Review of MISTS OF EVERNESS by John C. Wright

Tor, March 2005

Everness has fallen. Galen, the new guardian, is dead. And from deep beneath the sea, the vast city of Acheron is rising. The angel of the morning star, Morningstar, Lucifer is ready to take control of the earth. Worse, his enemies remain in disarray, fighting one another, divided in their goals, and unable to trust.

Against the power of Hell itself, the guardians seem to have little to help them resist. Raven, son of Raven has developed a skill with lightning. But Galen is pretty much dead, Wendy has lost her memory, Pendrake is invisible to almost everyone, and Azrael is torn between his own ambitions and the need to stop Morningstar before his city rises above the water creating another path between the world of dreams and that of Earth. Of course, the hosts of heaven stand ready to ride, but the price for an earthly paradise is high indeed--no more creativity, no more growth, no more great men.

In THE LAST GUARDIAN OF EVERNESS, his earlier novel in this series, author John C. Wright (see more BooksForABuck.com reviews of novels by Wright) creates a powerful mixture of mythology, fairy tale, and adventure. MISTS OF EVERNESS steps back from the achievement of the earlier book. Although Wright continues to deliver plenty of adventure, the characters are weaker and we are subjected to political discussions that don't really advance the story.

MISTS OF EVERNESS is an enjoyable read with plenty of adventure. For fans (like me) of GUARDIAN, it is enjoyable to see how the problems established in GUARDIAN are worked out. I don't think many readers will enjoy MISTS as a stand-alone. It's quite important to read the earlier volume first.

Two Stars

Reviewed 4/26/05

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