Update: Repairman Jack series finale: Nightworld

So the time has finally come... i have finished my journey through the trials and tribulations of the saga that is , or was, Repairman Jack.

Please note: there may be some spoilers ahead.

As you may already know from a previous post, i have been following the Repairman Jack storyline for a very long time. His saga is the largest in my personal library, Harry Potter is second. F. Paul Wilson's Nightworld is the conclusion of the tale. Not only Jacks ending tale but the end point for the Adversary Cycle as well.

The end begins shortly after the events of Dark at the End with large holes opening up around the world. First one in Central Park. With the Lady wiped out from the last novel, Rasalom is now free to begin his reign of terror on our existing sphere in place as a direct champion chosen by the Otherness. Rasalom crawls down into the hole and fixes himself into a position so he can begin his transformation into a true nightmare of a being.

Day after day the days get shorter and the sun sets sooner allowing creatures of the Otherness to roam free in the world feeding on humans and spreading fear and terror across the world as Rasalom sits below and feeds off of the feelings from above. The days continue to get shorter and give more time to the nightmare creatures to stay above ground.

The characters in the novel are great. Fans will recognise quite a few of them from The Keep, where we revisit the old castle from the novel. The characters from Reborn and The Touch and Reprisal are present as well. You will also recognise the returns of many of the names from the previous Repairman Jack stories.  All those who return must work together to find a way to stop Rasalom before everlasting night falls upon the world, which it does mind you. Shit gets real for everyone. Even Gia and Vicky...and Abe. The last hope of our world lies in the hands of these few characters. We lose a few along the way, don't worry. They are all giving a nice send off, even Mr. Thompson, the creator of the Q'qr revolution. The team is led by our returning champion, sort of, from the Ally, Glaeken. You remember him from The Keep and Demonsong.

Wilson's style of story telling shines as brightly as it did when I first picked up The Tomb. Once the missions were given to the separate pairs within the small band of heroes,  I could not turn the pages quick enough especially when  Father Bill and Nick arrived at the besieged yet protected keep to collect the destroyed weapon from the original novel while, at the same time, Jack and Ba must srrive in Hawaii where they must recruit or kill the keeper of another piece of the weapon needed to battle Rasalom. The keeper of course is none other than Kolabati from The Tomb. The constant back and forth amongst the groups was great, keeping you aptly posted on what was happening to all the members. Towards the end when Abe and Gia were  fighting in their own rendition of the Alamo, I was literally getting worried about what was going to be revealed the next time we checked into the bunker portion of the chapter. I really don't want to spoil the part but... woah.

I myself would have loved to see a return of at least one Rakoshi. Possibly defending itself amongst the nightmare creatures. That would have been a great head to head bout between creatures of the Otherness.

Once the missions are completed and the weapon is completed, those assigned to their missions must race to beat the final setting sun and get back before the forever night which allows the night creatures to roam as they please.  For anyone that has followed the Repairman Jack series will be shocked at the twist that ensues once all of our heroes come together to choose a champion to use the weapon to battle Rasalom. Also, we do lose another legacy character in the midst. That I can not spoil because the jolt is just that good.

Without going into too much detail about the final scene of this incredible novel, I want to give note to the very ending... one scene in particular. The little girl with the puppy that says thank you to Jack just melted my heart. I knew exactly who it was and what it meant. Now who this little girl ends up living with is unknown to the readers but I would like to believe that since Rasalom took away Emma from Jack and Gia that she would end up with him.

This was without a doubt worth all the time and money that I invested into this series from the first time I picked up Midnight Mass for a college paper back in 2005.

Thank you Mr. Wilson for not corn-balling the crap out of the series and keeping your foot on the gas at full speed the whole way through. From start to finish, we were fully engaged in the tale that you told and very few writers can do that.