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Indie Book Review: The Child of Chaos

THE CHILD OF CHAOS by Glen Dahlgren

5 Stars

Verdict: A gritty and original fantasy based around Order and Chaos. 

Galen has a wild imagination and doesn't want to end up a fisherman like his father. However, he doesn't seem to possess the 'longing' needed to belong to a temple and perform magic. Instead he has a different pull, one that might be responsible for his mother going missing. What's more is his bully, Horace, has the same longing and will go to extreme lengths to be first to find the cause of it. 

I really enjoyed reading this book from start to finish.  

Galen is a typical hero who's brave and has a good moral compass. He doesn't quite fit in with the labels his world forces on him, and there's something calling him to adventure out into the world, possibly to go missing forever like his mother. 

My favourite thing about this book was Horace. He's a young yet ruthless villain, a fast thinker, clever, brutal - and damaged. He's haunted by his own bully, which has led Horace down a dark path. No character was safe around Horace, and I couldn't wait to learn more about his motives and the lengths he'd go to get what he wants. The stakes were always so high. I hate to do comparisons to super popular books, but there really was a Game of Thrones quality where I didn't know who would make it to the end. I worried about everyone. 

My only criticism is to do with the categorisation of the book, not the book itself. I would say it has strong middle grade themes of friendship, a first crush, and standing up to bullies, yet it contains adult content of murder, torture, animal abuse, half-naked man slaves, and generally a lot of gruesome deaths. All of it fits the world building perfectly, but it does make it perhaps a little too dark for younger readers. The author has placed it as young adult, but it's a compromise that doesn't quite match the themes or the content... Whatever the category, I think transparency is the most important thing here and if any of the content words are triggers for you, then it's not the book for you. However, as an adult who mainly enjoys young adult books, I loved this even if it doesn't fit the conventional categories. 

What you have here, is an original fantasy world and a story which taps into tween themes. It's worth knowing this in order to understand what to expect from this book, but don't be put off. If you're looking for a fast-paced magical adventure in a unique world with a well-fleshed out villain, look no further. 

All in all, I found this a fascinating read, and I would definitely read another book by the author.

Source: Thanks to the author for providing an e-book copy. 

You can watch the video review here: https://youtu.be/5LmEMxQOTRQ

Buy the book and support the blog: https://amzn.to/2LiXUwI

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Comments

  1. Jo Linsdell16 April 2021 at 17:15

    Great review. I agree about the category. Sounds like it's not really for younger readers.

    ReplyDelete

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