The Infinity Concerto

Sidhedark is another plane, world, or dimension, another place where the physical laws are different from what we know. Humans don't need to sleep there (though many do, just out of habit), and when they do, they don't dream.

Unlike the book's version of Earth, in which humans are unequivocally stated to have souls that live on after death, in Sidhedark humans who die simply cease to exist. Likewise, it is quite bad for humans to give birth to children there, because there are no souls to enter their bodies, so horrible abominations take up residence in them instead.

The god Adonna, who created Sidhedark, seems not to have given its world quite as much permanence as the human world has. It is possible for beings with enough knowledge and willpower to cause temporary changes. Some call this "magic", but it is really just a consequence of Adonna's creation not being as stable as some worlds are.

No map appears in the book, but it does describe locations: a small corner of Sidhedark is known as the Pact Lands, containing the human town of Euterpe and the Breed town of Halftown, as well as the Isomage's house. The Pact Lands are separated from the rest of Sidhedark by the Blasted Plain.

The Blasted Plain itself is a desertlike landscape punctuated by poisonous pools of viscous liquids. In it dwell a number of Adonna's abortions—failed creations that live out their twisted existences in pain or madness; they were originally buried beneath the ground, but the magical war that created the Plain freed them. To cross the Plain requires either some form of talisman to repel the abortions or a Sidhe horse, fast enough to outrun them and wise enough to sense and avoid them.

The rest of the Realm contains areas such as:

• Konhem, "the deepest, darkest forest in the Realm"
• Nebchat Lem, "a lake, almost a sea, very deep"
• Chebal Malen, the Black Mountains
• The Sklassa, the fortress of the Black Order
• The Irall, the temple of Adonna
• The city of Inyas Trai
• Heba Mish, the mountain where the Snow Faces appear

Tens of millions of years ago, there was but one world inhabited by 30 races, including the humans, the Sidhe, the Cledar, the Spryggla, and the Urges. Over time, four great leaders arose, calling themselves the Mages: Manus of the humans (sometimes called the Serpent Mage), Tonn of the Sidhe, Aum of the Cledar, and Daedal of the Spryggla. There were many lesser mages, however, and they quarreled with each other, these quarrels turning into conflicts and wars. In a world of magic, though, death wasn't forever; wounds could be magically healed and souls resurrected.

At one point the humans defeated the Sidhe, and Manus, the Serpent Mage of the humans, used his magic to take away the Sidhe's souls. Every other race lived on metaphysically after the death of their bodies, but the Sidhe would no longer do so. However, in the end the Sidhe won, and Tonn, the Mage of the Sidhe, took vengeance upon each of the other races by transforming them into animals: the humans became tiny shrews (apparently their original form was somewhat dragonlike), the Cledar became birds, the Spryggla became whales and dolphins, and the Urges became roaches. Only the humans have recovered from this to any extent, evolving into primates and developing a civilization, and it has taken them tens of millions of years. The Sidhe then moved to a world that Tonn created for them.

Tonn's daughter Elme fell in love with a human named Akse, bearing many children with him, the first Breeds, but most Sidhe hated humans for what they had done to the Sidhe. During the development of human civilization, Tonn tried to keep the humans from rediscovering magic and acquiring a Song of Power, pretending to be various gods including Yahweh and Baal, discouraging creativity and change. Elme, however, formed the Council of Eleu to try to help the humans improve and become a race the Sidhe could accept as equals. Tonn's wife sided with their daughter, but in a fit of anger he transformed her into a monster. The conflict between the two factions continued.

Then, decades ago, there was a war between the Sidhe and a powerful Breed sorcerer known as the Isomage, burning a large portion of Sidhedark and creating an area now known as the Blasted Plain; the upheavals also released some of Adonna's unwanted creations that it had hidden underground. Occasionally humans accidentally find their way into Sidhedark and, unable to leave, must make the best of things. Some survive, others don't, and those who do end up in the town of Euterpe, near the Isomage's old house. The war ended in a ceasefire, but the Isomage still had enough power to force a treaty with the Sidhe; he seems to have been on the humans' side and made them agree to allow the humans to live in peace, with the condition that the Isomage go into exile.

The Sidhe are a varied people, consisting of many different types:

• The Faer are the most numerous. They are humanoid with long, narrow faces and slender limbs. They often have red or reddish blond hair. They can interbreed with humans, and the offspring of such a union are called Halfbreeds, or just Breeds.
• Arborals live in forests. They are humanoid, but with green or brownish-green complexions. They control the use and distribution of all wood in the Realm. The Arborals are also responsible for preserving the memories and consciousness of dead Sidhe by pressing them into trees.
• Meteorals are Sidhe of the air. They are colorless and translucent, insubstantial in appearance like spirits, but not immaterial.
• Riverines live in rivers and streams. Like meteorals, their forms are colorless and translucent. They are some of Adonna's most devout worshippers.
• Umbrals live in shadows and avoid sunlight. Their faces are utterly black with bright star-like eyes, and they are cold to the touch. They are also some of Adonna's most devout worshippers.
• Pelagals live in the oceans.
• Amorphals live in caverns and can take many forms.

Perrin is a teenager, 16 years old, still living with his parents, who seem to be fairly well-off; his father is a carpenter with a clientele that includes several wealthy and famous people. Michael tries to write poetry, but even he considers his efforts unimpressive; what he writes he himself barely understands. He is a fan of classic films and their scores. But he has hidden depths that even he doesn't know of. When a mysterious key and book fall on his lap, he follows up on it out of curiosity but ends up persevering through trials beyond anything he could have imagined.

Waltiri is a composer who has written the scores for several classic films over the years but also wrote his own music. In 1939, after several conversations with the mysterious David Clarkham, Waltiri wrote a concerto, titled Opus 45: "Infinity", that had a strange effect on everyone who heard its first and only performance. When Michael Perrin meets him, Waltiri is an old man; he dies two weeks later. We later discover that Waltiri was in fact never human; he was in reality Aum, the Mage of the Cledar, and not even Clarkham knew this at the time.

Born on Earth in 1499 to a Sidhe mother and a human father, Clarkham is thus a Breed. In the book's backstory he came to work for the Maln, attempting to prevent humans from discovering Songs of Power. He is the "person from Porlock" who interrupts poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge as he is writing his poem "Kubla Khan", which will otherwise become such a Song. However, he begins to disagree with the Maln's policy and finally rebels, attempting instead to help humans. Over time he becomes a powerful sorcerer, but calls himself the "Isomage", not wanting to be so arrogant as to assume the title of Mage, because he knows he is nowhere near as powerful as the four great Mages of legend. Several decades before the book's story begins, he rebels openly against the Sidhe in Sidhedark, starting a magical war in an attempt to stop them from interfering with humanity on Earth. The war horribly ravages a vast swath of land, which becomes known as the Blasted Plain. He loses the war, but he is still powerful enough that the Sidhe cannot kill him, so they cede some territory to him in the cease-fire treaty and make some concessions, allowing him a personal enclave and allowing humans and Breeds to live in peace in the Pact Lands beyond the Blasted Plain. By the time the book's main story takes place, he has built his impression of the wondrous palace described in "Kubla Khan" and lives there with his concubine and a few retainers.

Lamia and her sister (unnamed in the novel, but given the name Tristesse in its sequel, The Serpent Mage) are human women, once David Clarkham's wives. After Clarkham was defeated in the war he started, he abandoned both women, and the Sidhe captured them, using their magic to horribly warp their bodies. They now live at the Isomage's old house, which stands on the gateway between the human and Sidhe worlds, which they guard, on the order of the Sidhe, who threaten to do even worse to them should they fail. Some call Lamia "the Flesh Egg", because of her shape; she is bizarrely rotund. She also appears to be reptilian in a way, as she sheds her skin periodically as her cursed body continues to grow ever more corpulent.

Alyons is a Sidhe, exiled to the Pact Lands. He and his riders (coursers) patrol the Pact Lands to ensure that the humans remain where they are. Alyons was assigned this duty as punishment for stealing a horse from the Irall (Temple of Adonna), a serious crime; by the time they found out, it had imprinted upon him and would recognize no other master, so they could not take it back. Alyons is extremely bitter and longs to simply kill all the humans, but the treaty forbids this; if any Sidhe attack any of the humans without provocation, some form of terrible magical retribution will occur, due to spells prepared by the Isomage.

• Savarin — Henrik Savarin is a former music teacher. He is described as being about forty years old, thin, with bushy, greying brown hair. He has been trapped in Sidhedark for thirty-five years at his best guess, and considers himself a scholar of the Sidhe and their language. When Michael first arrives, Savarin teaches him what he knows and asks Michael to pass on anything of interest that he learns from the Crane Women. Michael later learns that Savarin is part of a group of humans who are planning to rebel against the Sidhe and escape the Pact Lands.
• Helena — Helena Davies is a former concert pianist from New York who arrived in Sidhedark two years ago. She was the last person to arrive before Michael. Like Savarin, she is part of the human rebellion in Euterpe. Helena is attracted to Michael, but she keeps him at arm's length because she is afraid of conceiving a child. She forms a sexual relationship with Savarin because he is sterile.
• Brecker and Risky — A husband and wife who run the only hotel in Euterpe. On Lamia's order, they offer Michael room and board in exchange for work when he first arrives in the Realm.
• Sherebith — Sherebith is the warden of the Yard where the soulless human children born in Sidhedark are housed. The Children call her "mother".

The Crane Women, Nare, Spart, and Coom are ancient Breed sisters who live in an isolated hut outside of Halftown. Their true names are Elanare, Esparta, and Ecooma, and they are the daughters of a human father, Aske, and a Sidhe mother, Elme, the daughter of Tonn. They were the first Breeds and may be as much as 9,000 years old. Unlike other Breeds, the Crane Women are respected by the Sidhe for their wisdom and knowledge of the old ways. Young Sidhe initiates are brought to them for training in combat, magic, and mental discipline.

• Lirg — Lirg of the line of Wis is a Breed who manages the market in Halftown. He keeps no written records and manages all accounts from memory. On the night of the Kaeli, Halftown is raided by Sidhe and Lirg is one of the Breeds taken for sacrifice to Adonna.
• Eleuth — Eleuth is the daughter of Lirg and a human woman, making her a second generation Breed, only one quarter Sidhe. She is in love with Michael and is not discouraged by the fact that he doesn't return her feelings. Out of love for him, she attempts to use Sidhe magic to return him to earth, but she is not strong enough, leaving Michael trapped between worlds. Eleuth sacrifices herself to allow Michael to escape the guardian and return to the Realm again.

Biridashwa — called Biri by the Crane Women — is a young Sidhe initiate to the priesthood of Adonna. He is brought by Tarax to the Crane Women for training. He has never met a human before Michael. Though Biri is being trained at the same time as Michael, much of Biri's training is kept secret from him and Biri is evasive when questioned. Michael meets Biri again much later after escaping from the Irall. Biri claims to have lost faith in Adonna and the Maln, but Michael doesn't entirely trust his sudden willingness to side with humans. Biri teaches Michael the history of the Council of Eleu, created to promote harmony between humans and Sidhe, and the Maln, created to oppose it. He offers to complete Michael's training in place of the missing Crane Women, but ultimately, Michael rejects Biri's Sidhe philosophy.

Tarax is the leader of the Maln, the Black Order, a group of Sidhe warriors who serve Adonna. For untold millennia they have monitored the humans, whom they still hate, making sure that they never regain anything resembling magical power.

Lin Piao Tai is a Spryggla, one of the few whom the Sidhe allowed to retain his original form. The Spryggla have the ability to magically manipulate the shape of matter. Lin Piao Tai was tasked by the Sidhe with designing the palace of Kubla Khan which was intended to be an architectural Song of Power, transmitted to the emperor in a dream. However, the dream was interrupted and construction was stymied by an opposing faction, and the palace was never properly built. As punishment for his failure, Lin Piao Tai was imprisoned by the Sidhe. Within his valley prison, Lin Piao Tai is free to do as he wishes, and he has built a beautiful palace for himself, but as a further punishment, his magic over matter has been taken from him except relating to objects that are yellow or golden in color. To a lesser degree, he can also manipulate objects that are black, white, or grey, while red and brown things do not affect and are not affected by his magic. However, the color blue is deadly to him.

Nikolai was a dancer who came from Leningrad to the United States to dance at the Denishawn school, but he had always been more attracted to music than dance. He was transported to the Realm at the age of fourteen while playing Stravinsky's Rite of Spring on the piano. He arrived in the middle of the final battle of the Isomage's war, and he was caught by magic which aged him. He escaped capture by Alyons and his coursers and was taken in by a sympathetic Sidhe woman in the females' city of Inyas Trai, under the protection of the Ban of Hours. Nikolai introduces Michael to her.

An attendant to the Ban of Hours, friend to Nikolai.

The keeper of the Sidhe's records, the Ban of Hours is very powerful but is also fond of humans and of Earth. No one who sees her can remember what she looks like. She is Tonn's daughter, sister of Elme, and she "stayed by Tonn when Elme defied him", although now she covertly opposes Tarax and the Maln.

A human dancer, she was just 20 years old in 1863 when David Clarkham came to her and arranged for her to dance a Song of Power. The Sidhe of the Maln arranged for her to be terribly burned in a fire to prevent this, but the Council of Eleu came, healed her, and took her with them. She lives in the city of Inyas Trai.

One of the four most powerful Mages, Tonn created Sidhedark millions of years ago for his people, the Sidhe, to live in when they left Earth. The world he created wasn't as well made as Earth, because it was his work alone. Now, at the time of the book's story, the rest of the Sidhe barely remember him as Tonn and worship him as Adonna, believing him to be a god. He is growing tired, though, and knows that his world will collapse sooner or later, so it will have to be reunified with Earth so the Sidhe can escape Sidehedark's destruction. Tarax and the Maln serve him, but this would be difficult for them to accept, so he does not tell them about this plan.