I’ve read this trilogy in completely the wrong order: the last book, Dawnlands first, Tidelands second and finally got round to finding out what happened in the middle. For this I blame my eldest son’s hopeless efforts to buy all three in one go as a birthday present…But I digress.

Often I’ve found the middle of three in a trilogy a damp squib. Not in this case. It may have lacked the atmosphere and attention to detail of its siblings, but more than made up for that in the machinations of its machiavellian characters and a solid (of somewhat panto here and there) plot that created a strong connection between all three novels, and a bridge taking you from start to finish.