Terms We Have for Dreaming

I had almost forgotten the beauty and eloquence of Eric Arvin's writing. He has always reminded me of the true greats with his lushness of prose and his richness of storytelling. My problem is the same as it has always been while writing a review of Eric's work - trying to do justice to the story, when I lack that eloquence and lushness.

"The Immortal City has no privacy. Not really. But there is darkness, and there is dreaming."

In the Immortal City, GOD's tower rises above all, and GOD sees all. Only GOD can judge who are sinners and what their punishment should be. But GOD is soulless, evil, and a tyrant, and has nothing to do with religion. There are many different characters in 'Terms We Have for Dreaming', each with different lives and purpose, and many of their stories are told by an omniscient narrator known only as "we". I am not going to focus on each of these individuals as I believe only through reading 'Terms We Have for Dreaming' can the full magnitude of each person be felt.

“In the end, silly girl,” Esther says once they are alone, “one government is very much like any other. It might start with high hopes, with grand speeches and glorious declarations about how things will be better under new rulership, but nothing of virtue can survive intact when power is wielded by the mad. And one must be mad to rule.”
Gemma’s mouth is opened in shock. Her mother has never talked in such a manner. “GOD is mad?”
“GOD is an outright lunatic."

This book may have released after the author's death, but it clearly shows that Eric Arvin was passionate about the politics and the morality declines that are occurring more and more recently. The subtle and not so subtle inferences to the wealthy who are granted their wealth and pretty lives in the first ring at GOD's discretion. GOD's inner circle, made up of soulless councilors, and his Senator General who issues GOD's decrees to his ferrymen who round them up in their death wagons and send them to the furthermost ring, the ninth ring. The comparisons to our world today where people who are different from the "norm" are harassed, imprisoned, and executed, is close enough to have caused me to shiver more than once while reading. The belief that if everyone follows the same path, i.e. religious, of GOD then everything will be fine, reminded me far too much of the past years in my country.

“Visions, insights, glimpses… Whatever you want to call ’em. They’re just terms we have for dreaming. And we’ve all dreamed of you, lass.”

I was not surprised to see an uprising occur. Individual will can only be constrained and lied to so many times before it seeks the truth, and revolution is born. The genius of this story is that not all of these characters are heroes. Some are ferrymen, Sisters of GOD, revolutionaries who brought GOD into being, or the Senator General who gleefully enacts GOD's decrees. In the midst of these ugly beings who revolted me numerous times are the people who give the residents of the Immortal City something unheard of. Hope.

In my wildest imaginings I could have never guessed where Eric Arvin was going to take me. A journey filled with death, destruction, grief, and more hope than I could even see. A stunning and beautiful work of art that reminds me, again, of the loss of this amazing man who gave so much.

NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspiinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews