Of Chaos and Doom (Shattered Empire - Book Two)

by P. C. Darkcliff

Rating: *****

In this second installment of Darkcliff’s exhilarating Shattered Empire series*, the next generation of New Thorstormers face the destruction of their home village on the night of the Blood Moon two months hence, at the hands of evil mage Lanfareth, who now wields the magic battleax Tarroth.

Derrik and friends, currently in the far northeast of the kingdom in Dar Kahar, must reach New Thorstorm, far away in Western Gaaltor, before the Blood Moon. But is Lanfareth the only threat coming from the Darkside?...

Although the race to intercept Lanfareth is the narrative’s backbone, Darkcliff packs the novel with a dizzying yet controlled array of subsequent subplots, sidelines, and complications. There are some fresh characters, wildly inventive and individual, and the development of the existing cast is absorbing and believable.  Al’ Anark, the Elven Chieftain, gets better and better.

The first quarter is taken up by an absolutely thrilling, adrenaline-fueled showpiece sea battle, which would be the finale in most books of this genre. However, for Darkcliff, it’s merely an opener and a nail-biting one at that.

 Archmage Torsum is pivotal in these early stages, not only helping the New Thorstormers but also facing his own fight against the Darkside that has infiltrated the ranks of the Magic Circle. Although ruthless, he is warmly avuncular to the New Thorstormers without becoming a stereotype. Personally, the chapter featuring the young bronze-level mage, Iranxa, was unexpected, but Of Chaos and Doom has noticeably more sexual intrigue.

Additionally, an angry darkness permeates the novel’s fabric and is evident in most of the main characters, especially Derrik. Broose has matured considerably, becoming a strong, steadying influence on the others. His siblings, Eriana and Leya, are a complex pair. At times, neither girl, especially Eriana, is likable, but this is not a flaw; quite the opposite.

There is a whisper of future discord and competition between the sisters, which the reader suspects could prove troublesome for the close dynamic of the New Thorstormers as a whole.

As the central protagonists split into two groups, Leya and Eriana to travel to New Thorstorm and Derrik and Broose to look for Glen before joining them, a plot trajectory that looks fairly straightforward. Within a few paragraphs, however, seemingly impassable obstacles confront both factions.

Darkcliff never ceases to amaze and captivate the reader with his truly ingenious and credible solutions to overcoming the insurmountable, which, while solving the immediate impediment, often yield even more hellish or startling developments for the New Thorstormers.

There are some wondrously folkloric tableaus, brushed with sinister magic or set in ominous situations. Eriana and Leya’s time with Master Arnub’s Human Marvels traveling performers is one such. These are not merely richly absorbing detours. Darkcliff skillfully takes some of their more salient elements and/or characters and weaves them, often pivotally, with staggering and incredibly satisfying dexterity, into the main story.

Evil mage Lanfareth infuses even the tangents. She is one of Darkcliff's strongest villains, a study in contrasts, viciously volatile but oddly charismatic; she engrosses and repels. Her “protection” at the hands of Potkan, the mad genius in the mazes beneath Renekah, forms two of the novel's best chapters.

As the Blood Moon approaches, Darkcliff makes a brutal authorial decision involving a pioneering figure that, while surprising, is a timely move and adds a sharply personal, emotional layer to the high-octane intensity of the final chapters.

Of Chaos and Doom is a shrewdly plotted, lavishly imagined, and hugely entertaining second book in the first-rate Shattered Empire series from the master crafter of epic fantasy. Darkcliff effortlessly immerses the reader in the fantastically involving, action-packed world of the New Thorstormers, delivering terror, tension, and twists galore. Highly recommended.

*Click here for my review of Of Ashes and Blood (Shattered Empire – Book One).

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