Title: Cast in Chaos
Series: Chronicles of Elantra #6
Author: Michelle Sagara (West)
Rating: 4/5 Rune Tattoos
Spoilers: None!

Synopsis: Kaylin Neya is a Hawk, part of the elite force tasked with keeping the City of Elantra safe. Her past is dark, her magic uncontrolled and her allies unpredictable. And nothing has prepared her for what is coming, when the charlatans on Elani Street suddenly grow powerful, the Oracles are thrown into an uproar and the skies rain blood….

The powerful of Elantra believe that the mysterious markings on Kaylin’s skin hold the answer, and they are not averse to using her—how ever they have to—in order to discover what it is.

Something is coming, breaking through the barriers between the worlds. But is it a threat that Kaylin needs to defend her city against—or has she been chosen for another reason entirely?

Rating: Woops! Have been meaning to post this review for over a week now, got a little caught up in some other nonsense (work! pfft!) Anyways, it’s in no way a reflection on the book, which I enjoyed. The series had been losing a bit of steam for me, but this was a really great addition which also added in some new content that I’ll be looking forward to the fallout from in future books.

This book, like the rest of the series, is really well written and engaging. Michelle Sagara has created a pretty fantastical world that I think is fairly uncommon now for this kind of fantasy. For me, the Chronicles of  Elantra series has always read a lot like Urban Fantasy. This has a lot to do with how much of the plot lines have to do with the goings on of a very urban city, albeit not a modern one. That, and Kaylin is witty, kick-ass and a little self deprecating like a lot of my favorite UF heroines.

It’s hard to really go into the plot of this one without getting into spoilers since the books description tells you next to nothing, but I’ll tell you it was good. This series has a tendency to get a little sidetracked away from the main story due to all of the intricacies of the world the characters live in. All of the different races in this story lead pretty specific lives, most of which we’ve seen Kaylin (MC) delve into, even if it wasn’t necessary. Good world building, absolutely! But it does tend to pull focus away from plotting. Only happened a little in this one though and the detours are usually well worth it :)

Even though the back cover of the book didn’t tell you much, one thing I did love was the blatant foreshadowing. We did get a feel of what was coming midway through the book while the tension was still rising and it made for a pretty exciting read! I also loved getting to know some of our dragon characters a little better. Damn those mysterious immortals!

Anyways, like I said, I’m really excited to see what’s coming next although I have a feeling book seven will go off in some random direction. To be fair though, I don’t know how many books this series is planned to go for… but there are still a lot of loose ends that need to be dealt with so I doubt the next book will be the last! *fingers crossed*