‘Exhilarating… a work of imagination and arresting originality’ Sunday Telegraph
The war is ending, perhaps ended…
For the castle and its occupants the troubles are just beginning. Armed gangs roam its lawless land, where each farm and house supports a column of dark smoke. Taking to the roads with the other refugees, anonymous in their raggedness, seems safer than remaining in the ancient keep. But the lieutenant of an outlaw band has other ideas, and the castle becomes the focus for a dangerous game of desire, deceit and death…
Praise for Iain Banks:
‘The most imaginative novelist of his generation’ The Times
‘His verve and talent will always be recognised, and his work will always find and enthral new readers’ Ken MacLeod, Guardian
‘His work was mordant, surreal, and fiercely intelligent’ Neil Gaiman
‘An exceptional wordsmith’ Scotsman
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Reviews
An apocalyptic masterpiece
Compulsively readable... the enigma at the heart of the novel will ensure repeated readings
Tour de force writing
His boldest and most ambitious experiment with fiction since The Bridge
Exhilarating... a work of imagination and arresting originality