Polystom is a Lord on the world of Enting. The world he inhabits is both familiar to anyone who has read or watched any Victorian fiction, and very different.

The similarities arise from the social structure, Polystom's estate is complete with servants and his rule is near absolute – he has the power of life or death over all those who live on his lands. They kind of sound like a lot of the estates of Europe and North America in the eighteenth century. The differences though are far more fundamental.

This is a realm where even the laws of physics are different. The planets and moons are far closer together than in our universe and the space in between worlds is no vacuum – containing perfectly breathable air - if a little thin - that allows Polystom to fly his plane (roughly WW1 technology level) to visit his uncle Cleonicles on Enting's moon.

A great war is in progress on Mudworld, where the old order is struggling to put down an insurgence from the servant classes before their notion of the right way of things, and their positions of power are forever overturned. Cleonicles is murdered, and the blame seems to lie with the insurgents on Mudworld.

This comes as a major shock to Polystom, his whole notion of what is, is brought crashing down. He discovers his presumed anti-war uncle was considered a hero of the military and decides to raise a platoon from his estate and to lead them into battle on Mudworld as a tribute.

This is an original tale to say the least. This whole world is wonderfully imagined. It's a complete shift away from most science fiction I've read. Fans of writers like Robert Charles Wilson and Paul Di Filippo should find something here they would enjoy, as here Adam Roberts touches on that slightly off-angle approach to his worlds and characters these two other authors also utlilise.

But this is in no way saying this book is derivative. Roberts's approach is quite uniquely his own. and very English in feel as opposed to the North American flavour of Di Filippo and Wilson.

Roberts is a writer who can use high sf concepts but does not feel the need to fully explain himself - so if you are not the type to wade through pages and pages of the inner workings of the spacecraft then this is a book for you.

The lead character Polystom happens to be fairly useless. I've not read all that many books where the lead character was so ineffectual, it's an unusual element when compared to much of the other sf being published.

Adam Roberts is a writer that you can rely on for really good ideas, ideas that are superbly realised – he has certainly maintained his excellent standards with this book.

Absolutely bloody marvellous!