he world of Chaos, the third novel in Jack Smith’s series FATE, is driven by Schopenhauer’s Will, an irrational force that characters are seemingly helpless to avoid. A comedic novel, sometimes in the light vein of Voltaire’s Candide, sometimes in a darker one, this novel makes readers wonder to what extent they are in control of their own lives. The novel moves through two world wars and their aftermaths. It moves, finally, to the contemporary period, where plot and character ultimately give way to metaphor and symbol.
   Thematically, the novel is rich with several themes: war, the state, the nature of art, social class, gender, modernism, and Marxism. In all, Smith skillfully weaves the elements of chaos and order such that each of the four major characters determines their own fate.