Engines of Chaos

• Author: R.S. Ford
• Genre: Fantasy
• Publication Date: April 4, 2023
• Publisher: Orbit
• Series: The Age of Uprising #1

Thank you to Orbit and Angela Man for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

CONTENT WARNING: blood, murder, enslavement, violence, substance use, torture, ableism (challenged)

From an unnmissable voice in epic fantasy comes the second novel in a trilogy where guilds clash, magic fuels machines, and an empire begins a revolution.

Torwyn burns as Sanctan Egelrath tightens his grip on power. The Draconate Ministry has gathered its forces, determined to eradicate the Guilds, but Rosomon Hawkspur still stands in their way.

Her only hope could lie with Lancelin Jaguar, sent to gather allies in their struggle against the usurper. Can even the greatest warrior in Torwyn hope to succeed with so many adversaries determined to stop him?

Tyreta returns home with newfound strength and mysterious sorcerous abilities, only to discover it is not the land she left behind. She will have to call upon her untested powers to survive when she embarks on a mission that could turn the tide of war.

Conall, trapped in a dangerous land, has his own enemies to defeat before he can hope to escape and join the conflict that threatens his family. Even if he succeeds, he must overcome the demons that threaten from within or face damnation.

Though Rosomon is vastly outnumbered and her family lost, she is determined to strike back against her enemies. But saving her homeland might prove an impossible task.

I was expecting a book full of action and intrigue after the way book 1 ended, but I honestly had no idea how much I was going to get in this book. Normally, I’d fly through a book like this in 2-3 days, but it took me almost 2 weeks. This was mainly because I wanted to savor the story and truly enjoy it, but also because I wanted to take my time with the stories. There’s so much going on, and all the plot lines are all so wildly different.

One of the strengths in this story is the shifting narratives that Ford offers, with the variety of POV characters. This is especially important in this book, where there is action occurring in different areas of the empire, and groups are on the move across the empire. There are some new characters added to the roster, and while I didn’t like them at first, at least one grew on me a lot, and I wound up liking them so much by the end of the book.

In the last book, we saw Rosomon’s children spread across the empire and kind of floundering with their assigned tasks, while Rosomon is handling business like a boss in The Anvil. But in this book, things have changed dramatically. The coup shakes things up, and Rosomon is no longer managing things as well. This book shows her struggling as the head of a revolutionary faction to save the Guilds and fight the Ministry, and she’s completely out of her depth. However, Tyreta and Conall are thriving despite the tough circumstances that they’re stuck in. 

Since we kind of get an all-around view of what’s going on within the empire—we have a POV within The Anvil, and throughout various other areas of the empire, it really shows us what is happening on the inside of each faction and location. The pacing is consistent throughout the story, but there were so many plot twists that came out of nowhere and completely blindsided me. This is one of those books where I wish I had someone to buddy read it with me, because there were certain parts I just needed to vent about, discuss, and just screech about with someone else, and unfortunately I didn’t have anyone until just before finishing the book. Overall, this was a fantastic book, with so many great plot lines and I can’t wait to see how Ford plans to wrap everything up in the final book (which I can’t wait for). 

People who have sat around with me while I’m reading, especially when there’s a surprising reveal, a shocking plot twist, or an unexpected event often look up in alarm when I gasp audibly. The gasp factor is directly related to the number of times I audibly gasp during a reading, and there isn’t an upper limit.

Gasp Factor: 33