Is the Chaos Seeds series a fun read?
For sure.
Is it sensible? Is it serious? Is it consistent?
No.
If you don’t care about that and just want a light-hearted, fun read, maybe this series is for you.
Me, I thought that I don’t need anything series. Damn, I finished Malazan and I need a multi-year palate cleanser to get over the cauldron of tragedy in that series. However, I almost put down this series a few times.
It’s no secret that Aleron Kong loves his memes. Loves them enough to put them into his works. Leslie Knope and Ron Swanson from Parks & Recreation make an appearance until slightly modified names. After a pretty heavy infodump in the first couple of chapters in the first book of the series, The Land: Foundling, there is this interaction.
Looking down at his vanquished foe, at the blood on the ground, at the life that was forever extinguished, something welled up inside of him. He fought the impulse, but he was helpless against it and shouted, “What does the fox say? Ba ring ring ring ba ring ba ring ring!”
Maybe it doesn’t help that I possess a deep and abiding hatred of that song, but there’s nothing quite as good at pulling me out of a story as the main character screaming out lyrics, or reading about the master-builder Roswan with his glorious moustache, ex-wife Tamitu (Tammy Two) and Lezli Gnome. On the other hand, my wife thought it was hilarious and it made her want to read more of the series.
So obiously this is just my own personal preferences. Maybe you smiled at the frivolity of those inclusions like my wife, in which case, you will 100% enjoy this series. To bits. Maybe except for the ridiculously detailed cave diarrhoea scene (which I actually found fairly humurous, but I’ve seen it lampooned in many other reviews), but hey, you can’t have everything and please everyone!
So if I don’t like the memes, why did I read literally all eight of the available books?
It’s a great self-insert, that’s why. Can’t deny it.
Richter (the main character) is charismatic, loved, powerful, and amazingly lucky. To the point he finds not just one but multiple legendary artifacts with which he transforms his little village into a high-tech utopia.
I too would love to trip over and find a cheque for a billion dollars, and watching Richter’s constant barrage of items, resources, and experience makes me wish, if I ever end up in his situation, I too have such great fortune.
I’m eight books in now, waiting on Aleron to release the ninth. I’m in this far, so I’ll definitely finish the series.
But I swear to god if there’s another ‘What does the fox say?’ excerpt I’ll delete the book and format my Kindle out of rage.
