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I feel like I just ran a marathon. The last hundred pages were everything I love about Nicola Griffith’s writing: atmospheric, propulsive, clever, full of threat and energy. With a few exceptions, these qualities were absent from the first 600 pages which were bogged down by minute (albeit fascinating!) historical detail. Hild believes in the pattern of the world and we get to see every blessed inch of that pattern. Looking back, the build up does make the eventual victory more satisfying because you get to see how it’s down to equal parts Hild’s genius and fickle chance. But still, 600 pages of set up is a big ask. I do hope there’s another book in this series where we get to see Hild the abbess. Please give it to me.