Context (2002) John Meaney, Bantam Press, £18.99, hrdbk, 439 pp, ISBN 0-593-04735-4
A sequel to Paradox, Context tells of Lord Corcorigan, a commoner turned noble on the world of Nulapeiron. He's gone to ground after the events of Paradox and wanders his underground world, becoming increasingly concerned over the new menace of Dark Fire. His main purpose, though, is a search for his lost love.
Context ambles along quite amiably. Difficult to digest at first, although this was probably down to my own ignorance of the world of Nulapeiron, the story soon picks up and we are hurtling along in a beautiful sketched strange country. Meaney packs his world of Nulapeiron with incredibly strange and quirky effects, from bizarre people to outrageously funny religions. (I'm not altogether sure if the running monks were supposed to be funny, but I certainly found them so.) A separate plot set on Terra unfolds in parallel and although mysterious at first, is eventually drawn into the larger plot.
Throughly enjoyable and bursting with strangeness, this is not to be missed.
Graham Connor
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