Overall, I have enjoyed the Virga series so far. But that said, I'm not much of a series-oriented reader; there are few that I follow to completion. While The Sunless Countries was good and provided more technical/scientific detail behind the "balloon world" of Virga, I think I've exhausted my interest in this universe. ( )

A nice adventure that never follows the expected path. ( )

While it would probably have helped if I had read these books in a more timely fashion I'd be willing to argue that this is where the series went off the rails, in that instead of building on the dramatic crisis set at Candesce itself in the third book, one takes a side trip as a way for Schroeder to explicate on the deep history of Virga and the roots of the emergency facing its inhabitants. That said I like the character of Leal Maspeth and it would have been better if Schroeder had found a way to introduce her, say, in at least the second book. ( )

Just OK- not quite as good as the others in the series- perhaps because it had been so long since I'd read them. The plot points about who to choose as our allies and who is on whose side was confusing and a little implausible. ( )

Most series tend to ossify into a predictable pattern, since readers and author find a comfortable niche from which there is little incentive to stray. The Virga series is an exception. Set inside a giant balloon, wooden human settlements float in oxygenated space. Previous books in this series have explored the conflicts between these and also suggested that Candesce, the biggest artificial sun in Virga, somehow protects humans from whatever is outside their space. A secret 'Home Guard' protects Virga from incursions from outside, from something known as 'Artificial life'.

The focus of this installment shifts to Pacquaea, a nation with no Sun of its own. What is does have is a University, which employs Leal Maspeth as a History tutor, who has hopes of being a Lecturer. It also has a sect of 'Eternists' who deny Virga's history and take power with a view to eradicating all dissent. Leal finds herself at the epicentre of the storm, especially after Hayden Griffin, the famous 'Sunlighter' from earlier books arrives, just after a giant 'Voice' is heard from the exterior Wall and ships start vanishing...Leal is instrumental in finding out what is going on, combining her knowledge of ancient texts with encounters with entities that the Eternists deny. We learn more about Virga and its strange neighbours and the scene seems to be set for a larger conflict than just human squabbling... ( )