Darwin Lloyd is back again in Gerald Brandt's latest installment in the Quantum Empirica series, Threader God. He never asked to be in this world and never asked for the power of the QPS. That was just the hand he was dealt, as was losing that power and gaining Baila's ability with the Dance. His story so far has been fraught with trauma and, unfortunately, things are only going to get worse before they're any different.
Although Darwin Lloyd lived through being attacked by the skends, thanks to Baila's gift, he also became heavily injured and disfigured on one side of his face. His reputation... nay, legend proceeds him, with many people blaming him for how their world was changed, whether it be the introduction of the Threads or the temporary loss of them, while many others hold him in reverence as the bringer of Threads, building a religion around Lloyd and the threads and his role in bringing them to life. Now, with the horrible burns on one side of his body, even those who don't recognize him look upon him with disgust, pity, or curiosity. He can no longer simply walk anywhere without feeling eyes upon him.
No, he never asked for the ability to see and manipulate the Threads, but now that that ability has been ripped from him, he feels as though he's lost one of his primary senses, now feeling detached from the world around him. He's unable to see the Threads, even though he can manipulate them, although in a different way, now, through the Dance. He can feel the effects of his manipulations, his constructs that he makes when he dances, but he cannot see them.
In Threader God, Darwin treks across the country with Teresa, something that takes much longer when you can't simply open a hole to teleport you there. Still, Darwin and Teresa are also trying to find their place in the world and with each other, so the trek isn't merely a physical one, but a growth of character and a period of reflection.
Or course, with Darwin-worshippers out there, the world is dangerous when you're Darwin Lloyd and in addition to inner and outer struggles, they will have to contend with those they encounter during their travels. Furthermore, as they begin to get closer to their coastal destination, they start seeing evidence of skend activity. Darwin's "sister," Ada, is up to something and she's insane with anger and jealousy. To her, there's not enough room in this (or any other) world for the two of them. There can be only one and she's gearing up for the grand showdown, so Darwin and Theresa have to make it to Forsyth to join the forces to maintain control of the QPS and he will have to face Ada, before this can finally be over, once and for all.
I enjoyed this installment of the series and this is said to be the third and final book in the series. I saw some of the things that were going to happen as the story unfolded, but others didn't go how I had expected. With the ending, for example, I saw things going a certain way, and I wasn't wrong, but didn't guess the half of it. I enjoyed the ending, but, if you truly sit and think about the ending of this book and think back over the whole of the series, you really could spend a lot of time rolling around the possibilities and implications that come out of it. Is that vague and ambiguous enough? Sorry.
If you've been following along in the series so far, absolutely pick up Threader God for the completion of the story. If not, what are you doing here? Didn't you read the first bit at the top? Anyway, I enjoyed the trilogy and highly recommend giving it a read. For that matter, although I very rarely go back and reread anything, I may take own advice and read through this trilogy again.
