Drum Warning

Drums of Chaos #1

by Jo Clayton

Two worlds in different universes are linked by powerful magic bonds, and when the two worlds drift closer together, they take a seven-year-old girl, her two black cats, and a teenage boy on a fantastical adventure with the fates of both universes at stake.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction

Hardcover

First published July 1, 1996

About the author

Jo Clayton, whose parents named her after Jo in Little Women, was born and raised in Modesto, California. She and her three sisters shared a room and took turns telling each other bedtime stories. One of her sisters noted that Jo's stories were the best, and often contained science fiction and fantasy elements.

Clayton graduated from the University of California in 1963, Summa Cum Laude, and started teaching near Los Angeles.

In 1969, after a religious experience, she moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, joining the teaching order Sisters of Mount Carmel as a novice. She left three years later, before taking final orders.

During her time in New Orleans, Clayton sold sketches and paintings in Pioneer Square to supplement her income.

After being robbed several times, Clayton moved to Portland, Oregon in 1983. She remained there for the rest of her life.

Clayton was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 1996. Jo continued to write during her year and a half in the hospital. She finished Drum Calls, the second book of the Drums of Chaos series, and was halfway through the third and final book when she lost her struggle with multiple myeloma in February, 1998.

Literary executor Katherine Kerr made arrangements with established author Kevin Andrew Murphy to finish the third book of the Drums of Chaos series. It is now completed.

Reviews

[Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn't unreadable, but it would certainly be fair to call this a jumbled mess.

[Althea Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two worlds, Glandair and Iomard, draw near to each other every 700 years or so, in an occurrence known variously as "the Settling" or "the Corruption." At these times, magical force grows stronger, bizarre phenomena occur, and those talented in various ways grow in their power... and plot to advance themselves. In this treacherous time, three gifted young people: Cymel, Breith and Lyanz, each struggle both with growing up and with what these forces may mean to them – or demand from them.
It's one of my quibbles with many fantasy & science fiction novels that the worlds created in their stories are very homogenous and simplified. In this, the most ambitious work by Clayton that I've encountered (and her last ‘Drums of Chaos' was incomplete when she died in 1998), there are not one but two incredibly complicated worlds, filled with different cultures and factions. It takes some attention to keep it all straight – but it's a really interesting premise and setting. I like, too, how not too much time is spent ‘explaining' the alien aspects of each world – the reader simply gets to experience it, and gleans information from context.
That said, this book is mostly scene-setting. We're introduced to many characters, and shown glimpses of their ruthless plots and ambitions... we worry about our young protagonists, unwittingly caught up in forces beyond their control... but not that much actually happens.

[Brian Palmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm torn on this book; as another reviewer mentioned, it's got a lot of factions interacting with each other at a distance, and a cast filled with backstory. I would go through multiple chapters really enjoying the book as the author started laying out the pieces; but then would hit a brick wall. Maybe it's on me for not following the various motivations.

In the end, the book didn't really do it for me, and I probably won't read its sequels.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it very much. It was a little difficult to keep track of all the characters at first, there was a lot of going back and forth between the two worlds. This was Jo Clayton's last book and I have all of her other books so I had to read this one. She was such an excellent writer, her descriptions of people and places are so superb, you can picture y ourself right there! I hope the next two books are just as good.