The digressive third volume in Williams's Books of the Cataclysm series (after 2006's The Blood Debt
), set on a far-future Earth, propels its heroes on a perilous quest, while something "dark and dangerous" grows in the mountains. Rather than push toward the source of the postapocalyptic flood that swept through the crack in the Earth called the Divide, Marmion, a dedicated Sky Warden, and his traveling companions are forced to detour into the forest to prevent a needless interspecies war between the human foresters of Milang and the beastlike beings known as the Panic. On a separate journey, the twins Hadrian and Seth (both contained in the body of a Homunculus), and tracker Habryn Kail engage in portentous expository discussion. This entry feels like an unnecessary, if enjoyable, diversion from the main story line. Hopefully, the projected fourth and final installment will pull everything together into a coherent whole. (June)
