Engines of Chaos

Ford continues to impress with both his worldbuilding and his facility at creating fully realized characters in this sequel to 2022’s Engines of Empire. Torwyn, a nation only recently elevated to the status of an empire and ruled by six powerful guilds, is at a turning point after its founder, Emperor Sullivar Archwind, is assassinated during a coup. Now the land’s religious leadership, the Draconate Ministry, seeks to eliminate the guilds and consolidate power. The ministry’s head, the current Archlegate Sanctan Egelrath, sets out to ban the use of artifice (or magic) and to impose a regime in which the elaborate artificer machinery that’s been the nation’s lifeblood will “be replaced by the vigour and labour of its people.” Opposing him is Lancelin Jagdor, swordwright of the Archwind Guild, which specializes in artifice, who hopes to gather allies to save his people. Ford’s imagined world is so societally detailed that there’s even a character who’s an actuary. The result is a complex but accessible epic fantasy that keeps the series going strong. (Apr.)