This book was a very engaging and enjoyable read. The world of Nulapeiron is still an interesting amalgam of scifi and medieval tropes (due to cultural stratification between lords and commoners). Plot-wise, the battle against the Oracles has been completed to partial success. Tom, who succeeds in securing his own revenge, is curiously against the manner in which his cabal has elected to overthrow the remaining Oracles. Leaving them, he is injured and falls literally and metaphorically. He rises again through the cultural strata, and in the background we see the rise of a 'new' foe in the form of the 'Blight'. The Blight seems to be tied to a disease that has overtaken multiple worlds over the course of the last 1200 years. Now it has arrived to Nulapeiron...There was a little weirdness in the way the romantic elements played out between Tom and his women; the manner in which Elva is identified as his love seemed lacking in groundwork. Meaney's interest in martial arts continues to be evident in Tom's learning, and forms part of my enjoyment of this series. Onwards to the last book...
The journey of Tom Corcorigan continues intertwined with the story of the mysterious Pilots from Earth of 1200 years previous. The relationship between the two stories becomes clearer as this book progresses. The cosmology continues to be fleshed out with more thoughts on multiple universes, the flow of time and quantum entanglement as a new Darkness threatens the world. If you had a problem with the flow of thoughts and conversations in the first book, this book has corrected it; it much easier to read and follow. Sometimes second books lag but this does not suffer that fate.
