Order & Chaos

Like night and day or winter and summer, there is a rigid division between the states of order and chaos that seems immutable. Nevertheless, these opposing forces also depend on one another. In this study guide collection, we've put together texts that explore themes related to the diametrically opposed yet inextricably linked forces of order and chaos.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

by Isaac Asimov

Publication year 1959

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Fear, Social Class, Community, Economics, Education, Immigration, Nation, Good & Evil, Order & Chaos, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt

Tags Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Education, Education

... Read Rain, Rain, Go Away Summary

Real Tigers

by Mick Herron

Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Perseverance, Teamwork, Politics & Government, Justice, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Espionage, British Literature

... Read Real Tigers Summary

Rebel Witch

by Kristen Ciccarelli

Publication year 2025

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Love, Memory, Family, Friendship, Marriage, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Community, Politics & Government, War, Equality, Fate, Good & Evil, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies, Wins & Losses

Tags Fantasy, Romance

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Reckless

by Lauren Roberts

Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Perseverance, Love, Coming of Age, Death, Family, Fathers, Friendship, Siblings, Self Discovery, Community, Politics & Government, Fate, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies

Tags Children`s Literature, Fairy Tale & Folklore, Action & Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Science Fiction

... Read Reckless Summary

Red Mars

by Kim Stanley Robinson

Publication year 1992

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Space, Conflict, Perseverance, Loneliness, Nostalgia, Future, Appearance & Reality, Environment, Food, Place, Family, Friendship, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Colonialism, Community, Economics, Immigration, Politics & Government, War, Beauty, Equality, Fate, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Religion & Spirituality, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology, Truth & Lies

Tags Science Fiction, Fantasy

Red Mars, a 1992 science fiction novel by Kim Stanley Robinson, is the first book in the Mars trilogy about settling and terraforming the planet Mars. Red Mars follows the first 100 people who land on Mars and begin the complex process of terraforming the planet. In 1993, Red Mars won the Nebula Award and the British Science Fiction Association Award. This guide uses the 2009 HarperVoyager edition.Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions... Read Red Mars Summary

Red Sorghum

by Mo Yan

Publication year 1986

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Grief, Memory, Femininity, The Past, Grandparents, Colonialism, Nation, War, Good & Evil, Order & Chaos

Tags Historical Fiction, Chinese Literature, Magical Realism

Mo Yan’s Red Sorghum (1987) is a historical family saga and a landmark novel of China’s “root-seeking” literary movement of the 1980s. First published as a series of five novellas in 1986, the novel is set in the author’s home province of Shandong. Mo Yan drew heavily from the region’s folklore and his own family’s history to create what the Swedish Academy would later call “hallucinatory realism” when awarding him the 2012 Nobel Prize in... Read Red Sorghum Summary

Regime Change

by Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan

Publication year 2026

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Economics, Immigration, Politics & Government, Order & Chaos

Tags Politics & Government

Published in 2026, Regime Change is a work of political journalism by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. Haberman is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times and author of the nonfiction bestseller Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America (2022). Swan, also of The New York Times, won an Emmy Award for his celebrated 2020 interview with Donald Trump. Regime Change chronicles the first year of the second... Read Regime Change Summary

Rendezvous with Rama

by Arthur C. Clarke

Publication year 1973

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Space, Conflict, Fear, Hope, Memory, Masculinity, Future, The Past, Appearance & Reality, Objects & Materials, Place, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Colonialism, Politics & Government, Beauty, Fate, Good & Evil, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Religion & Spirituality, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags Science Fiction, Fantasy

Published in 1973, Rendezvous With Rama is a science fiction adventure novel by British author Arthur C. Clarke. In his time, Clarke was known as one of the “Big Three” writers of science fiction alongside American authors Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein. Clarke’s expertise in space flight prompted him to develop the novel and screenplay for his best-known work, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Rendezvous With Rama won major speculative fiction awards, including the... Read Rendezvous with Rama Summary

Resist

by Alan Gratz

Publication year 2019

Genre Novella, Fiction

Themes War, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Hope, Childhood & Youth, Death, Animals, Place, Daughters & Sons, Mothers, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Colonialism, Nation, Politics & Government, Good & Evil, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Wins & Losses

Tags Historical Fiction, World War II, Children`s Literature

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Rez Ball

by Byron Graves

Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Grief, Hope, Memory, Shame & Pride, Coming of Age, Death, Family, Fathers, Siblings, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Community, Equality, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age, Sports, Grief & Death

... Read Rez Ball Summary

Richard II

by William Shakespeare

Publication year 1597

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Power & Greed, Order & Chaos, Loyalty & Betrayal, Politics & Government, Self Discovery

Tags Historical Drama, British Literature, Tragedy, Classic Fiction, Education, Education, World History, Dramatic Literature, Historical Fiction

The Tragedy of King Richard II is a play by William Shakespeare. It was probably first performed in 1595, and published in 1597. The play covers the last two years of Richard II’s life, from 1398 to 1400, during which he was deposed by Henry Bolingbroke, who became Henry IV in 1399. The play explores Richard’s growing unpopularity and ineffective leadership, leading to his overthrow by Bolingbroke, who not only has a taste for power... Read Richard II Summary

Richard III

by William Shakespeare

Publication year 1597

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Power & Greed, Truth & Lies, Fate, Order & Chaos, Appearance & Reality, Family

Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Drama, British Literature, Education, Education, World History, Dramatic Literature, Historical Fiction

Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare written between 1592 and 1594. It is one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays and his second longest. The play depicts the rise of King Richard III of England, also known as Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Shakespeare portrays Richard as a Machiavellian tyrant who uses lies and violence to unjustly seize the throne during a politically turbulent period of England’s history known as the Wars of the Roses... Read Richard III Summary

Room

by Emma Donoghue

Publication year 2010

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Mothers, Daughters & Sons, Grandparents, Childhood & Youth, Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Conflict, Nostalgia, Memory, Love, Loneliness, Joy, Literature, Good & Evil, Fame, Justice, Truth & Lies, Trust & Doubt, Safety & Danger, Religion & Spirituality, Order & Chaos, Appearance & Reality, Animals, Environment, Plants, Food, Place

Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Trauma & Abuse, Crime & Law, Modern Classic Fiction, Dramatic Literature

IntroductionEmma Donoghue’s Room is a 2010 novel about a boy named Jack who lives in a single room with his mother, Ma. Room is a crime thriller novel that explores themes of trauma, innocence, and adaptability through the eyes of five-year-old narrator, Jack. Room has received many awards, including the ALA Alex Award, the Indies Choice Book Award for Fiction, and The New York Times Book Review Best Book of the Year award. Room was... Read Room Summary

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

by Tom Stoppard

Publication year 1966

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Fate, Appearance & Reality, Order & Chaos

Tags Comedy & Satire, Tragedy, British Literature, Absurdism, Education, Education, Dramatic Literature, Humor, Classic Fiction

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is a three-act play by the English playwright Tom Stoppard. It is an existentialist, absurdist satire featuring characters and events from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. First performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1966, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead enjoyed critical success, winning The New York Drama Critics’ Circle’s Award for Best Play and four Tony Awards in 1968. Since then, the play has been adapted into several radio plays and a... Read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead Summary

Royal Assassin

by Robin Hobb

Publication year 1996

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Perseverance, Disability, Coming of Age, Self Discovery, Social Class, Politics & Government, War, Good & Evil, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed

Tags Fantasy, Science Fiction, Action & Adventure

Royal Assassin, the second installment of Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy, continues the story of FitzChivalry Farseer, the illegitimate grandson of King Shrewd and a trained royal assassin in the medieval fantasy kingdom of the Six Duchies. Fitz possesses two rare abilities: the Skill, a telepathic magic tied to the royal bloodline, and the Wit, a forbidden Beast magic that lets him bond mentally with animals. The novel opens with Fitz recovering in the Mountain Kingdom... Read Royal Assassin Summary