Of Chaos and Eternal Night

by R.D. Pires

In perpetually foggy Ipsitfel, the bodies of the dead are lowered through a hole in the ground to appease an ancient agreement protecting the townsfolk.
When Theo's parents die, however, he's incapable of letting them go. After all, if he hadn't been shirking his responsibilities, he would've been with them when the fire claimed their lives and their home. Determined to make things right, he vows to resurrect them by following their bodies through the hole, into the underworld - a vast ocean with islands guarded by powerful beings, some friendly and some fiendish.
There he meets Demeres, a ferrywoman who may be his only chance of finding his parents and bringing them safely above ground. But navigating the perilous waters without attracting Death's watchful eye proves more difficult than he imagined, and the longer he takes, the more tenuous the connection between his parents' souls and the world of the living becomes.

Genres: Fantasy

326 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 8, 2025

About the author

RD Pires has found there's always a story to tell, and so he spends his time writing them down. A writing project is always on his mind, even when there aren't enough hours in a day to work on them.

Author of many genres, he has a special place in his heart for queer fiction. His latest works have been part of The Tides That Reign series with book 1, Design of Darkness out last summer, and book 2, Sparrows Sing of Dying just released!

He lives in California with his husband and their daughter.

Reviews

[MikeLikesBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you could, would you go down to the underworld to find someone you loved and bring them back, no matter the cost? Theo loses his parents and this is his plan. He runs into different challenges and relies on different people to help him so that he can fool death.

The plot and characters are great. This reads like a YA novel with no spice. There is some kissing. There are also are people getting unalived as things start to heat up.

The author does a great job tying everything together on how to deal with grief and pain of losing people you love.

[Mirann Tsumura · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite kind of book is one that really makes me ponder. In “Of Chaos and Eternal Night”, R.D. Pires took me on a journey of contemplation and self-reflection. While reading, I found myself taking breaks, not because I wasn’t riveted by the story, but because I wanted to sit with the emotion that Pires pulled out of me. While I found myself feeling sadness, fear, and anxiety, I also felt hope, peace, and resolve. This book has a way of holding up a mirror to your brain, forcing you to face your truths about grief, loss, death, and simply what it means to be human. The beauty of this book lies in the reflections it causes you to have with yourself. And these reflections are why I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had me completely engrossed from the first paragraph. The worldbuilding is fascinating and there was just enough included to be interesting without getting overwhelming. And the emotional core of the story, a young boy's grief, was a strong anchor that kept me invested throughout every moment. There were scenes of beauty and horror, peace and terror, and it was all woven together so well that I was completely swept up in the journey. I read the entire book in one sitting and barely noticed any time passing. I'm already making plans to read more work from this author.

I'm grateful that I won this book through a giveaway, since it's not my usual genre, and I might have missed out on this gem. All thoughts are my own.

[Marcos “MSMDragon” · Rating 5 out of 5]

R.D. Pires is a powerhouse when it comes to his writing. He beautifully crafts his stories with vivid worlds and fantastic characters.

Of Chaos and Eternal Night was a beautiful story of loss and grief. The way Pires handled death so delicately made for a great read. All of the characters were amazingly written and had such interesting stories. I really liked Theo as a main character. Everything he went through and learned was hard to read at times, but very important. And I’m glad he had Roman. Their story was just a little touch of queerness that added so much to the story.

[Megan S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely beautiful! This will have you in your feelings, contemplating the way you approach the death of those we love. The characters, ALL of them, are so multidimensional and relatable! The plot is steady and the writing poetic! I am so thankful for this eARC! 🥰

[Endova · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won a free copy of this book in a giveaway!

This book was so good! I really loved it from the beginning to the end. The world is very vibrant and Pires's creativity is noticeable throughout the whole story. A part of me wishes there was more to this story, but I also think that it's just the right length. It didn't have unnecessary padding throughout the whole thing just to make it longer.

Overall, I really liked the pacing of this book. I'm skeptical about longer stories, but this one was the perfect length for the story that it wanted to tell. It was 320 pages, which I wouldn't consider a long story at all. I really appreciated that, but any shorter and I wouldn't think that it'd be the length that it should be. The pacing was really great.

I enjoyed most of the characters a lot! Theo was great, though his insistence on putting other people in danger for his own wants and curiosities could get annoying. In the beginning of the story, it really did, but it was something that I got used to throughout the book. I do wish that he learned a lesson on not shoving others into danger so much, but it felt as though he was only brought halfway to that point by the end of the story. I do love his confidence, but the stubbornness could have been toned down a little bit lol

I like that we got to know Theo's parents a bit before they ended up dying. It made me feel like there was actual weight to their deaths, so it added a lot to the story as opposed to the reader not caring about just some background character dying.

I do wish we got to see Laila more. I feel as though she was more of just a character that could have easily been omitted from the story and it wouldn't have made too much of a difference to the plot.

I liked that Theo's best friend was a girl. I think it's a trope that's more common in children's books and in a more mature read, like this one, friendship between the main male and female characters seems to always turn into romance. Seeing them stay as friends throughout the whole story was a nice touch. I did feel bad when Ismena died too. I didn't see it coming, or at least didn't see it coming in the manner that it did. I guess Eldra was really holding the whole town together lol

It would have been nice to see more of Roman and his mother! I didn't necessarily feel much for Roman and Theo's relationship, so I would have liked to see that more developed as well, or perhaps even omitted or just kept to Theo having a crush on Roman or something.

When it came to Age, I really liked how mysteriously they presented themself. I wish we got to see more of them! They seemed really cool! And I loved that they asked for three things that weren't physical. I was thinking that the things they asked for would help Theo mature like a coming-of-age type of story, though I don't think that was ultimately how it ended up. Though it could have and I might not have really seen it, which would be unfortunate.

I liked Eldra as a character a lot, and I loved that she was the one that Death had fallen in love with. A huge part of me wishes that we could have seen her spirit connect with Death one last time before passing on. I think it would have been a really interesting piece of the story, or even a small epilogue bonus. I do wish we got to see more of Death as well. Perhaps seeing ehr perform her job would have been really cool!

I did notice the mentioning of Rimi in the beginning of the book (I do hope that I'm remembering this correctly). I thought it was interesting that Roman mentioned it, though it was one of the islands in the gateway, right?

I like that Roman was in the same boat as Theo with his father and grandmother. I wish we got to see a confrontation between Theo and them. It would have been an interesting piece to the story.

I also really loved that Demeres was the first body Theo saw fall into the gateway. I would have imagined that it would take a lot longer for her to gain enough money to pay her way onto an island. I also wish we could have seen her reunite with her husband in the gateway. It would have also been an interesting epilogue.

In the end, I'm glad Theo was able to let go of his parents. I like that they weren't kept alive and instead died again in the story. It does suck that Theo lost his connection to Ismena's family though. A part of me wishes there were repercussions for what he did with hiding them in the basement, or I wish that one of Ismena's relatives happened upon them in the basement.

I was, however, expecting zombies when their souls were reconnected to their bodies lol

I did love the world in the gateway as well. For some reason, I feel a really deep connection with the lighthouse, and I would have loved to explore that more, or at least that part of the island more.

Maybe, in the future, I'd love to see another version of this story with someone from a different place and their experience with entering a gateway of their own-- that way we could see more ferrymen or other islands! Or maybe even telling a tale through a ferryman themself, or through one of the guardians!

[Elizabeth Lowry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book drew me in from the first few pages. It was exciting and enjoyable read. Very well written and wonderful details!

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Take the journey from the Odyssey, the emotional stakes from the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, and finally a heaping of charm, and you'll get Of Chaos and Eternal Night. As a fan of Greek mythology, this book immediately resonated with me from its worldbuilding to its tale within a tale approach of storytelling. There is a beautiful darkness to the characters even through grief, each with quirks of their own who form a multi-dimensional cast that embodies true mythology. All of this is wrapped up neatly with strong writing and a wholesome mindset from Pires.

[Victoria Beilby Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful story about grief and navigating its ever-changing landscape. The writing is gentle but compelling, and Theo’s courage is a metaphor for all of us who have experienced loss. The connections between the world above and the world below are what we sometimes hope for, yet in the end, what keeps us connected to those we have loved is our memories, and acceptance of a new kind of relationship. Theo’s friendships and connections are just delightful; the world building in this novel is excellent.

[Maggie]

Rokg

[S46354595 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can always be won over by a book about death.
Also, I CALLED IT. I KNEW THAT OLD WOMAN WAS NOT DEAD YET ON PURPOSE.