Lord of Mysteries: The Clown Part 3 - Vol. 3

I finished this book yesterday and still needed some time to get my thoughts together. I've already seen the donghua (anime) for this series, as you might know, so it's not like I didn't know how the Clown arc was going to end. I saw it coming. But it still hurts a lot.

This entire review will be spoiler filled for both the book and the show, sorry it's not possible to discuss the finer details without them. I won't be blacking them out like I usually do either, so this is your warning.

Over the course of these three books, we've spent a huge amount of time with Klein, and varying amounts of time with other side characters such as the other members of the Tarot Club, and even single one-off characters. There were certain events that played out minor differences in details in the show, such as the timing of when Old Neil goes berserk, and how much we get to know about the other members of the Nighthawks. You can feel how close Klein becomes with the Dunn, Leonard, and Neil, and how they build their comradery. That makes the tragedy all the worse for it.

Lord of Mysteries is a series that luxuriates in the small details. Most people who don't appreciate this approach probably dropped off in the first book, but this volume was the one that truly rewards the reader for paying attention. Little inconsistencies like Klein forgetting to use his spirit vision with Megose, his luck with Beyonder cases/encounters, and Trissy's getaway from the Nighthawks all culminate in a disastrous outcome, where nobody could have stopped what was about to happen.

The power of Ince Zangwill's artifact 0-08 is not to be underestimated, and we find out that there was a mastermind to many of the unsolved crimes in Tingen. He has targeted Dunn the entire time to try and orchestrate the circumstances where he could steal an important artifact from the Tingen Nighthawks.

There are three really important points that the book makes that I'm surprised the show left out.

1. Although potion ingredients are rare, most organizations are quick to fill out their lower ranks of Beyonders and happily give out potion ingredients for lower sequences. It's implied that this is because when Beyonders die, there's a "Conservation of Ingredients" that occurs, where there's a random chance of a higher level ingredient or artifact spawning upon death. This is is why they're hesitant to spread the known method of stably digesting the potions.
2. The above information is common knowledge to Derrick, who is from an unknown location, presumed to be the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
3. The Tarot club is highly unusual because most organizations contain members of neighboring sequences. Klein's group doesn't focus on any singular pathway, which makes it really hard for authorities to track. Of course, the police are pretty quick to catch onto there being a leak of information, but they have no idea where it's coming from.

Many of the events involving Alger, Audrey, and Azik in Backlund were left out of season 1 completely, which is astonishing since it's clearly part of the buildup. There was an important villain featured in that "arc" called Hurricane Keelings, where an item was recovered as part of the Tarot Club's first "mission". It was exciting to read something I hadn't seen before, and I hope it gets adapted eventually. The show really did suffer from the lack of allotted episodes.

There was also a lot more characterization of the Tarot Club members, and even Audrey's associates (like Xio and Fors) that was delightful to read about. It really makes the world feel alive to see everyone's reactions to the same news and events.

The last part of the book, which involved Dunn, Klein, and Leonard against Megose/Evil Spawn of the True Creator was just as nerve wracking as one would expect. Due to how close Klein has become with his new family and colleagues, seeing him lose them all over again is doubly heartbreaking.

It's also interesting to see how Leonard's grief is portrayed here. In the show we see him sad for a few scenes before they display his conviction to become part of the Red Gloves and hunt down Ince Zangwill. In the book, we also see him mourn Klein and Dunn, and even go through the process of delivering the news to Klein's family. It feels kind of mean to say, but I didn't realize how much Dunn and (especially) Klein meant to him until this moment, where he feels lost and hopeless in their absence.

Klein's goodbye to his family is equally upsetting. He has to see them off with a smile in the guise of a clown, because he was already buried with funeral rites.

This was a fantastic end to the first "episode/arc" of the Lord of Mysteries series. I love this series and these characters, and I can't wait for Volume 4 to come out on September 8th, where we're starting the "Faceless" arc.