I have only read one previous McAuley novel – The Quiet War – which I recall finding quite good but this one disappointed despite being an intriguing idea and setting with good well drawn characters. The problem was how it meandered aimlessly through many small incidents that had little or nothing to do with the plot and, whilst they possibly enhanced the reader’s understanding of the setting, were otherwise little more than red herrings; the story itself could have been told in less than half the pages without much being lost. In fact by the end of the book it feels like it’s only just beginning to get going, making the cliff-hanger ending, that wasn’t really any kind of ending at all, even more annoying.
The setting, as I’ve said, is an interesting one. It is set in a far distant future in which the ‘Preservers’ who have created the world in which everyone lives (and indeed have apparently remade the entire galaxy) have departed leaving their progeny to survive on their own. This they haven’t done particularly well and their technology has largely degenerated to a semi-medieval level, giving a nice cross between science fiction and fantasy. It is an interesting world that could have made the foundation for an excellent book which, sadly, it fails to deliver.
This is the first volume of a trilogy and really only felt like a prologue to that trilogy. If I continue with the others it will only be because the setting was sufficiently interesting for me to be curious about where he is taking it.
The setting, as I’ve said, is an interesting one. It is set in a far distant future in which the ‘Preservers’ who have created the world in which everyone lives (and indeed have apparently remade the entire galaxy) have departed leaving their progeny to survive on their own. This they haven’t done particularly well and their technology has largely degenerated to a semi-medieval level, giving a nice cross between science fiction and fantasy. It is an interesting world that could have made the foundation for an excellent book which, sadly, it fails to deliver.
This is the first volume of a trilogy and really only felt like a prologue to that trilogy. If I continue with the others it will only be because the setting was sufficiently interesting for me to be curious about where he is taking it.
