The plot to this book is easy to sum up – one day it started to snow, and it didn't stop snowing for years. The way Adam Roberts handles this simple plot though is the interesting part. We get a sequence of lengthy first person narratives and interview documents recalling the events from after the snow had finished falling.

For the most part we follow Tira Bojani Sahai, a woman of Asian extraction who was living in London when the snows came. We read of her experiences as the snow begins to get deeper and deeper and how London changes, and of her struggle to survive as fuel and food begin to run out. We then follow her in the life she makes in the Above, in a very militaristic right-wing society.

Once again with a book by Adam Roberts the central idea is core to the book. This may sound a little obvious and uninformative, but let me explain. Roberts' books have remarkable ideas at their heart, and this book is certainly no exception. Having snow fall continuously for years on end until the whole world is covered by over a kilometre is certainly different.

The next thing that raises this up from the ordinary is the use of the documentation, especially with the censorship that fits wonderfully with the military controlled society. Two thirds of the way through the book and I can honestly say I thought this one of the strongest books I'd read in a fair while.

Unfortunately it then lost it a little for me. The reveal towards the end just didn't fit well with the build up. Now it is still a very good book. The narrative is strong right to the last page, it's just that it could have been so much better without this twist.

I wouldn't say this should put anyone off the book. The writing is as skilled as I would expect from an Adam Roberts book, the characters are earthy real people, they have flaws and are insecure as we all are. And it tells exactly the same kind of story I like – something odd happens, people try to cope with it and then at some point we just leave them. The story doesn't come to some magical ending, we leave them to get on with the lives they now have. If only the twist wasn't so jarring, this could have been brilliant.