“As well as being a tale of wars, this book brought me some conflict when trying to read it. It is a Culture novel, and so presents rich technologies and cultures the likes of which have become hallmarks for the series. In its meandering, rapid pacing however, the story doesn't linger on any one of them long enough for us to appreciate any of the detail we may have seen in earlier books. This may simply be a trait in its lead character though - an agent sent to multiple worlds in his lifetime to perform a military task, then leave.
What's harder to comprehend is the book's quite bizarre and often confusing timeline. Many chapters will begin with a description of anonymous men, even at a point halfway through the book, which made it hard for me to put faces to the scenes inside my head. Each chapter of the main narrative is also interspersed with nostalgic tales of another conflict, for which there seem like even more plotlines, and many of these do not follow chronologically either. The whole thing forced me to stumble into the book's final chapter, lost as to who was dead or not, where they were or which war was being fought.
It's not a bad book, but the first read will likely boggle its reader. There are twists, ot all of which make much sense (particularly the final one), but also a nice arrangement of truly shocking moments to keep you amused and alert.”
