Eternity's End (edition 2000)

I must admit I was a little sceptical at the beginning about the whole 'Flying Dutchman .. in Space!"-thing. But it had a nice cover, the "magnus opus" stamp, and I wanted to try another one from the author, after having fun with the "Chaos Chronicles"-series. And true enouth, it started a little .. heavy, at least for my taste. Our hero is, for a time, in a really hopeless looking situation. And then it gets step by step worse. Still it builds engagement, I guess, because it gripped me and I couldn't really stop reading.

I don't want to give too much spoilers, so let me just say the assumption that the author is usually (ultimately) nice to his characters saved me in the middle of the book, when the suspense would have killed me otherwise. Its a correct assumption, by the way. But that is all I am saying.

Your mileage may vary, but I found a very _very_ skillful balance between giving subtle hints about the developments in advance and keeping me unsure what will happen next.

In the end I was quite fascinated. I could summarise the plot in very few words, and it would sound very silly indeed. Instead let me say that I think it's a very skillful remix of stories and settings that could have easily gone wrong. And some will probably think that it did.

Don't expect high literature, realistic drama, or serious, "hard" science fiction. If you want a crazy, silly ride with an ending, that I really, really should have seen coming (but didn't), then that book might just be for you :) ( )