Waking Gods

In this ultimate chapter of the non-linear trilogy The Enigma of Twilight Falls we meet Adrian Foster, a young and reclusive Los Angeles man with an extraordinary gift that has informally brought him the nickname “The Human Master Key.”

Waking Gods completes the terrifying and surreal panorama previously established by The Green-Eyed Monster and Negative Space.

In my review of The Green-Eyed Monster I stated I would like to have some more closure on the whole Martin Smith and John Becker thing. I also wasn’t completely sure what to expect of Waking Gods as the previous two books were quite different from each other. However, I wasn’t expecting this.

I was a little bit disappointed really. I was completely prepared for something that was different, strange and chaotic, and while the story certainly had all that (I don’t necessarily mean those things in a bad way though) I never got into the story. This might have been due to the extensive time-hopping, which made it at times unclear as to who we were following and where it fit together with the rest of the story.

Besides, I got really annoyed by all the references to the earlier stories. I mean, I understand it all takes place in the same town and universe, and I can believe some reference, but it was too much. There is not a single character who is not affected by Smith’s and Becker’s books, and a lot of other things, which I won’t mention so I don’t spoil everything, get a lot of attention as well, even if it doesn’t always make sense. The story, at times, gets drowned in those references.

While this trilogy certainly is unlike anything really that I’ve read before, and some of the ideas and writings were truly great, I look back at the series with some mixed feelings. I haven’t always enjoyed reading it, but I think in a while I will look back and be glad I did. If that makes any sense at all.