''Mists of Everness'' is
John C. Wright's sequel to his novel ''
Last Guardian of Everness'', published in 2005, continuing the harrowing adventures of Raven, Wendy, Lemuel, Peter, and Galen. We learn here that to save the world from the evil tyrant Morningstar (
Satan
Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...
,
Lucifer), they must hand it over to the "good" tyrant
Oberon. Mists of Everness gets its title from the mists that fog people's minds, making the magic world/dream world invisible and incorporeal to mortals.
This latest installment in the Chronicles of Everness includes new mythologies: that of the oldtime radio program, "
The Shadow," and the three dark gods: Fate, Death, and War.
As in the previous novel, Wright blends
classical,
Norse,
Judeo-Christian
The term Judeo-Christian is used to group Christianity and Judaism together, either in reference to Christianity's derivation from Judaism, Christianity's borrowing of Jewish Scripture to constitute the "Old Testament" of the Christian Bible, or ...
,
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
,
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
,
Persian, and other
mythologies into a riveting, though complicated, whole.
Likewise, as in the first novel, Wright contrasts European/Old World mythos with the American ideals of
democracy,
liberty, and
justice. Also, while the books contain mythologies/legendary from around the world (including reference to Hindu beliefs, medieval Muslim knights, and Asian warriors), these books are first and foremost about dreams:
Basically, the world of dreams, aka "magic, myth, and monsters," is a world where the old gods of Europe, Asia, and Africa live on and coexist with the ideas/dreams/stories of
J.R.R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...
(with references to Tirion and Vinyamar, called Vindyamar in the book),
H. P. Lovecraft, and
E.R. Eddison
Eric Rücker Eddison, CB, CMG (24 November 1882 – 18 August 1945) was an English civil servant and author, writing epic fantasy novels under the name E. R. Eddison. His notable works include ''The Worm Ouroboros'' (1922) and the Zimiamvian T ...
, among others. The theme of the book is that dreams, although powerful and necessary for human sanity, are dangerous if brought into the real world.
What sets Mists of Everness apart from the first book is the depth to which the author goes in describing oneirotech: "Dream-science." With a little dream-power and the aid of the Silver Key, mortals are able to make dreams into matter. The psychology of dreams and the
unconscious mind also play a deeper role. For example, one character explains how certain symbols/objects have more power in the dream realm because they are deeply ingrained in the
collective unconscious
Collective unconscious (german: kollektives Unbewusstes) refers to the unconscious mind and shared mental concepts. It is generally associated with idealism and was coined by Carl Jung. According to Jung, the human collective unconscious is populat ...
(called "racial subconscious" in the book). Swords work better than guns because a sword has mythic properties about it, connotations that reach back into the psyche of every dreaming human. In other words, swords have a deeper psychological meaning for humans than guns, horses more than cars, etc.
Possible sequel
The author has said that he has a number of ideas for a third book (tentatively called ''Gates of Everness''), but {{as of, 2008, lc=on hasn't announced any plans to write it in the immediate futur
http://forum.rpg.net/showpost.php?p=4221313]
2005 American novels
American fantasy novels
Tor Books books