Thorns of Chaos

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Pub Date 13 Mar 2023 | Archive Date 12 Mar 2023

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Description

“Cain crafts a vivid world ... rich with detail and myth-lore that traipses brightly through the darker themes of oppression and suffering.” —BookLife Reviews

Queer Grimdark Fantasy: Finn is no hero, chosen born, or noble. Despite escalating tensions from the Dayigan soldier’s occupation of Feah lands, the happy-go-lucky twenty-five-year-old is content to spend his days fishing and flirting with the other men in his Celtic-like village. But everything changes at their midyear’s eve festival when an angry Dayigan commander catches Finn in the arms of another man. Suddenly framed for murder, he must flee his village or face death.


However, Finn isn’t the Dayigans’ only target. They believe all Feahs are wicked and intend to destroy them by any means necessary. The Feahs’ one hope of stopping the reign of terror is to find a relic forged by dark faeries and able to control chaos magic—and claim it to protect themselves. With the fate of the Feah lands resting on his shoulders, Finn seeks out sorcerers who practice ancient, forbidden magic.


Instead, he finds love with the handsome but fierce head of the sorcerers—and a power he never knew he could possess.


But when the Dayigans strike, can Finn harness the perilous magic to save his people without losing himself in the process?

“Cain crafts a vivid world ... rich with detail and myth-lore that traipses brightly through the darker themes of oppression and suffering.” —BookLife Reviews

Queer Grimdark Fantasy: Finn is no hero...


A Note From the Publisher

Jeremiah Cain is a dark epic fantasy writer of a vivid world—introduced in this stand-alone, "Thorns of Chaos"—that will serve as the setting for his upcoming series. He served as an army medic and is part of the LGBT+ community.

Hardback ISBN: 978-1-7348024-2-9
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-7348024-3-6
Ebook ASIN: ‎ B0BGFXTYD6
LCCN: 2022918334

• Retailer / Library: Distributed by Ingram.
• Currently available for pre-order at major online retailers.
• Contact Author: jeremiahcain.com/contact/

Jeremiah Cain is a dark epic fantasy writer of a vivid world—introduced in this stand-alone, "Thorns of Chaos"—that will serve as the setting for his upcoming series. He served as an army medic and...


Advance Praise

“Cain crafts a vivid world built around coming-of-age and man-vs-self tropes, a world rich with detail and myth-lore that traipses brightly through the darker themes of oppression and suffering. The Feah stand to lose everything, and Cain’s painstaking examination of the characters’ mental states gives readers a window into their anguish at the cost to protect their way of life.” —BookLife Reviews

“Cain crafts a vivid world built around coming-of-age and man-vs-self tropes, a world rich with detail and myth-lore that traipses brightly through the darker themes of oppression and suffering. The...


Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9781734802436
PRICE $16.99 (USD)

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Average rating from 26 members


Featured Reviews

Finn is no hero, chosen born, or noble. Despite escalating tensions from the Dayigan soldier’s occupation of Feah lands, the happy-go-lucky twenty-five-year-old is content to spend his days fishing and flirting with the other men in his Celtic-like village. But everything changes the night of the Midyear’s Eve festival, when the Dayigan commander catches Finn in the arms of another man. Suddenly, framed for murder, Finn must flee his village or face death.

This book was nothing like I expected to say more would spoil it. Read it for yourself but don’t expect flowers and rainbows.

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This is an extraordinarily vivid ancient telling about free-spirited winged Feahs, magic, and their collision with the powerful cruelty of Humans.
The Feah lands flourish in the magic and love of their Druids. Their life's force mentored in respect and strong faith in Earth's nurturing force. This story concerns a small village of Feahs called the Drevites, their passion for all living things, and their souls' bond to the Earth. But this book is also about a diaspora of fear and hate. The antagonists' uncompromised bigotry and threats of extinction threaten the Feah way of life. They are the Dayigan. A Human tribe.
The forest Feah are culturally, emotionally, and militarily unprepared for a war prosecuted with the purpose of their extinction. Tragic events lead the main character, an adorable and loving male Feah named Finn, to pay the ultimate price. His painful passage leads to embracing dark magic and gradual soul-deep evolution to save his Feahs.
Thornes of Chaos is above love stories between two men. Their families and tribespeople. Finn and Laisren have loved each other since childhood and are faced with a rediscovery of passion amidst loss and grief. Although practicing dark magic strengthens his magic, Finn's love for black hair and wings, the object of Finn's childhood of adolescent passion and love, becomes a steward in the taboo world of dark magic. Laisren's reluctance ultimately bears witness to Finn's beautiful goodness and innocence evaporating.
Finn's enrapture with saving his race from extinction at any cost causes Laisren's heart to break. As the evil of hate and bigotry transform Finn's body and soul. Can they survive the war the Dayiganss are bringing?
The plot twist of this reading is like the stories Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. Thornes of Chaos mimics the same mind-numbing dedication to goodness and light warring against the hellish darkness of mindless evil.
In a comparatively short book, the story moves quickly and efficiently, holding captive readers' attention needing to discover the outcomes of the survivors after the last paragraph.
Keeping safe their lifelong covenant of bringing no harm to any living creature and respecting the boundaries of tribes outside their borders, the cruel realities of Dayiganss find the Drevites of Feah lands unprepared.
Author Jeremiah Cain excels in bringing passion, love, grit, action, and bravery to the story in clear language. The emotional rollercoaster ride into the magical warrior Finn is breathtaking. And the supporting cast of lovers, friends, and relatives weaves a tale that takes the reader on a hauntingly dramatic journey.
My Thoughts,
This is a journey of how magic, love, and Feah-faith souls of the Earth become tools against the Dayigan tribe. Humans believe Earth will be better without Feah.
This emotionally lit storytelling is a passage that will remain long after you consume the last page. Author Jeremiah Cain delivers on his promise to provide fear, wonder, heartwarming loving, and commitment, waiting for discovery on each page.
Magic and fate became real for me in this story about fated love, family, friends, and magical winged tribespeople. The battle scenes are brutal, presenting stark, and bloody. Elements that grabbed my attention, holding it captive.
Thornes of Chaos down is an easy five-star good read.

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Thorns of Chaos by Jeremiah Cain

Leave it to me to fall for another winged faery 🤭 Our MC, Finn, is free-spirited, goofy and anything BUT a warrior before he stumbles upon a war that was inevitable. His people are shunned by humans for their beliefs and use of magic & he finds himself on a journey to seek out even darker magic to use in defense of his tribe. We get to see tons of character growth in Finn and I'm hoping we see more of him in future books! 🤞🏽 My only gripe with this story is the romance aspect that felt rushed. The author does provide a short explanation as to why it might have felt rushed throughout the story, but I still found myself wanting more of their backstory.

(Pub Date: 03/13/23)
Thank you to Netgally and Vyletra LLC for the eArc!

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Thank you, NetGalley!
Heartbreak and pain. That is what this book brings but in the best way. There is so much growth and change in Finn our main character, as he struggles to save his people. This book details the cruelty of people and the lengths Finn will go to save his tribe and defend what he cares about. It details the pain and struggle of the war, and it affects the people in it. I wish there was more development for the main romance in the book but other than that I think this book has a wonderful premise and brought so much mention when reading.

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‘Thorns of Chaos’ by Jeremiah Cain is one of the more intense fantasy novels I’ve read in a while. Incredibly layered with lore and characters, it was a deep and immersive reading experience. this is one of those books where I feel like I can’t say more because it just needs to be read to be appreciated fully. I’m deeply excited for the second book, should there be one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Vyletra LLC for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

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