It all begins when Hope awakens from a horrible dream. It then dawns on her: today is the first day of her sophomore year of high school. Everything seems normal as she heads off to school, eats lunch with her friend, and trudges to her classes.
But as a little more time passes, Hope begins to wonder who that strange girl in all black is - she's always standing in front of Hope's locker, after all, and she acts very strangely indeed. Hope's curiosity is piqued even further when she finds something the girl left behind: a strange black sphere that seems to absorb all light and a permission slip for orchestra with her name on it: "Melanthe Morte."
Hope returns the items to her, never expecting what could come next. Melanthe - cynical, cold, and dark - leads Hope to an evil place called the World of Vice and shows her the horrible things that lurk there - pure forms of terror, pain, wrath, and more. Apparently, the sphere is the Orb of Darkness - a mysterious talisman that can be used to combat the hideous forces. Even worse, Melanthe explains that Hope is one of the Six - a chosen group that has been fighting this almost-ceaseless evil for millennia. She gives Hope the Orb of Earth, and from that point on, Hope's life is never the same.
Soon, Hope meets the bearer of the Orb of Light, Kira Sanovita - a die-hard idealist and optimist who truly believes that they can save the world. Together, Hope, Kira, and Melanthe travel daily to the World of Vice to combat the forces that none but they know of. Melanthe explains that all on Earth except the most philosophical are oblivious to these evils, and only the members of the Six can actually combat them. One by one, the other three members of the Six fill into their places in destiny.
But the battles in the World of Vice are not an easy task, and Hope often finds herself inexpressibly upset. She's soon filled with terror, despair, and angst - horrible feelings that she simply can't shake off. In her struggles to remain optimistic, Hope looks at philosophical questions from every viewpoint she can - and finds no solid answers. Flung into a spiral of despair, Hope needs someone - anyone - to save her...
And so she turns to Lucius Alman, one of her understanding, compassionate, and intelligent classmates. Everything about him is perfect; he is the most virtuous person Hope has ever met, and Hope can think of no better reason to save the world than for people like him. Soon, Hope realizes the truth: that she loves Lucius...
Things aren't as simple as they seem, though. As the battles in the World of Vice become more and more suffocating, Hope's sociability drops dramatically. She doesn't feel happy anymore...and one day, she cracks, revealing her secret life to someone who isn't chosen...
On top of all this, Lucius suddenly begins to draw away from Hope. It isn't long before he becomes spiteful, and indifferent, completely ignoring Hope and treating her borderline maliciously. Hope has nowhere else to turn to, though - and so she slips into a deep spiral. Her philosophical thoughts tie her down, along with her obligations and non-mutual love - and her evident pain soon prevails.
Other characters are also introduced into the book, soon getting Hope involved into various philosophical mini-plots that further increase her confusion.
The current Six is nearing the core of the World of Vice, where all of Hope's philosophies meet. But is there really any hope for such faint light against such stifling darkness?
A Swift and Subtle Light has many characters that are very important to the plot. However, the protagonist of the story is Hope Fidele.
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