On a world of magic, nightmares are real.
Three hundred years ago, the nations of the world defeated a cabal of powerful magic-users intent on domination. Victory came at the cost of a continent and civilization's destruction.
Two weeks ago, a trade caravan traveling through the Northern Wood was attacked, leaving mutated corpses and few clues.
Logan Grenbrook is a young mage with the GenâDom Order, performing missions to improve his standing and make a little profit. When assigned to the massacre investigation, Logan considers it yet another opportunity. His optimism is short lived.
Logan meets the party leader, a drunken Magistrate who believes a legendary forest monster is to blame, and a Penkal Guardian. Though the Guardian is Loganâs age, her presence draws a decade of trauma and prejudice to the surface.
The party follows a trail into the heart of the forest. The deeper they proceed, the more broken the landscape and savage the wildlife becomes, until they reach strange ruins and an underground complex.
Within its halls, Logan uncovers magic of wonder and atrocity. As he battles to escape, he is confronted with the truth that all he knew about magic, history, and himself, was wrong.
On a world of magic, nightmares are real.
Three hundred years ago, the nations of the world defeated a cabal of powerful magic-users intent on domination. Victory came at the cost of a continent and civilization's destruction.
Two weeks ago, a trade caravan traveling through the Northern Wood was attacked, leaving mutated corpses and few clues.
Logan Grenbrook is a young mage with the GenâDom Order, performing missions to improve his standing and make a little profit. When assigned to the massacre investigation, Logan considers it yet another opportunity. His optimism is short lived.
Logan meets the party leader, a drunken Magistrate who believes a legendary forest monster is to blame, and a Penkal Guardian. Though the Guardian is Loganâs age, her presence draws a decade of trauma and prejudice to the surface.
The party follows a trail into the heart of the forest. The deeper they proceed, the more broken the landscape and savage the wildlife becomes, until they reach strange ruins and an underground complex.
Within its halls, Logan uncovers magic of wonder and atrocity. As he battles to escape, he is confronted with the truth that all he knew about magic, history, and himself, was wrong.
Baron Federon Lamrik walked along the Arch Roadway. Stones crunched and shifted under his boots. He stopped in the middle of the road and gazed at the multitude of stars in the Northern Wood sky. His celestial view was restricted to a narrow ribbon set above the road. The surrounding hundred-foot-tall canopy was near impenetrable to light. The great trees swayed and creaked in the wind. Their shadows added a deep, inky shroud to the already dark forest.
Lamrik inhaled deeply. Blooming primrose, dawn glory, and violet rose mixed with a damp, earthy smell. The blend brought back memories of youthful days on the familyâs northern estate. Of course, he enjoyed time spent in the city and along the sea, but it was the forest that always held his heart. He loved being in the midst of one.
He looked back at the bonfire burning in the middle of the camp. Two dozen men, his men, sang around the fire, full of drink and good cheer. Their firelight-charged shadows danced across the six heavy wagons positioned in a crescent around the camp, while the horses rested in a roped-off corral. The men had worked hard preparing for this journey and deserved a night of revelry as it neared its end. Besides, it was better to let them get shit-faced drunk and stupid now, in the wilderness, than when they reached EâTal in three daysâ time. There was no sense getting on the local magistrateâs bad side during the first trip to the growing trade hubâalthough from the reports he had received on the man, any bad feelings could be rectified with a few bottles of partially acceptable wine. It was disgusting behavior for an officer of authority, but what else could one expect in the Frontier?
Lamrik knelt and scooped up a handful of stones. He gazed at them as they slipped between his fingers, watching flickers of firelight upon their surfaces. They looked like normal stones, but he sensed more. There was magic here. Not much, but enough for him to notice its presence. He had always been sensitive to magical auras, but his parents had had no interest in his attending university and refining his skills. They had not trusted magic users, and he had grown to share their wariness. Mages were tolerable when they kept to their studies, but recently they started working their way into the lordsâ graces. These actions usurped the Nobility Councilâs rightful place in the continentâs leadership. Just the thought of it ignited fury in Lamrik. This would not do. He changed his focus to the plan and calmed himself. The Orders thought themselves all-powerful. They would learn how wrong they were.
Lamrik stood, brushed his dusty hand off on his simple leather riding pants, and adjusted the sword by his side. A dull ache radiated from his lower back. Maria enjoyed teasing him about getting old. As much as he hated to admit it, his darling wife was right. Gray hair had conquered the dark curls that had once draped his shoulders and first caught Mariaâs attentionâthough he was not slipping into twilight without a fight. Working with his men in the warehouses kept his body lean and strong. The respect and loyalty he earned from them for sharing the load was an added bonus. Well, it made most of his body strong. There were nights he spent sprawled on his stomach while Maria placed a heated rock pillow on his lower back to ease the soreness. He could go for one of those pillows now.
He chuckled and turned his attention back to the road. It had been three years since Lord Ortesse had announced a plan to build a road through the ancient Northern Wood, linking Cyrrnâs southern trade routes to EâTal. Lamrik had immediately declared his support, even while other barons snickered at the idea. He did not fault them for their doubts. The Northern Wood sprawled as a vast, broken landscape. Its mighty ironoaks deflected the sharpest blades and withstood all but the mightiest fires. He had been joined by others on the Nobility Council who recognized the opportunities the new land bridge provided. There was no initial mention of magic. When Lord Ortesse announced the FebâRon Orderâs assistance in clearing the way through the ironoaks, it was too late to reconsider.
Footsteps approached. Lamrik recognized them. He turned to face Celius Cull, his caravan foreman.
âMy lord,â the tall, grizzled man said with a slight bow.
âYes, Celius?â Lamrik responded.
âItâs past high night. Should I break up this soiree and get the camp settled? There is still road ahead of us.â
Lamrik sighed. âI am sorry. It is my fault for letting them carry on this long.â
âItâs your prerogative, sir,â Celius said.
Lamrik considered the situation. âWe should bed down, but we will remain in camp tomorrow. The men needed tonight to recover from the journey, and I suppose they will need tomorrow to recover from tonight. We will use the day for wagon maintenance. Perhaps send out hunting parties for a feast. They can have another free evening, but no drinking. Iâm sure the horses will also appreciate another day of rest.â
âAs you say, my lord. Should I send word ahead to EâTal?â
Lamrik waved away the suggestion. âNo need to send a rider for a dayâs delay.â
âSo be it,â Celius said, and he turned to leave.
âBut donât crack the whip yet,â Lamrik said, stopping the man. âI could stand for another ale myself. Join me?â
Celius grinned. âHave I ever said no?â
The two men were walking back toward the bonfire when all at once the forest went silent. The singing stopped as the men noticed the sudden change. The silence was shattered by a multitude of birds launching from treetop roosts, filling the air with frantic cries and raining leaves and twigs down upon them.
Lamrik felt an odd sensation in his feet. It progressed up his legs and through his body. It was followed by a tremor rumbling through the earth. The deep-rooted ironoaks creaked menacingly but stood firm. The wagons rocked, and the horses neighed, huddling together in one corner of the corral.
The tremor stopped after several seconds.
âYou all right, my lord?â Celius asked.
âAye.â Lamrik steadied himself. âYou?â
âAye. Havenât felt one of those in a spell.â
âIndeed,â Lamrik replied.
Feeling the world shift beneath his feet was not a pleasant sensation, but it was over. Now he needed to calm any frayed nerves, or no one would sleep tonight, including himself.
âJust a groundquake, lads!â Lamrik called out. âThey happen in the wood but donât get stronger than that. Now, whoâs going to get me a mug?â
Conversation and laughter returned to the assembled men, until a sharp scream pierced the night. It came from the dark woods beyond the wagons. Another scream farther down followed.
âThe perimeter guards,â Celius said, meeting Lamrikâs gaze.
Lamrik drew his sword. âTo arms! Weâre under attack!â
The men, though drunk and momentarily stunned, dropped their drinks and scrambled for weapons. Lamrik ran through the camp with Celius and several others close behind. He passed between two wagons and entered the forest gloom.
Far above, birds returned to the comfort of their perches, unconcerned by the growing chorus of screams below.
A Nightmare of Magic and Madness is the first book in the Chaos of Magic series by Matthew Spizuco. Logan Grenbrook is a mage of the GenâDom order and is frequently sent out on various errands for other mages, that is whenever he is not working on his own studies. His mentor Jonathan has requested that he join Magistrate Chudakat in the investigation into what happened to Baron Lamrik and his caravan, something that was violent, sudden and unexpected. Joined by his foster brother Trok they meet up with Chudakat only to promptly discover they are not the only ones investigating Baron Lamrik. A Penkali guardian named Kareena was tasked with tracing the Baronâs smuggling operation and is now looking into his mysterious disappearance and possible death. Despite Loganâs distrust and misgivings they end up banding together to investigate the mysterious event. As they follow the trail they end up learning more than they ever expected about what it is they were facing and in the process about each other as well.
This was a pretty great read in terms of the actual story as I felt myself drawn right in from the get go and was seriously anticipating what was going to happen next. The tension and build up was just right to keep me drawn in and waiting. I can also honestly say that I did not expect the ending, at least not until way too close to said ending. The amount of twists and turns that the story takes is rather interesting and not what I was expecting from the beginning. There were a few things that played out close to what I was expecting but a lot of it was not even close. It definitely kept me right on the edge up until the end. The characters were also pretty cool and I felt like I got to know them decently well, more so Logan than the others but all of them pretty good overall. They were incredibly realistic and believable and I liked them both as characters and as a group. It does feel remarkably similar to other stories with a similar theme and concept but I will admit that this one was still good despite that. The story didnât feel over done or overly cliched which is hard to do with this type of story. My one real issue with the story was honestly the formatting as the paragraph breaks were really weird and in odd places, frequently the middle of a sentence. I donât know if this was just because I was reading an unproofed ebook or what but I would recommend checking this out. This book gets four out of five stars from me.
I would classify this book as an adult fantasy novel and would think it holds the most appeal to adult readers who enjoy the fantasy genre. However, the violence it does contain is not overly graphic or gruesome and there are minimal adult references so I would think that it could be read and enjoyed by teenagers as well. It was an enjoyable read and I would definitely read more of the series.