Here's a little review to start:
The Heart Render is a dagger-shaped shard of White Blood that was magically enhanced until it became a type of scalpel for operations on the human soul. Conversely, the Nova Core remains a mystery; we aren't specifically told what it does, only that it resembles a cut diamond mounted in the heart of a golden sun. Both artifacts are so powerful and potentially devastating that they were hidden in specially designed places. But when Dan Barker's life comes into serious jeopardy Morgan reveals that these two artifacts are the only things that will allow him to save the apprentice. So with the dominant vote of the King of Hearts Dan himself, Oolong and Ilia are sent to retrieve the Heart Render from the Master of Elvarheim while the Master of Hearts and Aaron, his apprentice, journey into the Kemem Desert to retrieve the Nova Core.
The quest for the Heart Render is only partially described in Mimgardr but results in successful recovery of the artifact. The adjoining quest, however, is anything but a success, turning instead from a journey of retrieval to a battle of wills, and before they can reach it the Nova Core is lost to the enemy.
With the loss of the Core both quests are reduced to folly and Morgan's plan is overthrown, so the Heart Render passes into the hands of King Michael and disappears for the rest of the book. The Nova Core, however, reappears at the Battle of Mimgardr when Dan is struck down and Hades, Lord of the Fallen, uses his powers to join the Core into the Oblivion, and there it stays until the end of the book.
Now, here are the questions: What was the point? Why would [I] write a journey into the story that does nothing but go in a circle? Or does it go in a circle? Do the Heart Render and Nova Core even matter? What do you think?
I think the Heart Render will come into play later. The Nova Core I think is a source of unbelievable energy. The plan was to rip out the parts of Dan that were linked to the Fallen by purging their blood out of Dan. On its own the Heart Render might have been able to do it if it were just one person they were trying to expunge, but since there were many others within Dan they needed a power source like the Nova Core to fuel the ritual of purging the blood from Dan and Oolong. There might arise a need that a soul needs to be cleansed, but for now the artifacts will remain out of sight and out of mind.
ReplyDeleteI think Morgan and the king had ulterior motives. The two always seem to be playing things WAY too close to the vest. But lots of quests never turn out the way we intend, and these quests certainly brought about other things. The question I have is, do you think Dan's figured out how to use the Nova Core during the five years since the battle?
ReplyDelete