- Review -
If you are looking to find out more about the realms of Myst than just the computer games this is the place to start. At
the beginning of the series of events that led to the downfall of the Dni society. Even if you have read the other two books
in this series (The Book of Atrus, and The Book of Dni), this book will still intrigue you, and capture your
attention with the intricate way of life that the Dni people lead.
It gives you just enough details about the Dni society to compare it to our own way of life. I could see some things about
the society that I thought were obvious flaws and yet ran much smoother than our own due to what seemed like much stricter
and better kept laws. The laws may have been better kept because of the fact that the punishment for breaking most of the
laws lead to the perpetrators exile in an age for great periods of time. It also shows how the Dni people were different than
humans and yet were very similar. For example, the Dni people live centuries longer than we do, and yet at the same time can
be corrupted the same way as we can be.
This type of corruption is the basis of the central story in the book. As it says perfectly on the back, this is a story
of love and betrayal. The story starts with the digging of a tunnel to the surface (The Dni society up to this point was one
that had lived a life completely isolated from the "surface world") told by Atrus one of the Guildsmen working on the tunnel.
When they are almost done the tunnel however a giant controversy arises over whether or not to finish the tunnel or if the
surface dwellers are dangerous. Eventually the tunnel is finished and the controversy switches off of the tunnel and onto
whether or not the Dni should try and make contact with any surface dwellers. They decide not to and seal up the tunnel for
an indefinite period of time.
From here the story switches to the point of view of a young woman living on the surface in the desert near the tunnel,
Anna. She lives with her father in a place they call "The Lodge" and together they carry out archeological studies of the
rocks in the desert and sell them to the near-by towns. When they find the tunnel they are surprised to see how perfectly
created it is, they decide however not to go too far down the tunnel. Anna does however go down to a point where she sees
some markings on one of the walls and some type of rock that neither she nor her father has ever seen before. She returns
to the surface and life is normalfor a short time. But then, as in most books, tragedy strikes and she decides to go down
into the tunnel. She is noticed by the Dni who were assigned to watch her and is captured. Although she does her best to be
diplomatic as she can be, and shows a lot of respect for their society, she is imprisoned and isolated from the rest of the
Dni people. Eventually this chain of events leads to the betrayal of the Dni society by a highly respected individual, and
the downfall of the great Dni society.
Overall this books makes a very interesting read and it is well worth it to add this masterpiece that was written by Rand
Miller, to any collection of Myst Memorabilia, Or to start your own collection with it. Rand Miller and David Wingrove weave
a intricate web of generally suspenseful events that are all brought together by the end of the book making it a good read
either as a part of the series or on its own. In the end the only bad side of this book is the very slow pace at the beginning
of the book and the many character names that make it very easy to confuse the characters in the book.
- Fekas23_5
