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Review: A Necessary Chaos by Brent Lambert

December 23, 2024 by A.J. Calvin Leave a Comment

Rating: —/10

Synopsis:

Althus is an anarchist, a Phantom Dragon. Vade is a Whisper–an Imperial agent.

Their love was never meant to survive.

In a world of magical empires and the anarchists that would tear them down, A Necessary Chaos is the story of Althus and Vade, assigned to spy on the other by opposing sides. But now that they’ve both caught feelings, where will their loyalties fall? They must each decide if they’ll follow orders or find a way to make their romance thrive beyond the lies.

Review:

A fun mix of action, unique magic, political intrigue, and romance, A Necessary Chaos is a fast-paced, yet complex story.

The two main characters are both spies, set to glean intel from one another to help their respective (and opposing) factions. Althus is part of a rebel group seeking to break free of the three magical empires, while Vade is an agent for one of them (the Compact.) They’ve been meeting up for years—and working against each other the whole time—but somewhere along the lines, they fell in love. And that makes their respective jobs that much harder.

Theirs is a world constantly on the brink of war. The three empires are always seeking ways to undermine the others, gain more power, control more magic (I’ll get into the magic part in more detail later), and each has specially trained agents that utilize said magic. None of the empires are truly benevolent (no matter what they claim to their populace.) All of them have dark secrets and utilize some pretty brutal methods to get what they want.

Each empire discovered magic independently of the rest, by accessing a different dimension and harnessing its power. One of the empires uses “cancer” magic—and it’s about what you’d expect from the name. The wielder can manipulate organic bodies (whether they’re human, plant, insect, etc), and use that manipulation to kill, maim, or generally bend it to their will. Another of the empires uses some form of matter manipulation (this one was never given much page time, so I’m speculating a little here.) Those wielders can walk through walls and disappear through the floor, making them excellent assassins. The last form is what the Compact uses, and harnesses the language of demons, also called Two-Voice. The wielder can speak a phrase that sounds completely innocuous to those around them, but with an underlying command that allows them to perform an array of magics, some deadly, others merely helpful (like healing.) As an agent of the Compact, Vade is fluent in Two-Voice.

Despite all the worldbuilding I’ve mentioned, this is a very quick read. It’s novella length, and if I hadn’t been busy with other things this weekend, I could have finished it in an afternoon. It’s listed as part of a novella series (though I don’t think any others are available yet), but A Necessary Chaos works well as a standalone.

If you’re looking for a fast-paced story with a little action, a lot of magic, and a complicated romance, I encourage you to check it out.

Filed Under: Black Fantasy, Fantasy, LGBTQ+, Reviews, Urban Fantasy

About A.J. Calvin

I'm a fantasy author and an avid reader of all things sci-fi/fantasy/horror. When I'm not immersed in something literary, I like to hike, scuba dive, and play video games. You can learn more about my writing at ajcalvin.net.

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