Strong. Probably not as good as River of Gods and I have a soft spot for The Dervish House but still very good. This was like a Wilbur Smith novel in space. Resource extracting feudal dynasties on the wild frontier. An all too depressingly likely scenario. I was engaged, wanted to find out what came next and engaged with the characters. He used a narrative trick of speeding up time and prose and shortening sections which gave the book a breathless feel as it carried you along faster and faster. Recommended.