I just finished "Harbingers." G-R-E-A-T!
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
I knew what would happen to Gia and Vicky months ago. FPW contacted me to ask a couple of questions. Where would victims of a horrendous auto accident on the corner of 2nd and 58th be taken, and what was the layout of the trauma unit at New York Hospital on 68th Street. (I live a block away and worked there for 12 years. Presently, I work at the other campus of what is now the New York Presbyterian Hospital.)
I could help only so much. Due to new privacy regs and despite my contacts, I wasn't able to get Paul into the Hospital but he found a way to do it.
I love that Paul uses New York exactly as it is. The narrow walkway called the East River promenade where the whoop-ass Lady has her talk with Rasalom while Jack sits pinned to a bench between them is a place where I've done my power-walking hundreds of times. The narrow promenade is on one side of the FDR Drive (the highway that rims the entire east side of Manhattan) and the park with the swimming pool is on the other side of the Drive. An elevated crosswalk joins the two, and it's at the foot of that crosswalk that Zek meets his maker. I pass that exact spot every day on the way to work and actually have had the thought that it would be a good place to hide a body for a bit. I often think about that as I pass along highways. What can I say?
At any rate, even though I surmised from Paul's questions what was in store for Gia and, having read "Nightworld" I knew what the outcome would be, "Harbingers" kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.
It's a masterpiece, Paul. Great stuff.
The Lady in all her incarnations is, to me, most defintely Mother Earth. She was here before the Otherness or the Ally began to show an interest in Earth. She will be here long after their interest wanes. She is the rock, the anchor that keeps this sphere a safe place for the fagile humans who inhabit her world. She's here to look out for us because we are a part of this world, but not because we are so special in and of ourselves.
Long before I read the Adversary Cycle, I was introduced to a philosophy, a way of looking at the world, that exactly mirrors the Otherness and the Ally. Namely, that there are huge forces at work in the Universe engaged in an eternal struggle for dominance. They were referred to rather simply as Black Tshirts (the Otherness) and White Tshirts (the Ally). Earth is no great prize, just one among many. It's not the real estate but the sentient life on Earth that makes this sphere more interesting than some. This philosophy explained, just as in the Adversary Cycle, that the White Tshirts are largely uninvolved and really are more interested in keeping the Black Tshirts from taking over. The Black Tshirts are interested because of the great energy they derive from creating disharmony, suffering and pain among the feeling human beings who inhabit Earth. This philosophy, however, had no place for The Lady.
All of this is to say that I have always been tickled pink that a philosophy that may have sounded crazy to many but credible to me is the basis for my favorite author's powerful series.
I can't wait until the next book. How many more RJ books before "Nightworld?" Or have we reached the end of the RJ saga already? God, I hope not.
Keep 'em coming, Paul. You are The Man.