Crucible of Chaos

A mortally wounded magistrate faces his deadliest trial inside an ancient abbey where the monks are going mad and the gods themselves may be to blame!

Estevar Borros, one of the legendary sword-fighting magistrates known as the Greatcoats and the king's personal investigator of the supernatural, is no stranger to tales of ghosts and demons. When the fractious monks of the abbey rumoured to be the birthplace of the gods begin warring over claims of a new pantheon arising, the frantic abbot summons him to settle the dispute.

But Estevar has his own problems: a near-fatal sword wound from his last judicial duel, a sworn knight who claims he has proof the monks are consorting with demons, a diabolical inquisitor with no love for the Greatcoats, and a mysterious young woman claiming to be Estevar's ally but who may well be his deadliest enemy.

Armed only with his famed investigative talents, his faltering skill with a blade and Imperious, his ornery mule, Estevar must root out the source of the madness lurking inside the once-sacred walls of Isola Sombra before its chaos spreads to the country he's sworn to protect.

Investigate alongside Estevar and the most heroic mule ever to appear in print in this thrilling swashbuckling fantasy mystery by Sebastien de Castell, author of the Internationally acclaimed Greatcoats and Spellslinger series!

Crucible of Chaos may be read as a stand-alone fantasy novel and as a prelude to Play of Shadows, the first official novel in the Court of Shadows series!

Brilliant and vivid world-building . . . riveting Chad Stahelski, director of John Wick on THE MALEVOLENT SEVEN
The best book I've read in 2024 . . . if you like fantasy novels with a historical feel, an intricate mystery, and strong supernatural elements, you will love this Joseph Finley, author of ENOCH'S DEVICE
Think Agatha Christie, but with dark fantasy elements . . . De Castell does a brilliant job of writing a piece of classic feeling crime fiction within a fantasy setting SFBook Reviews
Extensive world building, [an] awesome magic system, and riveting action FanFiAddict
The author's prose, both beautiful and captivating, kept me enthralled throughout . . . This dark fantasy tale takes you on a journey of truth-seeking, filled with witty remarks, magic, action sequences, and even a touch of magic . . . If you're a fan of Richard Swan's Empire of the Wolf series, I would highly recommend giving this one a try Before We Go Blog
Right off the bat, this mystery is juicy. The suspects are interesting, the clues are bizarre, the setting is terrifying, and the twists are twisty . . . I had fun the entire way through The Quill to Live
Sebastien's handing of the plot is masterful . . . dark, complex, intelligent and detailed, Crucible of Chaos is a Fantasy novel that is a cut above the usual SF2 Concatenation
An interesting tale full of political intrigue, betrayal and some magical shenanigans Books of My Heart
Really good fantasy Amazing Stories
Swashbuckling, dark magic, and a mule. I was hooked from page one Miles Cameron, author of The Red Knight

Sebastien de Castell had just finished a degree in Archaeology when he started work on his first dig. Four hours later he realised how much he actually hated archaeology and left to pursue a very focused career as a musician, ombudsman, interaction designer, fight choreographer, teacher, project manager, actor and product strategist. His only defence against the charge of unbridled dilettantism is that he genuinely likes doing these things and that, in one way or another, each of these fields plays a role in his writing. He sternly resists the accusation of being a Renaissance Man in the hopes that more people will label him that way.

Sebastien's acclaimed swashbuckling fantasy series The Greatcoats was shortlisted for the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fantasy. the Gemmell Morningstar Award for Best Debut, the Prix Imaginales for Best Foreign Work and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His YA fantasy series Spellslinger was nominated for the Carnegie Medal and is published in more than a dozen languages.

Sebastien lives in Vancouver, Canada with his lovely wife and two belligerent cats.

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