6 min read

Important names in Too Like the Lightning

(Major spoilers for Too Like the Lightning. Read it. Or listen. The audiobook is excellent.)

  1. Bridger, a 13-year-old boy Mycroft discovered with the magic power to make representations or symbols into the real deal: "miracles."
  2. Redder, Bridger's imaginary friend. Dominic Seneschal brutally murdered Redder at the end of Too Like the Lightning.
  3. Bridger's friends, who he miracled into existence from various toys, including _, a little purple (?) dog, Mommadoll from a toy doll, and the 20th century army men: Major, Lieutenant, Aimer, Looker, Crawler, Medic, Stander Yellow, Stander Green, Croucher, Nogun, Nostand, and the late (later revived?) Private Pointer.
  4. Mycroft Canner, serial killer, philosopher, and new pacifist. Serves JEDD Mason, "his Tocqueville" after a story from Alexis de Tocqueville's essay _. Takes care of Bridger, in loose "joint custody" with Thisbe Saneer.
  5. Saladin, Mycroft's serial killer boyfriend. Helped with all the murders.
  6. Esmerald Revere, previous sensayer to the Saneer-Weeksbooth bash'. Killed herself the day before the story begins—as written, maybe the only successful-and-true suicide referenced in the book.
  7. Carlyle Foster, new sensayer to the Saneer-Weeksbooth bash', and also — informally — Bridger's sensayer. Son of Dana'e by (implied?) rape, and unaware of this because he was fostered with the Cousins and a gag order placed on his genes/family history.
  8. Thisbe Saneer, security officer of the Saneer-Weeksbooth bash' (?). Mycroft calls her a witch. Dangerous and likes it that way. Makes "smelltracks" for movies on the side and has won a few Oscars for it. All bash'-parents in the bash' died 5 years ago.
  9. Ockham Saneer, Thisbe's brother. Other security officer of the Saneer-Weeksbooth bash'. Authorized to kill in defense of the car system and acts like it. Head of the bash'. Commanding.
  10. Ojiro "Cardigan" Sniper, outrageous show-person and, creepily enough given their emphasized childlike physical features, a sex toy model and companion-for-hire (?).
  11. Eureka Weeksbooth the Cartesian set-set that keeps the car system running. Delight in the abstract of text and numbers, which is where they spend approximately all their time.
  12. Cato Weeksbooth, Eureka and Sidney's brother who loves science and wanted to be a Utopian. Kindly science teacher to the kids in his Science Club at a Chicago science museum. Was stopped from joining the Utopians, possibly because of his involvement in bash'-wide assassination schemes going back at least seven years from the events of Too Like the Lightning. A total nervous wreck apparently because of those schemes.
  13. J.E.D.D. Mason, possible space alien. Son of Mitsubishi director Hotaka Ando and of Madame D'Arouet. Also known as Tai-kun to the Japanese of Mitsubishi, Xiao Hei Wang to the Chinese, Jagmohan (?) to the India strat, Jed to the Cousins, Micromegas or Mike to the Utopians, and by his first and middle names to the hive leaders that assigned them: Jehovah (Cornel MASON assigned, though Madame D'Arouet uses this one too), Epicuro (King Isabel Carlos II of Spain), Donatien (Faust), D'Arouet (Madame D'Arouet). He is also called Tribune Mason because he is a Tribune of the Masons, and the porphyrogene because he was raised as part of the Emperor Cornel MASON's family and adopted into it. His mother, Madame D'Arouet, calls him the Prince D'Arouet. I probably missed another few names because he has so damn many.
  14. Mycroft "Martin" Guildbreaker, J.E.D.D. Mason's "sheriff" and discreet investigator for the elite. Mycroft calls him by his title, nepos.
  15. Dominic Seneschal, the dangerous blacklaw that secures Madame D'Arouet's brothel and J.E.D.D. Mason's "dog." Wears 18th century costume in all black and carries a rapier. Horny. Often works with Martin Guildbreaker.
  16. Julia Doria-Pomphili, secret schemer and lover of Dominic and head of the Sensayers Conclave. Mycroft Canner's sensayer and Carlyle Foster's mentor. Considers Carlyle a mole. Didn't get Esmerald Revere to kill herself, but Esmerald's death was in her favor. Conspiring against the Saneer-Weeksbooth bash' (page 368, ch. 29, "Julia, I've Found God!").
  17. The hive leaders: President Ganymede Jean-Louis de la Trémoïlle, Duc de Thouars, Prince de Talmost who calls himself the Duke of Trémoïlle (Humanist), Director Hotaka Ando Mitsubishi (Mitsubishi), Emperor Cornel MASON ([free?]Masons), Felix Faust (Gordian, via Brill Institute), and Bryar Kosala (Cousins). [Yes, MASON in all capital letters.
  18. Princesse Danaë Marie-Anne de la Trémoïle Mitsubishi, Princesse de la Trémoïlle et de Talmond, Ganymede's sister and Hotaka Ando's wife.
  19. Hotaka Ando and Danaë's adopted ba'kids: Masami Mitsubishi (working at Black Sakura), Toshi Mitsubishi (at the Censor's office), Hiroaki Mitsubishi (at the Cousins Feedback Bureau), Sora Mitsubishi (Humanist Praetor at Romanva), Michi Mitsubishi (Casimir Perry), Jun Mitsubishi (applied to Brill institute but was rejected), and Ran Mitsubishi (applied to Ganymede's office, rejected)—plus maybe another one or two. They're all set-sets whose training went unfinished because a Nurturist (Lorelei "Cookie" Cook) broke up their bash'. They're all Accelerated set-sets who live perceiving the world in slow-motion.
  20. King Isabel Carlos II of Spain is, for most of this book, treated as hive leader of Europe, instead of Casimir Perry, "the outsider." Has one child, Crown Princess Leonor.
  21. King Isabel Carlos II's child, Crown Prince Leonor the Prince of Asturias, caught up somehow in shady dealings because of their relationship with Casimir Perry.
  22. Madame D'Arouet, who runs the brothel at which the hive leaders meet. [Probably there is more to her name that I'm forgetting.] Lover to both Cornel MASON and the King of Spain.
  23. The Censor, Vivien Ancelet. Husband to Cousins leader Bryar Kosala. Double identity as Anonymous which is the same as the Com(p)te Déguisé.
  24. Prime Minister of the Europe hive, Casimir Perry, also called "the outsider." Defeated the King of Spain at election despite the king's advantage because a person called Ziven Racer got caught trying to fix the election in King Isabel Carlos II's favor.
  25. Tully Mardi, the only survivor of the Mardi bash'. Went briefly by the name Tully Mojave on a space elevator passenger list (page 287, chapter 24).
  26. Apollo Mojave, the other person Mycroft Canner and Saladin tortured to death. Great guy, famous Utopian, and boyfriend to _ Mardi. Owned a U-beast Pillarcat named Halley.
  27. Free Alliance Police Commissioner General Ektor Carlyle Papadelias, the Greek. Old enemy of Mycroft Canner, though they're friendly because of their familiarity and shared Greek pride.

Minor characters:

  1. The Mardi bash', including (in alphabetical order by first name) Chiasa Mardi (page 295), Senator Geneva Mardi, Ibis Mardi the probably-would-be Cousin (killed for having the temerity to flirt with Mycroft), Jie Mardi (page 295), (Deputy?) Censor Ken Mardi (the thirteen-year-old child?), Kohaku Mardi (who died revealing the numbers 33-67; 67-33; 29-71), Laurel Mardi, Leigh Mardi (page 295), Luther Mardigras (page 255), Makenna Mardi (page 295), Mercer Mardi (page 250), and Seine Mardi (Apollo Mojave's fiancée? or girlfriend). Mycroft Canner and Saladin tortured them all to death in various horrifying ways before getting caught.
  2. Tsuneo Sugiyama, the old newspaper editor who took Masami as their assistant, whose name got put on Masami's Seven-Ten list, and who wrote the original Seven-Ten list. Retired after a relative (nephew?) tried to commit suicide, which remark led Martin to discover the assassination conspiracy that Cato Weeksbooth is so upset over.
  3. Lesley Saneer, Ockham's wife. Adopted into the Saneer-Weeksbooth bash' after her ba'pas died in a flying car wreck.
  4. Sidney Koons, the other Cartesian set-set of the Saneer-Weeksbooth bash', and so Eureka Weeksbooth's relief.
  5. The twins of the Saneer-Weeksbooth bash', Kat Typer and Robin Typer.
  6. Deputy Censor Jung Su-Hyeon Ancelet-Kosala.
  7. Heloïse, the "nun" who dedicated herself to J.E.D.D. Mason.
  8. Terry Lugli, who plays Thomas Carlyle at the Renunciation Day ceremony.
  9. Darcy Sok, Cousins Feedback Bureau (C.F.B.) Chief.

Note that Mycroft is said to have killed 17 people, but I've only named 13 of them: The twelve Mardi bash' members and Apollo Mojave. I don't recall if the book names all 17.

And, for completeness, a few long-dead historical figures:

  1. Adolf Richter Brill, education advocate and namesake of the Brill Institute that Felix Faust runs, and Adolf's student Regan Makoto Cullen, who invented the bash' system.
  2. The three founders of the Hive system, Gordian Chairman Thomas Carlyle, Chair of the Cousins Program Director Sofia Kovács, Olympic Chairmman Jean-Pierre Utarutu, and King Juan Valentín of Spain.
  3. Mertice McKay. Sensayer-related?
  4. Fisher G. Gurai. Sensayer-related?
  5. Antonius MASON. Former Emperor?
  6. Mycroft MASON. Former Emperor?
  7. The First and Thrid Anonymous.
  8. Terra the Moon Baby. First baby born on the Moon? Born to Utopians? Died of complications, but not before the Utopians did a bunch of science on the baby to learn about what sort of complications to expect for people born on the Moon?

I gave up on additional details for the last six here. Oh well.