nicanical
I enjoyed this book. It is structurally-similar to the two previous entries, Look to Windward and Matter, but corrects some of their deficits: Surface Detail is paced better, and locations and races all serve a purpose. The same goes for the characters, although the Quietus agent's arc was weak and could have been dropped.
One thing though: the contentiousness of the virtual hells and the War in Heaven is never sufficiently developed to match the apparent in-universe furor for them. The Pavulean perspective is in the middle of changing towards anti-hell. And other advanced civilizations (like the Culture) are anti-hell because they oppose the barbarism of virtual hells. But, counter-arguments from advanced, pro-hell civilizations (like the Nauptre) aren't shared in detail. This didn't affect enjoyment of the book because the War is just something happening in the background, and is not central to the main character's story.
I enjoyed this book. It is structurally-similar to the two previous entries, Look to Windward and Matter, but corrects some of their deficits: Surface Detail is paced better, and locations and races all serve a purpose. The same goes for the characters, although the Quietus agent's arc was weak and could have been dropped.
One thing though: the contentiousness of the virtual hells and the War in Heaven is never sufficiently developed to match the apparent in-universe furor for them. The Pavulean perspective is in the middle of changing towards anti-hell. And other advanced civilizations (like the Culture) are anti-hell because they oppose the barbarism of virtual hells. But, counter-arguments from advanced, pro-hell civilizations (like the Nauptre) aren't shared in detail. This didn't affect enjoyment of the book because the War is just something happening in the background, and is not central to the main character's story.