Big cleanup
Thorn has a new viceroy, a girl somehow combining the power of fertility magic with the influence of the warlike Lady of the North. Slayer of evil magicians, master of networking. If you want to find out how she got this position, read The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing , a story available in the Reading Room on Aneta Jadowska’s website. Dora is not limited to the civil service, together with Miron and Joshua runs a small, but now famous detective agency. Of course, they welcome customers in the Satanic Primrose. Again, if you want to understand what prompted Leon to take care of the red-haired incarnation of trouble, look for the story Satanic Primrose – A True Story in the Reading Room .
After dealing with the mage described in The Stealer of Souls , Dora is stronger than ever, and her name echoes across the pagan and Judeo-Christian systems. Overall – he’s fine again. Finally in her place, calm, with another closed case on my account. The last point, however, turns out to be a bit more complicated – the Gods must be crazy begins with the unexpected consequences of saving so many magical creatures from the psychopath’s basement.
Dora will wander a bit between alternative cities again. She will visit the vampires of the Triple Alliance. She has been invited to a big ball, so she does serious, pop-culture research on vampire fashion, thanks to which you will find out in which series the children of the night dress best and who sews magic clothes in Thorn. It will not end with the bloodsuckers, the witch will also visit the wolves. This plot will unfold in unexpected ways and prove to be important – if you’ve read any of the later parts of the hexalogy, you can probably guess why.
Divine chessboard
The ordering of intercity relations in the magical world, disturbed by the events of the Soul Stealer, is just one of the threads that make up the second volume of this series. The cover reveals that Dora will get involved (or get drawn into) much more serious games than dragging the rope between magicians. It will start with nightmares about the great war, end with conversations with the goddess and plotting how to thwart bored immortal beings. As in Thornverse, the plot will involve more than one system, layout or clique, and at the same time will reveal a mess and layouts that someone (such as Dora Wilk) will have to deal with.
As you can guess, in Gods they must be crazy, Jadowska does not forget about the complex relations between the witch, the angel and the devil. This time “it’s complicated” will turn out to be a euphemism on a demonic scale, because heaven, hell and a much older belief system will be involved. Religious policy, which should not surprise us, is guided by the good old principle “divide and rule” and the division into equal and more equal. Do you think Dora will like it? Or that she will be alone in her anger?
The triangle is a magic figure
The heroes of the first two volumes of the hexalogue sometimes have to forget for a moment that the sky is falling on their heads in order to take care of the daily cleaning. Conflicts between magicians, war of gods and personal life? Yes, sometimes there are too many threads and neither they nor the reader know what to put their hands into. Should matchmaking with friends win against Ragnarok? And identity issues concern the head more than peace on earth? As awkward as it may seem, I’m afraid that is more or less how the human psyche works. As I read, The Gods Must Be Crazy, these paradoxes often annoyed me, but after a brief reflection, I give up and have to accept that the characters’ behavior is perfectly normal. Even in the middle of a great magic whirlwind, it is sometimes necessary to do laundry. Or vanilla coffee.
Dora Wilk is ignorant of hierarchy and politics, has a poor understanding of the history of the magical world, and perhaps this is why she sees magicians, leaders, and gods more clearly than they do. He judges by deeds, without a filter of myths, legends and common opinions. When it comes to grading values, there is no problem with that – the most important are friends and people for whom she has taken responsibility. Therefore, he treats changing the world personally, because he undertakes it for the sake of his loved ones. Like all of us, he makes a revolution with an angel and the devil at his side. Only she eats pizza with her friends and watches series.
The number of plots that make up the Gods must be crazy can irritate the reader at some point, so you will probably need a little break somewhere in the middle of this volume. At the same time, its structure, recurring themes and heroes, the meaning of which we can only guess at the moment, is a great job. There could have been two books, we have one, quite consistent and with a moral. I am beginning to suspect that the figure of the triangle determines not only the personal life of Dora Wilk, but also the way in which Aneta Jadowska sometimes constructs her plots.
