The Chaos Cycle Duology
A folklore-infused contemporary dark fantasy with horror and spice.
The Hollow Gods (Book 1) Now Available
Black Hollow is a town with a dark secret.
For centuries, residents have foretold the return of the Dreamwalker—an ominous figure from local folklore said to lure young women into the woods and possess them. Yet the boundary between fact and fable is blurred by a troubling statistic: occasionally, women do go missing. And after they return, they almost always end up dead.
When Kai wakes up next to the lifeless body of a recently missing girl, his memory blank, he struggles to clear his already threadbare conscience.
Miya, a floundering university student, experiences signs that she may be the Dreamwalker’s next victim. Can she trust Kai as their paths collide, or does he herald her demise?
And after losing a young patient, crestfallen oncologist, Mason, embarks on a quest to debunk the town’s superstitions, only to find his sanity tested.
A maelstrom of ancient grudges, forgotten traumas, and deadly secrets loom in the foggy forests of Black Hollow. Can three unlikely heroes put aside their fears and unite to confront a centuries old evil, ? Will they uncover the truth behind the fable, or will the cycle repeat?
In the second and final installment of The Chaos Cycle Duology, blood will flow as the gripping conclusion to Black Hollow’s fable unfolds. After the dark events of The Hollow Gods, prepare to step into The Echoed Realm.
The Echoed Realm (Book 2) Now Available
Miya’s world ended in Black Hollow.
It’s been three years since the Dreamwalker upended her life and left her with a heavy burden. A fledgling to the ethereal realm, Miya stumbles into the nightmares of those haunted by spectres. Little does she know, one of them is coming for her, clutching a dark secret abreast.
Kai has found a new purpose with his companion, but the price is his freedom. Bound and beholden to Miya, he struggles to adjust to his new role as her vanguard.
Meanwhile, Mason discovers he may be a pawn trapped in a web of schemes. Was his time in Black Hollow an accident, or was it only the beginning of some greater machination?
As Black Hollow’s bloody stain spreads beyond its wooded borders, Miya fights to evade a past she barely understands. The Dreamwalker’s legacy is a vise grip, and it isn’t letting go. Primordial horrors draw near, fables come alive, and long-buried histories rise from the grave, ready to hunt.
Sharpen your claws and bloody your teeth. There’s fear to be sown.
The Chaos Cycle Spotify Playlist
Praise for The Hollow Gods
Vrana’s dark, folklore-infused debut, the first of a duology, introduces readers to the residents of Black Hollow, who hold their daughters close and their twisted secrets closer…Vrana crafts a unique local mythology and draws from existing lore to create a sense of creeping dread. Vrana is off to a strong start with this solid, suspenseful tale.
This dazzling debut pulls you in with its compelling characters and horrifying mystery and keeps you in its thrall until the final page. The writing sizzles with menace, and the dark mythology A. J. Vrana weaves from dreams and nightmares is unlike any I’ve ever encountered, in and out of books. A perfect story for contemporary fantasy readers who love their narratives razor-sharp and their secrets dark and deadly.
– Katya de Becerra, author of OASIS and WHAT THE WOODS KEEP
A. J. Vrana’s debut The Hollow Gods is an exciting contemporary horror-fantasy that shines when it declines to play frights, which are easy, and instead explores dread, collective and generational grief, trauma, and historical responsibility…The fragmented, surgically precise narrative builds from the utterly, painfully ordinary to the absurd and fantastic.
Grounded in secrets, myth, fantasy, and alternate reality, Vrana’s debut installment in The Chaos Cycle series is a fast-paced, deeply intriguing urban fantasy. Prepped with intriguing details, the narrative is both engrossing and vivid, the writing assured, and the pacing perfect. Exploring varied themes of grief, depression, trauma, and collective guilt, Vrana hooks the reader from the very start, leaving them anxious for the next installment.
Praise for The Echoed Realm
“I’ve been obsessed with A. J. Vrana’s dark, lyrical fantasy ever since The Hollow Gods, and this sequel didn’t disappoint. The Echoed Realm cleverly expands Vrana’s wholly original Dreamwalker mythology beyond the town of Black Hollow, with blood-chilling consequences. Gods are more powerful, possibilities are endless, and threats are more sinister than ever. Miya and Kai are haunted by the past, literally, while the lines between dreams and reality, lore and fact, and obsession and possession are paper thin. I can’t wait for you to experience this dangerous, glittering world for yourself!”
– Katya de Becerra, author of OASIS and WHAT THE WOODS KEEP
The Echoed Realm is the perfect sequel to Vrana’s stunning and original debut, The Hollow Gods. Brimming with sharp edges, dark nightmares, and menacing villains, this book will haunt you in all the best ways. Compulsively readable, with complicated characters and expansive world-building, this is an epic, macabre folktale for a new generation. Vrana’s lyrical writing is a mix of poetry, chaos, violence, and energy, blending to create a wild and wonderful potion, and I can’t wait to read more from this rich new voice in contemporary fantasy.
– Kim Smejkal, author of INK IN THE BLOOD and CURSE OF THE DIVINE
“What at first seems a familiar battle of good vs. evil is cleverly turned on its head as Vrana pulls readers down the rabbit hole into her strange, folkloric world.”
– Publisher’s Weekly
“The Echoed Realm pulls no punches and offers a masterfully crafted supernatural horror that’s not afraid to face the hard truths and imagine a different kind of world. The Echoed Realm leaves an aftertaste of a promise, of something bigger and better, deeper and even bolder than this. Look out for A. J. Vrana in NY Times bestselling lists in the next couple of years.”
– Three Crows Magazine
“Everything about this book has a dark and spellbinding edge…an emerging threat in your peripheral vision, a creeping dread. Horror, supernatural, and fantasy push the threads of realism to its very edges.”
– The Coy Caterpillar Reads Book Reviews
“Darker, more impactful, more complex, with rich and interesting character development and the delightful writing of Miss Vrana, THE ECHOED REALM is the perfect conclusion to one of the best duologies I’ve had the pleasure to read.”
– Verified Reviewer
“THE ECHOED REALM may have closed off The Chaos Cycle, but it’s still going to be playing back in my mind for a long time to come.”
– Verified Reviewer
“Flitting between dreamworld and reality, the distinction between realms blurs at the seam until both worlds flawlessly collide in a gruesome and devastating conclusion. Monsters, demons, myths, and history are bound in a final twist that readers won’t see coming.”
– Verified Reviewer