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The Daughter of Chaos
Dylap: Epic Fantasy
The darkest fairytales are those told by the fairies themselves…
The fae of Farro pulled Dylap’s body from the river believing him to be dead - they were wrong.
Upon wakening with no memory of his own identity, Dylap found himself in a strange world ruled by fae unlike himself. To survive, he kept quiet and followed their orders, unaware that he was a weapon created by a deity for a long-forgotten war. But as an old enemy threatens Farro, the fae turn to Dylap’s deadly abilities to protect their world.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘A unique dark fantasy adventure told from the fairies point of view…love love love this!’
The fae of Farro pulled Dylap’s body from the river believing him to be dead - they were wrong.
Upon wakening with no memory of his own identity, Dylap found himself in a strange world ruled by fae unlike himself. To survive, he kept quiet and followed their orders, unaware that he was a weapon created by a deity for a long-forgotten war. But as an old enemy threatens Farro, the fae turn to Dylap’s deadly abilities to protect their world.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘A unique dark fantasy adventure told from the fairies point of view…love love love this!’
- GenresFantasy
466 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 8, 2017
206 people are currently reading
218 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 15, 2023
Awakening in hostile society with no memories of the past. Treated poorly at every turn. Even worse, old enemies converge with conquest in mind. However scorned he may be the kingdoms only hope.
Heartfelt compassion throughout. Great intense action. Fantastic!
Heartfelt compassion throughout. Great intense action. Fantastic!
November 22, 2017
Love this! The ultimate fairy tale that is actually about fairies. Adventure, romance, fighting, pixies, Moonflower fairies and wood knolls; Dylap has it all.
January 27, 2018
Under no circumstances should you begin reading this before bed unless you're already planning an all-nighter. Dylap is the perfect hero, and his epic tale will keep you turning pages into the wee hours.
August 5, 2018
Having read the Daughter of Chaos series, I not only knew the character Dylap, but also wanted to read more from the imagination of A.C. Salter. This is the tale of Dylap’s origins, a fae with attitude in the series, and now we discover why that is.
I lapped this up; not only is this fae forest described so spectacularly that I felt as if I was running up giant boles on the back of a squirrel, flying with finches, hummingbirds and swifts, and falling from on high to the forest floor and certain death, but the tale itself is absolutely riveting! Suddenly this isn’t a story about little people, you are there and they are as giants in their world, with both the good and the bad in their society.
Add in a few seriously nasty creatures (and some eight-legged monsters that made my skin crawl), ancient enmity based on wing structure, betrayal and also loyalty and love, and I tell you, you must read Dylap. I was transported and I know you will agree with me! Dylap deserves, absolutely, every single star that makes up the five!
I lapped this up; not only is this fae forest described so spectacularly that I felt as if I was running up giant boles on the back of a squirrel, flying with finches, hummingbirds and swifts, and falling from on high to the forest floor and certain death, but the tale itself is absolutely riveting! Suddenly this isn’t a story about little people, you are there and they are as giants in their world, with both the good and the bad in their society.
Add in a few seriously nasty creatures (and some eight-legged monsters that made my skin crawl), ancient enmity based on wing structure, betrayal and also loyalty and love, and I tell you, you must read Dylap. I was transported and I know you will agree with me! Dylap deserves, absolutely, every single star that makes up the five!
August 17, 2024
A fairy is found in the river half dead. He doesn’t remember anything about who he is. They call him Dylap (not complimentary) and treat him poorly because he is not as “pure” as everyone else. Thus begins this tale as we learn how horrible the discrimination is and of dangers that are lurking ahead. This is a great book for teens, young adults and adults. I really started getting into the story as things began to be revealed about who Dylap really is. I am really invested to find out what’s next in book 2 of this trilogy.
April 7, 2018
I really enjoyed this book. The premise involves a land of fairies with a complex social hierarchy living in a magically protected city. Our protagonist, a fairy who cannot fly, is rescued from the river Twine by a one-winged night watch captain. He then seeks his own future among these tree dwellers, while simultaneously trying to discover his forgotten past. Being different then the rest, he is nearly universally despised (or feared). He meets and befriends other outcasts, but despite proving himself on multiple occasions, he is still resented. When a betrayal leads to possible extermination of the entire society, will Dylap choose to help save them all, or will he choose to follow his heart and be with a beautiful split-wing instead?
I highly recommend giving this a read!
I highly recommend giving this a read!
May 5, 2023
📖 REVIEW OF PAPERBACK AND KINDLE EDITION 📖
I want to start off by saying a couple of things;
1. I don't normally do extensive reviews as my reviews are more for my personal reference in most cases.
2. I absolutely hate using kindle, most of the time I find it hard to imagine the words on the screen when reading from them.
3. As this is a self published book I'm going to be a tad more in depth, more for the author as perhaps maybe it will help them in some way if they wish to go back and make a few corrections.
4. I burnt two meals, forgot to make a meal, set off the smoke alarm, binge ate a lot of snacks in one evening (this one to be precise, it got intense...don't judge me.) and almost forgot to go to work because of this book taking me from reality. 😭😆
🕷️ LETS GO! ⚡
When I saw this story pop up on my Tiktok FYP I jumped straight over to Amazon on pay day and bought the paperback copy, unfortunately for my impatient little soul I was part way through another book series with two books to get through and had to wait to get stuck in. After what felt like ten life times later (basically four work shifts, I know, dramatic.) I was finally able to get stuck into the story of Dylap!
📖 BOOK DESIGN! 📚
So I actually thought when I first seen this on tiktok that the cover had a picture of Dylap (it was actually one of the things that drew my attention to the video in the first place,) but instead this cover is more like bramble thorns/ perhaps the spines of his...spines...(not-wings.) Still nice though, and the blurb is an invitation in itself to open the book!
My issue with the design comes from the interior, in which for me personally the font was my biggest issue. With it being set at around 9pt?? It was tiny compared to the YA standard of around 12pt. And I found myself re-reading lines a lot and having to have more reading breaks. (I don't need glasses by the way) This actually is the reason it took me this long to finish otherwise it would have been done in two days easily. I would only be 13 chapters in if I hadn't given in and downloaded the free trial of kindle unlimited to read it on my tab where the font is at a normal size. But this did hinder my enjoyment of the story a bit, (through no fault of the story itself but for reasons stated at the start.)
The interior on the paperback has a formatting issue in which the last page of the chapters are set out mid page, and one or two were entirely blank, not particularly an issue when reading but as I stated at the start, this review is written with the author in mind and when paying £10+ for a paperback copy the expectation is that the formatting will be correct.
And lastly there are no page numbers.... Which buggered me up at some point, when the chocolate wrapper I had used as a book marker betrayed me and fell out and I had to find my place through guess work. We need page numbers if only just to see how many we have left till the next chapter, or if we should sleep because the next chapter is just a wee bit long!! 😭
The interior of the kindle edition was fine. 👌
✏️ EDITING! ✏️
I am not a grammar Karen, so for me reading this book, knowing it is self published I expected a few errors to pop up, and to be honest there isn't that many, that it ruins the story. But there are a couple I'd like to draw attention to while fresh in my mind.
Dylap's name in a couple of areas seems to have been auto corrected to 'Dylan'... (I dunno who Dylan is but he was a little bit sus, invite we remove him...🤔)
And 'Urlmince' has been spelled as 'Erlmince' in some cases too.
🧚 PLOT AND CHARACTERS.🧚♂️
The plot mostly follows Dylap, a wingless fairy (yes a fairy, not an elfy humany like pompous fae!) who is found washed up from the river Twine by the nightwatch fairies for a society of fae who operate with a caste system in which you are judged on your wings purity and given jobs accordingly. Having obviously not having wings Dylap must start from the bottom and work his way up, earning respect from those around him and scorn from those who see him breaking their traditional values and rules with his different opinions and ways of doing things. In its own way this book holds a light up to the prejudice we see still today with people being treated cruelly due to comparable judgements. The characters written in this story are well padded out and charming in their own ways (well except the certain few which were rotten in their own ways.) I think Dilbus and the Aviary Master (I can't spell his name right not gonna lie lolz!) were probably two of my favorite characters with their depth and voices.
As the story progresses past Dylap being (for the most part) accepted (grudgingly or otherwise) by those around him, we learn of a much more dangerous problem which Dylap must overcome, in which he shows his courage and true self to the enemies and friends around him.
🪶 PERSONAL REVIEW 🐿️
Dylap has been written in such a way you will find yourself shrinking into a world of fairies where you will be small enough to ride on the backs of humming birds and finches, or sit in the comfort of an acorn shell in a homely tree. The description of riding Noggin the squirrel was so thrilling, it was like being on a roller coaster while being a couple of inches tall and clinging on for dear life, and Salter did a great job really taking you into his magical world and giving you the experience of being right there with Dylap and his friends and enemies through great description that didn't feel too heavy. I really liked the character growth of the Aviary Master and how much he does to support Dylap and defend him from those not willing to accept him into their society. That being said don't let the first part of Dylap's struggles fool you into him being a push over, I started to believe our MC was not just wingless but spineless (despite his spines) when he wasn't taking action for himself against certain bullies, but this later changes and we see him turn into a brutal little hero. And on that note I would like to say I am so glad there was no info dumping in this story, Dylap's past was fed through at a nice pace that didn't hold everything back and dump it all in one go, and nor did it feed you so little that it got boring and made you lose interest, but it is certainly a story that could have fell either way very easily.
Overall this story was unique and very much enjoyed. Though I absolutely hated the outcome of the Princess and Dylap and would have personally liked to have seen a darker more selfish side to him for just this part of the story, considering all he had done up until then.
Dylap was well worth the time to read, but I would not recommend reading it with burnt chips and nuggies (vegan of course) in fact.... Just order a take away if you think you can stick around in the real world long enough to hear the door. 😏
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I want to start off by saying a couple of things;
1. I don't normally do extensive reviews as my reviews are more for my personal reference in most cases.
2. I absolutely hate using kindle, most of the time I find it hard to imagine the words on the screen when reading from them.
3. As this is a self published book I'm going to be a tad more in depth, more for the author as perhaps maybe it will help them in some way if they wish to go back and make a few corrections.
4. I burnt two meals, forgot to make a meal, set off the smoke alarm, binge ate a lot of snacks in one evening (this one to be precise, it got intense...don't judge me.) and almost forgot to go to work because of this book taking me from reality. 😭😆
🕷️ LETS GO! ⚡
When I saw this story pop up on my Tiktok FYP I jumped straight over to Amazon on pay day and bought the paperback copy, unfortunately for my impatient little soul I was part way through another book series with two books to get through and had to wait to get stuck in. After what felt like ten life times later (basically four work shifts, I know, dramatic.) I was finally able to get stuck into the story of Dylap!
📖 BOOK DESIGN! 📚
So I actually thought when I first seen this on tiktok that the cover had a picture of Dylap (it was actually one of the things that drew my attention to the video in the first place,) but instead this cover is more like bramble thorns/ perhaps the spines of his...spines...(not-wings.) Still nice though, and the blurb is an invitation in itself to open the book!
My issue with the design comes from the interior, in which for me personally the font was my biggest issue. With it being set at around 9pt?? It was tiny compared to the YA standard of around 12pt. And I found myself re-reading lines a lot and having to have more reading breaks. (I don't need glasses by the way) This actually is the reason it took me this long to finish otherwise it would have been done in two days easily. I would only be 13 chapters in if I hadn't given in and downloaded the free trial of kindle unlimited to read it on my tab where the font is at a normal size. But this did hinder my enjoyment of the story a bit, (through no fault of the story itself but for reasons stated at the start.)
The interior on the paperback has a formatting issue in which the last page of the chapters are set out mid page, and one or two were entirely blank, not particularly an issue when reading but as I stated at the start, this review is written with the author in mind and when paying £10+ for a paperback copy the expectation is that the formatting will be correct.
And lastly there are no page numbers.... Which buggered me up at some point, when the chocolate wrapper I had used as a book marker betrayed me and fell out and I had to find my place through guess work. We need page numbers if only just to see how many we have left till the next chapter, or if we should sleep because the next chapter is just a wee bit long!! 😭
The interior of the kindle edition was fine. 👌
✏️ EDITING! ✏️
I am not a grammar Karen, so for me reading this book, knowing it is self published I expected a few errors to pop up, and to be honest there isn't that many, that it ruins the story. But there are a couple I'd like to draw attention to while fresh in my mind.
Dylap's name in a couple of areas seems to have been auto corrected to 'Dylan'... (I dunno who Dylan is but he was a little bit sus, invite we remove him...🤔)
And 'Urlmince' has been spelled as 'Erlmince' in some cases too.
🧚 PLOT AND CHARACTERS.🧚♂️
The plot mostly follows Dylap, a wingless fairy (yes a fairy, not an elfy humany like pompous fae!) who is found washed up from the river Twine by the nightwatch fairies for a society of fae who operate with a caste system in which you are judged on your wings purity and given jobs accordingly. Having obviously not having wings Dylap must start from the bottom and work his way up, earning respect from those around him and scorn from those who see him breaking their traditional values and rules with his different opinions and ways of doing things. In its own way this book holds a light up to the prejudice we see still today with people being treated cruelly due to comparable judgements. The characters written in this story are well padded out and charming in their own ways (well except the certain few which were rotten in their own ways.) I think Dilbus and the Aviary Master (I can't spell his name right not gonna lie lolz!) were probably two of my favorite characters with their depth and voices.
As the story progresses past Dylap being (for the most part) accepted (grudgingly or otherwise) by those around him, we learn of a much more dangerous problem which Dylap must overcome, in which he shows his courage and true self to the enemies and friends around him.
🪶 PERSONAL REVIEW 🐿️
Dylap has been written in such a way you will find yourself shrinking into a world of fairies where you will be small enough to ride on the backs of humming birds and finches, or sit in the comfort of an acorn shell in a homely tree. The description of riding Noggin the squirrel was so thrilling, it was like being on a roller coaster while being a couple of inches tall and clinging on for dear life, and Salter did a great job really taking you into his magical world and giving you the experience of being right there with Dylap and his friends and enemies through great description that didn't feel too heavy. I really liked the character growth of the Aviary Master and how much he does to support Dylap and defend him from those not willing to accept him into their society. That being said don't let the first part of Dylap's struggles fool you into him being a push over, I started to believe our MC was not just wingless but spineless (despite his spines) when he wasn't taking action for himself against certain bullies, but this later changes and we see him turn into a brutal little hero. And on that note I would like to say I am so glad there was no info dumping in this story, Dylap's past was fed through at a nice pace that didn't hold everything back and dump it all in one go, and nor did it feed you so little that it got boring and made you lose interest, but it is certainly a story that could have fell either way very easily.
Overall this story was unique and very much enjoyed. Though I absolutely hated the outcome of the Princess and Dylap and would have personally liked to have seen a darker more selfish side to him for just this part of the story, considering all he had done up until then.
Dylap was well worth the time to read, but I would not recommend reading it with burnt chips and nuggies (vegan of course) in fact.... Just order a take away if you think you can stick around in the real world long enough to hear the door. 😏
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
January 8, 2019
Ferngully with violent racism among different fairies. I kept picking it up, and putting it back down. It wasn’t the worst book but it wasn’t the greatest.
July 23, 2018
Dylap, an unusual little fairy is pulled half dead from the River Twine. His wings just naked spines and with no memory of how he had fallen and almost drowned in this strange dual coloured river. In fact no memory at all. Thus begins a mesmerising story from A.C. Salter. This is the fourth book I have read from this author and he doesn't disappoint. Amidst Swallows, Finches, Beetles and Squirrels a wonderful Fairy Tale emerges. I love how this author delves into his imagination to conjure up a world of fantasy, both innocent but also with brooding menace. Wait until the evil Goblin steps onto the stage. Now he is a true monster. Each and every character in this book is beautifully drawn and the story rolls on with surprises at every turn. A very worthy Five Stars.
October 27, 2024
Started a bit slow, but built up well
I read this book because I had read previous books from this author and this one was recommended. At first I found it to be a bit preachy and the analogies of racism a bit on the nose. However, as the story developed it drew me in and I couldn’t put it down. Looking forward to the next instalment.
I read this book because I had read previous books from this author and this one was recommended. At first I found it to be a bit preachy and the analogies of racism a bit on the nose. However, as the story developed it drew me in and I couldn’t put it down. Looking forward to the next instalment.
March 19, 2025
excellent work
Very fine story line with interesting characters. Plan to get the whole series. Just fyi I probably read 100 books a year (Scifi and Fantasy) and this is only my third review in many years. Robert Silverberg was my last I think (blast from the past). It was one I hadn’t read before. Keep up the good work.
Very fine story line with interesting characters. Plan to get the whole series. Just fyi I probably read 100 books a year (Scifi and Fantasy) and this is only my third review in many years. Robert Silverberg was my last I think (blast from the past). It was one I hadn’t read before. Keep up the good work.
December 4, 2024
Great story
I loved the way that Dylap developed as a character. The story was full of mystery and suspense. I did not anticipate some of the twists in the storyline. It was a very entertaining story.
I loved the way that Dylap developed as a character. The story was full of mystery and suspense. I did not anticipate some of the twists in the storyline. It was a very entertaining story.
June 11, 2025
Excellent Writing
I read a lot…for years. This is one of the best writers I have come across. This is the second book I have read from Mr. Salter. Gallows Born is just as good. Love the story. The writing is exceptional. On to the next book!
I read a lot…for years. This is one of the best writers I have come across. This is the second book I have read from Mr. Salter. Gallows Born is just as good. Love the story. The writing is exceptional. On to the next book!
March 4, 2019
Wonderful story!
April 6, 2025
goooood
Fucking gooood
Ending very good me like lots
Writer describe good
Writer write good
Me like lots
People should read
Fucking gooood
Ending very good me like lots
Writer describe good
Writer write good
Me like lots
People should read
May 5, 2025
Great story
Fantastic story with a real ending unlike many fairy tales. Would like to read more of adventures. Crayls adventures. .
Fantastic story with a real ending unlike many fairy tales. Would like to read more of adventures. Crayls adventures. .
August 27, 2025
Fabulous
I loved this book and read it in a single day. It's adventurous, clever, fun, and well written. I give it two thumbs up and highly recommend.
I loved this book and read it in a single day. It's adventurous, clever, fun, and well written. I give it two thumbs up and highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews