The other book from World of the Gateway libertarians must add to their TBR list
Spirit Prophecy is just one book from E.E. Holmes’ World of the Gateway libertarians could dive into, but there is another.
Throughout the first three months of 2025, I’ve been covering the Gateway Trilogy from many different angles. As you know if you’ve been following me closely, I concocted a series of articles on Spirit Prophecy, given its themes of power and control, and the dangers government bureaucracies pose.
But there’s another book, this one in the sequel Gateway Trackers, that I also need to recommend. Since I’m focusing solely on the Gateway Trilogy for 2025, it’ll be a while before I cover Soul of the Sentinel, Book VI in the Gateway Trackers. But I also wanted to mention it here before I dive deeper into Spirit Ascendancy.
One of the phrases I’ve come across often lately is that the “winners get to write history,” along with “the winners get to tell history.” This is one reason it’s so important to question history you’re taught in government school settings, something I set the stage for in a book series I plan on releasing after the Catenarian Chronicles reaches its pinnacle, Arcane Elemental Academy.
For a real-life example, I like turning to Reconstruction of the South following the War Between the States. You’ll get one dominant narrative whether you attend a government school or a heavily-replicated private school. Yet, if you check out works by great writers like Wanjiru Njoya at the Mises Institute, you’ll rethink things.
Anyway, this brings me full circle to Soul of the Sentinel, which is my favorite book in the Gateway Trackers. In it, Jess learns that everything she’d been taught about the Durupinen is an outright lie, and it sets the stage for Gift of Darkness, in which she’s tasked with revealing that lie while setting things straight.
Say something they don’t like or question their narrative, and they will come for us
Winners not only get to write and tell history, but in today’s world, they tell their version of history at the expense of mass amnesia and, ultimately, coercion. We know this because of the sheer number of kids who are and have been forced into government schooling, or private schools that spew similar narratives.
For me, whenever coercion is involved, the red flags start rising. Good ideas don’t involve force, so if bureaucrats force you to play along, feel free to question them. No, they don’t particularly like being questioned, and the COVID crisis only taught us that those who question official narratives are often subjected to name-calling.
But then again, aren’t these no more than scare tactics to discourage and deter questioning government-endorsed narratives? Those who have put their reputations and livelihoods on the line, and have been targeted like none other in the mainstream media?
Dr. Robert Malone, Tulsi Gabbard, Thomas Massie, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, and Clifton Duncan, to name a few, have been subjected, and so have many others whose names are escaping me. Say, or do something we don’t like, and face the consequences, and if you keep going, we’ll just ruin your life, they tell us.
Soul of the Sentinel’s themes highlight how far bureaucrats will go to conceal secrets
Here’s a summary of what happened to an ancient spirit in Soul of the Sentinel, who knew of the Durupinen’s deepest, darkest secret. Their knowledge coaxed the Durupinen to do more than imprison them for centuries in their priosun on the Isle of Skye, Scotland.
They also told tales of this specific spirit in Durupinen lore, rendering it as this evil monster who’d come for their children. Basically, they destroyed its reputation, blackballing it to the darkest corners of the Durupinen Sisterhood and burying it so that deep, dark secret would never see the light again.
What was that secret? Well, it had something to do with the Durupinen’s true purpose, which involved interacting with spirits and guiding them toward the Gateway, where they could Cross. But, for all of the Gateway Trilogy and most of the Gateway Trackers, this wasn’t how the Durupinen operated.
Instead, they performed a Casting centuries in the past; one that was intended to bring about temporary protection to the Gateway. Following this Casting, instead of guiding spirits to the Gateway itself, they would Cross these spirits through a Gateway that now resided within their own bodies.
Of course, you can see where this is going, I’m sure. It wasn’t long before the Durupinen realized that, with the Gateway inside them, they had a nice, little power play. It gave them more control of the Gateways, and it made spirits who resided in the physical realm more dependent on them.
Temporary “solutions” that became permanent for centuries
Not all Durupinen abused this power, and that’s something that must be made clear. But many, including a strong contingent on the Council, did. Doing so allowed the Durupinen to look like supermodels regardless of how old they were; it gave them this “spirits serve us” mentality.
Since Durupinen were supposed to serve the spirits, guide them, and nothing more, their original purpose didn’t give them much power. But, by having the spirits at their disposal and spinning a narrative that, no, they still “served” the spirits since they still “helped” them Cross but with a giant asterisk attached to it, it let them “justify” keeping the Gateways concealed within them.
If there’s one thing that the Durupinen have always been good at, especially their bureaucracies, it’s involved creating situations that threaten their existence. It’s something we’ve seen in the Gateway Trilogy, and the Gateway Trackers expands on this concept.
Once “the Sentinels have begun their watch,” strange things happen to select characters as they stand in front of the Geatgrimas (the true Gateways), as though mesmerized by them. The latter of which was supposedly a symbol of the Gateway that resided in the Durupinen thanks to those in power claiming it to be.
But, as we later find out, it was a lie. The Durupinen were clear winners in history on many occasions, and they snuffed out anyone who threatened their status for centuries. Concealing the Gateway was supposed to be a temporary solution, but it turned into a permanent policy in the centuries that followed.
Is a force for good really what it looks like on the surface area?
A force for good. How many times have we heard that phrase thrown about? It seems like anything those running the show like will use that buzz phrase.
If I’m not mistaken, I believe I’ve heard several U.S. military advertisements throw it around. But is it really a force for good when it’s done nothing but create conflict, and when there isn’t enough conflict, has it not gone out in search of “monsters to destroy?”
All the while, becoming that same monster in the process? We can apply this to so many concepts, such as wealth redistribution, DEI, ESG, the “right” to healthcare, education, etc.
But doesn’t the former punish success? DEI does nothing more than divide people into groups and categories, discriminating between protected and unprotected. ESG has been dying a slow death since it can sacrifice profits in favor of “social responsibility,” and you can say the same for CSR.
And doesn’t claiming the “right” to concepts like healthcare and education mean you have. Isn’t this, as Ron Paul once said, “claiming the right to someone’s labor, and that is a form of slavery”?
Once again, when someone claims “force for good,” especially in government, government school, corporate, and legacy media circles, it’s always fine to question it. Because with some digging and deep thinking, you might draw another conclusion.
As for the Durupinen, they talked themselves into thinking they too, were a force for good. Don’t believe me? I’ll leave you with a snippet from the description of Book VII, Gift of Darkness, yet another outstanding fiction read libertarians would do well to add to their TBR list.
“The Durupinen have always considered themselves a force for what is good in the world, but has the intoxication of power left them unable to distinguish between what is right and wrong?”
Are what I listed forces for good? Or, are they spun into so-called forces for good by those who, like the Durupinen, are simply drunk on, or looking to attain, power and influence?
