Review by Sillywabbit (2003-03-13)
Feersum Endijinn is set on a far future Earth. If I may quote the blurb on the back of the book as it will tell if far better than me :)



Count Sessine is about to die for the very last time...

Chief Scientist Gadifum is about to receive a mysterious message she has been waiting for from the plain of sliding stones...

And Bascule the teller is in search of an ant and is about to enter the chaos of the crypt...

And everything is about to change...

For this is the time of the Encroachment and, although the dimming sun still shines on the vast and towering walls of Serehfa Fastness, the end is close at hand.

The king knows it, his closest advisers know it, yet they still prosecute the war against the clan of Engineers with increasing savagery.

The crypt knows it too ; so an emissary has been sent, an emissary who holds the key to all their futures...



Feersum Endijinn is a damn fine read. It's one of Ian M bank's best books ( of the ones that I have read. ) I liked this book for a number of reasons. It's very well written. Bank's use of language is just wonderful. He really knows how to play with grammar and words to give meaning. For example, one of the characters is a child, and those chapters that are written by the child are all written phonetically!

This brings me onto the next reason why I really enjoyed this book. Originality. The story, the setting and the way that its structured and written are all original.

Third and lastly. Simply put, this is a great story, full of interesting characters and events. The plot is tight and never lags at any point. Almost all the chapters end in a kind of cliff hanger that keeps you reading and reading. I finished this book in just two days. It's not a big book but I ready slow, OK? :) So that's good for me! Well, as you can tell. I really liked this book a lot. Give it a go :)

SillyWabbit