Final Third - Chapters 61-90

[Jason]

Discussion for the final third of the book.

[Jason]

This last section felt a bit rushed, like Baxter had too many ideas to fit into the space allotted. As a result many of the smaller details I would have like to have seen were painted over with broad strokes. It seemed a bit out of focus, and the emphasis suddenly switched from the characters we were following all this time to the grand events unravelling.

Yuri and Stef going through the hatch on the dark side of Per Ardua was a little reckless considering they had no guarantee they would be able to survive on the other side. I did like how they found Dexter Cole, though the conclusion of Angelia's story (if you can call it that) was very anticlimactic and disappointing.

The whole attack on Mercury and shockwave that debilitated Earth felt a bit contrived, and for such a huge event I felt underwhelmed. I suppose having our main characters safe in an underground bunker while it happened meant we had to experience it through the eyes of strangers, which didn't help. I thought Penny leaving the solar system made sense and would be an interesting segue to follow in sequels.

Upon reading the "teaser" for the sequel, I couldn't take it very seriously. Romans in space, with swords? Next.