Sebastian (novel)

Sebastian is the first novel of the "Ephemera" duology written by Anne Bishop and introduces the world Ephemera.

The World

Ephemera is an every-changing world that was broken up into landscapes a long time ago, when the 'Eater of the World', created from fear in the human hearts, attempted to turn the entire world into a hunting ground. The Guardians of the Light and Guides to the Heart broke Ephemera into different landscapes that can only be reached through a bridge. Bridges can be stationary or resonating. Stationary bridges are bridges that lead a person directly from the landscape they are in to the landscape that the bridge is connected to. However, even these bridges need the person to be somewhat 'in tune' with the adjoining world for them to cross over, otherwise they would be swept into another landscape they have never seen before. A resonation bridge, however, sends the person to the landscape which they are most in tune with. Often if the person crossing is focused on a particular wish or place, they can reach that particular landscape. Again, the person must be in tune with the place they are crossing over to, or else they won't arrive. These bridges are created by Bridges, men who link the shattered parts of Ephemera together on the order of a Landscaper, women who look after the landscapes. All landscapes have one Landscaper to look after them, and act as a filter through which the emotions of the human heart can go through. For in Ephemera, strong emotions could permanently change the world.

When a Landscaper dies, another Landscaper takes her place, allowing her 'resonance' to go throughout the Landscape until it is 'in tune' with her. She can alter the landscape, but the only known Landscaper who could actually create landscapes is Glorianna Belladonna. A Landscaper can claim a landscape without needing the death of the original Landscaper if the landscape pulls at her. They look after their landscapes through the use of gardens filled with items from all the landscapes they own. When something is affecting her landscapes, the feel within her garden will change, and she will know something is wrong. This garden also allows her to cross over to any landscape she chooses to cross over to simply by taking the step from 'here to there', instead of having to cross over numerous bridges.

Throughout Ephemera, there are many Light and Dark currents. When something happens to someone, their heart will feel emotions which are usually strong enough for Ephemera to change is some way in response to those feelings. It is the job of Landscapers to filter these emotions and let out other ones so that Ephemera does not manifest something that could put someone's life in danger. Some landscapes are Dark, and some are Light, depending on who owns the landscape. There usually needs to be a balance of Dark and Light within every landscape, whether the landscape is dark or light. Some landscapes can join briefly, just long enough for someone to travel from one landscape to another. This happening is rare.

toryline

This story is based around the incubus Sebastian, whose mother was a succubus (a female sex demon) and whose father is the wizard Koltak. Being an incubus, a human-looking male sex demon who feeds on the emotions of human 'prey', and has the power to kill them with their own emotions, has not made his life easy. Forced to flee every city or town he settled in, he has never known a home. Until one day, his cousin, 15-year-old Glorianna Belladonna, creates a landscape where demons can live, called the 'Den of Iniquity', which residents refer to as the 'carnal carnival'. Shocked by her actions and her ability to create a landscape instead of simply shifting it, they question her about her actions. She simply responds, "Even demons need a home." The wizards attempt to lock her into her own garden, but fail. She is then declared rogue, someone who everyone, but for those who love her, fears and misjudges.

Meanwhile, Sebastian, living in the Den of Iniquity and unknowing of the sacrifices his cousin made on his behalf, begins to tire of the life he lives, finding simply having imaginary sex with women no longer interesting. When he first stumbled into the Den when he was a 15 year old boy, he and his first and foremost friend Teaser, another incubus, prowled around the Den, using their abilities to entertain themselves. This life no longer holds any appeal. He yearns for the love of his life - and she appears in the form of Lynnea, a catalyst whose heart wish (a strong wish deeply embedded within her, and strong enough for the landscaper to allow Ephemera to acknowledge) delivered her to the Den even though she doesn't belong. Her appearance brings about 'opportunity and change', as all catalysts do. Yet only Glorianna, the owner of the Den of Iniquity, knows her for who she really is.

At the Landscaper's School, where young potential Landscapers gather to learn about their skills, something is happening. A young woman, bitter with her lack of success in the school, sends out dark currents that lead her to the cage of the Eater of the World, a monster created by the Dark Guides to destroy the light. The Eater will only be destroyed when the human heart no longer feels dark emotions, which will never happen. The Eater was caged by the Guardians of the Light and Guides to the Heart long ago in a battle that wiped almost all of them out. Yet this young bitter woman releases the monster into the world again.

Glorianna Belladonna is perhaps the only person aware of this change. The Den witnessed a couple of murders, and at the scene, a patch of rusty red sand. Glorianna is the only one aware of where that sand may come from. Frightened by what her mind makes of the matter, she goes to the Landscaper's School, and realizes her fears are all real. She immediately asks her mother for assistance, and they decide to get Lee, Glorianna's brother and a powerful Bridge, to break off all bridges that connected her landscapes to those of other Landscapers, so that the Eater has no way to enter and destroy the landscapes she owns.

Meanwhile, Sebastian, back at the Den, falls in love with Lynnea, but refuses to give in to his feelings despite the fact that she begins to fall for him too. He realizes that she is headed for the Landscaper's School, and so does not allow himself to fall for her and then have his heart ripped out later when he has to let her go. Lynnea finds this resistance extremely strange, and actually consults Nadia, Glorianna's mother and Sebastian's aunt, about her nephew's actions, or lack of them.

Finally no longer able to stand it, Sebastian offers to take Lynnea to the Landscaper's School so she can continue her 'life journey', and finds a mass massacre within the School. He takes Lynnea to Sanctuary, another landscape of Glorianna's, and a light one. He finds Glorianna there, and informs her of the situation, then takes Lynnea back to the Den, where a relationship actively begins to form.

In Wizard City, the wizards decide to actively seek out Glorianna. This sudden interest in Glorianna comes from the Eater's connection with the wizards - Dark Guides. The Eater knows what Glorianna is, and fears her, for she is the only one with the ability to cage it again. She is a descendant of the Guides to the Heart (such is the saying 'the heart holds no secrets from Glorianna Belladonna'), as well as a wizard, Peter - who was a Dark Guide. This makes her something not completely human, carrying a mix of Dark and Light never seen before, and more deadly than all those Guides of the Heart all those years ago. The Eater simply refers to her as the 'True Enemy'.

So the wizards plan. Since she hasn't been seen in Wizard City in over 15 years, since she escaped the cage they attempted to put around her and her garden, they decide the only way to lure her into the City was to get someone she loved - Sebastian. Through the use of the Wizard Koltak, they manage to lure Sebastian into the city, and send a message Belladonna to collect her cousin. Sebastian, guessing what they planned, and knowing Glorianna was the only person capable of caging the Eater again, attempts to tell her not to come.

Lynnea and Teaser find the note first. Ignoring Teaser's warning, she opens the letter, and immediately seeks Glorianna with Teaser by her side. Glorianna makes her plans, basing them on Lynnea's love.

Upon arriving at Wizard City, Glorianna's plans take place. As she releases Heart's Justice, a power only Landscapers hold, which allows them to send certain recipients into the landscape that is most in tune with their heart, the Dark Guides are forced to reveal their faces, half the city is swept away and Lynnea and Sebastian are delivered onto the doorstep of a new cottage made for them without their knowledge. But the Eater is not defeated, and the residents of Ephemera are still in danger.

Characters

*Sebastian - an incubus that lives in the Den of Iniquity, and ultimately becomes its Justice Maker (law enforcer)
*Glorianna Belladonna - a rogue Landscaper that wields unprecedented powers through her ancestry, and is Sebastian's cousin
*The Eater of the World - a monster created by the Dark Guides to destroy all the Light. Can only be destroyed when humans no longer feel dark feelings
*Lynnea - a young woman who becomes Sebastian's wife
*Teaser - an incubus, and Sebastian's first and best friend

References

* http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=5527
* http://thebestreviews.com/review32956