I wrote a review of Philip Purser-Hallard’s excellent Devices trilogy for We Are Cult. I wrote it while in a semi-comatose half-delerious state when I was ill, so I assume James (the editor) has edited it slightly to make it be in English rather than a strange language only I know…
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Will read this piece when I finally get to Trojans, which is reserved for my Christmas break since I want to have something that I *know* is going to be great.
It’s a completely spoiler-free review. I talk about themes and so on, but don’t mention any plot points that aren’t established in the first third of The Pendragon Protocol, because the twist in the middle of that book is *so* good I wouldn’t want to spoiler it, and none of the plot past that can be talked about without the spoiler.
Oh yes. I even warned several of the people that I pressed Protocol onto, not to find out the title of the second book because I thought it was such a massive spoiler, and that twist was so fantastic it didn’t deserve to be spoiled! (I am terribly glad that I stumbled upon Protocol just before the second book came out, so I only found out that second title afterwards.) Sure, anyone who was paying attention should have been able to guess what was coming, but maybe I’m just not that smart…
edit: OK, read the piece now and yes, I agree completely with the general tenor; what makes the Devices series so good is that it marries the high concept ideas and exploration of the implications with a page-turning plot and hugely engaging characters. And the smoothness of the writing is so good that you don’t question some of the structural tricks that are being used to, well, trick you.