Diane Duane: The Levin-gad

[bibliogramma]

After many long years, Diane Duane is returning to the World of the Middle Kingdoms, to the tale of the Five, the story of Herewiss and Freelorn, Segnbora and Sunspark and Hasai. In preparation for the publication of the long-awaited concluding volume, The Door into Starlight, Duane plans to release five shorter works, intended as bridging pieces between the first three novels and the series’ conclusion.

The first of these is The Levin-gad, which is a word meaning lightning rod in one of the old Middle Kingdom tongues, and features Herewiss, who has ventured alone out into the night to call out a dangerous foe who otherwise might do great harm elsewhere.

It’s a strong return to the world, a powerful statement of the central themes of the series and a delightful reminder that this is a world where love is welcome as it comes, without limits of gender or number. Family is family, even when it includes multitudes and not all of them human. It is Duane’s vision of the power of love, personified in a Goddess who embodies herself in the world and takes form without regard to male or female, and the idea of life and the joy we find in it as the bulwark against the withering force of despair, that captivated me so many years ago, and holds me still in admiration and appreciation.

So happy to see the return to the Middle Kingdoms.