Mansions of the Silence (2004)
Author: Mike Carey | Illustrators: Peter Gross / Ryan Kelly / Dean Ormston / David Hahn | Page Count: 144
"You are the King of contrivance and manipulation, my Samael. But in that, as in all things, you learned from your Father."
Volume 06 of 11 in the Lucifer series. Seeing as how it's clearly visible on the cover, I can say without crossing into spoiler territory that the Morningstar has got himself a medium sized ship, but why or where he intends to sail it will be revealed if you read the book.
Sadly, the story is formulaic. After an intro that can leave a reader wondering what happened between the previous book's ending and the beginning of this one, something that Carey has been careful to address up until now, the premise gets underway.
In the tradition of Jason and the Argonauts, all manner of mythical creatures that exist merely to interfere and harm are encountered during the long and arduous voyage. Such a setting is a workable literary device to show how characters react when in permanent proximity to others; e,g. the crew bicker and fight amongst themselves and against the nasties, but that's basically all there is to it.
I wanted them to succeed but wished they'd hurry the hell up and get to their destination so we could move on. It felt like someone other than Carey was at the helm and was afraid to mess too much with the relationships, so instead they made everyone boring and ineffectual.
It's the mid-way point of the series and it functions as such. It closes the first half and opens the second. It's essential you read it for a number of reasons that'll eventually become clear, but be prepared for it to not perhaps peak the excitement meter as much as previous volumes did.
The book collects together Lucifer issues 36 - 41.
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