The Chimera Coup – This was a really good start of a new series.

The Chimera Coup (Heirs of Cataclysm, #1),
By Christopher G. Nuttall.
My rating ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ out of 5 stars.

Once, there was a shining civilization grounded on magic, with sorcerers, flying cities, iron ships, and castles in the clouds, and wonders beyond the dreams of mortal men.

And then, in a single cataclysmic moment fifty years ago, magic flared and the wondrous world came to an end. What few who survived are struggling to reclaim what they lost, while darker forces plot to shape the future to something more to their liking.

John, a young magician, is expelled from school after a disastrous experiment scarred his girlfriend and sent to join a band of adventurers in the Wildlands, the rough and twisted lands on the edge of the civilized world. Their first mission: defeat an evil sorcerer and liberate his thralls before he becomes a threat to all.

But it may already be too late…

This is a new series from Christopher Nuttall. Quite early on when I picked up reading on a more regular basis he became one of my top favorite authors. He has written a great many books that I really liked. With this particular book he is starting a new series and it is a really good start indeed.

Given who the author of the book is I had no doubt that the book would be well written and I was not disappointed. The only times I have been less than happy with a book from Christopher Nuttall was when he has chosen stories that was not really my cup of tea. That is of course personal bias and not an indication that the books were actually bad.

I was a wee bit hesitant since the basic premise for the story is an apocalypse one (yeah, yet another one) but it worked out fairly well. Also after having read the first book I am now hoping that we will get some hints as to what really happened in future books. Also, it would be quite cool if the main protagonist actually discovers some of the lost knowledge and magic.

The book has a good main protagonist. He is a decent guy, he is competent and he does not back down from a fight. He is joined, or rather he is joining, a rather cool band of adventurers. The leader of the band is quite kick-ass and I quite like her even though she did manage to get caught with her pants down a few too many times at the beginning of their adventure. I really like the spooky weirdling. Usually I’m not too interested in the romantic side stories but, knowing that this author usually do not go overboard with them nor resorts to a bunch of woke bullshit, I kind of hope that John and she hooks up.

Overall it was a really good story with plenty of potential. The part of it were the master of the school John was expelled from seems to have his own plans for John is a nice addition. There are really so many things I want to know in future books. Were will John go from her in terms of his magic, will he get the girl, what really happened for the world to go to hell, will they rediscover the lost magic and so on and so forth.

Next book in the series is on my to-read list for sure.