Reviews and Comments

Very good. Proper science fiction (”what if ..."), plus archaeology and a splash of linguistic decipherment - right up my street.
Not five stars for me because the characters were sometimes a bit thinly sketched, and the men in particular blurred together.

Cracking mystery story, with added bees. Great plot with only a couple of minor holes, and well written with only occasional clunkiness or catachresis.

First and third of the three parts were very accessible, but I struggled with the middle.part, having to reread several sections many times. I found this harder to follow than his "Seven brief lessons ..."

3.5*, and I might be being a bit harsh.
This wasn't what I expected it to be. If I had been expecting what it was, I probably wouldn't have read it, but I am pleased I did.
I was expecting something more about the books, but it is much less about them than about the story of Mary Ann Schwalbe's cancer, from the point of view of her son; it is also a partial biography of her, told in glimpses and episodes, in retrospect. It's not the kind of book I commonly read, I found this pretty engaging.

I had not heard of Mary Ann Schwalbe before this, but she is clearly prominent figure in the domain of refugee crises, and international women's rights.

I listened to the audiobook. It was well read, local readers Irish accents adopted for two voices are rather intrusively stereotypical.