Adrian Tchaikovsky’s fantasy novel City of Last Chances came out earlier this year and was marketed as a stand alone. A richly conceived novel of a city under occupation and a revolt that brewed and exploded on its streets. There was so much world building around the city of Ilmar and plenty of characters left with futures in the air but it still did not feel like the start of a series. So it was a bit of a surprise when not six months later it turns out that Tchaikovsky has delivered an equally engaging but very different sequel, with only one crossover character (although in the end an extremely important one) in House of Open Wounds.
If City of Last Chances was a city-based revolution novel then House of Open Wounds is clearly a war novel. The book opens in and spends much of its time around a field hospital for the Palleseen army. It is the Palleseen, and their militant perfectionism, who were the occupiers and target of so much ire in City of Last Chances. Here, Tchaikovsky embeds readers in their backlines as they fight to a bloody stalemate with an implacable enemy in a war which is essentially over who should control the world. The thing about this field hospital is that it is staffed mainly by misfits and non-Palleseen magic users. So that when the last priest in Ilmar, known as Yasnic in the previous book but now called Maric Jack because no one cares to know his real name, and his box of forgotten gods turns up he fits right in.
Much like City of Last Chances, House of Open Wounds is a mosaic of a novel – building up a picture through multiple points of view. But whereas in the former those points of view were usually separate and on their own paths, this narrative centres very squarely on the staff of the field hospital – from their Chief, known as the Butcher, to the magic using “surgeons” to the orderlies. So that many chapters jump between then characters who are all in the same place at the same time.
The closest comparison to make for this book is the TV series M*A*S*H, but darker. There are not a lot of laughs to be had and Tchaikovsky does not shy away from the body count and the sheer barbarity of the war that is being fought. This is particularly the case as he has his characters interacting with those who are striving to make bigger and more deadly or more powerful weapons in a kind of magical arms race, not considering what might happen if the enemy were to then create similar weapons of their own. If nothing else this book is about the futility of war, the way the machine either grinds people down or forces them to try and change the rules.
House of Open Wounds is a long novel that spends a lot of time focussed on the characters and their ever worsening situation. But the characters are so engaging that the pages keep turning. And there is a slow moving plot underneath it all which keeps being hinted at. Tchaikovsky has great control over all of his revelation and how all of the pieces drop into place but it only really clicks into gear in the last quarter.
As with the previous book, The House of Open Wounds can easily be read as a standalone. Once again, the main plot points are wrapped up but the future of the characters is open. So that this may stand as a great duology or, hopefully, Tchaikovsky will take readers to another part of the world, perhaps with some of those characters, perhaps not, as he has left plenty to explore.

Sorry Mr T, you are just not for me!

The first book that I read of yours was Ogres and I absolutely loved it. The second book of yours that I read was Eyes of the Void and I decided it was a overly dense deviation. House of Open Wounds is too much like Eyes of the Void for me and so it will be the last book of yours that I will attempt to read. Sad really because Ogres was truly first class.

2022’s City of Last Chances introduced us to a rich and deep fantasy world, as the eponymous city was invaded by the Palleseen army (aside: I’m not sure if that is a slightly unfortunate bit of naming, no one else seems to be commenting but the thought stayed with me). An army on a never-ending quest to impose ‘Perfection’ on the rest of the world, even as that means occupying every city and kingdom one at a time.

Someone cleverer than me suggested that CoLC had a bit of a Les Miserables vibe to it – deeply embedded in some wild fantasy – and alas my own ‘clever’ observation was one that several others got to first: this sequel has such a ‘fantasy M*A*S*H* vibe’. Well, it does!

As the army marches, one unit is a peculiarly ‘experimental’ hospital unit, run by The Butcher (!) and staffed by rejects and outsiders. The Pals are generally against anything that smells of magic or – heaven forfend! – gods, and yet they are not so stupid as to miss the value in such things. As long as the practitioners aren’t open about the source of the miraculous healing that goes on, there’s just too much gain in someone that can absorb another’s wounds into themselves, or trap infection in jars via flute playing, and things of that nature.

Our main point of view character used to be known as Yasnic, who you might remember from book 1 (although I should say, it’s not essential to have read the first book – you would, however, get a little more of Yasnic’s backstory), but is now known as Jack, in that foreigners-and-their-unpronounceable-names kind of dismissive way. However, he starts to see the new name as a bit of a new start, as he continues to try to distance himself from being a priest of a small, forgotten god. Which is proving difficult, as god keeps berating him, not least for having to share his living space aka shrine with two other gods Jack ‘smuggled’ out of the city. That, in fact, is the crime that got him captured by the Pals – but, as the god in question is a powerful healing god – well, sort of – then of course Jack belongs with the medical team!

Unsurprisingly, a book that’s sent against war and the type of emergency medical cases that will bring, is going to go to some very dark places. Jack has a lot of philosophical issues to sort out, but then, so does god. The addition of several other ‘small gods’ is also very interesting, and how their various priests and acolytes deal with their own deities.

This is quite a sprawling novel, with many, many elements, many characters, many ‘issues’, arcs and stories – I’ve barely scratched the surface above. But, each and every thread is never less than fascinating, be that demons, dark pasts, or the dark arts of necromancy.

I did enjoy this, a lot – Adrian Tchaikovsky is an excellent writer. However, I probably liked City of Last Chances a little more. This one is just a little less on the fantastical side, and a little more full of grim realities of war, and that did make it a harder read. But it still has a black humour running through it at times, and overall is engrossing and rewarding – and recommended.

Possibly the fact that I hadn't read the preceding book coloured my appreciation of this one, but for me it took rather a time to get going -around 200 pages out of the 500-odd. I probably wouldn't have persevered if I hadn't been granted access to the ARC by Netgalley, and felt obliged to finish it. That said, I'm glad I did.
I found the start, with its belabouring descriptions of the field hospital as "Hell", just plain irritating (I'm sure it wasn't exactly fun to work there, but I think other available options were a lot worse), and I thought the storyline took a long time to really get going. When it did, I appreciated the time spent getting to know the various characters, but it didn't have quite enough pace for me.
Tchaikovsky isn't the writer to give us a fresh analysis of the horrors of Empire or warfare, even though his description of the inexorable Pallaseen war-machine was quite good; but I think the book improved when he set this critique aside and concentrated on good old storytelling - slightly contrived as it might have been towards the end, it was far more satisfying, and I will probably go back and read the first book.
My thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

This is very dark but has a stark kind of beauty to it. I didn't like it as much as most of his other books: there were too many points of view for me to feel deeply invested in anyone, and the conclusion was a bit bleak. But it was an engaging and compelling read.

I had high hopes for this book but sadly It didn't work for me. I struggled with the world building and found it heavy going.

Fantasy meets M.A.S.H. - quite an experience! And most enjoyable.

Following on from "City of Last Chances", we encounter an army hospital with a whole bunch of unique and unusual characters (including Yasnic from the previous book), all fighting to save lives in their very different ways. The first half of the book deals with their struggles and opens up their different personalities. with the odd injection of humour. The second half is more like "War is Hell" (as quoted from General Sherman). This is a rich, nicely composed plot with loads of well-developed interesting characters. There's many twists and turns and I found the book well worth reading and would recommended it to fantasy fans - but maybe read The City of Last chances first. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I have reviewed House of Open Wounds by Adrian Tchaikovsky for book recommendation and selling site LoveReading.co.uk. It has been picked as both a LoveReading Star Book and Liz Pick of the Month. Please see link for full review.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this advanced copy.

Adrian Tchaikovsky did it again! I really loved this book and changed my opinion about Adrian Tchaikovsky being only good in Space Opera genre. He proved it I was wrong. Such an enjoyable book!

I would first like to thank Head of Zeus for allowing me access to this ARC copy to review.

I had never heard of Adrian Tchaikovsky prior to downloading this work and I have to ask why not? As a lover of sci-fi and fantasy, I was transported to a well-rounded and thought-out world, with characters that were believable and lovable/hateable in equal measure.

I enjoyed the format of getting to know each of the characters with their own chapters and how their histories shaped their actions or inactions.

Maric Jack, the main protagonist, is caught by the Palleseen sway (the name of the book's main army) as he tries to smuggle gods out of his home city of Ilmar inside a box on his back. The Palleseen are intent on 'perfecting' the world, in their own image and as such gods have no place in their doctrine. As a follower of god (his god) who is a god of healing and pacifism, being thrust headfirst into a war is a thing of nightmare to him, he who cannot fight or cause harm in any way. Jack gets shoved into the hospital tent, otherwise known as hell, with Butcher a great tree trunk of a man and his motley crew of misfits. Watching how these characters react to one another and how friendships grow in the most unlikely of places was a thing of beauty.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a dark comedy, high fantasy/science fiction read.

Description:
The Butcher's army field hospital is an experiment: stuffed with religious, magical folks who the powers that be would otherwise have executed. The latest arrival, Jack, is no less unorthodox: a god-smuggler whose every step is dogged by trouble.

Liked:
An interesting, intricate world, with tonnes going on, and a large cast of characters who are flawed but lovable. Has a toned-down, more modern-feeling Pratchett-esque humour, but also made me nearly cry on the tube more than once. There's a pleasing sense of puzzle pieces coming together near the end, with enough clues and build-up that you can guess at what's going to happen before it does, which feels gratifying. I've only read Children of Time from Tchaikovsky before, which was also wildly impressive, but was unsure whether his fantasy would be as good. It is!

Disliked:
Did not love the main character's romance; it felt quite 'love at first sight' and thus very unearned. Appreciated the range of some other characters' relationships, though!

Would recommend very highly.

3 ⭐️

Let me say that I’m not very familiar with Adrian Tchaikovsky’s writing or books and this was my second on from the series.

I thought that this book had some some great concepts and was very captivating. Set within a military hospital handling otherworldly injuries, the book seamlessly merges fantastical elements with a captivating world, where soldiers wounded by both magic and ghosts coexist.

The big cast of characters was a bit confusing. I’m not much of high fantasy person for this very reason but it was interesting to see how Tchaikovsky navigates this world he has created.

The world building is great, and the Eastern European concepts were a great addition. With some dramatic moments and high-stakes battles this book caters to high fantasy fans.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of House of Open Wounds by Adrian Tchaikovsky!

House of Open Wounds is book 2 in the City of Last Chances series and I absolutely loved it.

Book 2 takes place in an Army camp, with Yasnic (and God) being forced into servitude in the medical team of the Pel Army. This sequel brings a new cast of characters, some with special abilities and Gods of their own like Yasnic, all playing a part in the Pel war, and we get a deeper understanding of the Pel Army and its war.

Tchaikovsky writes beautifully with wit and humour and his plots are as inventive and satisfying as always.

I do not want to give too much away, but I would really recommend this to any High Fantasy lover!

I rated this 3.5 stars rounding up because it was nearly a 4.

This book grabbed me right at the start. I found the world and the magic system intriguing. I didn't realise until about halfway that it was a sequel but you don't really need to read book 1 to understand the story.

The book follows a cast of loveable characters who work in a magical field hospital in a war camp. The tone is witty and light-hearted even whilst dealing with the serious issues of war and empires.

I loved the start and the end but I found the middle a bit of a slog. Theres not a huge amount of plot, you are following the characters as the war camp moves from place to place. The characters and their backgrounds make it worthwhile though.

Ultimately this was a reasonably good book which has made me intrigued to read more from this author, starting with book 1 of this series

Struggled to get into this book, and never really connected with any of it. Interesting concept, but just dull overall.

Detailed character led fantasy novel that really draws you into the characters. Bleak trench warfare themes with very interesting fantasy elements. Also very funny .. I enjoyed it. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

I went into the House of Open Wounds with really high hopes, this sounded like an amazingly interesting book with unique world building. However sadly I struggled to truly get into this and fully enjoy the book. The writing felt slightly too dense for me and it was hard for me to truly be drawn into the story. But I do think this is more of a problem for me as many people have given this 5 stars and I also think loads of people will love this it just was not for me.

Have to say that this book is just not for me. I just couldn’t get into it, found it difficult to follow and stopped at 20%. It may have not been the time to read it and I will pick it up again as I was really attracted to the story description.

The fantastic synopsis and cover drew me into The House Of Open Wounds. For some this book will be a beauty, for me I've fallen asleep within 10 minutes every time I've tried to read it because the writing is so dense. Tchaikovsky clearly isn't for me, sad because I'd love to see where this goes.

DNF at 15%
Rated average to maintain.

*** With thanks to #NetGalley and #Headofzeus for an ARC copy in return for fair and honest review ***

The House of Open Wounds is a brilliant concept brought to life with intelligent and sophisticated writing. Imagine the setting, a military hospital having to triage and treat horrendous injuries suffered on a fantastical battlefield. Soldiers suffering magical burns sit alongside those damaged by ghosts and demons. The hospital is an anomaly in a conquering secular army, and the characters within it are as memorable as the setting.

As with many Adrian Tchaikovsky books the cast is large, and the world building intricate and obsessively detailed. The reader needs to concentrate to hold the relationships and politics in mind but the pay-off is well worth it. In particular the juggling of the personal foibles and failings of the hospital team with the significant powers they wield makes the reader really care about what happens to them, and they are never safe.

If you like coherent and carefully constructed worlds, populated with memorable characters, and backed by intelligent, intricate writing, then this book is highly recommended.