Pathfinder Tales: "King of Chaos" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

Varian and Radovan are back!  It's hard to say much more without spoiling stuff, but I can say the hilarious banter, edge-of-the-seat action scenes, detailed incorporation (and development) of world lore, and a new NPC's point-of-view (alternating with Varian and Radovan) are in this novel.  Dave Gross' novels have been the mainstay of the Pathfinder Tales line, and King of Chaos definitely does not disappoint.  I do suggest first reading the free four-part web fiction "Killing Time", which serves as a prequel to the novel, on the Paizo website: https://paizo.com/store/pathfinder/fiction/tales/serial/killingTime  Things will make a bit more sense as Gross trusts readers to catch up as the story moves along.

SPOILERS

It's hard to summarise this novel concisely, because there's so much packed into it.  Varian's rivalry against the vampire Prince Kasiya, Radovan's rivalry with a unicorn (hilarious!), and the elven paladin Oppara's battle against an anti-paladin!  All of this is mixed into an incredibly exciting incursion into the Worldwound (a wasteland where the demons of the Abyss are able to pour forth into the Material Plane). King of Chaos ties into established continuity perhaps better than any other Pathfinder Tales novel, as it has characters from previous Varian and Radovan novels, setting details and monsters from The Worldwound campaign setting book, plot developments from Robin Laws The Worldwound Gambit, and clear tie-ins to the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path.  One of the things that Dave Gross does so well is integrate setting lore, but he's also fantastic at integrating the mechanics of the game so that what the characters do is "believable" if they were PCs.  But it's all done in a way that's interesting and seamless instead of clunky and bland.  The plot is complex, and I admit to getting lost a time or two (I'd like to re-read this one).  Still, I can't recommend this one enough for anyone interested in Varian and Radovan or The Worldwound.  It's a witty, intelligent, action-packed page turner.