"At some length Kristen managed some small revenge by grabbing onto Mary and fingering her little friend to a decent climax of her own, realizing only afterwards that Evelyn had been helping out from behind, as it were. Which then left the dark-haired mortal enemy of all that was evil in the world. Evie, the avenging angel, the fullest-blooded princess of the night; fearless, peerless, faultless. Yes, faultless, by gods. Blood lust be damned, I love you and my god I need you now. The both of you. Like never fucking before."
"In silence now, a silence made sacral and unforgiving at once by the ultimate act of compassion, so dreadful as to turn the tail of the finest warrior-cat, she found the place that mere demons would shun, requiring a grace they could never master. Seraphim nodded once to her would-be-wretched mother and closed her tail around her throat. Her mother smiled back at her, ruby orbs shining filial light into her own. That was something that would never, ever come again. But knowing I had it, knowing I was loved by them; well, that makes all the difference in the universe, doesn't it?"
With Kris and Mike on the outs for the first time, Seraphim forced into a ritualistic reconciliation with her mate's felid sister, Hedodronica, under the threat of Decamonican vengeance, and the first Kristen at a loss regarding her personal future, the heroes realize their collective task is far from finished. Martin must lead teams in search of the remaining liminals, and while Sir Robert finds himself being an interspecies mediator, Russian premier Kirisovsky and the felid diplomats attempt to contact aliens perhaps as old as the Earth itself. Not least, the first Michelle must manage her world-wide social revolution that their new friends, the felids themselves, have stated is crucial for both their worlds. But the true key for all concerned is how to regain their own humanity given everything that has already passed before them.
Notes one reviewer: "Between interstellar intrigues, metaphysical conflicts, sibling bonds, and lover's leaps, book nine of the vast and deep saga has the reader immediately enveloped. Throw in elite car ads, shocking revelations about the origins of religion, stinging indictments from objective observers of the human condition and all of its failings, as well as the overarching architectonic task at hand-to rid the universe of mythopoetic persona and thus take control of human destiny-and one cannot afford to blink. The game's never been as afoot, and as the cosmic mystery and adventure of Kristen-Seraphim hurtles ever onward, prepare yourselves for an 'archaeology of the soul' itself."
