Synopsis:
Ruling as king does not suit a man like Mute. The boredom. The monotony. The permanent stagnation…
Until he arrived. The one with the Gift of Silence. The one wielding a dagger. The one who would mold Balewind into a temple to the Silent Almighty. Lord Deaf intends to be the scream that replaced a whisper, offering one final message to the realm before it never hears again:
Bestow upon me your pain, your illness, your sorrow. Silence will absolve them all.
Review:
After reading part one of the Whisper That Replaced God, I was in awe. The writing style, the prose, the character work—I loved all of it. So much so that I listened to the audiobook twice and read the novella in paperback once. When part two was announced, I scooped it up right away.
Part two took me right back into Mute’s deranged world. He rules over a kingdom now. Not sure who allowed that, but the ordeal is bittersweet for King Mute. He battles internally with the deeds done against his family, a lost love, and ruling a kingdom he cares little about.
Timothy Wolff is a clever wordsmith. One of my favorite lines was when Mute’s general speaks and breaks his “wagon of thought”. Wolff often breaks the fourth wall by speaking to the reader in a way that does not break the immersion of the story and often adds a good laugh, such as his references to ratings on Pleasant Reads.
The one-liners Wolff drops throughout are pure gold. I broke out the highlighter and found I might as well have used it for a bookmark.
All that comes close to my heart, eventually ends up close to my dagger.
While Mute is not a hero to root for or a complete villain, he is relatable. He cares for only certain people, appreciates being an introvert, thinks far too highly of himself, and makes selfish decisions. But at least he is able to question himself from time to time. When he faces the supreme version of himself, it is time to face the music. Or the silence.
Shame may fade for a time but never leaves completely. It lingers, waiting for us to be happy, then reminding us why we should never entertain such nonsense.
These lines broke me. And offer an example that Wolff’s prose isn’t always built on humor or to deliver clever zingers. His words dig at the parts of the soul we tried to escape from by diving into a book.
This was an excellent final installment in King Mute’s journey. The plot pushed me along, worried for an otherwise deplorable character that Wollf made so lovable. If you haven’t read anything by Timothy Wolff, you’re missing out. And if you plan to, get your highlighter ready.
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