Andy Lewis

I'm in awe of Claire North. She seems to have a knack for thinking up a wonderfully simple, but original concept - and then thinking through a logical progression of that idea, taking it to places I'd never have dreamed of.

The idea in this case - William Abbey has been cursed, and his curse takes the form of a ghost - which will chase him down - at walking pace - wherever he goes. When it is close, he sees the truth in men's hearts. If it touches him, the person he loves the most will die - and the pursuit will begin again. So far so “It Follows” - but true to form, Claire North dwells moves quickly away from the horror of that pursuit, instead choosing a wider scope for the story.

Set in Victorian times, and taking us on a prolonged tour of the British Empire of the time, the book very deliberately shows us some of the worst and most heart-breaking aspects and consequences of British colonialism - while progressing that idea in a very cynical direction: when such a curse or gift comes to the attention of the powers that be (and William is far from the only person in the book with this affliction)... they'll work out how to weaponise it.

It's a great book - if not a very optimistic one - William is a deeply flawed protagonist, makes serious mistakes and is rarely brave or heroic - so he's hard to really care for (although, perhaps - if I'm honest - easy to identify with) - but I found the story captivating. If the picture it paints of the “golden age” of the British Empire is a tarnished one (to say the least) - that is no bad thing either.

In short - a thought provoking book, and a great read. Highly recommended.

I adore this story. It's the weird and wonderful blood-soaked love-child of The Wind in the Willows and the Dirty Dozen. It's short and sweet, with not a single wasted word.

The plot - the Captain - a monosyllabic mouse - is re-assembling his old team for one last job - to finish what they started all that time ago.

Don't expect everything to be spelled out - or, in fact for anything to be spelled out - long and complex backstories are implied but rarely explained - but for all that, this book is an absolute gem, brimming with dark humour - and I loved every single moment of it.

I wanted to like this a lot more. Really liked the first book - and I loved the way Peter Hamilton managed to hide from us the main premise of the series until that final jaw-dropping book 1 revelation (and the way he used the whole “alien monsters after your BRAINZ” trope in such an original way.

A trilogy like this though - it lives or dies by the conclusion - and to me, this final volume ran of steam a little. It was still enjoyable - and it was epic on a scale that few authors can pull off, but which Peter Hamilton generally excels at - and it wasn't bad - just a little underwhelming, and, for me, a bit too long and drawn out. Things like the reveal of where the saints had been, and what they'd been up to all this time... felt a little anti-climactic, and there was a touch too much of the conveniently develop better tech to beat the previously unbeatable bad guys with trope - which first came in in Salvation Lost.

All in all, a decent series, but, IMO, not his best.

I wanted to like this book a lot more. It's well written, I loved the characters, and the historical aspects and exploration of racial issues were fascinating.

For me, where it falls down is the supernatural side of things - it's more of a personal taste thing, I suppose, but the magical side of it felt too clean - too neat - too much explained - too easy - that part of the book, which forms the main narrative, just didn't work for me.

Ultimately it boiled down to liked it, but couldn't love it, no matter how much I wanted to.

Foiled in her attempt to escape the house she absolutely detests, Gideon is coerced instead to accompany her bitterest enemy Harrowhark to the First house, where Harrow may study, and become one of eight new Lyctors for the Emperor. And, of course, it's not going to go very well at all.

What on earth does any of this mean? Half the joy of the book is the way the world-building is slowly gently teased out through conversations, events and some careful narration. Some mysteries are hidden in plain sight, some are gently teased or hinted at early on, before being brought back with devastating effect later in the book - I found it an amazing roller-coaster ride, and it was nearly impossible to put the book down.

Gideon and Harrow are wonderful protagonists, and if their conflict seems inexplicable to begin with, the reasons are yet another piece of the we're presented with.

I don't think it's for everyone - it is an amazing book, wildly imaginative, with wonderfully drawn characters, a fair smattering of suspense and horror, and it pulls absolutely no punches as things ramp up...

It also leaves a lot of questions to be answered in the next book, and I can't wait to start that one. Probably my favourite book of 2020 - and there's been some stiff competition this year.