What do you think?
Inquestor / Chronicles of the High Inquest #2
The Throne of Madness
Kelver, a boy, is taken to Uran s'Varek, where he will become one of the Inquestors, responsible for the future of all humanity
- GenresScience FictionFantasy
Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 20, 2019
This is the print on demand paperback edition but that wasn't an option in the list of editions.
Very different from the previous book. Much less linear journeys, characters are going all over the place here.
I'll start with some reservations...
I think the most glaring problem is the same problem from the first book: the heretic's plan is incredibly flimsy, why is the old heretic surprised when the plan doesn't go as specifically as he intended? Although the magical item is incredibly difficult to locate on such an enormous planet, it seemed too easy to find and it's hardly hidden (was there something stopping it from being hidden?) and why isn't there more concern over other people using it? Because other people know where it is. I hope we find out why it exists.
There's a tad too much recapping of the previous book. Perhaps this was standard practice to make this sequel accessible to new readers (?) but it's definitely not a "start at any book" series and if we really had to recap, surely doing it at the beginning, outside the actual text of the story would be best?
There is some new backstory (not in the previous book) that is told a bit inelegantly through the dialogue near the beginning, but it's a small issue.
The constant grumbling about the ways of the Inquest gets a bit excessive, completely understandable grumbling but it starts to get tiring.
Why are some Inquestors so sure they will forget important things when the oldest Inquestors seem to remember everything? Are these younger Inquestors simply wrong?
Wouldn't the Inquestors use their powers of illusion far more often?
There is a big issue which can be seen as a positive or a negative, or a bit of both: you never know quite where the characters stand. In the previous book, I think a lot more tension was there because I thought I knew the gravity of the situation. But here everything is in doubt.
We're made to constantly change our estimation of the situation. Constantly questioning how comprehensively the Inquest is run, what are the Inquestors' priorities, how much do they care about threats to their empire?
Is the grand Inquestor just lying all the time? Why does he speak about atrocities so casually to the doubters? Is he a coherent character? It seems that the Inquest is so big an operation that expecting any real consistency is just wrong.
Are the Thinkhives really listening all the time? What is their nature, really? Why do they serve anyone? How much do they care about protecting the empire?
I was often doubting Somtow was in good control of the whole situation, but for every question I could find some plausible theories, the Inquest has an endlessly twisted logic that could be used to justify almost anything (they're obsessed with compassion but power contorts it into insane shapes) and the Thinkhives seem as flawed as people. Occasionally I was losing confidence in the story but with enough shifting of the seeming circumstances and stakes, I felt better.
I very often wonder whether to read the speculative fiction canon in a more chronological order so I have a better idea of when innovations are truly happening but the main drawback of that is I may never get around to all the writers I'm most excited to read. Like Somtow.
So I'm wondering how truly original this series is. I'm guessing that the imagination, wildness, happy open bi-sexuality (I seen one reviewer wishing it had been embraced by LGBT readers) and extremity of the content towards the end was unusual for a relatively mainstream space opera mode in 1983.
Many of the characters have sex wherever they want and in front of absolutely anyone, is this just a privilege of the Inquestors or can anyone do this? Are the people on the ocean planet only so sexually open in their dire circumstances?
I've never seen a story of such universe-shaking consequences where the opponents like each other so much for the most part.
Although the first book had more momentum, tension and the spectacle had far more emotional impact, I think this sequel still manages to be a better book. It has a good amount of the varied locations, nice sprawl, rapid travel, increased wildness, extravagance and grotesque morbidity that I was looking forward to. Although it's roughly the same length as the previous, somehow three times as much happens and it never feels hurried. Somtow's classical/opera background is even more in evidence this time.
I particularly liked the flying palaces, city of the symphony and the ridiculous banquet party that lasts for days (the confrontation at the end of the banquet is brilliant, I wanted to hug Karakael). Genius, audacious.
Please read this amazing series and tell all your friends about it, so I can walk up to strangers at a science fiction convention and say "history there is, and no history!" and have a good chance of them knowing what I'm talking about.
Very different from the previous book. Much less linear journeys, characters are going all over the place here.
I'll start with some reservations...
I think the most glaring problem is the same problem from the first book: the heretic's plan is incredibly flimsy, why is the old heretic surprised when the plan doesn't go as specifically as he intended? Although the magical item is incredibly difficult to locate on such an enormous planet, it seemed too easy to find and it's hardly hidden (was there something stopping it from being hidden?) and why isn't there more concern over other people using it? Because other people know where it is. I hope we find out why it exists.
There's a tad too much recapping of the previous book. Perhaps this was standard practice to make this sequel accessible to new readers (?) but it's definitely not a "start at any book" series and if we really had to recap, surely doing it at the beginning, outside the actual text of the story would be best?
There is some new backstory (not in the previous book) that is told a bit inelegantly through the dialogue near the beginning, but it's a small issue.
The constant grumbling about the ways of the Inquest gets a bit excessive, completely understandable grumbling but it starts to get tiring.
Why are some Inquestors so sure they will forget important things when the oldest Inquestors seem to remember everything? Are these younger Inquestors simply wrong?
Wouldn't the Inquestors use their powers of illusion far more often?
There is a big issue which can be seen as a positive or a negative, or a bit of both: you never know quite where the characters stand. In the previous book, I think a lot more tension was there because I thought I knew the gravity of the situation. But here everything is in doubt.
We're made to constantly change our estimation of the situation. Constantly questioning how comprehensively the Inquest is run, what are the Inquestors' priorities, how much do they care about threats to their empire?
Is the grand Inquestor just lying all the time? Why does he speak about atrocities so casually to the doubters? Is he a coherent character? It seems that the Inquest is so big an operation that expecting any real consistency is just wrong.
Are the Thinkhives really listening all the time? What is their nature, really? Why do they serve anyone? How much do they care about protecting the empire?
I was often doubting Somtow was in good control of the whole situation, but for every question I could find some plausible theories, the Inquest has an endlessly twisted logic that could be used to justify almost anything (they're obsessed with compassion but power contorts it into insane shapes) and the Thinkhives seem as flawed as people. Occasionally I was losing confidence in the story but with enough shifting of the seeming circumstances and stakes, I felt better.
I very often wonder whether to read the speculative fiction canon in a more chronological order so I have a better idea of when innovations are truly happening but the main drawback of that is I may never get around to all the writers I'm most excited to read. Like Somtow.
So I'm wondering how truly original this series is. I'm guessing that the imagination, wildness, happy open bi-sexuality (I seen one reviewer wishing it had been embraced by LGBT readers) and extremity of the content towards the end was unusual for a relatively mainstream space opera mode in 1983.
Many of the characters have sex wherever they want and in front of absolutely anyone, is this just a privilege of the Inquestors or can anyone do this? Are the people on the ocean planet only so sexually open in their dire circumstances?
I've never seen a story of such universe-shaking consequences where the opponents like each other so much for the most part.
Although the first book had more momentum, tension and the spectacle had far more emotional impact, I think this sequel still manages to be a better book. It has a good amount of the varied locations, nice sprawl, rapid travel, increased wildness, extravagance and grotesque morbidity that I was looking forward to. Although it's roughly the same length as the previous, somehow three times as much happens and it never feels hurried. Somtow's classical/opera background is even more in evidence this time.
I particularly liked the flying palaces, city of the symphony and the ridiculous banquet party that lasts for days (the confrontation at the end of the banquet is brilliant, I wanted to hug Karakael). Genius, audacious.
Please read this amazing series and tell all your friends about it, so I can walk up to strangers at a science fiction convention and say "history there is, and no history!" and have a good chance of them knowing what I'm talking about.
June 9, 2010
This was a re-read for me - but it's been over 20 years since I first read it. It's interesting to come back to something after so long. I'm happy that I still really, really liked it.
It's a reading experience that's more like experiencing a poem or a song than a typical novel. This is not to say that the plot is not clear and easy to follow (if anything, the plot might be overly simple, given such a rich and complex universe), but it is suffused with almost a synaesthesia of the senses, with music and glittering darkness. It's full of weird and wonderful imagery.
That said, perhaps some people might find it dated in some ways - personally, I found it giving me a nostalgia for the time period when it was written, which was much more filled with over-the-top fantasy, with an unabashed flair for the dramatic. Although this is sci-fi, it reminded me of when goth was all about beauty, decadence and playing at cruelty and power, skirting the edges of convention. Some people found goth rock too bombastic too. I don't.
I wish Somtow would write more SF. Being a conductor is all very nice and worthwhile, but.... More Books! :-)"
It's a reading experience that's more like experiencing a poem or a song than a typical novel. This is not to say that the plot is not clear and easy to follow (if anything, the plot might be overly simple, given such a rich and complex universe), but it is suffused with almost a synaesthesia of the senses, with music and glittering darkness. It's full of weird and wonderful imagery.
That said, perhaps some people might find it dated in some ways - personally, I found it giving me a nostalgia for the time period when it was written, which was much more filled with over-the-top fantasy, with an unabashed flair for the dramatic. Although this is sci-fi, it reminded me of when goth was all about beauty, decadence and playing at cruelty and power, skirting the edges of convention. Some people found goth rock too bombastic too. I don't.
I wish Somtow would write more SF. Being a conductor is all very nice and worthwhile, but.... More Books! :-)"
February 8, 2019
Sucharitkul's prose is sparklingly beautiful and the story moves along at a good clip. Why only three stars? Ultimately, this one did not stand the test of time as well as the first volume in the series. The plot does not collapse so much, as it is deformed by the weight of symbolism and allegory. Still highly recommended, of course.
May 23, 2018
Just when you think they've used all possible science fiction scenarios, along comes a book like this one.
It's the distant future, humanity now inhabits thousands of planets throughout the galaxy and technology exists that enable some humans to reign as gods. These are the Inquestors. They’re not at an advanced stage of human evolution, nor is the status hereditary. A few even began life as peasants on underdeveloped planets, where an Inquestortook an interest in them and groomed them for godhood. That comes with all the perks of being a god, including near immortality through a medical process that induces eternal youth - they live far long than their memory can even account for. Among their staff are people who recount forgotten events and histories for them.
Another perk is a game called makrugh. Being born and raised in the same country as the author, I find that word suspiciously close to the Thai word for chess. But it's a lot bigger than chess - it's high stakes, determining the fate of whole planets. But only planets that are in danger of becoming a utopia.
As every reader of science fiction knows, there's only a fine line between a utopia and a dystopia. The problem is that humanity is a fallen race and can't handle a utopia. Therefore it's an act of “high compasion” to rid the galaxy of utopias. That's the role of the Inquestors. However, we also come to realise that the inquestors are also members of the fallen race, too human to be gods.,
Davaryush has come to realise that, and is therefore demobbed as a “heretic”, but not before sending his protege, a teen named Kelver, to the great land at the centre of the galaxy to be trained as an Inquestor.
It’s a land of eternal daylight, lit by the sum of all the stars in the galaxy. At each pole is a great expanse, where, every hundred or so years a star falls to its death into the great black hole at the centre. Needless to say, the place is really massive. How massive? No Inquestors even know what all inhabits this world, some since before the arrival of humanity
There are so many more elements to describe, of sentient stars, of planets where nations of humans live as parasites inside giant sea serpents, child soldiers who sing as they kill with their laser eyes while balanced on hoverboards, of humans genetically modified as putti who can only sing… if I described everything, you'll be wondering how any author could possibly tie it all together in a readable novel, but Somtow delivers on his promise. If you want something that extends the farther reaches of the imagination, written by someone who’s not only written science fiction, but a few opras as well, you've found it.
It's the distant future, humanity now inhabits thousands of planets throughout the galaxy and technology exists that enable some humans to reign as gods. These are the Inquestors. They’re not at an advanced stage of human evolution, nor is the status hereditary. A few even began life as peasants on underdeveloped planets, where an Inquestortook an interest in them and groomed them for godhood. That comes with all the perks of being a god, including near immortality through a medical process that induces eternal youth - they live far long than their memory can even account for. Among their staff are people who recount forgotten events and histories for them.
Another perk is a game called makrugh. Being born and raised in the same country as the author, I find that word suspiciously close to the Thai word for chess. But it's a lot bigger than chess - it's high stakes, determining the fate of whole planets. But only planets that are in danger of becoming a utopia.
As every reader of science fiction knows, there's only a fine line between a utopia and a dystopia. The problem is that humanity is a fallen race and can't handle a utopia. Therefore it's an act of “high compasion” to rid the galaxy of utopias. That's the role of the Inquestors. However, we also come to realise that the inquestors are also members of the fallen race, too human to be gods.,
Davaryush has come to realise that, and is therefore demobbed as a “heretic”, but not before sending his protege, a teen named Kelver, to the great land at the centre of the galaxy to be trained as an Inquestor.
It’s a land of eternal daylight, lit by the sum of all the stars in the galaxy. At each pole is a great expanse, where, every hundred or so years a star falls to its death into the great black hole at the centre. Needless to say, the place is really massive. How massive? No Inquestors even know what all inhabits this world, some since before the arrival of humanity
There are so many more elements to describe, of sentient stars, of planets where nations of humans live as parasites inside giant sea serpents, child soldiers who sing as they kill with their laser eyes while balanced on hoverboards, of humans genetically modified as putti who can only sing… if I described everything, you'll be wondering how any author could possibly tie it all together in a readable novel, but Somtow delivers on his promise. If you want something that extends the farther reaches of the imagination, written by someone who’s not only written science fiction, but a few opras as well, you've found it.
January 25, 2011
Beginning with The Dawning Shadow: The Light on the Sound I'm reworking my way through the tetralogy, which I originally read as a teen-ager. There was a period where I read a lot of Somtow - The Shattered Horse, Vampire Junction and the Inquestor series. I'm not sure how I feel about these books and am going to hold off on a full review till I finish book four.
August 4, 2020
A great series from a fantastic author, one that was not readily available as a set until recently but thankfully is now! A beautiful and richly detailed world, I can't recommend these novels enough!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews