John C. Wright, Mists of Everness

John C. Wright, Mists of Everness - Everything seems very dark for our heroes at the beginning of this book. They have all been separated from each other since their dawning victory in Everness house. In fact, we discover that the sunrise did not bring the victory we had hoped for at the end of Last Guardians of Everness, volume one of The War of the Dreaming. Not only are the divided forces of evil invested in opposing our heroes now, so are the benevolent forces of the dream world, who were denied their opportunity to bring a somnolent heaven to all mankind. Wendy is trapped in a delightful fairyland with no memory of her past, her duty or her name. Raven is stuck in the mist between magic and reality, where few people, if any, can see him, much less help him. Peter, finally able to accept the truth about his family's duties, paralysed and imprisoned by Azael de Gray, whose forces have infiltrated the US government and are using the nation's powers to thier own ends.

Mists of Everness brings new allies to our heroes' aid, allowing them to find, not only their freedom, but also a greater truth about themselves and the world in which we all live. Anton Pendrake, another enemy and victim of Azrael de Gray, has used his time trapped in the mist to build his own network of forgotten men turned bringers of justice, to thwart the armies of nightmare and the humans who serve them. Meadow Mouse takes up his quest to free his Sad Princess from forgetfulness by finding and rescuing the heroes who can save her. Galen is freed to free Prometheus from his mountain, who in turn shows our heroes how to save themselves from Morning Star and his armies.

John C. Wright, Mists of Everness - For a millennium, the Waylock family has served as vigilant guardians at the dream gate Everness to insure that evil never enters this world. However, the malevolent forces are mounting their strongest assault in centuries with the goal to take over the reality world of those awake. The current gate guardian Galen Waylock, who was forced too young to take over when his father abandoned his post, has fallen into a coma (see THE LAST GUARDIAN OF EVERNESS).

In the Pentagon, Azrael de Grey, who is an important government official, performs summoning rites as part of his plan to take control first of the Everness gate, next the evil forces of the dream world beyond the gate, and ultimately both planes. The evil begin penetrating into this world with an epic sea battle rivaling World War II in the Pacific as the US Navy skirmishes with wraiths and krakens. Apparently, in spite of Galen's sire returning to aid his son, Azrael has succeeded in bringing apocalypse now.

MISTS OF EVERNESS, the sequel to the fun THE LAST GUARDIAN OF EVERNESS, is an amusing, epic fantasy with religious overtones. The satirical storyline concentrates on spoofing the Books of Revelation and Daniel. This serves as a two sword of Damocles with plenty of humorous, exciting scenarios, but none of the characters, except somewhat Galen's cousin (a wheelchai- bound Nam vet POW of the evil forces), fully developed. Instead, the key players are ironically overwhelmed by the lampooning of converging religion and fantasy. Still, well-written and thought-provoking, John C. Wright provides an interesting tale for fantasy readers who enjoy cutting-edge satire starring flatlined heroes and villains.

Tor, Mar 2005, $25.95

ISBN: 0765313332

Harriet Klausner