Our Discussion of Quietus by Tristan Palmgren

A transdimensional anthropologist can't keep herself from interfering with Earth's darkest period of history in this brilliant science fiction debut

Niccolucio, a young Florentine Carthusian monk, leads a devout life until the Black Death kills all of his brothers, leaving him alone and filled with doubt. Habida, an anthropologist from another universe racked by plague, is overwhelmed by the suffering. Unable to maintain her observer neutrality, she saves Niccolucio from the brink of death.

Habidah discovers that neither her home's plague nor her assignment on Niccolucio's world are as she's been led to believe. Suddenly the pair are drawn into a worlds-spanning conspiracy to topple an empire larger than the human imagination can contain. Goodreads

Below are a sampling of our comments:

• What does the title mean … possibly that breaking up the Unity and isolating the planes would disconnect them and bring quiet?
• I enjoyed the historical details about monastic life.
• The book defied expectations in the last third.
• It was interesting, but not great.
• Why was the third player brought in? That entity seemed to communicate Christian doctrine to Niccolucio – such as that no one ever really dies, but continues on in another form.
• The entity was influenced by Niccolucio, which led to it agreeing to the surrender of Ways and Means.
• The author brought in ideas of infinite diversity and infinite combinations.
• It would have been better if the book ended after the first 2/3rds and then the sequel picked up from there.
• Was Meloku good or bad?
• One take away seems to be that we are not in control: Meloku was manipulated by Companion, Habida and Niccoluccio were manipulated by the 3^rd entity, and they were also surveilled and controlled by the amalgamates.
• The book was an example of the Fermi Paradox: “Where is everybody? Or, to put it another way, it’s a big universe, so why can’t we see life anywhere but here on Earth?” -Cosmos

Please add any additional thoughts or comments you may have about Quietus. We gave this title the codes CUL, HIS, MVL, FEM, ETH & AI with an average rating of 3.7.