I was given a copy of this to look at as an introduction to Marianne de Pierres's work, prior to the forthcoming release of her next book. What a ripper of a yarn.

The first thing to strike me was this is an Australian author, publishing science fiction with an Australian setting, which really bucks the trend. That was my first clue this should be a good read. The next clue was this being published in the UK which seems to be pretty much the home of sci fi these days.

One of the arts of good storytelling that all aspiring authors need to try and emulate is allowing the reader to get into the skin of the protagonist. De Pierres achieves this right from the outset but without having to info dump on us. Instead, bits of the backstory keep emerging as you continue to read.

Another appealing aspect of the book is the layering of the plot as things unfolded. You start to wonder if anyone is quite what they seem.

Being a quite visual person, I find maps to be helpful in allowing me to understand where things are happening. There is one map at the front. Another helpful one is also included but for some reason is hidden away well into the novel rather than neatly up front where you could actually find it when you needed it.

The language through the novel is quite distinctive, giving it a noticeable voice. However the number of contractions that were used, while emulating a believable speech pattern, occasionally became a little hard to follow and I had to stop and think for a moment or two about what they were actually on about.

This is an Australia of an indeterminate future. Much of it is wasteland. The power of the media is now such that they to all intents and purposes control law and order. At times I had a sense of almost being in William Gibson cyberpunk territory. The imagery generated in the mind is quite strong. It occurs to me that this is a setting that would look excellent in film although I would not like the difficult job of doing the script adaptation.

All up, this was a ripper of a read. I definitely want to read more from Marianne de Pierres, including more of the Parrish Plessis novels. I suspect others will as well.

Ross C. Hamilton