Friday, November 13, 2020

The Darkling Wind - The Surreal Climax

 The Darkling Wind by S. P. Somtow

It's the last in the series of sequels, but don't fret - still some prequels to go, some yet to be completed. It is quite a climax. The Throne of Madness makes its presence felt in all it's - well - madness, adding a surreal quality, what with a winged boy and other manifestations randomly appearing in various scenes. If you've been keeping up with the series, putti made their appearance in The Throne of Madness, which is also where Kelver comes into union with that side of cosmic reality - the side the other Inquestors choose to ignore - the side that will bring the fall of the Inquest. 


But this is not Kelver's story, as much as it is Jenjen and Zalo's, whom we met in the third installment, Utopia Hunters. Zalo, the playwright, plays a minor role in that one, but here, he takes one of the leading roles, as he leads a planet in resisting the will of the Inquest. The two remain on the front line as more evil is done in the name of good, in the final game of Makrugh to end all Makrugh. 


Besides the Throne of Madness, two other forces to be reckoned with are the mind of the Delphinoid (the brain that drives the ships through the Overcosm) and Shtoma, the sentient sun, who has been maintaining the one Utopia that is the bane of the Inquest. As in every good story, there are also the ultimate "good guys" and ultimate villains - but watch carefully as some of them trade places. 


So, it comes to a climax. I suppose it wouldn't be a spoiler to say the Inquest falls - after all, Davaryush and Varuneh have been saying it since Book One. But is there life after the Inquest? Millenia later scholars doubt there ever was an Inquest.


So… a great climax to a great series.