Orphans of Chaos [Mass Market Paperback]

John C. Wright (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 2006

What if your teachers taught you everything-except who you really are?
 
For Amelia and her friends, the strict English boarding school she lives in is all she has ever known.  The sprawling estate, bordered by unknown territory on all four sides, is both orphanage, academy, and prison.  The school has a large staff, but only five students, none of whom know what their real names are, or even how old they are.
 
Precocious and rebellious, all five teenagers are more than just prodigies.  Amelia can see in four dimensions.  Victor can control the molecular arrangement of matter.  Vanity can find secret passageways where none existed before.  Colin is a psychic.  Quentin is a warlock.
 
And, as time goes by, they're starting to suspect that none of them are entirely human . . .
 
John C. Wright previous fantasy novels, the Epic Chronicles of Everness, were lavishly praised by both readers and reviewers.  Now he embarks on an ambitious new saga that explores the overlapping boundaries of science, mythology, and the imagination.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At first glance, Wright's myth-infused fantasy looks like something older Harry Potter fans might enjoy with its creaky British boarding school setting and its five ageless orphans—Colin, Quentin, Victor, Vanity and Amelia—each with a supernatural gift. But the underlying theme of dominance and submission plus a fair amount of physics and theology make this definitely a book for adults. A spanking scene involving the precocious Amelia Armstrong Windrose, who can travel into the fourth dimension, may offend some readers, but others will find it playful. Wright (Mists of Everness) doesn't fully develop the intriguing premise of these unusual students trapped in a school run by Greek gods as hostages in a bizarre war, but presumably he'll do so in later installments. Those who like sophisticated fantasy with a mild erotic charge will be most rewarded.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

In the first installment of the Chronicles of Chaos series, common associations of high school with prison prove spectacularly well founded. The five teen protagonists are hostages in a British boarding school run by pagan gods. Sustaining themes of lost identity from Wright's respected Golden Age trilogy and heavily borrowing from the work of Roger Zelazny, the narrative charts the teens' discovery of their true identities--they're shape-shifters who hail from Chaos--then pits their budding powers against school authorities who have proceeded from acting in loco parentis to being ominous and occasionally lascivious oppressors. Phaethusa, who goes by Amelia after her aviatrix role model, narrates the rich and frequently comic intrigue, which takes full advantage of the alluring juxtapositions that arise when the soul of a "montrosity from beyond the edge of space and time" is trapped in a nubile teen's heaving breast. Mythological references and discursions on the nature of reality may prove substantial barriers for some; Wright's growing fandom will revel in his overlapping frames of reference. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Tor Science Fiction; Reprint edition (October 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765349957
• ISBN-13: 978-0765349958
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.9 x 6.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #406,662 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another weird and excellent story from John C. Wright November 19, 2005

By Elisabeth Carey

Format:Hardcover

Wright continues to amaze. This book is not really anything like any of his previous ones, except that it's wonderfully written.

Somewhere in rural England, there's an orphage. The orphanage houses only five children-Victor, Amelia, Vanity, Colin, and Quentin. They're significantly outnumbered by the staff, and despite receiving an excellent education, they're kept in almost prison-like conditions of discipline and restriction of movements. They've never made even an unsupervised visit to the nearby village.

Oh, and they all have unusual powers-different and apparently incompatible powers. Quentin's a warlock, Victor can change the molecular arrangement of matter, Amelia can see in four dimensions. If the physical laws of the universe are such that Quentin's powers can work, how can Victor's also work under the same set of laws?

There's also some mystery about their exact ages, and the larger mystery of where they come from. And now that they're approximately in their late teens, or perhaps early teens, or, just possibly, early twenties, curiosity and determination are overcoming deference to the adults they increasing regard as jailers. When Amelia and Quentin manage to eavesdrop on a midnight meeting of the Governors and Visitors of the school, all bets are off and they're in active rebellion against their captors.

But they still know only tiny pieces of what's going on.

This is truly excellent, although I need to mention that it's the first half, or possibly the first third, of the novel, not the whole thing. This volume doesn't end; it stops at a crucial point. Part Two will apparently be entitled Fugitives of Chaos. (That's less of a spoiler for this book than it might seem....) Nevertheless, Wright has delivered before, and I do highly recommend this one. Read more ›

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Harry Potter for adults? Not quite... October 31, 2007

By Lauren Hutchison

Format:Hardcover

Orphans of Chaos was described to me as Harry Potter for adults. Students have magical powers, but as a slant, the teachers are actually their enemies. I don't think this comparison does an accurate job of portraying the mood of the book, but it comes close.

Orphans of Chaos - the first of a trilogy of fantasy books by John Charles Wright - takes place in an ambiguously old-fashioned boarding school in the UK, where five teenage students with no memory of their past start to realize their school is a jail, and their teachers are captors. The children stop taking their daily medicines, which awakens their dormant magical powers: each from a different and equally powerful paradigm. They slowly learn that they are hostages in a classic power play. All involved, including their teachers, are gods or servants of heaven. Narrated by one of the children - Amelia Windrose - they embark on a series of adventures to regain their memories, their powers, and escape their fate as political pawns.

The book is written in a somewhat florid style. I enjoyed the pace, which alternates between dialog and adventure. The language and plot elements are evocative of a pseudo-Victorian setting, though we later learn that the book takes place around modern day. All of the adventures and magic are entertaining. Though there may be an overload on the number of minor characters involved, all of the people (gods?) have intriguing backgrounds.

There are a few places where the book falls short. There's not a great continuity on which of the five children are involved in adventures or conversations. The children that are part of the action seem to be selected arbitrarily.... Some of the descriptions of magic start out as plausible and easy to follow, and morph into the ridiculous by the end of the paragraph - I think this is done on purpose for comic effect, but I didn't find it very amusing, just annoying. In some places, we're given exposition in a very dense and unlikely format.

But perhaps most of all, I felt the light sexuality too overt and a little disturbing. This may be a credit for some of my readers, but I'm violently opposed to any glorifications of pedophiles in books. We never learn the girls' ages, but we know for sure that they're not women, even if they have the necessary features. And yet, the girls are constantly seducing or are seduced by their teachers. I can handle overtones, but the scenarios - especially towards the end of the book - were constant and served little or no purpose for the story.

I think I will read the rest of the trilogy, just to see how the adventure proceeds. And there's hope for the "bad guys" yet. I can't put a book down until I know for sure whether or not the characters are dynamic. There's a definite attachment for Amelia built up, and though the rest of the children sort of disappear towards the end of the book, I'd like to be reunited with them. The occasional flaws and annoyances are minor enough, and the concept entertaining enough that I'll continue reading. I recommend this book to any fans of young adult fantasy who aren't put off by wordy, moderately-paced stories. Read more ›

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Hip re-envisioning of classical mythology October 3, 2009

By Michael Lichter VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Amelia (after Earhart), the self-named first-person narrator of the Children of Chaos trilogy, is a quirky, gutsy young woman who learns, early in ORPHANS OF CHAOS, that she can see into and move through dimensions beyond the three that normal folks perceive. It turns out that she and her companions are hostages against the good behavior of their parents, partisans of the Titans, the gods who in classical mythology overthrew the first generation of gods and were in turn overturned by the third generation. Virtually all of the characters can be found in references on classical mythology. For reasons not yet clear, the ages-old war between generations of gods is being fought out (at least in part) on present-day earth. The hostages yearn for freedom, and slowly recognize they can use their powers to escape their captors.

I was initially impressed with the way Wright handled speaking in the voice of a teenage girl. I was therefore deeply disappointed when, around p. 150, it turns out that spunky and self-possessed Amelia actually longs to be dominated by men, ordered around by men, and punished by men. Wright explains her appetite for domination as a result of supernatural attack, but the sexual politics of Amelia's desires (and Wright's fixations on bondage and spanking) taint the book. I also found the constant sexual banter uncharacteristic for a group of children who grew up together in such close quarters; I would expect more caution and respect among them. If I recall correctly, Wright's sexual politics were also pretty bad in his Golden Age series. This is particularly disappointing in a lauded young writer.

While ORPHANS OF CHAOS has many flaws, it is nevertheless enjoyable and provocative (when it's not outright offensive).... I like it better so far than his Golden Age trilogy, which also drew quite a bit on classical mythology. I hesitate to recommend the book because of its backwards sexual politics and annoying sexual banter, but I can't entirely condemn it either. Caveat emptor. Read more ›