Dan

That's that, then. I'll never again read a Terry Pratchett book I haven't read before. This isn't a bad way to go out. The witches have always been one of my favourite Discworld strands, and this one is positively full of them. It's a long way from his best, and sometimes it's all too obvious that it was at least one draft away from being quite finished, but it's also nowhere near the worst. Pratchett's virtues of compassion and a kind of exasperated love for the common man shine through here. It's a capstone to a fine career, and he'll be missed.

Revenger was one of my favourite Alastair Reynolds books, and I'm glad it is extending to a series. This follows very much in the same vein, although it does dial back a bit on the horror elements, and the POV character has switched to Adrana, the other Ness sister. What is still there is the sense of swashbuckling adventure in an old ancient galaxy, full of secrets and dangers. The universe building is great, and this could end up rivalling the Revelation Space series as my favourite of Reynolds' fictional worlds.

The book does suffer a bit from middle volume syndrome - the mystery of the quoins revealed at the end of the last book is slightly expanded on, but no more than that, and the most exciting thing in the final third of this one is the set up for where the next book is (I presume) going. But to be fair, it's an awesome idea that pushes all of my buttons. Roll on volume three, I want it NOW!

(and maybe while you're waiting you could ponder on exactly who the Shadow Captain is? I can think of at least three options....)