Promise of Mercy

*may contain spoilers for Price of Vengeance*

As was the case with the first installment of Kurt D. Springs’ Dreamscape Warriors series, the second’s publisher bases its creed upon the biblical Psalm 68:11, though again, there aren’t a whole lot of religious overtones aside from some references to the Creator, and one character in the text mentioning that they’re not religious. The author dedicates the sequel to the late Andre Norton, the “Granddam” of science fiction, and further thanks family, friends, the editor, and the cover artist, alongside aid with occasional Irish Gaelic terms within the text and readers and reviewers responsible for the continuation of the sci-fi saga.

The prologue opens with Ambassador Jarek of the Galactic Alliance from the first book camping out on the planet Etrusci, his homeworld being Gothow Prime, alongside his various charges, which marks the first time Neo-Etruscans and Finnians come together, his business on the planet being a meeting with the High Council. Utopians striving to create a perfect society also receive mention. The main chapters pick up eleven years later at a small compound on the Isle of Circe in the Arctic zone above the Northern Continent of Etrusci, where three Utopian Founders find themselves broken out of cryonic stasis, and conspire.

Liam, also from the first book, is now married to Celinia, and has three daughters, chief among them Deirdre, and a son, Aidan; Swift Hunter the bear-lizard also has sundry scion, among them being his grandson Ted. Liam and her children ultimately find themselves in conflict with Marisa, and repeatedly throughout the book characters enter the dreamscape to espy upon one another, this ability figuring significantly into the book’s plot, which resolves nicely, in spite of occasional confusion, the need to reread passages to make more sense of things, and the need to be fully familiar with the first book to enjoy the second. Even so, those that enjoyed the first entry of the series will likely appreciate the second.

About the Author:

 Kurt D. Springs is presently an adjunct professor of anthropology and archaeology in New Hampshire. He holds a PhD. in anthropology from the State University of New York at Buffalo, as well as a Master of Literature in archaeology from the National University of Ireland, Galway, and a Master of Liberal Arts in anthropology and archaeology from the Harvard University Extension School. His main area of interest is megalithic landscapes in prehistoric Ireland. He also reviews science fiction and fantasy on his blog Kurt’s Frontier.
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