Nobody can say that K J Parker is not an extremely clever writer. The nations of his fantasy world come to vibrant and convincing life in the pages of this book: their geography, history, customs, and personality. This is the writer whose characters aren't heroes or villains, but real-seeming people with roles to play and lives to live. It might be added that few of these people would make appealing friends or neighbors, but these are ordinary folk driven to deeds through circumstances that are not always of their own making. It might also be added that, almost without exception, these characters are all male and this mapless (why is there no map; it would be so handy and in keeping with the flavor of the book) world has little room for women. Parker's knowledge of engineering and feel for the mechanics of things is formidable, so this is probably just the book for many male fantasy fans. It will probably win prizes... meticulous, rather chilling, and very clever.