The Book of Dreams (The Demon Princes No. 5) (Paperback)

Gersen saved the most difficult target for last: Treesong, the self-styled Lord of the Overmen - an affectation born of his view of criminals as superior predators, taking what they wish from the rest of humanity, illustrated long ago by the Mount Pleasant raid that destroyed Kirth Gersen's childhood home, killing or enslaving most of the population, leaving Gersen's grandfather with a hunger for revenge so great that he and Kirth together shaped Kirth for his lifelong quest to hunt down and kill the five great crimelords behind the raid.

Considering Vance as a mystery writer, each of the Demon Princes provides a different illustration of a theme common to several Golden Age mystery writers: that of overwhelming vanity as a driving force in crime. (See Sayers' WHOSE BODY?, most of Josephine Tey's novels, and Agatha Christie, of course.) The twist is that in the human-settled universe of THE DEMON PRINCES, there *is* no real inter-world law to appeal to. Gersen himself is a force outside law, who can be as terrifying as his quarry. Unusually for Gersen, for once he becomes involved with others whose reasons for seeking vengeance are on a par with his own (in one instance even *more* fanatical), although they lacked the resources to hunt Treesong down.

This story opens with a quote from the real BOOK OF DREAMS: a rather florid fantasy (isn't it?) of seven paladins, each with distinct characteristics, all but one with a distinct color - the sort of thing an adolescent might write. As we learn later on, that's no accident; the Book was written by the young Treesong, and serves as a handle to his character - it's no fantasy to him. He is, in fact, a multiple personality, but integrated to the point that without THE BOOK OF DREAMS - or more time to study him in person than anyone normally gets - one might never realize it. A book with only one copy, lost in Treesong's youth, worth almost any price - if one were to learn that it even existed.

While with those who have gone before, Vance tended to draw out one or two spectacular ongoing projects for each Demon Prince, we're given a more elaborate treatment of Treesong, with various anecdotes of his past turning up as well as the schemes of the present. In learning from one of his old Interworld Police Coordinating Company (IPCC) contacts just why they have so little material on the notorious Treesong, Gersen receives illumination on Treesong's character: Howard very nearly got control of the IPCC itself a few years back, enough to arrange for legitimate-sounding orders about destroying certain data on the grounds of inaccuracy. "Treesong is a sly devil. I'd still like to carve up his liver."

Chance deals Gersen a break, after many fruitless hours hunting through the records of COSMOPOLIS magazine: a photograph of a banquet sent in by a branch office, with the cryptic annotation, "H.A. Treesong is here." Digging into its provenance, Gersen is convinced of its authenticity, not least because the woman who sold it disappeared under suspicious circumstances. In a beautiful maneuver, Gersen arranges a Cosmopolis contest to name the 10 people in the photograph. At worst, he should learn enough names to get a lead; at best (and a near-certainty, if the image is any good at all) Treesong himself will take an interest, and given his penchant for privacy, he'll come close enough to give Gersen an opportunity to kill him.

The photograph itself is a clue to another of Treesong's grand schemes: it records a banquet attended by the highest-ranking members of the Institute, which itself takes a rather grandiose view of its importance in human affairs (something introduced in earlier volumes and reinforced here). The photograph leads to the first of Treesong's onstage appearances, only 3 of which involve face-to-face encounters with Gersen. Gersen's only human, after all; the greatest weapon in his arsenal is that he never gives up, not that he never suffers setbacks. (We've seen this before, particularly in THE FACE, where Gersen suffered multiple defeats at the hands of different people in the course of the story.)

Like Falushe, Treesong takes revenge for slights dating back to his school days; unlike THE PALACE OF LOVE, we see Treesong's revenge in action rather than exposition, as he attends a reunion of those who know only that he left his homeworld in disgrace, and not what he became. For the last reply to the great Cosmopolis contest - other than Treesong's own - is from Treesong's estranged father, so that just as happened with Falushe, Lens Larque, and Kokor Hekkus, the slender thread connecting Treesong's separate lives comes into Gersen's hands - utterly necessary, because otherwise a first attempt at smoking Treesong out would be the last, in pursuing a man with his peculiar talents.

The focus of THE BOOK OF DREAMS - both this book and that in the story - is on the character of Treesong: any who seek him must study him as a person, given his thoroughness about eliminating any evidence that might endanger him. The viewpoint, as always, is 3rd person following Gersen, who ironically must adopt some of the tactics of his quarry so that hunter doesn't turn hunted.

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