The fourth book in Alastair's Merlin Series, and should be read immediately after The Iron Tactician.

Leaving his previous hitch-hiker behind, Merlin then finds another to join him on his quest to find the ultimate weapon against the Huskers.   Will they find it?   Will Merlin finally get to use it?   Will there be some ultimate act of betrayal?

You'll have to read it yourself to find out.

Great ending though.

Sadly, for now at least, this is the fourth and final book in this short but very enjoyable tetralogy.

You'll find this in the collection, Zima Blue and Other Stories. ( )

Very good. ( )

Interesting, flowing story-line, good characters, enjoyable! ( )

This early novella of Reynolds has some of the world elements later seen in his ‘Revelation Space’ series, although it is a distinctly separate universe. Like that series, there is internecine war being waged over long centuries (‘kiloyears’ is thrown around here). As in Reynold’s later novella ‘Beyond the Aquilla Rift”, a long-vanished advanced civilization has paved the road for humankind to travel the stars via an unapproachably complex technology which the bravest exploit. Another familiar element seen here is a traveler, far removed from their own era and locale, skipping across vast distances and sleeping away the centuries between adventures, something necessitated by Reynolds familiar refusal to write anything that utilizes FTL travel. While it allows for terrific drama and perspective robbed from stories that do use it, here it mainly provides a McGuffin. There are some terrific mysteries introduced that beg for additional stories in this world, and there is plenty of room both before and after this story in the narrative timeline ripe for setting them, should Reynolds ever opt to take on the challenge. ( )

This is a short e-book story that I believe may also be published in a larger collection of science fiction stories. Overall it has everything you can expect from Alastair Reynolds: Ramscoops, relativistic space flight, fascinating future physics, awesome weapons, incredible biotech, big open universe, and a story line that won't let you stop reading. If you are unfamiliar with any of Reynold's writing this is the kind of e-book that can give you a taste of what his larger novels are like. For those already familiar with Alastair Reynolds, this e-book has a House of Suns, Revelation Space kind of feel to it. ( )