The House of Darkling

"The finest new series of the nineties so far ... some of the finest writing the genre has produced...." - Locus "an object lesson in the potential of fantasy - erudition and post-modern pop awareness spice the narrative - adventurous, stirring writing, and Somtow's powerful, lucid prose glows with internal energy and intensity." - The London Times "the makings of a classic!" - Edward Bryant "S.P Somtow doesn't write like anyone else - his is a fresh voice, as engaging as it is unique...." - Dean Koontz An ordinary American family gets caught up in a cosmic battle for control of the fate of the universe in S.P. Somtow's Riverrun Trilogy. Young Theo Etchison is a truthsayer - one with the ability to navigate the great river that connects all the parallel universes. His mother, Mary, is dying of cancer, but she may also be the mother goddess, the nurturer of the world. His father, Phil, is a second-rate poet; his brother, Joshua, has been seduced by a dragon-succubus. On a journey through America to a Mexican alternative medicine clinic, the Etchison family is sucked into the world of the Darklings, superhuman creatures who are battling for domination of the cosmos, who need Theo's special gift. But is the Riverrun Trilogy about dragons, vampires, fabulous castles, interplanetary warfare, fabulous quests and fantastical kingdoms? Or is it about the millions of worlds inside Theo's mind? Who is the transvestite Navajo shaman who sometimes appears in the form of a raven? Why has the president of the United States turned into a vampire? Why has the king gone mad, and where is the source of the river that flows through all worlds?