I haven't fallen completely in love with many new books over the last few years. Age of Assassins was one and so was Three Parts Dead. Another was The Goddess Project. I'll add the disclaimer that Bryan is a friend here, but I've a lot of friends who write books and I love none of those books so completely. It hit so many sweet notes for me, including ones I didn't even realise I have, like wanting fantasy books that borrow the modern day thriller's Grand Occult Conspiracy. The name even sounds a bit like one.
So does The Empyreus Proof. This is appropriate as this is a sequel that doubles down on everything that made The Goddess Project great. The mix of Edwardian technology and society with primal Shamanistic magics. The heavy focus on the theme of "Who am I?" The desperate quests for revelation and safety in a treacherous world. My go to comparison was The Northern Lights trilogy grown up and run away to sea but as the series has grown, it has become more of its own thing.
The book opens with the Orc, Cass and Hana at the end of their great voyage, hoping to have some time to unravel the mysteries they found and save a friend. But they don't have that time. They seize the power needed to solve their problems, but that only creates bigger problems and deeper mysteries, and before we know it we're back to questing against the Grand Occult Conspiracy. Their travels take in ancient mystic monasteries, eerie castles, seats of power and repression, airplanes, mutated creatures, creepy twins and some intense vision quests. The Empyreus Proof is a rollicking good adventure read.
It is more than that though. The musings on identity become sharper, each arc more contrasted with its fellows, as the cast become more aware of how other people have shaped them, made them. This isn't that unusual for the fantasy genre, which often has a big focus on mistaken identities. My tentative thesis on that would be that this theme has endured in the genre thanks to the many bildungsromans that have resonated with younger readers grappling with the fact that they're the person their parents created and how to be create themselves. In any case, Wigmore pushes the issue further than most. The effects of magic and power in terms of shaping identities; the extent to which these forced identities make them unhappy; the number of arcs to which it is central; all of these things are greater in magnitude than in most other books.
This is one of the things that I think could put readers off of The Empyreus Proof and The Fire Stealers series as a whole. It might remind them a little of Rand's extended angst in WoT, or any other number of somewhat annoying teenagers. And yes, there is an element of that here. The characters are young, they do navel gaze and complain and take their frustrations out on others. I personally believe that element is not overdone and adds just the right amount of verisimilitude and drama to proceedings. But caveat emptor for those with a pet hate for that aspect of coming of age stories.
For me though, that aspect has to be there, for without it how do we appreciate the journey from powerlessness to power (one we take in a lesser form as we age ourselves?). And something I very much appreciate about Wigmore's work is the way he sorts through types of power. The protagonists of The Empyreus Proof have been weaponised and at times do stunning things but at other times, that very weaponised nature works against them. Orc in particular has some fantastic scenes for both in his arc. He looks at the way its done with social mores too, as Cass struggles to find an edge in the misogynistic societies in which she travels. As above, so below.
The writing and storytelling are mostly in what I would consider the Le Guin/GGK/De Bodard strand of the genre. They are lucid and stately, unhurried and unafraid of poetry and melodrama. Sometimes I wish the pace was livelier but I find the pay-off worth it. The poetic touches result in a few awkward phrases, but one a few. I think more readers are likely to struggle with the prose when it comes to the dissonance that can be produced by the contrast of the grand, formal tone that is most of the book and the more down to earth nature of some of the dialogue. I struggled with it myself at times.
The challenge presented to authors by second books is nothing new. I listed three books I loved at the start of this; I didn't love the sequel to either Age of Assassins or Three Parts Dead. But The Empyreus Proof satisfied me just as much as The Goddess Project, even with a few minor gripes. It adds an epic note to the world that expands the story yet stays very close to its themes. And the ending is particularly satisfying, shedding light on the Grand Occult Conspiracy and setting things up for the next book in such a way that I want it now.
Alas, I can't have it yet. But for anyone who is intrigued by the sound of epic fantasy adventures full of Conspiracy, Shamanism and Questions, The Empyreus Proof is here.
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