characters at all. It changed around 80% of the ebook version, rather late if you ask me.
As a result, even though the pacing was fast and stakes were high, I wasn’t fully invested in the story. It is important to notice, there’s nothing wrong with these characters – they are complex and get some interesting growth. It’s just I can’t fully connect with them and that’s my main issue with this book. Having said that, I admit that in the end Cazia becomes interesting and she may transform in engaging heroine in the sequel.
Side-characters are a different matter entirely. Ivy rocks. I would gladly read a book told from this fierce and formidable twelve-year-old perspective. She rocks, guys. And she’s not the only one to shine. Arla Grimfield, a scout in her mid-forties, is not the one to mess with. Also, her backstory was interesting.
While the book doesn’t contain too graphic scenes of violence, the body count is considerable. People die. Blood is spilled. Monsters explode in the fire. Don’t expect this book to be uplifting. When it serves the plot, violent things happen, but I think none of the few brutal scenes pictured in the book is over the top. I appreciate that horror can be shown without overwhelming a reader with hectoliters of blood and viscera. Additionally, there’s no foul language in the book. Characters have their own swear words, for example “Fire and Fury”. I find it cool.
As you see I gave the book 3.5 stars. It means I consider it a good book but not everything worked for me. I must admit that the ending was so engrossing that I wanted to give it four stars. But it would be unfair to other books I judge. Emotions aside and after cold analysis of my updates and level of engagement throughout the story, it’s a fair rating.
Because for most of the story I didn’t really connect with two POV’s I wasn’t really invested in it. The stakes were high and some ideas to torment heroes were great, but without strong emotional bond with characters, it’s hard to fully appreciate plot and twists. The other thing is, it took me close to 43 % of the ebook to start to feel immersed in the world and another 30 % to start to care for protagonist. A bit too long. The last gripe - it’s not meant to be read as a standalone. I think this book should be approached as the beginning of longer epic story that serves as long introduction to the world and characters.
On the other hand, upon finishing the book, I think it’s quite innovative fantasy adventure that features varied characters who try to salvage humanity in the face of crazy odds. If you’ll feel a connection with characters faster than me, you’ll enjoy the ride.
Side note: I planned to listen to this book but, while audiobook is narrated well, I prefer the written word. Therefore I listened to it to about 15% and then switched to ebook.
Edit: There's a fun interview with Harry Connelly on The Nerd Book Review Podbean - check it out
thiefofcamorr's review against another edition
4.0
Read for the SPFBO, this is the first book that I chose to further consider out of my initial 30, trying to whittle them all down to a single title to put forward to the other judges.
This book stands out initially because of the author's backlist of decent books, and also that one of the main characters is older than most main POV characters that we usually see. He's a warrior who has earned the trust of a king and queen, has already buried a wife and has a new family, and is seemingly retired from war - his body old and aching from a hard life (so possibly nearing or into his 50s?) It's a sharp contrast to the spoilt prince and his friends who are really quite childish, despite being teenagers.
They're all shaken to their core when the night of celebration, where they usually receive gifts of magic from another realm, is instead riddled with chaos and bloodshed - monsters come instead of magic, and wipe out the king and queen, and most of the city.
From there it is an exciting and engaging fight to the last page in order to regroup and get their revenge, feuding characters who have to realign their alliances, and all over a good feast of world building with a decent class-system that really gives depth and feeling to this novel.
Overall this is a solid book of quality. There are no grammar or spelling errors that caught my eye, and the formatting is decent. The pace and writing voice are quality also - you can tell that this book has been edited more than once, and fine-tuned to where it doesn't take any effort to read and keep reading - where a few of the other SPFBO books fall over is that they simply haven't had as much time put into them, taking the words and working them again and again to make them better.
It helps that this has an interesting magic and class system - it builds on the genre, doing something a little different that will make those very familiar with the fantasy genre interested to see what happens next. At the same turn, that does make this book a little harder to pick up if a reader were new to the genre.
Overall, this is a strong contender, and recommended if you've been following along in the SPFBO journey.
This book stands out initially because of the author's backlist of decent books, and also that one of the main characters is older than most main POV characters that we usually see. He's a warrior who has earned the trust of a king and queen, has already buried a wife and has a new family, and is seemingly retired from war - his body old and aching from a hard life (so possibly nearing or into his 50s?) It's a sharp contrast to the spoilt prince and his friends who are really quite childish, despite being teenagers.
They're all shaken to their core when the night of celebration, where they usually receive gifts of magic from another realm, is instead riddled with chaos and bloodshed - monsters come instead of magic, and wipe out the king and queen, and most of the city.
From there it is an exciting and engaging fight to the last page in order to regroup and get their revenge, feuding characters who have to realign their alliances, and all over a good feast of world building with a decent class-system that really gives depth and feeling to this novel.
Overall this is a solid book of quality. There are no grammar or spelling errors that caught my eye, and the formatting is decent. The pace and writing voice are quality also - you can tell that this book has been edited more than once, and fine-tuned to where it doesn't take any effort to read and keep reading - where a few of the other SPFBO books fall over is that they simply haven't had as much time put into them, taking the words and working them again and again to make them better.
It helps that this has an interesting magic and class system - it builds on the genre, doing something a little different that will make those very familiar with the fantasy genre interested to see what happens next. At the same turn, that does make this book a little harder to pick up if a reader were new to the genre.
Overall, this is a strong contender, and recommended if you've been following along in the SPFBO journey.
balefire's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyable for the most part
3.5* Couldn't give it a full 4* it was a good read and had two main enjoyable pov characters and a few good secondary characters. I was annoyed that lars who I thought was going to be my favourite character was turned. Cazia pov chapters where enjoyable to read for the most part but she was also petty and whiny at times which bugged me. Tehjohn for the most part aswell was fun to read plenty of good action and violence and definitely a good character arc but gloomy and sullen at times. I will be reading the next book but I might give it a while before I start it.
3.5* Couldn't give it a full 4* it was a good read and had two main enjoyable pov characters and a few good secondary characters. I was annoyed that lars who I thought was going to be my favourite character was turned. Cazia pov chapters where enjoyable to read for the most part but she was also petty and whiny at times which bugged me. Tehjohn for the most part aswell was fun to read plenty of good action and violence and definitely a good character arc but gloomy and sullen at times. I will be reading the next book but I might give it a while before I start it.
mato's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to give this a higher rating (I love his Twenty Palaces series) but there was nothing that really stood out for me. The major pro for me is that it is a defined trilogy. There are only three books in the series. In this day of unending book series it was a welcome relief to know there will be a nice wrap-up of everything.
I liked the plot, the main characters (he has a nice strong female character), and the magic system was interesting but nothing really stood out from other fantasy series.
I liked the plot, the main characters (he has a nice strong female character), and the magic system was interesting but nothing really stood out from other fantasy series.
aphrael's review against another edition
3.0
The story is fairly traditional fantasy in terms of the world it's set in and the way it's written. However, there's an interesting effort by the writer to subvert expectations of the traditional 'prince goes on a quest' and other fantasy tropes. I have a great love of capable characters, and while shit certainly hits the fan, these people get stuff done without being superhuman about it. Also, there are purple zombie bears. I know they're supposed to be terrifying but honestly I can't help picturing them to be a little silly ;).
This book deserves some applause for the fact that the world seems to be populated by a roughly equal amount of women and men. It does end up leaning a bit female heavy at some point, but after hundreds of fantasy books with an overwhelming male majority I think that's only fair.
The biggest thing wrong with this book is that it's not a 20 Palaces book. The next biggest thing wrong with the book is that it ends in a real weird spot. Luckily it's a series so I'm sure the next book will pick up where this one left off. One of the last scenes ends a bit too deus ex machina for me: A character is in trouble but all of a sudden she accidentally finds something nobody knew existed but that can fix exactly that problem. However, she's in situation that specifically allows for previously unheard of things to exist, so I'm going to assume this will get more fleshed out in the next books.
This book deserves some applause for the fact that the world seems to be populated by a roughly equal amount of women and men. It does end up leaning a bit female heavy at some point, but after hundreds of fantasy books with an overwhelming male majority I think that's only fair.
The biggest thing wrong with this book is that it's not a 20 Palaces book. The next biggest thing wrong with the book is that it ends in a real weird spot. Luckily it's a series so I'm sure the next book will pick up where this one left off. One of the last scenes ends a bit too deus ex machina for me: A character is in trouble but all of a sudden she accidentally finds something nobody knew existed but that can fix exactly that problem. However, she's in situation that specifically allows for previously unheard of things to exist, so I'm going to assume this will get more fleshed out in the next books.