Review of INDIE Ebook End Game – Book 8 of the Fallen Empire series by Lindsay Buroker #Brainfluffbookreview #FallenEmpirebookreview

After following this entertaining series and Alisa Marchenko’s search for her daughter for over a year now, here I am at the last book. See my reviews of Star Normad, Honor’s Flight, Cleon Moon and Perilous Hunt. As with all enjoyable series, I reach this point with very mixed feelings, which is why I often put off reading the final book – I don’t want the adventure to end. But as I know there’s now a spinoff series available and I have far more new series stacking up than I can possibly read, it’s time to get practical…

BLURB: Alisa Marchenko has reunited with her daughter, and even though she hasn’t figured out how to get Jelena to accept Leonidas yet, she dreams of the three of them starting a new life together. They can return the Star Nomad to its original purpose of running freight and staying out of trouble (mostly). Before that can happen, Alisa must fulfill the promise she made to Jelena: that she and her crew will retrieve young Prince Thorian, the boy who has become Jelena’s best friend. But Thorian was kidnapped by the rogue Starseer Tymoteusz, the man who wants to use the Staff of Lore to take over the entire system—and the man who may have the power to do it. Alisa doesn’t know why he kidnapped Thorian, but Tymoteusz once promised to kill the prince, so she fears they don’t have much time. Unfortunately, Tymoteusz hasn’t left a trail of breadcrumbs. Finding him will be difficult, and even if they’re successful, facing him could be suicidal. To have a chance of surviving, Alisa will have to come up with her greatest scheme yet.

REVIEW: Whatever you do – don’t crash into this series here. By now far too much has happened, and as this book picks up pretty much where Perilous Hunt left off, you’ll be floundering in a welter of names and places, before you figure out who is doing what to whom. Besides, it would be a crying shame to so short-change such a funny, entertaining series by such a talented author.

I really liked how finding Jelena has switched Alisa’s priorities. Her burgeoning romance with hunky cyborg Leonidas pretty much slides to a halt, as they are both aware that Jelena’s telepathic abilities could read their frustrated longing for each other, and as Jelena is only eight and already afraid of Leonidas, that would prove to be… awkward. Not that is the only thing Alisa has to focus on. Once again, Star Nomad, her clunky little freighter, finds itself up to its star drives in more trouble than it can cope with – so ditto the crew. I love the way that in the middle of all the risk of imminent death and destruction, there are still laugh-aloud moments of humour. Mica, Alisa’s long-suffering engineer is particularly hilarious.

But given that this is the final book in the series, the burning issue has to be – does it satisfactorily bring all that angst, romantic longing, humour and page-turning adventure to a fitting conclusion? Absolutely. Buroker nails it. As I haven’t read her books before, I am so impressed at how she managed to tie everything up without making it seem too tidy, or unrealistically cosy – yet at the same time not leaving any stray strands waving in the wind to niggle at me. It takes skill and experience to achieve such an outcome – and means I’ll certainly be looking out for this author, again. It’s one thing to bring a single book to a satisfying ending – it takes another order of ability to do the same with an eight-book series. Highly recommended for fans of action-packed space opera with a splash of humour and romance thrown in for good measure.
9/10

Review of INDIE Ebook Perilous Hunt – Book 7 of the Fallen Empire series by Lindsay Buroker #Brainfluffbookreview #PerilousHuntbookreview #SciFiMonth2020

I have been enjoying the adventures of Alisa and the disparate collection of people she has accumulated during her search for her daughter. Filled with action and excitement, I’ve been impressed at the variety of scenarios Buroker has managed to provide to prevent this series becoming remotely repetitive. See my reviews of Star Normad, Honor’s Flight and Cleon Moon. So where would this penultimate book take us? I have linked this post to #Sci Fi Month 2020.

BLURB: After failing to catch up with her daughter Jelena so many times, Alisa’s optimism is battered, but her determination has never waned. She, Leonidas, and their eclectic crew are hunting down a Starseer research station in the heart of the Kir Asteroid belt—Jelena’s supposed location. Alisa vows that she will find her daughter if she has to search a million asteroids to do so. But Jelena and her close friend, Prince Thorian, have attracted the interest of many factions, and the Star Nomad isn’t the only ship on the hunt…

REVIEW: My ongoing criticism of this series has been that Alisa’s search for her daughter has seemed somewhat leisurely, missing the edge of desperation that I felt should have been there. It has been a minor niggle, rather than a major grumble – but this book fixed that issue, as Alisa confronts her guilt for leaving her family in the first place to join the Alliance as a pilot. Those creepy Starseers, who can see into people’s minds, are no less threatening this time around and the pace and action scenes acquired extra energy as this book.

There is also progress in the relationship between Alisa and her cyborg hunk, Leonidas, which has been stalled by a major impediment that prevented them getting any closer. I was pleased to see Alisa conflicted between her sense of responsibility towards her young daughter – feeling guilty that in amongst all of that, she has also been pursuing her own happiness. Yep – welcome to the world of motherhood! I am conscious that I have been giving the impression that this book has been mired in some fairly angsty topics, which is the case. But that hasn’t prevented large dollops of humour surfacing, as Alisa tends to inappropriate drollery when things get difficult or dangerous. And once again, there have been difficulties and danger in spades, which didn’t stop me sniggering at the interchanges between Alisa and her spiky engineer Mica, who keeps threatening to leave – but somehow doesn’t quite get around to it.

Throughout this book is a sense that everything is winding up towards the final denouement – and like all thoroughly enjoyable series, that leaves me feeling quite torn. On one hand, I’m looking forward to Alisa getting back her daughter and perhaps a bit of respite from all the ongoing problems besetting her – on the other hand, I’m not looking forward coming to the end of spending time alongside an entertaining cast of characters who have provided a lot of escapist pleasure over the last two years. Highly recommended – but do read the other books first, or you’ll miss out on far too much of the story.
9/10

Review of KINDLE Ebook Windhaven by George R.R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle #Brainfluffbookreview #Windhavenbookreview

While I cannot get on with his sprawling epic, A Song of Ice and Fire, I am a real fan of much of Martin’s writing – see my review of Tuf Voyaging here, and I also enjoyed Lisa Tuttle’s The Curious Affair of the Witch at Wayside Cross – see my review here. So it was a no-brainer that I would pounce on this one when I spotted it. I’m so glad I did – and I’ll be linking this review to Sci-Fi Month.

The planet of Windhaven was not originally a home to humans, but it became one following the crash of a colony starship. It is a world of small islands, harsh weather, and monster-infested seas. Communication among the scattered settlements was virtually impossible until the discovery that, thanks to light gravity and a dense atmosphere, humans were able to fly with the aid of metal wings made of bits of the cannibalized spaceship.

Many generations later, among the scattered islands that make up the water world of Windhaven, no one holds more prestige than the silver-winged flyers, who bring news, gossip, songs, and stories. They are romantic figures crossing treacherous oceans, braving shifting winds and sudden storms that could easily dash them from the sky to instant death. They are also members of an increasingly elite caste, for the wings—always in limited quantity—are growing gradually rarer as their bearers perish. With such elitism comes arrogance and a rigid adherence to hidebound tradition. And for the flyers, allowing just anyone to join their cadre is an idea that borders on heresy. Wings are meant only for the offspring of flyers—now the new nobility of Windhaven. Except that sometimes life is not quite so neat…

The story charts the fortunes of Maris, who we first meet as a small child, foraging for anything of value on the beach when she makes a life-changing encounter. She meets a flyer called Russ who picks the child up and treats her dream of being a flyer as something more than just the imaginings of some land-bound brat. He eventually adopts her and trains her – until unexpectedly, he has a son. Maris helps to bring the motherless boy up, until the terrible day when she is forced to hand over the wings she has been flying with. For she is not entitled to keep them – they belong to Coll, Russ’s son, even though he yearns to be a singer and has already caught the eye of one of the best professional singers on Windhaven, who wishes to train him. But tradition says that Coll must follow Russ as a flyer, despite his inability to feel the wind.

As we follow Maris and her battle to continue to fly, we also learn of the original colonists and how they accidentally encountered Windhaven. The worldbuilding is excellent with wonderful descriptions of the storms that regularly sweep the planet and the air currents that generally keep the flyers in the sky – and occasionally fling them into the sea. It is a hard, dangerous life and flyers keep to themselves, forming close ties with each other, while despising those who are not able to fly.

A particular decision is made that overturns a tradition that has begun to cause problems – and in a less nuanced, clever book, we would get a variety of adventures involving talented flyer Maris and that would be that. However in this book, decisions have consequences that no one foresaw. The rest of the book continues to follow what befalls Maris, while also exploring the fallout from those decisions and how they impact upon the traditional way of life on Windhaven for both flyers and land-bound alike. I love the way this plays out and how the previous faultlines in society are not only heightened but previous prejudices are also strengthened.

This is a clever, thoughtful book that nonetheless also delivers an engrossing story full of adventure and incident, featuring a sympathetic and believable protagonist. Highly recommended for fans of quality colony adventure… quality fantasy… quality books, basically. Read it and you’ll see what I mean.
10/10

Review of Crossways – Book 2 of the Psi-Tech series by Jacey Bedford #Brainfluffbookreview #Crosswaysbookreview

When visiting Forbidden Planet earlier in the year, I was delighted to find this offering on the shelves and given it isn’t available as an ebook in this country, I scooped it up with glee and have taken far too long to get around it, given how much I enjoyed the first book, Empire of Dust – see my review here.

Ben Benjamin, psi-tech Navigator, and Cara Carlinni, Telepath, can never go home again. To the Trust and Alphacorp alike, they are wanted criminals. Murder, terrorism, armed insurrection, hijacking, grand theft, and kidnapping are just the top of a long list of charges they’ll face if they’re caught. So they better not get caught…

That’s as much of the rather chatty blurb I’m willing to share, as it gives away far too many plotpoints relating to the first book for my liking and if you are going to get the best out of Crossways, I recommend that you first get hold of Empire of Dust.

This is another action-packed offering featuring Ben and Cara, who have gone up against two of the major corporations running humanity, both in space and on the colonies scattered through space. Faster-than-lightspeed travel is possible by travelling through the Void by using jumpships. There are a couple of major snags to this technology, though. The first is that you need highly trained jumpship pilots, who can mentally visualise their destination and using their neural energy, pull the ship through the Void without being distracted by the monsters swimming through voidspace conjured up by their imagination. And the other problem is that jumpships need platinum to work, always a rare commodity.

I really like the fact that Ben and Cara are thoroughly ensnared by these two issues – the first novel focuses on what happens when a large deposit of platinum is discovered in a very inconvenient place and the crimes some people are prepared to commit to get their hands on it. In this book, while the antagonist is clearly ambitious and greedy, there is an ongoing problem – what will happen to farflung colonies and the rule of law if jumpships run critically short of this vital fuel?

The other issue is what happens in the Void – this was touched upon in Empire of Dust, but Bedford further examines just how lethal travelling by jumpship can be. There is a steady stream of ships that never make it out of the Void, including the one carrying Ben’s own parents when he was a child. His own experiences within the Void are increasingly causing him to question what he was told in his training – that those monsters he sees swimming through the hull of his ship while in the Void are products of his imagination and that he is to ignore them at all costs. Because if he makes the mistake of trying to interact with them, there is a likelihood he will be distracted, and given it is his mental focus that pulls the jumpship free of the Void, that could spell disaster for everyone on board.

These issues are unpacked in amongst a foot-to-floor action-packed adventure, where Ben and Cara are struggling to stay alive, while a number of the most powerful organisations in the galaxy want them dead. I am delighted to report that I have also got the third book in this trilogy, Nimbus, and I will be tucking into it very soon. This is a thoroughly enjoyable, well written space opera and highly recommended for fans of the genre.
9/10

Review of Ancell’s Quest by Tony Main #Brainfluffbookreview #Ancell’sQuestreview

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

To his dismay, Ancell, a timid, dreaming hedgehog, is called to sail in search of someone in terrible trouble, who keeps calling to him in his dreams. Someone whose plight cannot wait – which leads him to the capable sea otter captain of the schooner, Misty Dawn – and a whole series of adventures. At first the frightened landlubber finds life upon the waves difficult, but he soon learns to trust the crew and face the various dangers alongside them…

I was a bit dubious initially, as there was very little preparation to this adventure – one minute we are told that Ancell is plagued by nightmares and the next, we are aboard Misty Dawn and getting to know the crew. It meant that I was bonding with the protagonist whilst in the middle of the adventures – however, despite the uneven pacing and faltering start, as soon as Ancell stepped onto the schooner, the story took off.

It’s apparent that Main has sailing experience as he writes with verve and confidence about life aboard the ship. I found I not only bonded with Ancell, but grew fond of the rest of the crew and enjoyed the humour that their bickering personalities generated. This is an ideal book for children, with lots of action – and consequences. I liked the fact that it didn’t all go smoothly and that one of the main characters suffers a major accident. By the time we hit the halfway stage, I was able to suspend my disbelief about how the adventure started in the first place as the eventful voyage and the interplay between the characters completely beguiled me.

There are plenty of setbacks and once the intrepid voyagers arrived in Australia, I was expecting the rest of the adventure to go like clockwork – but no, the stakes continued to rise and the tension grew. The pirate Laughing Jack and his evil sidekick (I was delighted it was a woman) were very unpleasant and had imprisoned a number of children – it wasn’t made clear what their intended fates were, but it clearly was nothing good. One of my favourite characters has to be Hector, the salt-water crocodile – whose intervention in the story created havoc.

Overall, this is a delightful tale that makes excellent bedtime reading for children – and their parents who probably, like me, stayed up just a bit later with the light on to discover how it all ends.
8/10

Review of KINDLE Ebook #Talon – Book 1 of the Talon series by #Julie Kagawa #Brainfluffbookreview #bookreview

It was the fabulous cover of this book that first caught my eye – and the fact it was about dragons, so when I had some money in my hot little hand to spend on books, it was a no-brainer that I would get hold of this offering.

Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they’re positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser. Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George.

The first thing to say about this one is that it is YA through and through – including a love triangle. So you have the first person viewpoint of a teenage protagonist who is very conflicted. That said, I think she’s probably entitled to be a tad more conflicted than many young heroines in that she is a shape-shifting dragon, who has come to the end of a long and testing training programme designed to allow her to fight an underground war with humanity against the elite Order of St. George. Ember and her twin brother are ostensibly on a beach holiday and mixing with other teenagers who are completely unsuspecting about the true identity of the attractive couple.

Ember is a sympathetic protagonist, despite being a rebel and a rule breaker, because the people looking after her don’t show any affection or compassion. The only person who cares about her is Dante, her brother, who is equally concerned on building a successful career within Talon. I think I would be sneaking out until midnight under those circumstances, too.

I liked the way Kagawa introduces the hidden world of dragonkind within the story. It is deftly done without compromising the pace and is added in bits and pieces as we need to know so that by the end of the book, we have a clear picture of how the dragons operate without humanity mostly being aware of them. For me, the highlight of the book has to be when Ember shifts and flies the coast – an extremely forbidden act. Kagawa’s prose really took off at this point, and I could easily imagine the beauty and power of the flight. Once I was well into the story, I was more or less able to predict where it would end up. There was a twist near the end that I didn’t see coming, but the writing packs a punch and the ending is sufficiently dramatic. Recommended for YA fans who enjoy shape-shifting dragons with some romance.
8/10

Review of KINDLE Ebook #Bound – Book 8 of the #Alex Verus series by #Benedict Jacka #bookreview #Brainfluffbookreview

This excellent series has been frequently compared to the Harry Dresden Files – and there are similarities. The protagonists both had bumpy childhoods where their abilities were exploited and are therefore edgy and distrustful. But where Harry is just plain powerful, Alex Verus is relatively weak as his ability lies in being able to see into the future, though only by a handful of seconds, sometimes stretching into minutes. That, so far, has been enough to keep him alive… As the series is now stretching forward and getting steadily darker, is it still as enjoyable as when it started?

Alex Verus can see the future. But he never thought he’d see this day. Manoeuvred by forces beyond his control, the probability mage has made a terrible choice: he’s agreed to work for his old master once more. Richard Drakh, the sadistic dark mage Alex escaped as an apprentice, has him in his clutches again. And this time, he won’t let go so easily.

While I have always enjoyed this series, – see my review of Fated – I think the last couple of books have nocked up the tension and pace so that once I started reading, they were difficult to put down. Moreover, if you have randomly picked this one up intending to read it, while you inevitably will have missed huge chunks of the backstory, given this is the eighth book in the series, you wouldn’t unduly flounder. Told in first person viewpoint, Alex’s terse narrative does a good job of explaining the stakes and any necessary information for new readers. I’m not sure if this book is specifically designed as an entry point to the series, but I think it could certainly work like that.

I used to wish I had magical abilities – but I’m very relieved I haven’t, if Jacka’s take on the British magical community is anything like the reality. The Council deals with policing mages and are supposed to be Light mages. But having witnessed the very rough justice they hand out with little accountability, it is clear they aren’t much better than the Dark mages, who are supposed to be the villains. Alex has spent all his adult life trying to stay out of the clutches of his former mentor, the powerful and very unpleasant Richard Drakh – and at the start of this book, he is right back where he didn’t want to be…

The world is well depicted with strong supporting characters who ping off the page, but what elevates this book from the rest is Jacka’s handling of Alex’s prescient abilities, particularly in a fight. I think the description and manner in which this particular talent works is just plain brilliant and if you enjoyed the Harry Desden Files, then give this series a go. It comes very highly recommended.
9/10

Review of Kindle Ebook The Stone Sky – Book 3 of The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin

I’ll be honest – I’ve had The Stone Sky for some weeks and have been putting off reading it because the first two books, The Fifth Season and The Obelisk Gate were such powerful reads, I didn’t want to risk being disappointed if the ending was fumbled. Fortunately, I came to my senses and realised that the slew of glowing reviews evidently meant this hadn’t happened.

THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS… FOR THE LAST TIME.

The Moon will soon return. Whether this heralds the destruction of humankind or something worse will depend on two women. Essun has inherited the power of Alabaster Tenring. With it, she hopes to find her daughter Nassun and forge a world in which every orogene child can grow up safe. For Nassun, her mother’s mastery of the Obelisk Gate comes too late. She has seen the evil of the world and accepted what her mother will not admit: that sometimes what is corrupt cannot be cleansed, only destroyed.

I’ve been interested to note that some people classify this series as fantasy, while others, like me, regard it as mostly science fiction with a fantastic twist. While it is probably one of the most epic, wide-ranging stories I’ll read – given that it tackles humanity’s complicated and grim relationship with their home planet – at its heart is a mother’s desperate search for a lost child who was snatched by her father after committing an unthinkable crime. A crime that most would have regarded as wholly justified.

In addition, there is that viewpoint – the one I am always advising my creative writing students never to use – the second person POV, ‘you’. And yet, I dived back into this POV without so much as blinking. I regularly gush over books I love on this site – but I rarely claim that a series, or a book takes the genre of SFF in another direction and to another level. The Broken Earth trilogy does just that. Like many other reviewers, I find I am scrambling to think of words that adequately sum up my emotions and feelings when I read this book. Inevitably, whatever I say will fall short. However, I do have just a couple of words of advice. Whatever you do, do NOT start this book unless you have read the other two in the series. They are essentially a single book covering a single narrative arc, sliced up into separate volumes and if you don’t start at the beginning, you won’t have any hope of being able to sensibly work out what is going on. And above all, this story deserves to be told in its entirety.

When you start The Fifth Season all set to fling the book across the room because of the odd viewpoint, do hang on in there for at least 30 pages. I am not going to claim for one minute that this series will appeal to everyone, but reading through a number of reviews I am aware that most readers find the POV offputting initially, before finding themselves sufficiently engrossed so that it doesn’t matter. The main question remains regarding The Stone Sky – does it bring this immense story to a satisfactory conclusion? And this was what had prevented me from picking it up, because I couldn’t see any way that Jemisin could pull that one off. However, she does. Although it is only February, I am not expecting another book this year to top The Stone Sky. Never mind 10 stars, I would give it 100 if I could.
10/10

Review of KINDLE Ebook Virology – Book 2 of the Shock Pao series by Ren Warom

I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, Escapology, impressed with the strong characterisation and vivid worldbuilding in this cyberpunk adventure, so I pounced on the sequel and have taken far too long getting around to reading it…

Core is dark and Slip is everywhere, vital to everything that happens in the world and outside of anyone’s control. Avis float the skies and their arrival will trigger a tide of rebellion against the system in Foon Gung.

The key is Shock Pao, within him lies the means to control Slip. Control Slip, control the world. Shock was a Haunt once, impossible to find, but he isn’t anymore, and he’s running out of places to hide. Shock finds himself on the run from, well, everyone. This time though, he’s not alone. But as the sickness infecting the Patient Zeros gets worse and begins to spread, he and his rag-tag group of friends must begin a desperate search for a cure. If they don’t find out what’s causing this, who’s causing this and find a way to put a stop to it, everything they’ve fought for, the brief freedom they’ve managed to achieve, will come undone. But with everyone after Shock, it’s going to take every skill they possess – both legal and illegal – to hunt down the source of the sickness.

I don’t generally reread books and it was a while since I’d read Escapology so for a handful of the opening scenes, I was slightly adrift working out what was going on. However, it didn’t take long to get my bearings in the world, again. That said, if you generally don’t crash midway into series (it’s one of my main hobbies) then do track down the excellent first book before tackling this one – you’ll enjoy it a whole lot more.

Once comfortably back with these extraordinary characters, I was in Warom’s dense world and enjoying the ride. She manages to braid some lyrical descriptions with grungy settings, where you can almost smell the decomposing rubbish – and she manages to pull off the same knack with her characters. Amiga is essentially a merciless killing machine – anyone who stands in her way risks death. And yet, I really like her, despite not generally being a huge fan of gory fights. It doesn’t hurt that Warom is also deft at weaving a dark thread of humour throughout her stories, which helps leaven the gritty settings, horrible living conditions and patently unjust social system in this dystopian future version of our world.

While Warom’s scene setting is exceptionally good, it is her characters that ping off the page and give her story a slightly larger than life, almost gothic feel about them. I really cared about them – and given that there is a high death rate – I found myself holding my breath every time they went on a raid. While they were often fighting against better equipped, more numerous adversaries, Warom manages to convince me when they prevail.

I also enjoyed the ending, which worked well for me. Though, I’m sure Shock will continue getting into trouble – he isn’t built for routine, everyday life. Whatever else befalls him, I’m hoping that Warom will write about it.
9/10

Review of KINDLE Ebook Killbox – Book 4 of the Sirantha Jax series by Ann Aguirre

I read and reviewed the first books in this excellent series a while ago – see my review of Grimspace.

Sirantha Jax is a “Jumper,” a woman who possesses the unique genetic makeup needed to navigate faster than light ships through grimspace. With no tolerance for political diplomacy, she quits her ambassador post so she can get back to saving the universe the way she does best—by mouthing off and kicking butt.

I’ve omitted the rest of the blurb as it is rather chatty. It has been far too long since I read the third book in this series, Doubleblind, and my recollections of that story are somewhat hazy, so I was interested to see if I’d flounder at all. I didn’t. Therefore, I would suggest that if you want to crash midway into this series (though I’m not quite sure why you would as the first three books are great reads) this would be a good spot to do so.

Sirantha Jax is an excellent protagonist. Uniquely gifted due to an unusual set of circumstances, with a very colourful past, she is strong-minded and confident to the point of arrogance – which makes a nice change from the plethora of young, uncertain protagonists we often get. That said, she also has her vulnerabilities and the people she deeply cares about – and thanks to the dire situation humanity is now facing, there is good chance none of them will make it. Aguirre depicts the stresses causes by continual combat very well, while the action scenes are well handled with plenty of tension. The stakes steadily rise throughout the book and I found this one difficult to put down as the story drew me in.

There is a strong supporting cast of likeable characters, including Sirantha’s partner and pilot, March, who has telepathic powers and a young Jumper called Angus who she is training. I held my breath throughout the combat scenes, hoping none of my favourites would die, as Aguirre is quite capable of killing off established characters, which is a measure of how much I empathised with the world and its inhabitants.

As for the ending, while it wraps up the current storylines it does leave the situation on a cliff-hanger ending and I am very glad the next book, Aftermath, is already available – and I certainly won’t be leaving it so long before tucking into it.
9/10