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The Calamities
Not yet published
Expected 18 Aug 26A story of secret societies and foul families. Of belonging and exile. Of corruption, corrosion, temptation and seduction.
With wealth, prestige, and influence at their fingertips, five families have embedded themselves into society, but when something threatens to undermine everything they've established, they must find a way to protect the world they've always known.
With wealth, prestige, and influence at their fingertips, five families have embedded themselves into society, but when something threatens to undermine everything they've established, they must find a way to protect the world they've always known.
558 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication August 18, 2026
About the author
Chuck Wendig
187 books7,545 followersChuck Wendig is a novelist, a screenwriter, and a freelance penmonkey.
He has contributed over two million words to the roleplaying game industry, and was the developer of the popular Hunter: The Vigil game line (White Wolf Game Studios / CCP).
He, along with writing partner Lance Weiler, is a fellow of the Sundance Film Festival Screenwriter's Lab (2010). Their short film, Pandemic, will show at the Sundance Film Festival 2011, and their feature film HiM is in development with producer Ted Hope.
Chuck's novel Double Dead will be out in November, 2011.
He's written too much. He should probably stop. Give him a wide berth, as he might be drunk and untrustworthy. He currently lives in the wilds of Pennsyltucky with a wonderful wife and two very stupid dogs. He is represented by Stacia Decker of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
You can find him at his website, terribleminds.com.
He has contributed over two million words to the roleplaying game industry, and was the developer of the popular Hunter: The Vigil game line (White Wolf Game Studios / CCP).
He, along with writing partner Lance Weiler, is a fellow of the Sundance Film Festival Screenwriter's Lab (2010). Their short film, Pandemic, will show at the Sundance Film Festival 2011, and their feature film HiM is in development with producer Ted Hope.
Chuck's novel Double Dead will be out in November, 2011.
He's written too much. He should probably stop. Give him a wide berth, as he might be drunk and untrustworthy. He currently lives in the wilds of Pennsyltucky with a wonderful wife and two very stupid dogs. He is represented by Stacia Decker of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
You can find him at his website, terribleminds.com.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 159 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Chuck Wendig has taken his readers on many epic journeys. From a group of sleepwalkers who rebuild society, to an evil underground mine and a wicked apple orchard, to a mysterious staircase in the woods, and now he has introduced us to a family of demons.
Chuck Wendig is THE horror author whom I can always count on to deliver a completely original and compelling tale and The Calamities is no exception.
Bizarre, grotesque, shocking, and an action packed thrill ride are just a few words I’d use to describe this one. His world building is incredible and I enjoyed the main characters Mourning and Key. All of the nods to his prior works in this one were just icing on the cake. I can't wait to read book two of this series and I know that fans of Chuck’s prior works are going to love this one as well!
The Calamities by Chuck Wendig will be available on August 18. Many thanks to Del Rey for the gifted copy!
Chuck Wendig is THE horror author whom I can always count on to deliver a completely original and compelling tale and The Calamities is no exception.
Bizarre, grotesque, shocking, and an action packed thrill ride are just a few words I’d use to describe this one. His world building is incredible and I enjoyed the main characters Mourning and Key. All of the nods to his prior works in this one were just icing on the cake. I can't wait to read book two of this series and I know that fans of Chuck’s prior works are going to love this one as well!
The Calamities by Chuck Wendig will be available on August 18. Many thanks to Del Rey for the gifted copy!
to-find-or-get
June 29, 2026Pre-read
Noooo, my request for this one was rejected 😭 I guess I'll have to wait for it to come out! It sounds right up my alley (they totally got me with the For fans of Ninth House bit
Noooo, my request for this one was rejected 😭 I guess I'll have to wait for it to come out! It sounds right up my alley (they totally got me with the For fans of Ninth House bit
July 13, 2026
This is going to be a contender for favorite book of the year! We have fantasy, we have horror...and you already know that's my favorite combination! Chuck Wendig brings us to our world, but it's actually run by demons. There are families in power, like crime syndicates, who trade in human souls. These souls bring them wealth and beauty and power, etc. You know I love demons, you know I love wealthy family drama! It's like this book was written for me personally, thank you so much Chuck! Add the cat character, and we've got an obvious slam dunk. I'm not giving a synopsis, just read the book blurb... I love how dark and unhinged it is, I love the exploration of the human soul, I love the gory parts, and I love the flesh room. After consulting with friends, I am apparently more messed up than initially expected, because I'm here for the flesh room, while they were appalled by it. Please DM when you hit that part. This is a MUST-READ for my dark fantasy loving counterparts! And there is corn (not Korn).
Thank you SO MUCH to Del Rey for the physical ARC! A treasure. Book releases 8/18/26.
Thank you SO MUCH to Del Rey for the physical ARC! A treasure. Book releases 8/18/26.
July 1, 2026
Review to come upon release.
I received a review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.
Not entirely sure of what I just read, or if I liked it at all. Not really a fan of any of the characters beyond Key, and it was kind of a mess plot-wise.
I think 2.5 stars is fair, rounded up. For now. After I give it a think, it might round down.
I received a review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.
Not entirely sure of what I just read, or if I liked it at all. Not really a fan of any of the characters beyond Key, and it was kind of a mess plot-wise.
I think 2.5 stars is fair, rounded up. For now. After I give it a think, it might round down.
July 10, 2026
Chuck Wendig has done it again with another banger of an epic masterpiece. He always takes a foundation of tropes that are tired and overdone - in this case, broods of rich families who eat souls in exchange for power - how often have I seen that archetypal storyline?? But he breathes fresh life into these tropes, and keeps me riveted thanks to his characters and worldbuilding.
I also am tired of this recent trend of fiction about billionaires behaving badly; I generally find rich people bland and the only thing interesting about them is their wealth. Here, too, Wendig twists the knife and makes characters that were unlikable, yes, but complex and compelling.
Mourning Mayne wasn't my favorite character, the shallow scion of one of the broods who is a wayward playboy with an obsessive childhood crush on his assistant. I found him dull and insipid at first, typical spoiled rich boy, until his backstory is revealed; he refused to eat his crush's soul. Eating souls is a crude way of explaining it, but basically these old families have fixers, or fiends, who span out over the world and bargain with people to sell them their souls. The souls then become an elixir that is like a drug to them and gives them their power. Then I was on Mourning's side, despite the silly name, because he always tried to do the right thing despite being a fucked up hot mess. This definitely had "What if Succession had demons" vibes too.
The families are in an uproar because the Mayne patriarch has gone missing and taken their fount of elixir. But the game is much more dangerous than that. The hunt is on for a homicidal nonbinary artist called Quinn who is the key to something far darker than stolen elixir.
Mourning joins forces with another fiend on the run, Key, another character I loved, who is trying to redeem herself for stealing the soul of her friend-with-benefits and unrequited love, Lucinda, to save her life. The daughter of an addict, she resists imbibing of elixir, making her even more interesting to me.
I also enjoyed Quinn's character. You can always win me over with a pet cat (who thankfully does not die, spoiler alert necessary for horror.) I thought they were excellent nonbinary representation. As a genderfluid person myself, I related to their feelings about gender. Only one small quibble though. When they/them pronouns are used, please, please say "themself" instead of "themselves." Them is intended to be a singular pronoun and nonbinary folks generally aren't plural.
The story was frequently gory and soaked in blood and tentacles, which I often found gross but I agreed with the author's afterword that I also find horror comforting because it is an unreal mirror of the darkness of the real world that allows us to confront its heartaches. I loved the room of flesh, gave me goosebumps. Sometimes I love to be grossed out. The book as a whole though wasn't all that scary to me, mostly just gross and weird but in a good way. It leaned heavier into fantasy than horror, I thought, as well as action and thriller elements.
At times I did get tired of rich people problems, but this epic novel kept up the pace and kept me on the edge of my seat. It was a fun blend of intellectual dark fantasy and horror that I loved, cinematic in scope. I can't wait for the next book. Chuck Wendig is fast becoming an author I can always count on; I have also read Wanderers by him and loved it, and am overdue to read its sequel.
This book is a nonstop thrill ride with rich layers and interesting characters, and a fun start to an intriguing new series.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I also am tired of this recent trend of fiction about billionaires behaving badly; I generally find rich people bland and the only thing interesting about them is their wealth. Here, too, Wendig twists the knife and makes characters that were unlikable, yes, but complex and compelling.
Mourning Mayne wasn't my favorite character, the shallow scion of one of the broods who is a wayward playboy with an obsessive childhood crush on his assistant. I found him dull and insipid at first, typical spoiled rich boy, until his backstory is revealed; he refused to eat his crush's soul. Eating souls is a crude way of explaining it, but basically these old families have fixers, or fiends, who span out over the world and bargain with people to sell them their souls. The souls then become an elixir that is like a drug to them and gives them their power. Then I was on Mourning's side, despite the silly name, because he always tried to do the right thing despite being a fucked up hot mess. This definitely had "What if Succession had demons" vibes too.
The families are in an uproar because the Mayne patriarch has gone missing and taken their fount of elixir. But the game is much more dangerous than that. The hunt is on for a homicidal nonbinary artist called Quinn who is the key to something far darker than stolen elixir.
Mourning joins forces with another fiend on the run, Key, another character I loved, who is trying to redeem herself for stealing the soul of her friend-with-benefits and unrequited love, Lucinda, to save her life. The daughter of an addict, she resists imbibing of elixir, making her even more interesting to me.
I also enjoyed Quinn's character. You can always win me over with a pet cat (who thankfully does not die, spoiler alert necessary for horror.) I thought they were excellent nonbinary representation. As a genderfluid person myself, I related to their feelings about gender. Only one small quibble though. When they/them pronouns are used, please, please say "themself" instead of "themselves." Them is intended to be a singular pronoun and nonbinary folks generally aren't plural.
The story was frequently gory and soaked in blood and tentacles, which I often found gross but I agreed with the author's afterword that I also find horror comforting because it is an unreal mirror of the darkness of the real world that allows us to confront its heartaches. I loved the room of flesh, gave me goosebumps. Sometimes I love to be grossed out. The book as a whole though wasn't all that scary to me, mostly just gross and weird but in a good way. It leaned heavier into fantasy than horror, I thought, as well as action and thriller elements.
At times I did get tired of rich people problems, but this epic novel kept up the pace and kept me on the edge of my seat. It was a fun blend of intellectual dark fantasy and horror that I loved, cinematic in scope. I can't wait for the next book. Chuck Wendig is fast becoming an author I can always count on; I have also read Wanderers by him and loved it, and am overdue to read its sequel.
This book is a nonstop thrill ride with rich layers and interesting characters, and a fun start to an intriguing new series.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Did Not Finish
July 13, 2026Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, I DNF’ed this at 14% for numerous reasons.
The Calamities is a dark fantasy centred on Mourning Mayne, a wayward son of a powerful half-demon-half-human family. When Mourning is forced to return to his home, he is faced with his demonic inheritance and finds that he can no longer run from it.
I went into this book eager to read a good dark, perhaps urban gothic story. Instead, I was met with rampant misogyny, stilted prose, and such an edgelord of a protagonist that I wondered if he might somehow be worse than Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way. I will concede that I’ve never read anything by Wendig and therefore can’t comment on his authorship; whether this is a blip in an otherwise excellent record or a recurring theme remains unclear to me, and frankly I have no intention of finding out.
While I am aware that misogyny remains rampant in horror as a genre, and indeed in fiction overall, I remain intolerant of it. In what world is it necessary to present a female character (even a simulacrum of her) in a position so debasing and degrading that it warrants an interrogation of the author? Authors make choices in their writing, and they must be prepared to defend their narrative choices in the court of reader opinion. I cannot reasonably conceive of a reason why this scene was necessary beyond the kind of shock factor that only a seventeen year-old edgelord would find meaningful. It was unnecessary and therefore should not have been included.
Did the misogyny end there? Certainly not. The description of wealthy ‘horse girls’ would normally have been passable as a misogynistic character’s perception were it not so heavily implied to be a well-documented pattern. Readers who believe the women in this novel to reflect women in reality are likely due for a rude awakening when they find that the overwhelming majority of women don’t bring their sports/hobbies into the bedroom. Considering the author seemed to deem it necessary to mention a woman’s “folds” when describing childbirth, I must also add the possibly groundbreaking revelation that women do, in fact, exist beyond being sentient vessels for their vaginas.
All of this could have been enough to dismiss the book as simply a misogynistic mess, but it’s unfortunately riddled with some of the worst syntax I’ve ever seen in writing. If one were to take a shot every time this book uses the structure ‘not x, but y,’ they would die of alcohol poisoning within a single chapter. There was so much unnecessary repetition both in structure and content that the simple act of reading the novel felt like an exercise in self-immolation. In the end, I couldn’t drag out my suffering any longer.
I honestly can’t imagine anyone but an edgelord enjoying this book, but to each their own. Readers looking for dark, gothic themes that gracefully explore the sensuality and morbidity of their subject matter are better off reading Ava Reid’s Innamorata. If they want to read something edgy for the sake of it, popular Dramione fanfic My Immortal may be more their speed. Either way, I cannot in good conscience recommend this book.
The Calamities is a dark fantasy centred on Mourning Mayne, a wayward son of a powerful half-demon-half-human family. When Mourning is forced to return to his home, he is faced with his demonic inheritance and finds that he can no longer run from it.
I went into this book eager to read a good dark, perhaps urban gothic story. Instead, I was met with rampant misogyny, stilted prose, and such an edgelord of a protagonist that I wondered if he might somehow be worse than Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way. I will concede that I’ve never read anything by Wendig and therefore can’t comment on his authorship; whether this is a blip in an otherwise excellent record or a recurring theme remains unclear to me, and frankly I have no intention of finding out.
While I am aware that misogyny remains rampant in horror as a genre, and indeed in fiction overall, I remain intolerant of it. In what world is it necessary to present a female character (even a simulacrum of her) in a position so debasing and degrading that it warrants an interrogation of the author? Authors make choices in their writing, and they must be prepared to defend their narrative choices in the court of reader opinion. I cannot reasonably conceive of a reason why this scene was necessary beyond the kind of shock factor that only a seventeen year-old edgelord would find meaningful. It was unnecessary and therefore should not have been included.
Did the misogyny end there? Certainly not. The description of wealthy ‘horse girls’ would normally have been passable as a misogynistic character’s perception were it not so heavily implied to be a well-documented pattern. Readers who believe the women in this novel to reflect women in reality are likely due for a rude awakening when they find that the overwhelming majority of women don’t bring their sports/hobbies into the bedroom. Considering the author seemed to deem it necessary to mention a woman’s “folds” when describing childbirth, I must also add the possibly groundbreaking revelation that women do, in fact, exist beyond being sentient vessels for their vaginas.
All of this could have been enough to dismiss the book as simply a misogynistic mess, but it’s unfortunately riddled with some of the worst syntax I’ve ever seen in writing. If one were to take a shot every time this book uses the structure ‘not x, but y,’ they would die of alcohol poisoning within a single chapter. There was so much unnecessary repetition both in structure and content that the simple act of reading the novel felt like an exercise in self-immolation. In the end, I couldn’t drag out my suffering any longer.
I honestly can’t imagine anyone but an edgelord enjoying this book, but to each their own. Readers looking for dark, gothic themes that gracefully explore the sensuality and morbidity of their subject matter are better off reading Ava Reid’s Innamorata. If they want to read something edgy for the sake of it, popular Dramione fanfic My Immortal may be more their speed. Either way, I cannot in good conscience recommend this book.
August 12, 2026
🎧Horror fantasy ALC/ARC Review
Holy hell, the audiobook performances here are top tier good! In fact, I believe the audio itself is a whole experience! Damn man, @macleodandrewsactor has got to be one of the best storytellers ever! I knew right away that this man was an actor and can do just about any voice. Readers who enjoy audio as a preferred format and dig fantasy horror, LISTEN TO THIS!!
The Calamities is a pretty mind-bending tale. Think part Succession with demons. The story is full of some nasty little characters and boy, does this book get dark. Imagine a family dynasty who buy the souls of others.
Some scenes are freaking wild, grotesque, and terrifyingly horrific. Chuck Wendig has a wild imagination and is perfect for fans of fantasy, horror, and twisted family dynamics.
Highly highly recommend the audiobook and you can get it in multiple formats next Tuesday, 8/18.
4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Recommend by one of @scaredstraightreads ‘s favorites of 2026.
Pub Date - 8/18
Thank you to Del Rey and PRH Audio for the gifted copies.
Holy hell, the audiobook performances here are top tier good! In fact, I believe the audio itself is a whole experience! Damn man, @macleodandrewsactor has got to be one of the best storytellers ever! I knew right away that this man was an actor and can do just about any voice. Readers who enjoy audio as a preferred format and dig fantasy horror, LISTEN TO THIS!!
The Calamities is a pretty mind-bending tale. Think part Succession with demons. The story is full of some nasty little characters and boy, does this book get dark. Imagine a family dynasty who buy the souls of others.
Some scenes are freaking wild, grotesque, and terrifyingly horrific. Chuck Wendig has a wild imagination and is perfect for fans of fantasy, horror, and twisted family dynamics.
Highly highly recommend the audiobook and you can get it in multiple formats next Tuesday, 8/18.
4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Recommend by one of @scaredstraightreads ‘s favorites of 2026.
Pub Date - 8/18
Thank you to Del Rey and PRH Audio for the gifted copies.
June 8, 2026
Chuck Wendig absolutely knocked this one out of the park.
The Calamities is one of those rare books that manages to be funny, heartfelt, strange, and deeply human all at once. Wendig has a gift for creating characters who feel messy and real, and I found myself completely invested in their journey. The story balances humor and emotion beautifully, weaving together moments that made me laugh with others that hit surprisingly hard.
What stood out most was the sense of connection running through the entire book. Beneath the adventure, chaos, and larger-than-life circumstances is a story about people trying to find where they belong and who they can trust when everything falls apart. The characters aren’t perfect, and that’s exactly what makes them so compelling.
Wendig’s writing is sharp, energetic, and packed with personality. The pacing kept me turning pages, and even when things got weird, it always felt purposeful and grounded by the characters at its core.
By the time I finished, I wasn’t ready to leave this world or these people behind. Funny, emotional, imaginative, and unforgettable, The Calamities was an easy five-star read for me.
I love how there are ties to all of his other work within these pages, too. It’s just so good. Consistently.
GIVE ME THE SECOND BOOK *IMMEDIATELY* PLZ.
Huge thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Random House/Del Ray, and Chuck Wendig for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I honestly cannot wait for this next book :D
The Calamities is one of those rare books that manages to be funny, heartfelt, strange, and deeply human all at once. Wendig has a gift for creating characters who feel messy and real, and I found myself completely invested in their journey. The story balances humor and emotion beautifully, weaving together moments that made me laugh with others that hit surprisingly hard.
What stood out most was the sense of connection running through the entire book. Beneath the adventure, chaos, and larger-than-life circumstances is a story about people trying to find where they belong and who they can trust when everything falls apart. The characters aren’t perfect, and that’s exactly what makes them so compelling.
Wendig’s writing is sharp, energetic, and packed with personality. The pacing kept me turning pages, and even when things got weird, it always felt purposeful and grounded by the characters at its core.
By the time I finished, I wasn’t ready to leave this world or these people behind. Funny, emotional, imaginative, and unforgettable, The Calamities was an easy five-star read for me.
I love how there are ties to all of his other work within these pages, too. It’s just so good. Consistently.
GIVE ME THE SECOND BOOK *IMMEDIATELY* PLZ.
Huge thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Random House/Del Ray, and Chuck Wendig for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I honestly cannot wait for this next book :D
July 20, 2026
Thank you @delreybooks for my advanced copy! Believe it or not this is my first Wendig. I know..I know. Thank you @scaredstraightreads for the push.
What a freaking epic journey!!! I am always amazed at the creativity and minds of these authors. The blend of horror and fantasy was incredible and the attention to detail out of this world. The prose and poetic nature of Wendig’s writing really captures a vivid image for its readers. I could literally SEE this story.
The characters are all complex and have their own backstory. I don’t want to give spoilers, but I was saddened for Silas at the end. I had no idea this was going to have a second and now I will have to wait for Wendig to write another hunker! The pain is real lol
This was shocking, brutual and (at times) gross..but boy was this a wild ride.
What a freaking epic journey!!! I am always amazed at the creativity and minds of these authors. The blend of horror and fantasy was incredible and the attention to detail out of this world. The prose and poetic nature of Wendig’s writing really captures a vivid image for its readers. I could literally SEE this story.
The characters are all complex and have their own backstory. I don’t want to give spoilers, but I was saddened for Silas at the end. I had no idea this was going to have a second and now I will have to wait for Wendig to write another hunker! The pain is real lol
This was shocking, brutual and (at times) gross..but boy was this a wild ride.
Did Not Finish
July 23, 2026DNF @10% I have enjoyed previous books by this author, which is probably why I received an invitation to read this one. However, I did not realize it was part of a series when I accepted and I am just not into it.
June 23, 2026
hi do you love complex characters who change and grow? Do you love absolute MIND BENDING horror and fever-dream mythology to tie it all together in a little bow? I am absolutely floored. I can’t believe this is my first Chuck Wendig book, I’m gobsmacked! Every word written in this book created an astoundingly picturesque cinematic experience in my brain. I am a HUGE sucker for authors who can create worlds with unique mythology and also incorporate real-life references. And to top it all off I couldn’t predict ANYTHING that was going to happen. This book (and its future companion 👀) will be seated amongst horror’s most notable works. BRING ON CHAOS REIGNS!
August 8, 2026
I wanted to love this one so badly… but unfortunately, the demons and I are going to have to agree to disagree. 😅
The Calamities follows Mourning Mayne, heir to a powerful family of fiends who literally trade in human souls.
The premise? 👏🏼 Immaculate.
The worldbuilding? Weird and fascinating. The execution? Unfortunately, a miss for me.
There were definitely moments I enjoyed, but I struggled to stay fully invested, and the story felt like it was trying to do about 47 things at once. 😂
If you are into:
😈 Demons & fiends
🔮 Occult magic
🌑 Macabre stories
This might be your cup of demonic tea. ☕️😈
Thank you to Chuck Wendig, Del Rey Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to be an early reader! 📚🖤
The Calamities follows Mourning Mayne, heir to a powerful family of fiends who literally trade in human souls.
The premise? 👏🏼 Immaculate.
The worldbuilding? Weird and fascinating. The execution? Unfortunately, a miss for me.
There were definitely moments I enjoyed, but I struggled to stay fully invested, and the story felt like it was trying to do about 47 things at once. 😂
If you are into:
😈 Demons & fiends
🔮 Occult magic
🌑 Macabre stories
This might be your cup of demonic tea. ☕️😈
Thank you to Chuck Wendig, Del Rey Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to be an early reader! 📚🖤
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Review courtesy of an ARC provided by NetGalley
Chuck Wendig makes his debut into the whimsical world of grimdark fantasy with nothing less than a demonic shriek, complete with all the blood and viscera (and profane babies!) you could possibly hope for. My literal dream come true.
The Calamities is evocative of Kentaro Miura’s manga masterpiece Berserk at times, which is as unexpected as it is impressive. Few pieces of media scratch this itch for me, and I’m thrilled to say Chuck gets it with this one. That said, casual fans may find this installment in the Wendigverse WILDLY bizarre. Approach this world with the kind of open mind you’d reserve for a psychosexual atmosphere not unlike the works of Clive Barker.
This novel is peppered with deeply satisfying references and new lore surrounding the events of The Book of Accidents and Black River Orchard, and I suspect readers will get even more out of it equipped with that context. Edward Naberius is a deliciously compelling villain, and I cannot wait to learn more about him in the second half of this duology.
My biggest criticism (and what keeps this from being a five-star read for me, unfortunately) boils down to characterization and character motivation. The Mayne siblings gripped my attention instantly; the bizarre dynamic between the twins is immediately addictive, and I wish there had been a greater focus on Mourning as an individual. Sophie serving as his sole motivation for 500+ pages fell flat for me, much like Key’s seemingly sudden interest in telling Lucinda she ‘loves’ her without the chemistry or interaction necessary to make that feel genuine.
I also found it difficult to sympathize with Quinn, a character who largely serves as a plot device and little else. And Silas, whom I’m fucking with quite heavily, seems far too quick to counteract his nature in favor of protecting them.
I trust Chuck with my life, and while I usually prefer character-driven stories, the worldbuilding he’s pulled off in The Calamities pushes this higher up the rating scale for me. I think some of the clunkier characterization issues will iron themselves out as the story progresses in book two.
Many thanks to Del Rey and Random House for the opportunity to review what is easily my most anticipated release of the year!
Chuck Wendig makes his debut into the whimsical world of grimdark fantasy with nothing less than a demonic shriek, complete with all the blood and viscera (and profane babies!) you could possibly hope for. My literal dream come true.
The Calamities is evocative of Kentaro Miura’s manga masterpiece Berserk at times, which is as unexpected as it is impressive. Few pieces of media scratch this itch for me, and I’m thrilled to say Chuck gets it with this one. That said, casual fans may find this installment in the Wendigverse WILDLY bizarre. Approach this world with the kind of open mind you’d reserve for a psychosexual atmosphere not unlike the works of Clive Barker.
This novel is peppered with deeply satisfying references and new lore surrounding the events of The Book of Accidents and Black River Orchard, and I suspect readers will get even more out of it equipped with that context. Edward Naberius is a deliciously compelling villain, and I cannot wait to learn more about him in the second half of this duology.
My biggest criticism (and what keeps this from being a five-star read for me, unfortunately) boils down to characterization and character motivation. The Mayne siblings gripped my attention instantly; the bizarre dynamic between the twins is immediately addictive, and I wish there had been a greater focus on Mourning as an individual. Sophie serving as his sole motivation for 500+ pages fell flat for me, much like Key’s seemingly sudden interest in telling Lucinda she ‘loves’ her without the chemistry or interaction necessary to make that feel genuine.
I also found it difficult to sympathize with Quinn, a character who largely serves as a plot device and little else. And Silas, whom I’m fucking with quite heavily, seems far too quick to counteract his nature in favor of protecting them.
I trust Chuck with my life, and while I usually prefer character-driven stories, the worldbuilding he’s pulled off in The Calamities pushes this higher up the rating scale for me. I think some of the clunkier characterization issues will iron themselves out as the story progresses in book two.
Many thanks to Del Rey and Random House for the opportunity to review what is easily my most anticipated release of the year!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 24, 2026
Mourning Mayne is a pretty carefree recipient of an eventual fortune, inherited by the powerful family he comes from. When it comes to the rules and regularities of ruling an underworld kingdom, he doesn't know much, and finds himself reckless with the last name itself. This book is SO MUCH MORE than portals with clawed creatures guarding it. Wendig's usual humor resides nestled within the wit and strength of each character he writes, and I was shocked to see how well he wrote more serious roles (looking at Quinn and The Cleaver, here). As a lover of his long-winded horror, I couldn't get enough of the dark fantasy spin of this GDT/ King mixup masterpiece. Truly, each novel by this macabre wunderkind reminds me true horror will never die, with greats such as Wendig constantly repopulating once every blue moon. There were gruesome caricatures, both body horror and metaphorical ruminations alike, that will live in my memory forever that I won't spoil here for fear I'll ruin it for you. Honestly, no notes- I'm sure you can find some flaws, but I'm settling on- there are none, and I can't wait to continue this massive series. Thank you to Del Rey Books for the advanced copy. All opinions are entirely my own.
Did Not Finish
July 12, 2026going to have to dnf this one... i really wanted to like it but it's taken me 3 weeks to read 30% of this book and i just can't do it. this kid of reminded me of eric larocca's books which i love, but the thing with him is his books are short. this is 600 pages of meandering plot. it's weird bc i was liking it when i was actively reading it, but i have no desire to pick it back up anymore. i just found it not super engaging and hard to follow at times. and the characters were not really pulling me in, from the reviews i'm reading there are two other main (?) characters that i didn't even meet. there were also a few weird internet speak things that pulled me out of the story, it feels odd to read the phrase 'asmr' in a published book. i have read the wanderers and the book of accidents also by this author. i liked book of accidents but i have the same problems with this book as i did with the wanderers so i think i will say this author is just not for me.
June 8, 2026
The perfect amount of gore and tension, with world building expertise like no other, Chuck has thrown us into a tizzy here with the first installment of his series. I loved the family dynamics of the Maynes, the brood families across the globe, and the way they all interconnected based on their terrible doings, and I'm really looking forward to where we go from here.
I will say I was looking for more character development, and honestly Sophie feels like a waste of space that I'm hoping to be made totally wrong about come the next book. Chuck never fails, and never misses, and so I'll wait on pins and needles for the next installment to make it's way to us, and I'll rejoin our damned cast on the road to....whatever this is, and wherever we see it end.
4.5 stars!
I will say I was looking for more character development, and honestly Sophie feels like a waste of space that I'm hoping to be made totally wrong about come the next book. Chuck never fails, and never misses, and so I'll wait on pins and needles for the next installment to make it's way to us, and I'll rejoin our damned cast on the road to....whatever this is, and wherever we see it end.
4.5 stars!
July 14, 2026
Thank you for NetGalley and Del Rey, Random House for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I am not sure how to feel about this one. The concept was interesting, a family of demons. The description made of a horror-fantasy hybrid, and I will agree with this. But there was something that did not add up for me.
There were a lot of characters (which checks for the fantasy genre) but I did not feel connected to any of them. Even in the anti-hero sense. But the plot was messy and a bit convoluted.
I have enjoyed previous books by Wendig but this one was not a favorite. I keep bouncing back and forth on my thoughts of this one, but I would probably say I'd give it 3.75 stars rounded up to 4.
I am not sure how to feel about this one. The concept was interesting, a family of demons. The description made of a horror-fantasy hybrid, and I will agree with this. But there was something that did not add up for me.
There were a lot of characters (which checks for the fantasy genre) but I did not feel connected to any of them. Even in the anti-hero sense. But the plot was messy and a bit convoluted.
I have enjoyed previous books by Wendig but this one was not a favorite. I keep bouncing back and forth on my thoughts of this one, but I would probably say I'd give it 3.75 stars rounded up to 4.
July 24, 2026
Review to come!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Chuck Wendig’s The Calamities takes the old idea of a family empire and makes it monstrous, seductive, and gloriously unstable. The premise is a gift for readers who like their fantasy contemporary, their horror political, and their family drama laced with dread: Mourning Mayne, heir to one of the world’s most powerful dynasties, must reckon with the demonic machinery behind his family’s wealth, while the book introduces Key, Quinn, and a cast of characters who feel vividly alive, volatile, and deeply compromised. The result is a story that feels socially alive rather than merely plot-driven, and that gives it real bite.
Wendig has created a world where power is not abstract but bodily, transactional, and predatory. The Maynes are one of the oldest and most influential fiendish families, their dark magic born from buying human souls. The Calamities links supernatural appetite to greed, inheritance, and exploitation, making the horrors feel both fantastical and horribly familiar
Here, Wendig, understands family not as refuge, but as structure: a system of ownership, surveillance, obligation, and inheritance. Mourning’s arc is especially effective because he is not introduced as a triumphant heir, but as someone who has always struggled to accept “this legacy of cruelty, domination, and exploitation”, and who is only now beginning to understand how rotten the ground beneath him really is. His father’s return to the centre of the story only sharpens that pressure. “Your father had debts. And now those debts are yours.” This is the novel’s emotional and thematic engine. Debt here is not merely financial or symbolic, but ancestral, moral, and inescapable.
If Mourning gives the book its inheritance crisis, Key gives it its pulse. She is one of the most compelling figures in the extracts because she is split between attraction and revulsion, desire and self-protection, intimacy and escape. Her world is one where “the soul is treated as currency”, and that idea becomes especially vivid in the cellar scenes, where the language of tasting, drinking, and taking becomes a metaphor for complicity itself. “It felt like cannibalism. Worse. It felt like addiction.” That, more than anything, captures the novel’s moral temperature.
I loved how the diverse supporting cast adds real texture rather than acting as simple plot machinery. Mourning’s siblings are a pair of awful tricksters, but they are also instantly recognisable: the kind of people who can turn family dysfunction into an art form. Caetano is deliciously theatrical and vicious, the sort of figure who makes corruption feel ceremonial rather than merely violent. Herschel has a very different energy. He is the conspiracy-minded outsider who has connected the dots and paid for it, which makes him tragic rather than comic. Sophie feels quiet, withheld, and potentially dangerous in exactly the right way, the sort of character whose restraint suggests hidden knowledge.
Lucinda is a wonderfully sharp counterpoint to Key. She feels unexpectedly layered for a secondary character: witty, self-possessed, and emotionally clear-eyed in a way that cuts through Key’s evasions. Her refusal to become “just another set of initials” is such a humane moment, giving the scene a poignant note of emotional honesty beneath all the glamour and gore.
Together, these characters make the world feel inhabited rather than merely designed. That is part of why the book works so well. It does not just throw horrors at the page, it surrounds them with social behaviour, hierarchy, and private shame. Even when the action is extreme, the relationships remain recognisably human: jealous, flirtatious, defensive, and wounded.
The worldbuilding was such a pleasure, particularly the sense of occult architecture operating beneath the visible plot, suggesting a larger, more terrifying pattern still to come. That gives the novel a conspiratorial energy. Each reveal feels like another door opening on to a deeper chamber of dread.
What is especially effective is the way the prose repeatedly balances beauty against decay. It's fantastic. Portugal, the cellar, the duplex, and the occult interiors all feel physically specific, while the emotional language remains raw and immediate. Wendig has a way of making luxury feel infected, and that tonal doubleness is one of the book’s signature pleasures.
The strongest effect is that the text keeps asking whether any intimacy can survive in a world built on extraction. That question, more than the bloodshed or mythology, is what lingered with me.
The Calamities is a viciously entertaining and a darkly compulsive opener to The Fiends series: a book about what happens when power becomes hunger, when intimacy becomes transaction, and when family becomes a trap.
If you enjoy contemporary dark fantasy with teeth, sharp character work, occult menace, and a relentless sense of pressure, this feels like a very strong fit. It is bleak, twisted, and frequently brutal, but it is also alive with character, which is what makes the darkness land. #pudseyrecommends
Thank you to Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore, and NetGalley for the eARC of The Calamities by Chuck Wendig.
Wendig has created a world where power is not abstract but bodily, transactional, and predatory. The Maynes are one of the oldest and most influential fiendish families, their dark magic born from buying human souls. The Calamities links supernatural appetite to greed, inheritance, and exploitation, making the horrors feel both fantastical and horribly familiar
Here, Wendig, understands family not as refuge, but as structure: a system of ownership, surveillance, obligation, and inheritance. Mourning’s arc is especially effective because he is not introduced as a triumphant heir, but as someone who has always struggled to accept “this legacy of cruelty, domination, and exploitation”, and who is only now beginning to understand how rotten the ground beneath him really is. His father’s return to the centre of the story only sharpens that pressure. “Your father had debts. And now those debts are yours.” This is the novel’s emotional and thematic engine. Debt here is not merely financial or symbolic, but ancestral, moral, and inescapable.
If Mourning gives the book its inheritance crisis, Key gives it its pulse. She is one of the most compelling figures in the extracts because she is split between attraction and revulsion, desire and self-protection, intimacy and escape. Her world is one where “the soul is treated as currency”, and that idea becomes especially vivid in the cellar scenes, where the language of tasting, drinking, and taking becomes a metaphor for complicity itself. “It felt like cannibalism. Worse. It felt like addiction.” That, more than anything, captures the novel’s moral temperature.
I loved how the diverse supporting cast adds real texture rather than acting as simple plot machinery. Mourning’s siblings are a pair of awful tricksters, but they are also instantly recognisable: the kind of people who can turn family dysfunction into an art form. Caetano is deliciously theatrical and vicious, the sort of figure who makes corruption feel ceremonial rather than merely violent. Herschel has a very different energy. He is the conspiracy-minded outsider who has connected the dots and paid for it, which makes him tragic rather than comic. Sophie feels quiet, withheld, and potentially dangerous in exactly the right way, the sort of character whose restraint suggests hidden knowledge.
Lucinda is a wonderfully sharp counterpoint to Key. She feels unexpectedly layered for a secondary character: witty, self-possessed, and emotionally clear-eyed in a way that cuts through Key’s evasions. Her refusal to become “just another set of initials” is such a humane moment, giving the scene a poignant note of emotional honesty beneath all the glamour and gore.
Together, these characters make the world feel inhabited rather than merely designed. That is part of why the book works so well. It does not just throw horrors at the page, it surrounds them with social behaviour, hierarchy, and private shame. Even when the action is extreme, the relationships remain recognisably human: jealous, flirtatious, defensive, and wounded.
The worldbuilding was such a pleasure, particularly the sense of occult architecture operating beneath the visible plot, suggesting a larger, more terrifying pattern still to come. That gives the novel a conspiratorial energy. Each reveal feels like another door opening on to a deeper chamber of dread.
What is especially effective is the way the prose repeatedly balances beauty against decay. It's fantastic. Portugal, the cellar, the duplex, and the occult interiors all feel physically specific, while the emotional language remains raw and immediate. Wendig has a way of making luxury feel infected, and that tonal doubleness is one of the book’s signature pleasures.
The strongest effect is that the text keeps asking whether any intimacy can survive in a world built on extraction. That question, more than the bloodshed or mythology, is what lingered with me.
The Calamities is a viciously entertaining and a darkly compulsive opener to The Fiends series: a book about what happens when power becomes hunger, when intimacy becomes transaction, and when family becomes a trap.
If you enjoy contemporary dark fantasy with teeth, sharp character work, occult menace, and a relentless sense of pressure, this feels like a very strong fit. It is bleak, twisted, and frequently brutal, but it is also alive with character, which is what makes the darkness land. #pudseyrecommends
Thank you to Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore, and NetGalley for the eARC of The Calamities by Chuck Wendig.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This book was a journey, literally and figuratively. We see the characters traverse the US, and even flit overseas a bit. We see them working to discover just who and what they are, why they’re that way. Last but not least, we get a little journey ourselves into Chuck Wendig’s twisted imagination. I mean, seriously, this is the fourth book I’ve read and it’s definitely the one that’s left me going WTF the most, I don’t think it’s even close. There’s some very disturbing stuff in there…but if we didn’t enjoy that we wouldn’t be reading horror novels, now would we?
In this story we follow a bunch of fiends, descendants of demons that trade in human souls. They have an entire elaborate society set up. Powerful families act as power brokers, both amongst humans and their own kind. They’ve accumulated a great deal of wealth over the centuries, learned many dark rituals. But…all of the characters we follow are outcasts of that society, for one reason or another. Even Mourning Mayne, scion of one of the most powerful fiendish families…is something of a prodigal son.
They’re content to be outcasts, not really interested in entangling themselves too deeply into the machinations of their kind. But, unfortunately for them, those machinations draw them in. And that’s where the book really gets interesting. Our protagonists are, painfully, aware of how…let’s say immoral fiendish society is. It’s why they’ve been happy to just skate around on the outskirts of it. But when they can’t anymore, when they’re drawn deeper and deeper into it? That’s when we get to see them confronted with their dilemmas, wrestle with their literal and figurative inner demons. They know how horrific fiendish society is, so how horrific will they allow themselves to become to survive it?
And, honestly, this book would’ve been pretty good if it just had that focus on personal horror. But, dear god, Wendig really hits us with some grotesque body horror in this one as well. When souls get twisted and depraved the flesh can follow. And the results are disturbing, to say the least. Wendig states in the Afterword that one of the things he likes about writing horror is getting those emails. The, “What the fuck, dude,” emails. I’m pretty sure there are several parts of this book that’ll get him plenty of those.
The last really nice thing about this book is seeing things start to come together. I’ve mentioned that this is the fourth Chuck Wendig book I’ve read. The previous three are The Book of Accidents, Black Apple Orchard, and The Staircase in the Woods. I’ve noticed references to the other books while reading them, too. But it’s also explicitly shown that these books are in a setting that contains multiple realities. And in The Calamities we really start to see that these occurrences we’re reading about are, perhaps, not quite so random. That something might be at work, behind the scenes…
But if you want to know more you should read this for yourself.
Even if you don’t care about the universe Wendig is weaving here this book is well worth the read. It is deeply disturbing on many different levels, as all great horror is. It holds a dark mirror up to our world. It shows us the demons lurking in the depths of its settings, and makes us wonder about the ones lurking in the depths of ours. So, go ahead.
Pick it up.
See what’s waiting for you.
In this story we follow a bunch of fiends, descendants of demons that trade in human souls. They have an entire elaborate society set up. Powerful families act as power brokers, both amongst humans and their own kind. They’ve accumulated a great deal of wealth over the centuries, learned many dark rituals. But…all of the characters we follow are outcasts of that society, for one reason or another. Even Mourning Mayne, scion of one of the most powerful fiendish families…is something of a prodigal son.
They’re content to be outcasts, not really interested in entangling themselves too deeply into the machinations of their kind. But, unfortunately for them, those machinations draw them in. And that’s where the book really gets interesting. Our protagonists are, painfully, aware of how…let’s say immoral fiendish society is. It’s why they’ve been happy to just skate around on the outskirts of it. But when they can’t anymore, when they’re drawn deeper and deeper into it? That’s when we get to see them confronted with their dilemmas, wrestle with their literal and figurative inner demons. They know how horrific fiendish society is, so how horrific will they allow themselves to become to survive it?
And, honestly, this book would’ve been pretty good if it just had that focus on personal horror. But, dear god, Wendig really hits us with some grotesque body horror in this one as well. When souls get twisted and depraved the flesh can follow. And the results are disturbing, to say the least. Wendig states in the Afterword that one of the things he likes about writing horror is getting those emails. The, “What the fuck, dude,” emails. I’m pretty sure there are several parts of this book that’ll get him plenty of those.
The last really nice thing about this book is seeing things start to come together. I’ve mentioned that this is the fourth Chuck Wendig book I’ve read. The previous three are The Book of Accidents, Black Apple Orchard, and The Staircase in the Woods. I’ve noticed references to the other books while reading them, too. But it’s also explicitly shown that these books are in a setting that contains multiple realities. And in The Calamities we really start to see that these occurrences we’re reading about are, perhaps, not quite so random. That something might be at work, behind the scenes…
But if you want to know more you should read this for yourself.
Even if you don’t care about the universe Wendig is weaving here this book is well worth the read. It is deeply disturbing on many different levels, as all great horror is. It holds a dark mirror up to our world. It shows us the demons lurking in the depths of its settings, and makes us wonder about the ones lurking in the depths of ours. So, go ahead.
Pick it up.
See what’s waiting for you.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Oh boy... what a ride.
I was so excited to get an arc of the new Chuck Wendig book as he is one of my favorite horror authors. Staircase in the Woods was one of my favorite reads of last year, and The Book of Accidents is one of my favorite horror books period.
Safe to say, I went into this with pretty high expectations.
Unfortunately, they weren't QUITE met.
The main reason for this is because I felt this was pretty slow and meandering. We were about halfway through the book before even meeting one of the main characters, if I'm remembering correctly. The pacing just felt a little bit off to me. Not to mention, I was EXTREMELY confused in the first 20ish percent of this novel. I had no idea what was going on, what anything meant, etc. This made me slow down in my reading, and it made me dread to pick it up at times because I felt like I was just missing something.
All that is to say, once the story got rolling, I was HOOKED. Yes, this is long. Yes, the story DOES take a long time to unravel. There were many times I felt I was in the dark, and while that did bother me in the beginning, I came to realize that it also added to the mystery of the book, and made me want to continue reading. It made me want to unravel exactly what was going on, and I ended up finding it pretty exciting. What I thought was going to be the books downfall (the slowburn story, mixed with the slow reveal of what was going on) actually ended up being a strength. I still think there could be some of the story shaved off without losing much of it, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the story as a whole. Especially since, as stated, the book makes you want to keep reading to figure out what exactly was going on.
I found the characters to be frustrating at times, which was definitely the point. Mourning was self-centered most of the time, and some of the choices that he made had me reeling. Quinn was a mystery, and at first it was hard to see where they fit into the story, but their story also unraveled by the end. Key was probably my favorite character out of the main three, and I really enjoyed how she was portrayed, and the emotions that she was navigating throughout the book. To me, she was the most "real" out of all of them.
One thing that I noticed, and then couldn't unnotice... Wendig uses SO MANY of ':' and '-'. So many. I counted four ':' on one page at one point. Didn't detract from the story, but once I started paying attention to them, it just became obvious.
This book also left on a HUGE cliffhanger, and I'm sad this book isn't even out yet so I can't immediately jump into the next.
Overall, even with the few small issues I had with this book, I still very much enjoyed it, and would recommend if you want a dark, fantasy-horror that will keep you reading way past your bedtime.
4 very highly rated stars!
I was so excited to get an arc of the new Chuck Wendig book as he is one of my favorite horror authors. Staircase in the Woods was one of my favorite reads of last year, and The Book of Accidents is one of my favorite horror books period.
Safe to say, I went into this with pretty high expectations.
Unfortunately, they weren't QUITE met.
The main reason for this is because I felt this was pretty slow and meandering. We were about halfway through the book before even meeting one of the main characters, if I'm remembering correctly. The pacing just felt a little bit off to me. Not to mention, I was EXTREMELY confused in the first 20ish percent of this novel. I had no idea what was going on, what anything meant, etc. This made me slow down in my reading, and it made me dread to pick it up at times because I felt like I was just missing something.
All that is to say, once the story got rolling, I was HOOKED. Yes, this is long. Yes, the story DOES take a long time to unravel. There were many times I felt I was in the dark, and while that did bother me in the beginning, I came to realize that it also added to the mystery of the book, and made me want to continue reading. It made me want to unravel exactly what was going on, and I ended up finding it pretty exciting. What I thought was going to be the books downfall (the slowburn story, mixed with the slow reveal of what was going on) actually ended up being a strength. I still think there could be some of the story shaved off without losing much of it, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the story as a whole. Especially since, as stated, the book makes you want to keep reading to figure out what exactly was going on.
I found the characters to be frustrating at times, which was definitely the point. Mourning was self-centered most of the time, and some of the choices that he made had me reeling. Quinn was a mystery, and at first it was hard to see where they fit into the story, but their story also unraveled by the end. Key was probably my favorite character out of the main three, and I really enjoyed how she was portrayed, and the emotions that she was navigating throughout the book. To me, she was the most "real" out of all of them.
One thing that I noticed, and then couldn't unnotice... Wendig uses SO MANY of ':' and '-'. So many. I counted four ':' on one page at one point. Didn't detract from the story, but once I started paying attention to them, it just became obvious.
This book also left on a HUGE cliffhanger, and I'm sad this book isn't even out yet so I can't immediately jump into the next.
Overall, even with the few small issues I had with this book, I still very much enjoyed it, and would recommend if you want a dark, fantasy-horror that will keep you reading way past your bedtime.
4 very highly rated stars!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for this ARC!
Rating: 3.5 Stars rounded up.
“The Calamities” is book one of Chuck Wendig’s new series, “The Fiends”. We follow Mourning Mayne (as well as some others) as he is forced to return to the family he had abandoned – and who had abandoned him – years ago. But the Maynes are no ordinary family. They are part of an ancient web of families, part-human and part-demon, who get by (and get rich, get powerful) through the buying of souls. But things have started to turn even darker in this hidden world, and Mourning may just be one of the very few who can fix things… and save the world?
Overall, I would say I enjoyed this book. I like horror that is crude and gross but still has elements of sophistication, and just because of the epic proportions the world Wendig has set out to create has, I would say this book has succeeded in fulfilling all basic parts of that equation.
One of the best aspects of this book are its characters. Generally speaking, I really like when the main characters in a horror novel are unlikable, even actively hateable, but when you read a book this long you kinda need something to attach yourself to, and the three main characters of this book certainly worked for that purpose. I would say all characters start off rather one-dimensional, maybe feeling a little stereotypical, but as their layers are revealed and we watch them change (for better or for worse) over the course of the story, you really start feeling the desire to know MORE. I don’t know when book two will be out, but just know I will be counting down the days until we get to meet a certain someone (no spoilers!) again.
One of my issues with this book, however, is its pacing. As I mentioned above, this book has quite a lot it wants to achieve, and while it does succeed in achieving those goals, I’m not entirely sure it does so in the most reader-friendly way. There is quite a lot of worldbuilding that needs to be done to allow the reader to understand everything that is happening, and sometimes this was done in a manner that is a bit too much tell, rather than show.
It also felt like there was a bit too much back-and-forth within the plot. Some parts of that definitely felt necessary, others had me dreading the number of pages dedicated to them. I really feel that this book could have been a good 50+ pages shorter without losing out on any character or plot development.
All in all, The Calamities is the highly intriguing start to a new dark, horror-fantasy series (which we always need more of) and it is definitely one I would recommend checking out, because there is a lot of potential here with the upcoming book(s?) in this series.
Rating: 3.5 Stars rounded up.
“The Calamities” is book one of Chuck Wendig’s new series, “The Fiends”. We follow Mourning Mayne (as well as some others) as he is forced to return to the family he had abandoned – and who had abandoned him – years ago. But the Maynes are no ordinary family. They are part of an ancient web of families, part-human and part-demon, who get by (and get rich, get powerful) through the buying of souls. But things have started to turn even darker in this hidden world, and Mourning may just be one of the very few who can fix things… and save the world?
Overall, I would say I enjoyed this book. I like horror that is crude and gross but still has elements of sophistication, and just because of the epic proportions the world Wendig has set out to create has, I would say this book has succeeded in fulfilling all basic parts of that equation.
One of the best aspects of this book are its characters. Generally speaking, I really like when the main characters in a horror novel are unlikable, even actively hateable, but when you read a book this long you kinda need something to attach yourself to, and the three main characters of this book certainly worked for that purpose. I would say all characters start off rather one-dimensional, maybe feeling a little stereotypical, but as their layers are revealed and we watch them change (for better or for worse) over the course of the story, you really start feeling the desire to know MORE. I don’t know when book two will be out, but just know I will be counting down the days until we get to meet a certain someone (no spoilers!) again.
One of my issues with this book, however, is its pacing. As I mentioned above, this book has quite a lot it wants to achieve, and while it does succeed in achieving those goals, I’m not entirely sure it does so in the most reader-friendly way. There is quite a lot of worldbuilding that needs to be done to allow the reader to understand everything that is happening, and sometimes this was done in a manner that is a bit too much tell, rather than show.
It also felt like there was a bit too much back-and-forth within the plot. Some parts of that definitely felt necessary, others had me dreading the number of pages dedicated to them. I really feel that this book could have been a good 50+ pages shorter without losing out on any character or plot development.
All in all, The Calamities is the highly intriguing start to a new dark, horror-fantasy series (which we always need more of) and it is definitely one I would recommend checking out, because there is a lot of potential here with the upcoming book(s?) in this series.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
In The Calamities, Mourning Mayne is the reluctant heir to a powerful family whose wealth and influence are built on a dark secret. Hidden among humanity are fiends - half-human, half-demon beings who gain power through the buying and selling of human souls. When Mourning is drawn back into his family's world, he joins forces with an unlikely group of allies to uncover long-buried truths that could change the future of the fiends and the world.
Wendig’s style of horror pulled me in from the beginning, and I especially enjoyed the unique take on soul bargaining. The hidden world of fiends felt believable enough to exist alongside our own, and the world-building was easily one of the novel's greatest strengths. The vivid descriptions and eerie atmosphere made many scenes memorable, even when the story slowed down.
The biggest challenge for me was the pacing. The plot felt much longer than it needed to be, with many pivot points but very little real progress. Around the halfway point, I seriously considered DNFing, but I powered through in the hopes of the pace picking up.
I also felt the publisher's summary didn't fully match the story. It suggests Mourning must decide whether to embrace his family's legacy or forge his own path, but it seemed like that decision had already been made before the novel began. Since the main characters were already outsiders, the story became more about overcoming one obstacle after another. I think it would have been more interesting to watch them slowly internally reckon with the fiend system, rather than the readers’ mostly seeing the consequences of being raised as fiends. In many ways, sometimes this book felt like a sequel with the classic “book 2 slump.” Perhaps this is because Wendig interconnects his works and I’m not familiar with his other books.
Quinn was my favorite character, but I wanted to learn much more about them. Since Quinn plays such an important role in the story, they deserved a deeper backstory. I felt the same way about Sophie, Silas, and Lucinda. Horror doesn't need to answer every question, but these characters often felt more like plot devices than fully developed people. Even simple questions, like why the Mayne twins are so different from Mourning, are left largely unexplored.
Overall, The Calamities has excellent world-building, a creepy atmosphere, and an original mythology. While the slow pacing and limited character development kept me from fully connecting with the story, readers who enjoy atmospheric horror and dark fantasy may still find a great deal to appreciate.
Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for providing an advance review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.
Wendig’s style of horror pulled me in from the beginning, and I especially enjoyed the unique take on soul bargaining. The hidden world of fiends felt believable enough to exist alongside our own, and the world-building was easily one of the novel's greatest strengths. The vivid descriptions and eerie atmosphere made many scenes memorable, even when the story slowed down.
The biggest challenge for me was the pacing. The plot felt much longer than it needed to be, with many pivot points but very little real progress. Around the halfway point, I seriously considered DNFing, but I powered through in the hopes of the pace picking up.
I also felt the publisher's summary didn't fully match the story. It suggests Mourning must decide whether to embrace his family's legacy or forge his own path, but it seemed like that decision had already been made before the novel began. Since the main characters were already outsiders, the story became more about overcoming one obstacle after another. I think it would have been more interesting to watch them slowly internally reckon with the fiend system, rather than the readers’ mostly seeing the consequences of being raised as fiends. In many ways, sometimes this book felt like a sequel with the classic “book 2 slump.” Perhaps this is because Wendig interconnects his works and I’m not familiar with his other books.
Quinn was my favorite character, but I wanted to learn much more about them. Since Quinn plays such an important role in the story, they deserved a deeper backstory. I felt the same way about Sophie, Silas, and Lucinda. Horror doesn't need to answer every question, but these characters often felt more like plot devices than fully developed people. Even simple questions, like why the Mayne twins are so different from Mourning, are left largely unexplored.
Overall, The Calamities has excellent world-building, a creepy atmosphere, and an original mythology. While the slow pacing and limited character development kept me from fully connecting with the story, readers who enjoy atmospheric horror and dark fantasy may still find a great deal to appreciate.
Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for providing an advance review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I can see why this works for so many people - truly, I do - but, as an urban fantasy set in the modern day world, this was always going to be a hard sell for me to love.
The Calamities focuses on four main characters, with our first introduction being to Mourning Mayne, a son of the very wealthy Mayne family who also are one of a handful of families who guard a dark magic elixir. The plot kicks off with some of the other families exiting the game, not always by choice, and then Mourning's father, the family patriarch Hadrian, absconds with the Mayne's own supply of elixir, leaving some of the family's faithful coming to Mourning for answers. From there, Mourning begins trying to track down his father and the store of elixir, as well as having his path cross with others who are also intent on tracking down answers.
The idea and the plot were quite cool, and some of the visuals were great - Chuck Wendig has a way with fun and gory imagery! This was a quest book at its heart, and with lots of creative demons and deaths, it was a good combination of fantasy and horror, though definitely leaned much more heavily to the fantasy side.
Where I struggled was in two main aspects: as mentioned, urban fantasy in a modern day setting isn't typically my cup of tea. In this case, that setting also came with a lot of tech bro slang that just made me roll my eyes. I understand it's a stylistic choice and I guess it made sense for the setting and the characters but man, that is not a type of writing that is ever going to resonate fully with me.
My other qualm was that I felt the character development and motivations were fairly weak. Let's use Mourning, ostensibly our main character, for example. He has been estranged from his family for years but is also highly motivated to search for his father. The motivation behind both his estrangement and his search for his father is the same: his feelings for Sophie. So with Sophie being such a key factor to the plot and to Mourning's character, you would think she would get some development, or we'd get some idea why Mourning feels such a strong attachment to her. But, um, he's horny for her and she was also kind of a mother-figure to him as a teenager? I guess? At the end of the day, she's a plot device for Mourning but nothing more; I'll just say that Sophie is a character who was very obviously written by a man.
I do think this book was well done and well written for what it was, so if you like dark urban fantasy with demons and you're not bothered by a bunch of men talking like edgelords throughout the book, then you'll probably have, if not a good time, a better time than I did.
Thank you to the publisher, Del Rey, and to NetGalley for the ARC.
The Calamities focuses on four main characters, with our first introduction being to Mourning Mayne, a son of the very wealthy Mayne family who also are one of a handful of families who guard a dark magic elixir. The plot kicks off with some of the other families exiting the game, not always by choice, and then Mourning's father, the family patriarch Hadrian, absconds with the Mayne's own supply of elixir, leaving some of the family's faithful coming to Mourning for answers. From there, Mourning begins trying to track down his father and the store of elixir, as well as having his path cross with others who are also intent on tracking down answers.
The idea and the plot were quite cool, and some of the visuals were great - Chuck Wendig has a way with fun and gory imagery! This was a quest book at its heart, and with lots of creative demons and deaths, it was a good combination of fantasy and horror, though definitely leaned much more heavily to the fantasy side.
Where I struggled was in two main aspects: as mentioned, urban fantasy in a modern day setting isn't typically my cup of tea. In this case, that setting also came with a lot of tech bro slang that just made me roll my eyes. I understand it's a stylistic choice and I guess it made sense for the setting and the characters but man, that is not a type of writing that is ever going to resonate fully with me.
My other qualm was that I felt the character development and motivations were fairly weak. Let's use Mourning, ostensibly our main character, for example. He has been estranged from his family for years but is also highly motivated to search for his father. The motivation behind both his estrangement and his search for his father is the same: his feelings for Sophie. So with Sophie being such a key factor to the plot and to Mourning's character, you would think she would get some development, or we'd get some idea why Mourning feels such a strong attachment to her. But, um, he's horny for her and she was also kind of a mother-figure to him as a teenager? I guess? At the end of the day, she's a plot device for Mourning but nothing more; I'll just say that Sophie is a character who was very obviously written by a man.
I do think this book was well done and well written for what it was, so if you like dark urban fantasy with demons and you're not bothered by a bunch of men talking like edgelords throughout the book, then you'll probably have, if not a good time, a better time than I did.
Thank you to the publisher, Del Rey, and to NetGalley for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
4.5 ⭐️
Thank you SO much to Del Rey for the gifted copy - all opinions are my own.
The Calamities is a familial occult story rife with greed and exploit. It is a dark and dreadful fantastical horror that examines themes of power and lineage.
This tome is told in several POVs but the story begins with Mourning Mayne, future heir to his family’s vast wealth and power. The Maynes are among a network of fiendish families; meaning they’re part demon and part human. These fiends deal in human souls in order to obtain and maintain their wealth and prestige. When Mourning is ordered to return to his estranged family and their wicked ways, things quickly derail. For a man whose fortune rests on human souls, Mourning just may find his own along the way.
Wowza! This is a gnarly story dripping in viscera and devilish family drama. The themes run deep and are uncomfortably tangential to the current state of the world; greed, power and familial obligation being among them. The idea of a conglomeration of powerful and influential families virtually running the world is eerie and topical.
On the writing: Chuck Wendig did a superb job curating an ominous and bleak setting. Given that these families are obscenely wealthy, everything is painted in a palette of mahogany and amber which creates quite a striking visual. The morals (or lack thereof) in the cast were appalling but allowed space for their learning and (hopeful) growth. I am locked in to the subsequent installments to see how these characters advance or regress.
Something else I really appreciated in the story-telling was Wendig’s penchant for occasional check-ins with the reader. While there’s a healthy amount of characters and complex lore, the author is very good at summarizing the occurrences at opportune times via a character’s internal or external monologue. He does so in a way that’s subtle but greatly appreciated. Because of this skill application, the intricate plot never grows convoluted or laborious.
There’s really something for every dark lit reader here - sticky body horror, dreadful scenery, morally ambiguous characters, and a plethora of monsters.
My only minor complaint was with some of the dialog that could sometimes lean cheesy, particularly the feminine characters. Still, I was pleased that they weren’t portrayed as helpless and fragile so this was easy to get past.
Overall, this is one of the best dark fantasies I’ve encountered and Chuck Wendig solidified himself as an auto-buy author.
I recommend for fans of demonic stories, dark fantasy, downright good story-telling, and deep themes. Prepare for a gnarly time.
Thank you SO much to Del Rey for the gifted copy - all opinions are my own.
The Calamities is a familial occult story rife with greed and exploit. It is a dark and dreadful fantastical horror that examines themes of power and lineage.
This tome is told in several POVs but the story begins with Mourning Mayne, future heir to his family’s vast wealth and power. The Maynes are among a network of fiendish families; meaning they’re part demon and part human. These fiends deal in human souls in order to obtain and maintain their wealth and prestige. When Mourning is ordered to return to his estranged family and their wicked ways, things quickly derail. For a man whose fortune rests on human souls, Mourning just may find his own along the way.
Wowza! This is a gnarly story dripping in viscera and devilish family drama. The themes run deep and are uncomfortably tangential to the current state of the world; greed, power and familial obligation being among them. The idea of a conglomeration of powerful and influential families virtually running the world is eerie and topical.
On the writing: Chuck Wendig did a superb job curating an ominous and bleak setting. Given that these families are obscenely wealthy, everything is painted in a palette of mahogany and amber which creates quite a striking visual. The morals (or lack thereof) in the cast were appalling but allowed space for their learning and (hopeful) growth. I am locked in to the subsequent installments to see how these characters advance or regress.
Something else I really appreciated in the story-telling was Wendig’s penchant for occasional check-ins with the reader. While there’s a healthy amount of characters and complex lore, the author is very good at summarizing the occurrences at opportune times via a character’s internal or external monologue. He does so in a way that’s subtle but greatly appreciated. Because of this skill application, the intricate plot never grows convoluted or laborious.
There’s really something for every dark lit reader here - sticky body horror, dreadful scenery, morally ambiguous characters, and a plethora of monsters.
My only minor complaint was with some of the dialog that could sometimes lean cheesy, particularly the feminine characters. Still, I was pleased that they weren’t portrayed as helpless and fragile so this was easy to get past.
Overall, this is one of the best dark fantasies I’ve encountered and Chuck Wendig solidified himself as an auto-buy author.
I recommend for fans of demonic stories, dark fantasy, downright good story-telling, and deep themes. Prepare for a gnarly time.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I’m still not entirely sure how to explain my feelings about this one because they’re…complicated.
This is probably my least favorite Chuck Wendig book. And yet I also think it may be one of his best.
Those two things somehow both feel true.
The Calamaties isn’t the kind of book you race through. It actually pushes back a little if you try. Early on I kept waiting for it to become the story I expected, and it never did. Instead it kept peeling back another layer, then another, until I finally realized this wasn’t just a story about demons-it's about inheritance, power, family, and the impossible weight of becoming the person everyone expects you to be.
Once that clicked, everything I’d already read suddenly looked different.
The characters are incredible. Honestly, calling them “well developed” almost undersells what Wendig accomplished here. Nobody feels entirely good. Nobody feels entirely evil. Even when I disagreed with someone’s choices, I usually understood how they got there. Mourning especially is such a fascinating character because he’s constantly being pulled in opposite directions, and neither path feels easy.
I also appreciated that Wendig doesn’t rush anything. Sometimes I wanted him to. There were stretches where I wished the pacing would pick up just a little. But this is one of those stories that almost demands patience, making you feel respected as a reader who can handle slow, meaningful development.
And it’s deeply disturbing. Not because of graphic horror, but because of the unsettling ideas beneath the surface. It's a story that lingers, making you feel curious about what lies beneath the disturbing moments.
Not because it’s full of graphic horror, although there are certainly dark moments, but because of the ideas underneath everything else. There were several times I caught myself thinking about a scene hours later because of what it was really saying rather than what actually happened.
I don’t think this book was ever going to become a personal favorite. It’s simply not my preferred style of fantasy. But I admire it so much. Wendig took some enormous swings here, and for me, almost all of them landed. By the time I reached the end, I found myself appreciating everything that had come before far more than I did while I was actually reading it.
That doesn’t happen very often.
🌸 Floral Verdict: A Peony
The Calamities is a layered, well-written dark fantasy that invites reflection. It’s demanding and unsettling, encouraging curiosity about big questions. If you enjoy stories that challenge and provoke thought, you’ll find much to appreciate here.
This is probably my least favorite Chuck Wendig book. And yet I also think it may be one of his best.
Those two things somehow both feel true.
The Calamaties isn’t the kind of book you race through. It actually pushes back a little if you try. Early on I kept waiting for it to become the story I expected, and it never did. Instead it kept peeling back another layer, then another, until I finally realized this wasn’t just a story about demons-it's about inheritance, power, family, and the impossible weight of becoming the person everyone expects you to be.
Once that clicked, everything I’d already read suddenly looked different.
The characters are incredible. Honestly, calling them “well developed” almost undersells what Wendig accomplished here. Nobody feels entirely good. Nobody feels entirely evil. Even when I disagreed with someone’s choices, I usually understood how they got there. Mourning especially is such a fascinating character because he’s constantly being pulled in opposite directions, and neither path feels easy.
I also appreciated that Wendig doesn’t rush anything. Sometimes I wanted him to. There were stretches where I wished the pacing would pick up just a little. But this is one of those stories that almost demands patience, making you feel respected as a reader who can handle slow, meaningful development.
And it’s deeply disturbing. Not because of graphic horror, but because of the unsettling ideas beneath the surface. It's a story that lingers, making you feel curious about what lies beneath the disturbing moments.
Not because it’s full of graphic horror, although there are certainly dark moments, but because of the ideas underneath everything else. There were several times I caught myself thinking about a scene hours later because of what it was really saying rather than what actually happened.
I don’t think this book was ever going to become a personal favorite. It’s simply not my preferred style of fantasy. But I admire it so much. Wendig took some enormous swings here, and for me, almost all of them landed. By the time I reached the end, I found myself appreciating everything that had come before far more than I did while I was actually reading it.
That doesn’t happen very often.
🌸 Floral Verdict: A Peony
The Calamities is a layered, well-written dark fantasy that invites reflection. It’s demanding and unsettling, encouraging curiosity about big questions. If you enjoy stories that challenge and provoke thought, you’ll find much to appreciate here.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
For fans of Saltburn and body horror, the Calamities is Wendig’s latest series in which rich families are really descendants of demons and control the world through the taking of souls. It’s a clever critique of modern society, a read that will gross you out, but that will also keep you flipping pages as the world is about to end.
The story starts when the elixir, a substance made up of willingly given souls, start to disappear. Or the heads of the demonic families are murdered. But something isn’t right and Mourning Mayne, a spoiled and rich party boy is called home by his father, the head of a powerful family who descend from demons. At the same time, we meet Key, who belongs to a different demonic family, grew up in more tragic circumstances and is somewhat of a fixer, bargaining for souls but not partaking in the elixir.
Wendig’s social commentary in a time where power and wealth has been concentrated in the few, which makes the story even more believable and unsettling. The elixir gives the selected special powers, and the bargaining of souls allow them to become puppet masters, placing individuals in power in exchange for their souls. We don’t spend much time on the powers that be, which makes it even more believable.
Throughout the book, we follow Mourning and Key while they try to find an artist who has been drawing these eerie images of structures that call to them and show up in their dreams. Something isn’t out there, and it’s bigger than them, and it’s controlling, and it’s determined to get something. That Mourning and Key are both antiheroes is a nice touch. Mourning spends his entire life as a spoiled brat, drinking and taking drugs, leaving people in his wake and just not caring much about the consequences. Key is basically working as a soul stealer. These are not people who are nice or moral in the traditional sense.
But the best characters are the complicated ones, and both our antiheroes obviously have their own capacity for thought. Kernels of morals shine through and it makes them the tether for the reader to cling on to in the hope that some right decisions will be made.
For the squeamish, it’s probably good to know that body horror is an element of this novel. I thought it added nicely to the overall horror, but there are some scenes that may snake some people flinch. Overall, the vibes reminded me a lot of the movie Saltburn, but it’s not too close in story. I would highly recommend the Calamities to lovers of horror.
I received a copy from Del Rey via NetGalley. Thank you for allowing me to review this book!
The story starts when the elixir, a substance made up of willingly given souls, start to disappear. Or the heads of the demonic families are murdered. But something isn’t right and Mourning Mayne, a spoiled and rich party boy is called home by his father, the head of a powerful family who descend from demons. At the same time, we meet Key, who belongs to a different demonic family, grew up in more tragic circumstances and is somewhat of a fixer, bargaining for souls but not partaking in the elixir.
Wendig’s social commentary in a time where power and wealth has been concentrated in the few, which makes the story even more believable and unsettling. The elixir gives the selected special powers, and the bargaining of souls allow them to become puppet masters, placing individuals in power in exchange for their souls. We don’t spend much time on the powers that be, which makes it even more believable.
Throughout the book, we follow Mourning and Key while they try to find an artist who has been drawing these eerie images of structures that call to them and show up in their dreams. Something isn’t out there, and it’s bigger than them, and it’s controlling, and it’s determined to get something. That Mourning and Key are both antiheroes is a nice touch. Mourning spends his entire life as a spoiled brat, drinking and taking drugs, leaving people in his wake and just not caring much about the consequences. Key is basically working as a soul stealer. These are not people who are nice or moral in the traditional sense.
But the best characters are the complicated ones, and both our antiheroes obviously have their own capacity for thought. Kernels of morals shine through and it makes them the tether for the reader to cling on to in the hope that some right decisions will be made.
For the squeamish, it’s probably good to know that body horror is an element of this novel. I thought it added nicely to the overall horror, but there are some scenes that may snake some people flinch. Overall, the vibes reminded me a lot of the movie Saltburn, but it’s not too close in story. I would highly recommend the Calamities to lovers of horror.
I received a copy from Del Rey via NetGalley. Thank you for allowing me to review this book!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
4.25 stars.
Culty influential legacy families descended from demonic progenitors, and a soul-sucking pyramid scheme to earn a taste of that gloriously heady elixir of human existence. It’s ’honey for the hive’, but what happens when the well runs dry?
Calamities is a darkly hedonistic and deliciously cruel multi-pov story of fiends haunted by the blood that runs through their veins and the inescapable pull of their dysfunctional toxic families. Mourning Mayne is the prodigal son returned from his exile/perpetual bacchanalia, and Key, is an abstinent outcast soul-seller; both unknowingly caught in a dangerous web, with no knowledge of who is pulling the strings. Amidst the chaos is Quinn, an artist of considerable talents; and Silas, the affable, yet downright bonkers neutered killing machine.
Wendig’s worldbuilding is fascinating and immensely entertaining, creating an unhinged and decadent world of the rich devilish fiends that manipulate human lives from the shadows. The pacing is smooth, with sustained momentum and the prose is amusing, deceptively easy to read, but also evocative and vivid in conjuring the scenes it describes. The horror is brutal, indulgent and gory. I enjoyed the utter chaos. The protagonists were morally grey, with distinct personalities that were so much fun to read. Likewise, I really enjoyed the side characters like Lachlan and Lorelei who were absolutely creepy, but embodied that cruel, unpredictable fiendish lifestyle.
Comparatively, I did find the focus on romantic entanglements and how they motivate some of the protagonists to be unengaging, hollow and unconvincing. Key’s relationship is largely portrayed as casual, so I didn’t quite understand its sudden intensity and how emotionally invested she was, beyond her feelings of guilt. Similarly, Mourning’s enduring teenage crush on what was essentially his babysitter/caretaker feels unhealthily Oedipal in nature; which isn’t unusual when considering his dysfunctional family life and daddy issues, but it largely fell flat if the intention was to create a meaningful bond.
That aside, I loved the dynamic between the protagonists and how the novel weaves each narrative together to what culminates to an utterly chaotic and true to form finale. This was a wildly fun read; I am invested and looking forward to future instalments. I shall patiently wait for my next taste from the fount!
Thanks, Netgalley and Del Ray, Random House, Inklore for the eARC. This was a brilliant, dark fantasy horror and I definitely need to read more of Chuck Wendig’s work now!
Culty influential legacy families descended from demonic progenitors, and a soul-sucking pyramid scheme to earn a taste of that gloriously heady elixir of human existence. It’s ’honey for the hive’, but what happens when the well runs dry?
Calamities is a darkly hedonistic and deliciously cruel multi-pov story of fiends haunted by the blood that runs through their veins and the inescapable pull of their dysfunctional toxic families. Mourning Mayne is the prodigal son returned from his exile/perpetual bacchanalia, and Key, is an abstinent outcast soul-seller; both unknowingly caught in a dangerous web, with no knowledge of who is pulling the strings. Amidst the chaos is Quinn, an artist of considerable talents; and Silas, the affable, yet downright bonkers neutered killing machine.
Wendig’s worldbuilding is fascinating and immensely entertaining, creating an unhinged and decadent world of the rich devilish fiends that manipulate human lives from the shadows. The pacing is smooth, with sustained momentum and the prose is amusing, deceptively easy to read, but also evocative and vivid in conjuring the scenes it describes. The horror is brutal, indulgent and gory. I enjoyed the utter chaos. The protagonists were morally grey, with distinct personalities that were so much fun to read. Likewise, I really enjoyed the side characters like Lachlan and Lorelei who were absolutely creepy, but embodied that cruel, unpredictable fiendish lifestyle.
Comparatively, I did find the focus on romantic entanglements and how they motivate some of the protagonists to be unengaging, hollow and unconvincing. Key’s relationship is largely portrayed as casual, so I didn’t quite understand its sudden intensity and how emotionally invested she was, beyond her feelings of guilt. Similarly, Mourning’s enduring teenage crush on what was essentially his babysitter/caretaker feels unhealthily Oedipal in nature; which isn’t unusual when considering his dysfunctional family life and daddy issues, but it largely fell flat if the intention was to create a meaningful bond.
That aside, I loved the dynamic between the protagonists and how the novel weaves each narrative together to what culminates to an utterly chaotic and true to form finale. This was a wildly fun read; I am invested and looking forward to future instalments. I shall patiently wait for my next taste from the fount!
Thanks, Netgalley and Del Ray, Random House, Inklore for the eARC. This was a brilliant, dark fantasy horror and I definitely need to read more of Chuck Wendig’s work now!
July 19, 2026
How a book ends is one of the biggest things I take into consideration when rating a book. I can be having a great time with a book, but if the ending leaves me unsatisfied or feeling like everything that came before was a waste of time, I'm going to rate the book lower. On the other hand, if a book I'm not really feeling absolutely lands the ending, I'm going to rate the book higher. The Calamities definitely falls into the second category. That ending was absolutely peak.
Until we got to the ending, the book was leaning more toward three stars for me. None of the characters really had me cheering them on. They were all pretty bad people, and the fact that their families were even more monstrous still didn't make me like them. Quinn was the exception here. I really like them and their cat. Despite not wanting to cheer on the characters, they felt very human and real. They grew and changed; they made good decisions and bad; they fought and they cried and they succeeded and failed.
The plot was interesting, though I was more interested in the characters individual goals (especially Key's desire to help Lucinda) than finding the tower or the elixir. But because I found those individual goals more interesting, I wish we could have seen progress being made toward them. Key constantly saying she was going to help, but then thinking it was impossible and not doing much to try got frustrating.
There was also an abundance of swearing, which I'm not a fan of. I did try to keep that from affecting my opinion of the book too much, because it did fit the characters and the story that was being told and my preference against it doesn't make the story bad. But, I do suspect if it didn't bother me so much, I would have enjoyed the book more.
All that being said though, I did find it hard to put the book down - except when things got too horrific and I had to leave and remind myself, I'm really not a horror girl. But despite not being a horror reader, by the time the book concluded I was glad I had picked it up and look forward to reading the sequel in due time. But in the mean time, I might have to do a palette cleanser with Chuck's much less horrific Star Wars series.
Also, Chuck, this isn't an email, but since you asked for it:
I received an eARC of The Calamities through NetGalley.
Until we got to the ending, the book was leaning more toward three stars for me. None of the characters really had me cheering them on. They were all pretty bad people, and the fact that their families were even more monstrous still didn't make me like them. Quinn was the exception here. I really like them and their cat. Despite not wanting to cheer on the characters, they felt very human and real. They grew and changed; they made good decisions and bad; they fought and they cried and they succeeded and failed.
The plot was interesting, though I was more interested in the characters individual goals (especially Key's desire to help Lucinda) than finding the tower or the elixir. But because I found those individual goals more interesting, I wish we could have seen progress being made toward them. Key constantly saying she was going to help, but then thinking it was impossible and not doing much to try got frustrating.
There was also an abundance of swearing, which I'm not a fan of. I did try to keep that from affecting my opinion of the book too much, because it did fit the characters and the story that was being told and my preference against it doesn't make the story bad. But, I do suspect if it didn't bother me so much, I would have enjoyed the book more.
All that being said though, I did find it hard to put the book down - except when things got too horrific and I had to leave and remind myself, I'm really not a horror girl. But despite not being a horror reader, by the time the book concluded I was glad I had picked it up and look forward to reading the sequel in due time. But in the mean time, I might have to do a palette cleanser with Chuck's much less horrific Star Wars series.
Also, Chuck, this isn't an email, but since you asked for it:
I received an eARC of The Calamities through NetGalley.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Chuck Wendig pulls out all the stops for the first book in a series which seamlessly combines dark fantasy with horror and gives us an epic tale of greed, dysfunctional family, revenge, and absolute terror. This book is right up there in scope with The Stand and there's more to come.
There are "broods" of families who are, for the most part, human but their ancestry goes back eons to actual demons. These families who are blood born are soulless and ruthless. They're wealthy and powerful but the source of this are the founts each family keeps to drink of. These founts are comprised of human souls.
These families make faustion deals with humans in exchange for the souls and this elixir from the souls keeps them powerful and provides them with long life and health. But they are also wary of each other. These families don't get along and sometimes the dysfunction within the broods causes a rift within the family itself. It's a world where very bad people will do very bad things with no regards to morality.
In this book, Mourning is the eldest son and heir apparent to a powerful family. But he doesn't want it. He'd rather be on an island drinking, drugging, and having sex with whoever catches his eye. He's dragged back by his absolutely ruthless father and things are going to take a horrific turn. Because the founts are becoming empty and the heads of families are either missing or dead.
When Mournings father disappears, taking the family elixir supply with him, he's forced to find out what's going on before he's killed. This is where the book turns into a great multi-character road trip from hell. With dreams and visions of a terrifying tower in a cornfield, Mourning, a soul hunter named Key, and an artist named Quinn are all drawn to this mysterious structure for their own reasons and, along the way, there will be bloody and violent repurcussions.
There are scenes in here that'll turn your stomach and creatures which will make your skin crawl. I'm not even going to mention a character named Julian and what he has in his house. Grandly gross and delightfully disgusting is all I'll say! It sticks with you.
You'll have to read this book to discover all the bone chilling secrets but you'll be happy you did. I highly recommend it. I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
There are "broods" of families who are, for the most part, human but their ancestry goes back eons to actual demons. These families who are blood born are soulless and ruthless. They're wealthy and powerful but the source of this are the founts each family keeps to drink of. These founts are comprised of human souls.
These families make faustion deals with humans in exchange for the souls and this elixir from the souls keeps them powerful and provides them with long life and health. But they are also wary of each other. These families don't get along and sometimes the dysfunction within the broods causes a rift within the family itself. It's a world where very bad people will do very bad things with no regards to morality.
In this book, Mourning is the eldest son and heir apparent to a powerful family. But he doesn't want it. He'd rather be on an island drinking, drugging, and having sex with whoever catches his eye. He's dragged back by his absolutely ruthless father and things are going to take a horrific turn. Because the founts are becoming empty and the heads of families are either missing or dead.
When Mournings father disappears, taking the family elixir supply with him, he's forced to find out what's going on before he's killed. This is where the book turns into a great multi-character road trip from hell. With dreams and visions of a terrifying tower in a cornfield, Mourning, a soul hunter named Key, and an artist named Quinn are all drawn to this mysterious structure for their own reasons and, along the way, there will be bloody and violent repurcussions.
There are scenes in here that'll turn your stomach and creatures which will make your skin crawl. I'm not even going to mention a character named Julian and what he has in his house. Grandly gross and delightfully disgusting is all I'll say! It sticks with you.
You'll have to read this book to discover all the bone chilling secrets but you'll be happy you did. I highly recommend it. I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
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