Tor

Oh dear - I think that this is a book that you'll either love or hate. I personally found it an enjoyable read, that to me kept on the same level with no major highs or lows on the excitement factor. However I did like the premise of the action taking place on Mars between the two cities(why are there never any towns - only cities!) - but I do like my action to be faster to keep me reading to the end.

Not a bad book - just slow.

Sometimes writing is descriptively compared to food - a meaty tome, a fruity novel, a frothy tale - to my mind this trilogy is a deep, rich, undercooked black pudding with a crunchy lemon topping !

For information, as a codex can be defined as a manuscript of ancient annals, the Codex is the history of Deepgate, there is no other relevance in the plot.

In this volume, thank goodness Deepgate has practically collapsed into the abyss with only the Temple hanging upside down above the chasm. However the death of the god Ulcis has left the gates to hell unguarded and Dill and Rachel flee across the Deadsands to escape the hordes thus unleashed.

Now we meet other gods and the best defined character in the series John Anchor, who tows the god Cospinol's sky ship, adorned with corpses, down into hell to combat the King of Hell, Menoa.

In this, the last volume of the trilogy, there is finally a mention of sunlight ! Dill battles the arconites and all becomes more or less resolved.

I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that by this time I was skipping quite a lot, and never being able to quite get to grips with time travel, felt that this way of solving the conflict was a bit of a cop out.

Surprise, not the culmination of the trilogy but another episode in the Shadows of the Apt. It seems that the author has found a rich deposit and wants to exploit it further. Hence there are few conclusions and yet more introductions in history, characters, plots and regions.

The scope of the action means that there is more narrative gaps between each scenario and personally, as descriptions are relatively short on the ground, I found it difficult to keep up with who is who, which side they are on, where and why.

The second installment of the Shadows of the Apt continuing the Lowlanders fight against the Wasp Empire, and matters become even more complicated with more involvement from the Wasp Emporer and the Spiderkin.

Often the second volume is a bit of a disappointment but not here. There are more characters to meet, development of existing ones and their situations plus the exploration of further areas of this unusual world.

At first sight another fantasy epic with a disparate group seeking desperately to overcome an evil empire, but, thankfully, with a couple of twists which make it something special.

This first novel in the trilogy begins with an episode years before the main action of the remainder of the book takes over, and consequently one feels somewhat dropped in it without much idea of the nature of the world one is visiting, but, persevere, it does get better !

I very much enjoyed Dog of the North with it's many twists and turns. It is an excellent colourful page turner with well defined characters and plot.

But who is The Dog of the North and how did he connect with the two fascinating parallel stories of Arren(the child) and Bauceron(the adult) and with Eilla.

Book 2 of the Saga of the Merchant Princes series with an alternate universe theme continues the story of World Walker Miriam Beckstein. Best not to attempt this until you have read the first one, The Family Trade, otherwise you'll feel a little lost and it's just not as interesting. This introduces a third world and completes the story of book one.

This should come with a warning - read the Commonwealth books (Pandora's Star, Judas Unchained) first, otherwise you may feel, like I did, that you have started at the second act and are reading with a handicap.