From the Depths: Blue - The Last Days of Archopalasia

From the Depths #4

by Tony Evans

A digital novella penned by Tony Evans, telling a tale set in Numenera's Ninth World and tied into Torment: Tides of Numenera. Part of the "From the Depths" series of novellas touching on the Blue Tide.

Reen Gnoseus needs a miracle.

His wife, Kyria, is dying, and though Reen is a brilliant scientist, he knows of no cure for her disease. Then he learns of a lost city of wonders that may hold the solution.

Reen and his companions set off across a poisoned wasteland in a desperate race against time to learn the secrets of Archopalasia.

Genres: Fantasy, Novella

ebook

Published November 24, 2016

About the author

Tony Evans is a jack-of-all-trades writer, game designer, and producer. He has worked on more RPG's than any sane person should. A partial list of his credits includes Knights of the Old Republic 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, and Dragon Age 2 (hey that's a lot of 2's). He's also very proud to have worked on Mask of the Betrayer, the last RPG that was anything at all like Torment. Oh, and it's totally Tony's fault that Storm of Zehir was so awesome (or awful, depending on who you talk to).

Most recently, Tony has been bringing his unique brand of madness to mobile games, while also moonlighting on old school RPG's like Torment: Tides of Numenera and Pillars of Eternity II. Tony's latest project is Animal Jam: Play Wild, an online children's social playground, which recently won Best Kids Game at the 2017 Google Play Awards.

Tony resides in Utah. In his spare time, he writes, designs and plays computer games, does Yoga, folds origami, and posts crazy ideas on Twitter.

Reviews

[Kalin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the plot and characters well enough--but what made me really (as in four Goodreads stars ;) like the novella was the allegoric element. It's not just the inhabitants of Archopalasia who have built their prosperity in a way that can't last forever, is it?

Also, the following passage is very spoilery but captures a major theme--and wryly contrasts the intellectual/overthinking approach with the down-to-earth take:

“We thought the Vivifier repaired our bodies. It doesn’t. It kills our bodies and makes clean, new copies.”
Skotoko’s eyes refocused on me. “What? So...I’m not me?”
“I’m afraid not.”
He shrugged. “Well, I feel like me.”
Kyria gave him an unhappy smile. “Yes, but, er, if you are one of those who believe you have a soul, or that after you die, you live on in some kind of afterlife, this might have—”
The glaive waved an impatient hand. “I never understood any of that crap. Life is life, and when it stops, that’s it. If I got another life, I’m ahead of the game. Anything else?”

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The blue tide is about reason, wisdom, and enlightenment. To learn and to understand. This novella is the last of the five for me. And one of the better ones.

We follow Sage Reen on a desperate quest to find a mythical place that supposedly had the power to heal all ills, to find a cure for his wife. What follows is a highlighting of what it means to be driven by knowledge, reason, and logic. It encompasses several philosophical ideas that makes you think about what does one life matter.

There's quite a bit of showcasing of just what it means to be living in the Ninth World. With cyphers, the Iron Wind, mutations, and almost-magical technologies all brought to the forefront. The plot's great, and the ending, while a cliffhanger of sorts does do a good job of giving a closure to the story.

[Cale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another strong novella of the Numenera. Sage Reen has been fascinated with the mythical Archopalasia, but when a man collapses out of the wasteland with the city's name on his lips, Reen and some of his companions travel into the wastelands to find it. What he discovers is both more and less of what he thought. This follows the normal story of a fountain of youth whose prices is more than expected. Although the climax is pretty much expected, the route to it is fascinating, dealing with some thorny philosophical issues. The Numenera are a definite presence in the series, with the Archopalasia being a fantastical environment in the world. It's a strong story in a strange world with scary ramifications.

[Jean-philippe Millard · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a very well written novella set in the Sci-fi world of numenera.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another of my favorites from the "From the Depths" series, with a great sense of place and character.