There were some superb scenes here, proper spine-tingling moments. yet I found the digressionary nature of the story very off-putting. The history was marvellous, but I found being pulled back to see a glimpse of something current to go back again and the yo-yoing a little hard to take, not through any fault of the writing but presumably because of my own mood at the time. I'd absolutely read more of the author, just a little saddened not to have enjoyed this more.