Frost, Gregory: Lord Tophet
Lord Tophet
Writer: Gregory Frost
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 222
I wasn't kidding about needing to read the sequel to Shadowbridge right away. Save for laundry and a phone call, reading the sequel/conclusion is pretty much all I've done, but I'm quite the happy devil for it.
It's interesting to review these books back to back. Reviewing Shadowbridge by itself was next to impossible, because I truly only had HALF the story. Now that I've read the conclusion, gone is the complete and total awe and wonderment, leaving me free to analyze the book at will. Not that that's a bad thing. These two books invite re-reading, and trust me, one of these days, I'll do just that. Now that I've got the whole story, I can't wait to see how Frost REALLY puts the whole thing together.
The premise: picking up where Shadowbridge left off, Leodora finds herself blessed by the gods with a seemingly innocent gift: a pendent in the shape of a lion's head, brazen in gold. This gift turns out to be the key to what she needs the most: to learn the truth of her life, of her passion, and her history, and her parents' history before that. Because the capricious god, Lord Tophet, made it his mission to destroy her parents and their trope, and if Leodora isn't careful, the very same thing will happen to her as well.
Spoilers ahead.
When I started reading this book, I had to ask myself why, since both novels are between 220-260 pages apiece, why were there two publications? Why not just put the stories together into one book, because let's be honest: IT'S ONE BIG STORY.
Logically, I already know why: more money can be made from two volumes instead of one, and besides, a stand-alone fantasy is a rarity these days. Still, it's ONE STORY, and given the overall length of it, I don't feel the two volumes were necessary. But that's just me.
As before, Frost has a way of pulling the reader into awe with his world-building and setting. I was amazed at each and every creation he introduced to us, and surprised when we reached the Edgeworld, and learned that there's some connection in that world to the one we readers inhabit. It shocked me to the point of almost pulling me out of the story, but I brushed it off. I was determined to figure out what exactly had happened to Bardsham and Leandra, and what might happen to Leodora/Jax if she wasn't careful.
Overall, the plot was weak. Rather, I should say it's organic. I never got the sense of cause and effect, never the inexplicable drive to a climax that could not be avoided. Soter felt that, to be sure, but that's because he held all the aces and rarely let them slip. He saw history repeating itself, but despite the blighted condition of Colemaigne, I never once understood why that was so dangerous. I wonder, now that I know the full scope of it, how bad a thing it would've been had the reader, or even Leodora, been told. That'll be something I examine upon re-read, simply because I'm more of the mind that it's better to show most of the hand upfront, so you can save the real surprises for later.
Not that I felt overly manipulated. I did, a bit, especially in Soter's POV, but POV is a slippery thing in these two books. Frost has a way of gliding in and out of the characters's heads without the upsetting the reader, which is a rare talent.
But I did like the overall tale, how Lord Tophet, the god that was not a god, summoned storytellers and puppeteers from all over Shadowbridge to see if any could possibly know the one story he did not want them to know. The story of his creation. That was a really neat development, as I'd been wondering why on EARTH a god, of all things, would give a rat's ass about a famous shadow-puppeteer, and how a puppeteer could be a threat to him. Turns out, he wasn't a god at all, but all too human, with human desires to boot. I understood then that not only did Soter fear for Leodora's emerging talent and fame (therefore, bringing her to Tophet's attention), but also, he feared she would meet her mother's fate.
Diverus's role in the story is an interesting one, and the one that felt most incomplete to me. At first, it was hard to picture Diverus as roughly the same age as Leodora, and therefore hard to imagine them as a potential couple, but Frost won me over soon enough. I liked the parallels their lives were taking in comparison to Bardsham and Leandra's, and I really, really liked learning that Diverus's real name was Orfeo. Another jolt back into our own real world, but the parallels here were appropriate. Like Orfeo, Diverus used his music to bring back his love from (a kind) hell, and like Orfeo, Diverus lost her, but not through any fault of his own. I liked how he did what he could to protect Leodora, even so far as pretending to be Jax and suffering accordingly. And I also really appreciated, even though I wanted more than we got, that the two characters didn't wallow in romance, and that in the end Leodora saved Diverus, her mother, and herself. She defeats Lord Tophet with his story, with his soul, and returns to Diverus in Epama Epam. It's a rather abrupt ending, despite the epilogue and the tease about how all mysteries aren't meant to be solved, but damn it, I wanted more of them!
I guess I'll have to content myself with my own ending, that Leodora and Diverus lived "happily ever after" in Epama Epam, though Diverus/Orfeo is such a large, powerful force in the book, so tentatively linked to the story we get, that I can't help but wonder if there isn't more to his story. Maybe Frost will give us more one day, maybe not. Like I said before, I won't be disappointed if Frost writes more books in this world. Not disappointed at all.
My Rating
Must Have: Lord Tophet is NOT meant to be read without Shadowbridge, and now that it's an option, I highly recommend you read the books back to back. I'm convinced, despite everything, these books should've been one whole volume, but it's well worth the cash, and remains one of the better, more original fantasies that I've read in a long time.
Book: Halting State by Charles Stross
Graphic Novel: Hellboy Library Edition Volume 1: Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil by Mike Mignola