JediDunedain
6/1/2014
Positive: Interesting idea, use of projected history into future, apocolyptic and evolutional concepts
Negative: Richard Francis Burton was a strereotype in the flesh of British arrogance and disrespect. The author projects the same ethos in his writing. Burton, as a literary character, is dead, and no one ever develops in this non-story plot. No insight into humanity, no story to entice, and certainly a thin idea of terraforming a continuous river. The style breaks down in to long dialogue which gets hard to follow. Too bad because the action sequences are fair to mediocre.
Conclusion: Not sure why this was published or became a series, or received an award. It is dull and pedantic. The SF ideas earn a star. The half is for the inclusion of a Alice Pleasance Lidell, juxtaposed to Goering.