The final in Simon Morden's trilogy this ties up Samuil Petrovich's adventures in the London Metrozone. I'm not quite sure what to write about this as it's the end of a series and more to the point, it zipped by so quickly I wasn't quite sure where I was by the end of it. Petrovich is kind of a hugely agressive and good looking Sheldon Cooper but without the charm. In other words, he's very very smart. I've remarked on just how easy much seems to him even if his physical body takes a pounding there doesn't seem to be much that can phase him.
Petrovich does grow through the books and he is different enough by the end to regard him as having been impacted by what he's gone through but at the same time the plot never slows down to make room for the story and I think there's something more interesting to Petrovich than the misanthrope on the surface.
It's curious really, the novel is a decent length but I still felt the characters and their feelings were rushed. For instance, there's a crucial event relating to a character called Michael and representatives of the Vatican and it's barely referred to and then only obliquely. I would have enjoyed seeing that meeting and understanding what they discussed. Instead we rush past at 70mph. It's a shame because for a book so bursting with ideas and interesting concepts many of the more provoking possibilities are simply left on the cutting room floor.
To sum up, this novel is Battle Beyond the Stars when it could have been Star Wars (Episode IV obviously).
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