Marking a return to the world of 'City of Last Chances', Adrian Tchaikovsky presents and almost entirely fresh and engaging story which requires minimal knowledge of it's predecessor's story. The one character carried over, Yasnic, even takes on a new name as he navigates the horrors of magical war. Mostly located at a military field hospital, we're introduced to a host of compelling characters, all of them some way hardened against the brutality of the injuries they desperately strive to heal, but with the secret traumas and desires of each skillfully teased out.

If I have one complaint, it's that the ending is a bit contrived, relying on a handful of coincidences. That doesn't detract from a harrowing novel which you will struggle to look away from.

For those of you lucky enough to have been around when the wonderful M*A*S*H series on TV was running – that vibe of a field hospital coping with the regular influx of wounded is the backdrop and narrative engine of this book. Though, in amongst the desperation of dealing with hideously wounded soldiers, those coming to their aid are… different. Despite rigorously expunging anything magical or religious from the cultures they conquer, the Palleseen find themselves in the position of having to utilise some of those touched by the uncanny. So prisoners able to wield magic to aid healing, or construct lethal weapons find themselves spared from the army’s mincing machine, which accounts for the selection of oddball characters at the Experimental Hospital. The woman able to take on a patient’s wounds and then heal herself… a revoltingly filthy flautist whose music keeps wounds from going septic… and the latest addition to the medical crew – an ex-priest with an odd collection of minor gods in a box which he carries on his back.

The story, which is long, charts the progress of those working within the hospital and the challenges they face, both within and without. While this one takes a bit of time to get going, it wasn’t long before I was utterly engrossed. To be honest – I’d been putting this one off, as the tenor of City of Lost Chances had been a tad on the bleak side and I’ve not been emotionally up to it. But the flashes of humour were more apparent in this one – to the extent that I laughed aloud in several places. Told in multiple viewpoint, I found myself really caring about all the main characters who end up working as a tight-knit team, which becomes more of a found family. Indeed, more than one war orphan ends up there.

In amongst the gripping story, Tchaikovsky isn’t afraid to address bigger questions – is it ever acceptable to sacrifice the interests and wellbeing of the few to safeguard the many? Is religion necessary? Is it vital to have an overarching belief in good and evil in order to keep one’s humanity? I like the fact that while he raises such questions and some of them get answered, those answers tend not to be particularly tidy or clearcut.

Tchaikovsky walks a tightrope between grimdark bleakness and the fey cuteness so often surrounding cosier fantasy reads – and manages to avoid landing in either camp. So while this is a gritty read with plenty of blood and violence – there is sufficient humour and humanity to make this ultimately a hopeful, uplifting read, without at any stage leavening the dire consequences of a long-running war of attrition. It’s a tricky feat to pull off, yet Tchaikovsky triumphantly achieves it.

I look forward to tucking into the final book in this series. It’s always a privilege to read a superbly talented author at the top of his game, who continues to push the envelope – apart from anything else, such writers are rare in any genre. And if you’re looking for such an experience, then get hold of this book. While the first book was an outstanding read – this one is even better. While I obtained an arc of House of Open Wounds from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
10/10

2 ⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to Head of Zeus and NetGalley for an e-arc of this book.

Ugh.

On paper this book is everything I should like. The first book I struggled with but it had parts that really grabbed me so I wanted to continue with the series. But this is the end for me. A rare thing as I hate not finishing things.

The plot was confusing and overwrought, exceedingly slow and unclear for the reader.

Just not for me, and I know now that this author and me aren’t a good fit.

"House of Open Wounds" by Adrian Tchaikovsky is a masterpiece of dark fantasy, demonstrating his unparalleled ability to blend horror with heart. Tchaikovsky crafts a richly detailed world, populated with complex characters whose depths and flaws only serve to make them more compelling. The narrative is a masterful tapestry of intrigue, magic, and psychological depth, exploring themes of power, redemption, and the human capacity for resilience in the face of darkness. Tchaikovsky's prose is both elegant and evocative, painting scenes that linger in the mind long after the book is closed. This novel not only entertains but also provokes thought, making it a must-read for fans of the genre and newcomers alike. Adrian Tchaikovsky once again proves himself to be a storyteller of extraordinary talent and imagination.

Book 2 in the City of Last Chances series is out and I loved it.

Chaos rules, characters with special powers (and their own Gods!!!) are all important parts of a war machine. It's laugh out loud funny and who knows what the plot is really...it's not important anyway! The author's prose gives flashes of the Master Terry Pratchett...and for that reason, I recommend you read!!.

Adrian Tchaikovsky can't do anything like writing a bad or boring book. This is another novel that confirm that he's a master storyteller and I loved it
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC!

An amazing sequel! I expect nothing less of Adrian Tchaikovsky!

I really wanted to enjoy this one, I was hoping I would as I enjoyed Yasnic and his god from the first book, but...I don't know what it is that doesn't completely work for me. I dnf-ed at 50% because I found it was a chore to try and read more and I was just skimming. If this were shorter I might have stuck it out, but it is not so I called it quits.

There were some good, interesting parts that had me entertained, but then a lot of bits that dragged on for me. I overall enjoyed the new characters, the necromancer and the butcher and all the people in the hospital and yet I couldn't really get into it. It was just a touch too slow I think.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for a copy of this book

This looked like it had the potential to be a great book, but I have to admit I was sorely disappointed.

It was highly original in its fantastical setting of warfare, with a cracking main character by the name of Yasnic, a former priest, healer and rebel, who finds himself. reprieved from the gallows only to be sent to war clutching a box of orphan Gods, He joins 'the Butcher', and some others trying to heal severe injuries brutally with a bone-saw and an alchemical tincture, Much suffering is caused by flesh-rending monsters, arcane magical weaponry and embittered enemy soldiers. There is lots of graphic details that is vividly described against good worldbuilding..

Yasnic proves himself an able healer's assistant tending to those in need, helped and hindered at times by his main god, who is a miniature, humorously cranky character with a beard, not usually seen by others, who argues and frequently debates the whys and wherefores with Yasnic,

Whilst there were aspects of the book that were really engaging and entertaining, with some great wit, overall it just lacked a decent plot and so it just plodded on with little development. May be this was due to the extent of the cast, but it was a long book and so to not have enough pace and development made it become tedious and more of a chore to read. I kept anticipating a shift change, but it just didn't arrive and even the denouement felt like an evaporation of words rather than a satisfying ending. I have struggled to see what made it a good read for others, but is does seem to either hit the mark or it doesn't. I am saddened to say it missed the mark with me.

CHARACTERS
🔲 mary-sue party
🔲 mostly 2D
🔲 great main cast, forgettable side characters
🔲 well-written
🔲 complex and fascinating
✅ hard to believe they are fictional

PLOT
🔲 you've already heard this exact story a thousand times
🔲 nothing memorable
✅ gripping
🔲 exceptional
🔲 mind=blown

WORLDBUILDING
🔲 takes place in our world
🔲 incoherent
🔲 OK
🔲 nicely detailed
✅ meticulous
🔲 even the last tree in the forest has its own story

ATMOSPHERE
🔲 nonexistent
🔲 fine
🔲 immersive
✅ you forget you are reading a book

PACING
🔲 dragging
🔲 inconsistent
✅ picks up with time
🔲 page-turner
🔲 impossible to put down

Similar to the first in this series, I liked this book but it was so very slow.

Reading this novel was the equivalent of studying a miniature painting - huge amounts of detail and depth that at first made me wonder where the story was going, but actually it had the effect of making me warm up to all the characters. It has a real flavour of Les Miserables and examines the nature of religion, including from the deities' points of view too! My favourite character has to be God! A really worthy follow up to City of Last Chances.

Once again, I loved Tchaikovsky’s Tyrant Philosophers series. I adore its pacing, the shifts in character perspective, its action, and everything in between. I might not be as on board with his sci-fi works, but this is truly a fun romp.

This is the second book set within the Palleseen worldview but reads easily without the need to read the other story. Its focus is a small group of individuals associated with an army field hospital, but this is not a M.A.S.H clone. The central character is a disillusioned priest who still carries his god with him, literally; in fact, the story burgeons with a pantheon of deities and what remains of their followers. At its heart, the story deals with what happens to people and their gods when they become swallowed up by logic and the desire for clarity.

The writing style will always impress me and this author can have all of my money

Would recommend highly

4 stars

House of Open Wounds follows the story of Yasnic from City of Last Chances. Despite being a direct sequel of book one, I would not say reading book one is necessary. It gives added depth and meaning to Yasnic’s character and the existence of the Palleseen army but it does not touch upon events of the first book at all.

House of Open Wounds is Adrian Tchaikovsky channelling the irreverent writing style of Terry Pratchett to talk about the machine that is an army and the war crimes that can happen under the banner of “for the greater good”. Tchaikovsky quite often dives into the minds of those committing said war crimes and inflicts upon the reader the normalisation of cruelty with humour. At times it can be a hard book to read when one reads between the lines and thinks about what it is a character is truly saying.

Even more so than City of Last Chances, House of Open Wounds is the day-to-day occurrences of those who are a part of the machine of war. The characters are simply trying to survive and as such it often feels as though we are not moving anywhere. There is not a feeling of progression when reading, and although this is obviously done purposefully and the readers are left as clueless as the characters, it did impact my reading experience. I often felt frustrated that things weren’t happening, that I didn’t understand the end goal and that I didn’t feel like there would be a satisfying conclusion to everything. Again, this is all on purpose and that’s what makes it so refreshing in the fantasy reading space. Matters of occupation, war and military ambition do not have end goals or satisfying conclusions. Our characters are of no real importance to the army within the book and as such they have no information or true free will.

I would not be surprised if we saw another book in this world from Tchaikovsky considering the scope of world-building and the depth of characters. This is impeccably written and an incredibly unique reading experience.

3.75/5
This felt like a very skilled construction by someone who is very good at constructing such constructions. The characters all occupied well-defined roles, displaying personities, expertises, and hidden depths with clockwork precision. The plot felt a little directionless until everything snapped into place at the end, revealing that in fact what looked like aimless swirling throughout the first three quarters was in fact a hurrican pulling itself together. The ending was surprisingly satisfying, for that reason. However, possibly because of the skill and precision of the book, I never really felt like the characters were real. I couldn't quite get behind their arcs and journeys, because the craft of it all was so skilled it felt like it drew attention to itself. Not in a 'I am super-clever' kind of way (none of the infuriating smug cleverness that characterizes, say, China Mieville), but just--I don't know. I did not rejoice or grieve any of the characters' fates, and the satisfaction I felt was the satisfaction at seeing a puzzle come together, rather than pleasure at having gone on a journey with the book. It's good. But it's sort of distant.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC. Inasmuch as I can tell, that has not affected the content of this review.

This book was my first meeting with Mr Tchaikovsky's writing and I have to say I like it. Darkish story with lots of darker stories hidden in it. Interesting characters and ending with nice twist. I enjoyed reading it, but will not writing spoilers. Some readers would say to many descriptions, not enough dialogs, bla bla bla... In this book action is in everything, dialogs and descriptions. Thank you I could read it.

War? Huh what is it good for?

A question that has made many a philosopher puzzle over the centuries and yet ironically war has hastened for the very worst of reasons the advance of medicine. You want your soldiers fit and ready for fighting and killing all over again. A circular logic that has led to the work of Florence Nightingale and the further development of ideas such as antibiotics and artificial limbs. Fantasy has often focused on war but who is dealing with the aftermath of a battle? This question is explored brilliantly in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s House of Open Wounds where the setting is a field hospital in an army albeit one filled with magic, gods and the unwanted; but a story also taking an honest look at war itself.

Short review – read the brilliant first chapter. One of the best openings to a book I’ve read it pulls you in. Nuff said this was great.

Ahem!

Ok for those needing a bit more. We meet the Palleseen Sway army. They seek to make perfection of their world and destroy and conquer anyone and anything that perverts that idea. Especially religion, magic and superstition. But if they find something magical that works they’ll use it - be it to power their weapons, fight their enemies and in a new experiment try to save soldier’s lives when all else fails. Led by a Necromancer, supervised by a man known as The Butcher we have two former rebel priests, a woman who can absorb any wound for herself, a man skilled in magical machinery and one of the most constantly promoted and demoted officers in the entire army. Every day they do their best because they know if they fail they may be no longer be required and that won’t mean a cosy retirement. Enter a man who is a former priest misnamed Jack and he happens to be carrying some Gods on his person who may have a few miracles up their sleeve but in an army that is against religion that poses some challenges.

We are so used to fantasy focusing on battles and treachery that when we get to that first scene and we hear we are with a Man they call the Butcher we immediately imagine torture as we hear about bodies lined up for his work…which perhaps says a lot about us fantasy readers. But very quickly Tchaikovsky shows us we are in an army field hospital full of people close to death and to be honest the comparison with a torture chamber is still applicable. Tonally this is an amazingly delivered tale rather than military warfare being described as ancient legend the tone here is more black comedy. A reminder that in the TV show MASH a hospital was also a useful place to make you laugh and also ponder war’s lack of sense and morality. The team must save the soldiers for them to fight again. A deadly circle repeated every day. That is a strange place before we get into a world of demons, magics and gods.

Tchaikovsky brings their trademark inventiveness to imaging how a fantasy world could handle medicine and war. Mysterious potions that are used by patients and medical staff alike to keep them functioning, magical limbs to allow soldiers to fight and pay for the pleasure of them, gods being made to cure those on the edge of death. It all feels very fresh as a place to explore with lots of ramifications and above all of this is the Pel belief that all of this is unclean and should be removed. Like war and medicine this is another contradiction the field hospital is battling to justify each day. Hence when Jack arrives and accidentally heals people but with the one caveat that they cannot fight again on pain of death then there is going to be a problem.

In many ways the war itself and the reason for it are more background to the story. What we have is an almost episodic structure of the team meeting Jack and many different types of trouble erupt from that. You learn to love a man named the Butcher, amuse yourself with these grumpy gods hiding and in the form of Banders the afore mentioned ever-demoted rogue she is a delight of cunning and an ability to laze or steal as she pleases. in each mini-episode also we learn more about the world and the culture. As with many an empire the Pel collect from those they conquer and that applies to the army hence Jack and the team are actually from cultures that are contrary to the pel and yet they all speak the language, are part of the army and saving lives. Another interesting set of contradictions the novel explores. As with any science we also see those looking to make less medicine and instead the best terrifying weapons.

Slowly each of the plotlines starts to link together and all focus around Jack, His God and the price of a cure of deadly injury but you can’t hurt anyone else again…ever or you will die. It is gorgeous plotting when we see how necromancers, magical automatons and contracted demons all link together and the wider storyline neatly complements this premise to a cunningly delivered finale. There are also by the way dinosaur war beasts and an amoral wizard but that’s just pure fun but also a reminder war takes great ideas but uses them for one purpose – fighting.

One thing I appreciated was the reader like the team find the steady streams of battle, death and injuries to heal and send out to fight again slowly drain our team of joy. It’s a hamster wheel of duty, death and what is the point of it? Can anyone ever get off it without being executed? Is there a point where you instead have to stand and say no more? While Tchaikovsky’s narration is wry yet almost Pratchett-like in its subtle elbows to say you know the wars we love to read about this? This what it is like at the very sharp and bloody end. I loved reading this, but it does remind us actual war is not a place anyone ever wants to be in.

I do hope we get more tales of this world because it is absolutely fascinating and while there is no big easily visible master-story all the consequences of this story may lead to other little avalanches in this world of Empires and Magic. Highly inventive, very fresh in approach and a perfect mix of satire and anger that suits the subject matter very appropriately. Highly recommended and amongst the best of Tchaikovsky’s novels I’ve read.

I enjoyed the first book, City of Last Chances, and couldn't wait to read House of Open Wounds. I have to say, it was even better than the first! This book took all the concepts of magic and ripped them apart, in a believable, dark way.

One of my favourite characters from book one, Yasnic, is back, along with his grumpy, snarky God. Captured by the Pals, he finds himself in the middle of a war. I had no idea where the author was going to go with this story, but I was surprised to find myself caring about the characters pretty quickly.

Well written, with lots of surprises, this was a view of Tchaikovsky's magical world from a completely different angle. The characters, the magic system, even the war itself, are all layers of an incredible story that will stay with me for a long time. It touches all the emotions, and leaves you feeling as though you've been through the war with them. Highly recommend!

The Palleseen army are ravaging the world with war, desperate to correct a perceived imperfect world.

Behind the front lines, field hospital tents attempt to save the damaged and damned by any means possible.

Yasnic, a former priest turned rebel, finds himself stationed within the hospital. Miraculously saved from the gallows, he clings to faith literally, carting around a box of orphaned Gods wherever he goes.

This unorthodox hospital is commanded by the Butcher, a man who has no fear of the horrors of war. The crew deal with unspeakable gore caused by horrific monsters, magical weapons and relentless enemy attacks.

Tasked with saving and reutilising the fallen, they must be mindful to keep their unethical practices under the radar. Practices that include the use of banned magic, necromancy, demonology and ‘false’ Gods. If not, they could face dire consequences.

House of Open Wounds by Adrian Tchaikovsky offers spectacular and vivid worldbuilding with beautifully detailed prose that transports you into a gruesome war. It fantastically explores difficult topics including colonialism, politics, fascism, religion, war and poverty.

The story is told from many character’s perspectives with each chapter focused on a different person. At times, this makes it harder to connect and truly get to know them with any true depth.

With all these points of view, the pacing felt slow at times. I often found myself confused as to who was the focus within the narrative and how it was progressing.

Although interesting to have many viewpoints, I do wonder if the cast had been smaller, the novel may have been easier to follow and enjoy.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance review copy of this book in return for a fair review.
This book was brilliant, not a fast read at all it was lovely to step back into this world. While I was not expecting the new cast of characters from book one I loved Jack and the new cast AT wove in this one. I enjoyed book 2 more than book 1 I feel and enjoyed the new setting based around a army medic camp more than the city. The black humour of soliders and the gods throughout make this an amusing brilliant read.