3 - Winterstrike, by Liz Williams

I really wanted to like this more than I did. Williams’ far-future Mars/Earth stories and novel are the work of hers I like the most, in tone and theme, but this book seemed very much rushed, on a number of axes. The first part of the novel – which has been extensively sketched out in short stories over the last couple of years – is pretty strong. But at some point the writing gets ahead of the planning, and it all falls apart. The quality of the editing and copy editing also drop off in the latter half of the novel.

This is a shame, as this could have been a very fine book with a little bit more time to bake and some of the glitches ironed out. Hopefully if it gets a US release it’ll get another working-over to put a final coat of polish on it.