In the 1990s and 2000s, my reading tastes shifted from fantasy to historical fiction, and consequently I not only didn’t read but hadn’t even heard of authors like Steven Erickson and his Malazan Book of the Fallen series. I had grown up reading fantasy, and even though I loved it, I’ll admit to thinking of it as more of a young person’s genre. After all, fantasy was always about young farmboys setting out on a hero’s journey, right? What did the genre have to offer adults who were hungry for moral complexity and layered storytelling?
Of course, fantasy has always offered more than just another Frodo or Rand, but it wasn’t until the mid-2010s that I rediscovered this fact along with my love for the genre. I joined online groups full of people talking about deeply thought-provoking themes and challenging texts. I also discovered the indie author community, and writers exploring subjects I never imagined could be addressed in fantasy. I’ve been playing catch-up ever since.
I still haven’t read Erickson, or N. K. Jemisin, or even Brandon Sanderson (except for the Wheel of Time books he penned for the late Robert Jordan). But I have read Jesse Teller, an indie author with extraordinary imagination and insight.
Fate of Madness is the conclusion of the Madness Wars (the first book, Onslaught of Madness, is reviewed here). Set on the continent of Perilisc, Madness Wars details the conflict between Rextur Cherlot, the commander of a conquering army, and Peter Redfist, the hero who rises to defend the nation Rextur is bent on subduing. Contrary to traditional fantasies, wherein good Peter would be the central character and evil Rextur the villain we see only at a distance, the Madness Wars is Rextur’s story. He is the title character (and Madness is his actual title as commanding general of an army wherein common soldiers are known as Madmen and elite troops as Lunatics). Rextur and Peter’s close friend Aaron are also the only point of view characters who appear in all four books, and the plot revolves around these two damaged souls and their quest for redemption.
Rextur doesn’t know he’s seeking redemption. Known as the Madness, he is wholly committed to his mission to conquer the nation of Tienne. Rextur thinks Tienne is chaotic and decadent, and its undisciplined people deserve to be enslaved, have their wealth confiscated and their cities razed. This, Rextur believes, is god’s work. The gods of this world demand a lot from their followers. In book three, the soldier Strick pays a very high price for divine help in an odyssey that mirrors and foreshadows Rextur’s. Operating as the hand of Dis, the bull-like god of destruction, Rextur has enormous power. Wielding it, however, erodes his faith in himself and his purpose. He wants to clear the way to build a world composed of order, discipline, and harsh sort of justice (which is justice nonetheless). The trouble is, his god is a rampaging bull, and shattered china makes a poor foundation for building anything.
Peter, Rextur’s opposite number in this conflict, is a natural builder. He builds alliances. He builds friendships. He builds people, and his masterwork is Aaron the Marked. In Onslaught of Madness, Aaron was a ticking bomb of rage and envy, haunted by the specter of the abusive father he killed. By Fate of Madness, Aaron has conquered a lot of his inner demons. He has begun to think beyond his bloodlust and stop denying his worth as a person and as a hero. Whereas Rextur worships the destructive Dis, Aaron is devoted to Peter, and the difference couldn’t be starker. Peter is only human, but he is noble in the best sense of the word. His charisma, compassion, and commitment to doing good are what lead Aaron away from darkness. Thus, as Rextur withers under Dis, Aaron blossoms under Peter.
Although Rextur and Aaron are the primary protagonists of the Madness Wars, a wide assortment of rogues and heroes show us the war from all sides. In Fate of Madness, we are treated to two the darkest souls living in Perilisc: Saykobar and Tarana Korlyn. Saykobar is a young, sadistic, blackhearted sorcerer—a horny version of Raistlin Majere of the Dragonlance series. Mobster princess Tarana is equally sadistic and probably just as horny, but mainly she’s a malignant narcissist who believes she is destined to rule Tienne. Although both are horrible people who think and do truly horrific things, Saykobar and Tarana are delightfully entertaining character studies of the worst sort of people whose ill intensions somehow end up paving the road at least partway to heaven. Balancing this pair are Gale Summerstone and Cypress. Gale is a brilliantly ingenious wizard and founder of the Callden Collective, a foursome of equally brilliant magic wielders who bring joy to themselves and others, even in the darkest moments of battle. Cypress is a noblewoman born of two lands: Tienne and the neighboring Forest of the First Tree. The embodiment of life and unity, Cypress’s powers play a vital role in the war against Rextur.
Of the four books, Onslaught of Madness is the best crafted, but Fate of Madness provides us with a brilliant and satisfying conclusion to the series. As he did in Wrath of Madness and Plight of Madness (books two and three, respectively), Teller sometimes glosses over events or character interactions, which can make everything feel a little underdeveloped. Vax, for example, is an enigmatic character who has been at different points in the four books an ally and an antagonist to the heroes of Tienne. The mystery surrounding Vax and his actions heightened tension in the earlier books, but in Fate of Madness, Teller rushes through his storyline, and Vax’s actions end up seeming merely plot-convenient. Fate of Madness is a long book, and I suppose Teller may have felt a need to move things along, but Vax is such a major player that I would have liked a more satisfying conclusion to his story. Happily, this was the only major issue I had with this final book in the series.
The Madness Wars is part of an enormous body of work Teller has set on the continent of Perilisc. So far, Teller has published well over a dozen novels, novellas, and short story collections, and has written many more, with releases planned every six months for the next 10 years at least. The books jump around in time, with characters and subplots that crop up across the disparate volumes. Simon the Bard is a unifying force—an immortal storyteller, he turns up when needed to nudge the course of events when they go off track. What that track really is, however, is a mystery. Teller has said Madness Wars, Manhunters (a trilogy that also features Aaron the Marked), and the other conflicts detailed in the stand-alone books all document the brewings of a war between the gods. One tantalizing hint of things to come is a group of rogues called the Hoodsmen. Led by Saykobar, this crew of evildoers are all under the thumb of Valkyrie, a goddess of justice who forces to the Hoodsmen to eradicate villains and shift events toward the greater good, or at least the lesser evil. For readers who love their fantasy big—big books, big cast of characters, big conflicts and big worlds, Teller’s the author you.
Julia Kitvaria Sarene