Chaos Looming (The Legion of Pneumos, Book 1) (Paperback)
Chaos Looming (The Legion of Pneumos, Book 1) (Paperback)
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Build More Than You Break. Heal More Than You Destroy.
Over a year has passed since Keira Altman died in a car crash and woke up in Loren—a world where breath is power and ancient orders guard deadly secrets. She's mastered her pneumonancy. She's earned her place among the Legion.
But the chaos she's meant to control might be the very thing that destroys everything she's come to care about.
The Training is Over. The Real Fight Begins.
The peaceful initiation Keira hoped for shatters the moment she joins Gaius Flavius's cohort. Their mission: retrieve Prince Landry from rebel forces threatening to tear the uplands apart. It should be simple. It should be safe.
It's neither.
When a routine recovery mission explodes into political betrayal, Keira discovers that the Legion's wisdom comes with hidden agendas. The Bellatorio's justice is built on occupied lands. And the line between protecting the innocent and enforcing oppression is thinner than she ever imagined.
In a world where every institution is corrupt and every choice has consequences, how do you decide what's right?
Nothing Is What It Seems
What You'll Experience
A Morally Complex Heroine
Keira isn't chosen. She isn't special. She's just a girl trying to do the right thing in a world where "right" isn't always clear. Watch her navigate impossible politics, witness brutal consequences, and forge her own moral code when all the rules fail her.
Breath-Based Magic with Real Costs
Every whistle. Every bind. Every act of healing or destruction drains pneuma from the world—and from Keira herself. The magic system isn't flashy spectacle. It's tactical, costly, and deadly when wielded wrong.
Romance That Doesn't Eclipse the Plot
Danny is Keira's grounder—the anchor that keeps her tethered when pneumonancy threatens to pull her under. Their bond deepens through shared danger and impossible choices, not instalove or forced proximity. Trust is earned, not given.
Political Intrigue Without Easy Answers
The Legion claims neutrality but enforces Bellatori law. The Bellatorio brings order but through occupation. Rebels fight for freedom but use brutal tactics. No faction is purely good or evil—and Keira must navigate them all.
Military Realism Meets Epic Fantasy
Written by a physician and veteran, Chaos Looming grounds its fantasy in authentic tactical thinking, realistic injury consequences, and the moral weight of violence. Combat has stakes. Death has meaning. Victory comes with scars.
Characters Who Fail, Struggle, and Grow
Keira makes mistakes. Danny keeps secrets. Gaius Flavius—their commander—wrestles with duty versus conscience. Sara, Lyssa, Elliott, Nazor: every character feels real because they're flawed, fighting, and trying to be better.
The Story
Their goal is simple: retrieve Prince Landry and return him safely to the capital. Keira's earned her place in Commander Gaius Flavius's cohort. She's ready to prove herself.
But nothing about this mission is simple.
The rebels aren't faceless enemies—they're farmers and mothers fighting centuries of Marian occupation. Prince Landry isn't the leader his people need—he's a sheltered royal who's never confronted what his family's rule actually costs. And the Legion's neutrality? It's a comfortable lie when you're enforcing the empire's laws on occupied land.
As ambushes turn deadly and political betrayal surfaces from within the cohort itself, Keira faces the question that will define everything: What do you do when every institution you serve is corrupt, and every choice you make has blood on it?
Through it all, Danny is her anchor. The grounder who keeps her tethered when pneumonancy threatens to pull her under. Their bond deepens with every impossible choice, every moment they choose trust when trust feels dangerous.
Until the capital erupts. Until the chaos she's meant to control breaks loose in the streets. Until someone she loves pays the ultimate price for a war they didn't start.
And when it's over, nothing will ever be the same.
Perfect For Readers Who Love:
What Readers Are Saying
- Sarah Foil, YA Fantasy Writer and Reviewer
- Readers' Favorite
H.B. Reneau is a physician and military veteran who brings authentic tactical thinking and medical realism to epic fantasy. Her background in emergency medicine and military service informs every aspect of her worldbuilding—from the logistics of occupation to the brutal reality of combat injuries to the moral weight of impossible choices.
The Legion of Pneumos series explores power, responsibility, and the courage it takes to challenge corrupt institutions when you're part of them. It's fantasy for thoughtful readers who crave complexity, consequences, and characters brave enough to question everything.
Where This Fits in the Series
New to the Legion of Pneumos? Start with The Cantor (Book 0.5) for Keira's arrival in Loren, or jump straight into Chaos Looming. Both work as entry points!
Character Origins (read after Book 2, before Book 3)
Not Sure Yet? Read Chapter One Free
Experience Keira's first mission with the Legion and see if this is your next obsession.
Read Free Sample Chapter →The Chaos Won't Wait. Neither Should You.
Political betrayal. Impossible choices. A magic system with real consequences.
Begin the journey thousands of readers can't stop talking about.
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