Simon MacDonald

Long, complex, and grim. You will need stamina to get through all the alliances, betrayals, plotting, and chicanery.

A few times I had to stop and review who was currently on whose side (and if they were still alive!)

A great stormy read.

3.5 good fun

A rollicking space opera/fantasy with dark necromancy, black humour, and an underlying susurration of repressed sexual tension.

One the best reads I've had for ages

Not one of Baldacci's best novels, but I quite enjoyed it. A good spin on perception management and how the public can be manipulated using the news, social media and the Internet.

My main issue with the story was the lack of depth to the characters. I'm going to read the second of the series, mainly because the reviews I have read have been widely divergent and I'm curious to see if the next book is so good/bad.

I've read most of Alistair Reynolds' books, but this series is not up to his usual standard. Doesn't do it for me.