A very long time ago, in a blogosphere far, far away, I gushed about my appreciation of the Neverness stories of sci-fi author David Zindell. Then, about 13 years ago, I posted a PDF of what I called a Neverness FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) document.
Now, since Zindell recently came out with a new novel set in this universe, I thought it was time to update that very old PDF. I'm happy to announce version 2.0, linked here...
If links get broken, please also try: https://tinyurl.com/nev-faq-2025
As before, this FAQ is spoiler-free for the plot, and it's split into four main parts:
- The Geography of Neverness (with a new & improved map)
- The Calendar of Neverness
- The Professions of the Order
- Glossary of Miscellaneous Neologisms
It's awesome that Zindell included his own glossary, timeline, and some other juicy behind-the-scenes material at the end of The Remembrancer's Tale, but I still think there's some unique value in my fanboy-ish production. :-)
I'm also excited to see hints that Zindell is going to continue writing new books... there are hints out there of a Canterbury Tales-ish round robin, with The Scryer's Tale coming next, possibly followed by The Eschatologist's Tale, The Timekeeper's Tale, The Hakuist's Tale, and so on?
Oh, also, a quick bonus quote from The Remembrancer's Tale, just to make sure I never forget to highlight Zindell's transcendent prose...
His newly found zest seemed to create around him a sphere of diamond that shielded him from the stares of the passers-by no less than the wind. And so he skated and skated, up through the Old City and the sparkling red glidderies of the Pilots' Quarter. And up through a rising current of hope, as well, up through the deep blue sky and straight into the stars.Anyway, that's all I've got for now. Now I need to hunt down those old blog posts and add updates that point to the new version of the FAQ. But more will be coming with this ol' blog, hopefully later this month.
