Books

_Messiah_, S. Andrew Swann (a man of several related pseudonyms)



The end of a trilogy (_Prophets_, _Heretics_) goes out with a bang, revealing secrets hinted at in the first book, betrayals set up in the second, and a cataclysmic fight of good (lower-case) vs Evil (upper-case).

I understand that juggling a large handful of viewpoint characters is tricky, but most chapters lasted no more than 3 or 4 pages before the next cut. Combined with a certain confusion on my part over who some of those characters were -- what faction is she with? Is that one virtual? Embedded in another's body? What? -- it took a hundred pages or so for me to get back on track.

I also found some of the religious overtones strange, especially when late in the novel a Catholic catechism turns out to be integral to an alien worldview.

Best to re-read the first two before tackling this finale.

Books

_Messiah_, S. Andrew Swann (a man of several related pseudonyms)



The end of a trilogy (_Prophets_, _Heretics_) goes out with a bang, revealing secrets hinted at in the first book, betrayals set up in the second, and a cataclysmic fight of good (lower-case) vs Evil (upper-case).

I understand that juggling a large handful of viewpoint characters is tricky, but most chapters lasted no more than 3 or 4 pages before the next cut. Combined with a certain confusion on my part over who some of those characters were -- what faction is she with? Is that one virtual? Embedded in another's body? What? -- it took a hundred pages or so for me to get back on track.

I also found some of the religious overtones strange, especially when late in the novel a Catholic catechism turns out to be integral to an alien worldview.

Best to re-read the first two before tackling this finale.