http://nhw.livejournal.com/59559.html...

A rather wacky setting this: a world where gravity goes parallel to the ground rather than perpendicular to it, so its inhabitants perceive it as a huge wall, with settlements clinging to ledges and everyone perpetually terrified of falling off (as indeed many do). We have some great scene-setting in the hero's small home village; he then arrives in a much bigger civilisation, gets embroiled in a war, and eventually comes close to finding out the Secret Behind It All. But I was a bit disappointed; there wasn't really much closure for any of the plot threads, and I rather felt the author had given up trying to think of things to do. I much preferred his earlier book, Salt; both are written in the same sparse style that I associate with English sf writers like Brian Aldiss, Christopher Priest and Stephen Baxter. ( )