This one took a while to get into as I didn’t like Pendel or Osnard and the first 200 pages really focus on them. The chapters are also disjoint at times with many cut scenes. I found the many cut scenes gave me more of an inclination to set the book down and do something else. It is a definite style departure from the flowing 30-40 page consistently flowing prose of his previous novels.

At times I started to regret my project of reading his novels in chronological order but luckily things did turn around in this novel. Many characters that were treated sparingly at the beginning of the novel got their just first person sections later on as everything came to a head. This painted a well thought out world of characters in the second half of the book. Although I found the Louisa section entertaining I found her behaviour unbelievable. I’m sure some feminists would have some choice words but don’t they always?

Although different I would recommend this novel to anyone that enjoyed The Looking Glass War as it has the same theme of ineptitude in a spy operation with the added icing of corruption and deceit.