The Calamities by Chuck Wendig
Author: Chuck Wendig
Publisher: Del Rey
Format: eARC
Genre: Dark Fantasy | Urban Fantasy | Horror
Publication Date: August 18, 2026
Length: 558 pages
Rating: ⭐ 3.75/5
Synopsis
Mourning Mayne has spent years distancing himself from his powerful family and everything their name represents. But when his estranged father, Hadrian, summons him home, Mourning reluctantly returns to the family estate.
The Maynes aren't simply another obscenely wealthy and influential dynasty. They're fiends: half-human, half-demon beings whose supernatural power is built upon human souls, ancient bargains and a system that has allowed families like theirs to maintain their influence for generations.
After an uncomfortable family gathering, Hadrian mysteriously disappears. Even worse, the Fount beneath the Mayne estate, the source of the precious Elixir their kind depends upon, has been completely drained.
With his father missing and the family's supernatural resources suddenly threatened, Mourning is pulled back into the very world he tried to escape. Meanwhile, a black-market soul dealer named Key and an artist named Quinn become entangled in a much larger mystery surrounding the fiends and the foundations of their power.
My Thoughts
The Calamities is one of those books where I finished thinking...
Well. Man, that was A LOT.
And I mean that in both good and slightly overwhelming ways.
Mourning Mayne is called back to his family home by his father, Hadrian, despite having absolutely no desire to return. It becomes obvious pretty quickly that this isn't exactly one big happy demonic family. Mourning's relationship with his father is complicated at best, things aren't particularly warm and fuzzy with his twin siblings either, and he's spent a long time trying to distance himself from everything the Mayne name represents.
Because the Maynes aren't simply another ridiculously wealthy and powerful family.
They're fiends.
Their power is built on human souls, Faustian bargains, and a supernatural system that has allowed families like theirs to maintain their influence for generations. Mourning, however, has never been particularly interested in embracing his inheritance.
Then, after the family's welcome gathering, everyone eventually goes to bed.
The next morning?
Hadrian is gone.
Bad...
But then they discover that the Fount beneath their estate, the source containing the Elixir their kind relies upon, is empty too.
So, like I said:
Hadrian missing: bad.
Hadrian + THE SOUL JUICE missing: OH FUCK!
And that's basically when everything starts going spectacularly to hell.
Mourning suddenly has to deal with his father's disappearance, his dysfunctional family, the consequences of losing the Fount, and the other powerful people who have a very strong interest in discovering exactly what happened. Alongside his story, we meet Key, a black-market seller of human souls, and Quinn, whose own storyline becomes tangled in the larger mystery.
I have to give Chuck Wendig credit for the world-building because the whole concept is wonderfully messed up.
Fiends. Broods. Human souls. Founts. Elixir. Ancient families whose wealth and supernatural power have literally been built by consuming what they take from ordinary humans...
It's basically generational wealth and exploitation, but with demons.
Subtle? Maybe not.
Fun concept? Absolutely.
I also really liked Mourning as a character. He was born into this enormously privileged and powerful family but doesn't automatically accept that their way of life should become his simply because he inherited their name. His complicated relationship with that legacy (and particularly the choices he's made after confronting what participating in their system actually requires) made him interesting to follow.
Where The Calamities lost me somewhat was simply in how much it was trying to do.
This is a big book with multiple characters, storylines, complicated family politics, supernatural rules, soul dealing, mysteries, strange visions, grotesque creatures, and enough terminology that occasionally I felt like I needed a notebook and a flowchart beside me.
There were stretches where I was completely fascinated by the world and everything Wendig was building. At other times, I felt myself becoming disconnected because there were simply so many moving pieces competing for my attention.
I occasionally wished the story had been tightened up and given a little more room to focus on the elements that worked best rather than continually adding another layer to an already complicated world.
At the same time, I can absolutely see this being exactly what another reader loves about it. If you enjoy being dropped into huge, strange, complicated fantasy worlds and happily embrace absolute supernatural chaos, there's an enormous amount here to dig into.
Final Thoughts
The Calamities is dark, bizarre, ambitious, occasionally grotesque, and incredibly creative.
I didn't connect with every storyline or element equally, and at times the sheer amount happening became a little overwhelming, but I can't fault the imagination behind this world. The concept stuck with me even when the execution occasionally became too busy for my taste.
And I'm probably never going to look at generational wealth again without thinking about powerful demon families drinking soul juice.
So... there's that.
⭐ 3.75/5
ARC Disclaimer
I received an advance reader copy of The Calamities in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this copy did not influence my opinion of the book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. All opinions are my own.
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