Reviews

A Necessary Chaos by Brent Lambert

afternoon_sunshowers's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

There was so much going on that the various countries/empires/rebel groups were hard to keep track of. 

Several basic copy editing errors, such as “alot” as a single word, using the wrong character’s name, and missing words. It has potential but felt a bit rushed and the world was underdeveloped. 

Categorized as fantasy but it felt somehow more sci fi to me. 

jadely16's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

youshouldreadthisif's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

I was immediately drawn to this book by the synopsis and surprised to find, when I downloaded it to my Kindle, that it was only 142 pages long. This is one of those instances where I finished a novella needing more to be satisfied with the story, and, unfortunately, I think virtually every major element of the book suffers from its short length. There was so much world-building - so many places and groups and empires - stuffed into it that lacked meaning and that I couldn't keep straight. I was not convinced of the love between the two MCs, especially since most of the interaction between them during the first half of the book was about sex. I'm all for graphic sex in my books, even a lot of it, but here I felt that the deep feelings between the MCs that supposedly drove them to defy orders, etc. were underdeveloped. Lastly, we had characters changing motivations and switching sides and working with long-time enemies at the drop of a hat. All in all, I just don't think the length of the book allowed for enough space to do justice to everything this story is about. Which is a huge bummer, because it's an awesome premise and I liked the bones of the story.

yanareadit's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

rainbowbrarian's review

3.0

Queer Black Author - Hugo Award Winner - I picked this book for our library as part of our effort to focus on under-represented authors in our collection.

Things I liked in this novella - the word based magic system was really interesting, not something I’d seen done a lot before, magical disappearing tattoos, interesting and horrifying take on demonic possession, and overthrow of toxic corporations.

This novella took on a huge task of building an entire complex fantasy world and political system in a very short space. I applaud it for the ideas that clearly went into it, but it was a little too much to fit into such a compressed space. This story was more suited for a novel length book, I was left struggling a lot to remember a lot of unfamiliar places and names of different factions and actors. I really wanted to know more about the magic system and the little pieces we got of characters backgrounds felt a little bit rushed and under developed.

The whole idea of demonic possession to create a super soldier was really original. I don’t think I’ve read that anywhere and it was so well done! I saw on the author’s website that this might just be the first of a novella series and I am interested enough to read the next one.

Read this if: you loved “This is How You Lose the Time War” and want to see a queer black male take on it, love political sci fi thrillers and don’t mind some not quite baked world building, Love Enemies to Rivals to Lovers, like a “I’ve been lied to my whole life and now it’s time to make it right” moment.

greeniezona's review

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0

joreadsbooks's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 Received a review copy from the publisher
Content warnings: death, body horror, demonic possession, blood, mentions of past child abuse and magical experimentation

This is a science fantasy for people who love the magic tech worldbuilding of games like Final Fantasy VII and who like seeing couples at a crossroads. Vade and Althus are boyfriends keeping the same secret from each other: they’ve been assigned to eliminate the other, with many more twisted magical secrets in store.

High octane and emotional, definitely a book to read if you enjoy corpo wars and enemies who are also lovers.

This novella is so fun in how politically twisted it is. There are multiple empires with names that sound like corporations. There’s espionage. There’s magical experimentation, both legal and illegal. The spectacle of it also heightens the reading experience, with lush vacation spots and glittering night clubs where the shadiest deals take place. It simultaneous feels familiar as far as tropes go, but with a sheen that makes the presentation so modern.

Lambert also carves out time within the story to develop the relationships that nurtured both Vade and Althus. The way Lambert balances and contrasts the people who raised them is masterful, especially as more of the worldbuilding and the truth behind Two-Voice unfurls. The betrayals hit hard, and had me enthralled because when the drama hits the fan, it hits hard.

If you want to see two men who are so in love with each other, they literally fight against the magic coursing in their veins, you will be completely delighted. 

edunbar87's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5