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Author: Stan Nicholls
Publisher: Voyager
441 pages · £14.99
ISBN: 0-00-714153-X
Rating:
Carefully crafted and elegantly
executed, Quicksilver Twilight concludes
this enchanting fantasy trilogy about
rebels, oppression, madness and magic.
To free themselves from the tyrannical
rule of a corrupt Empire, the rebels have
decided not to fight against impossible
odds and most of their ranks have fled
to the Diamond Isle. But the Empire
won’t let it rest there and armies are
being mustered. Meanwhile, mercenary
Reeth Caldason is still searching for the
magical Source to free himself from his
curse; Prince Melyobar’s madness
escalates to plans of mass murder; and
Tanalvah is having trouble living with the
deadly consequences of her actions.
And unknown to almost everyone, the
magical rivers of Quicksilver liquid are
being disrupted. Something momentous
is about to happen…
This final volume comes in two parts:
first it moves everyone to the right place
at the right time with the right
motivation; then the second half kicks in
with gusto, the battle is joined and the
forces of light and dark kick seven
shades of shit out of each other.
It’s all very tightly constructed and
there’s no aimless wandering around or
excessive description. This is further
enhanced by Nicholls’s additional effort
to make the prose flow seamlessly
where the story threads swap over.
These attributes combine to produce a
very slick paced story... but it also feels
like a slightly forced one. All the
characters are positioned perfectly at
the halfway stage, and it seems
suspiciously convenient. But that
uneasiness passes quickly enough as
the second half’s revelations start
tumbling over each other and don’t
stop till the very end.
Sandy Auden
