The Usual's Reviews > The Prisoner of Heaven

Yes, I've been rather unfair to this book. I rated it a two from bitterly disappointed memory rather than going back and re-reading it (something I really shouldn't do). I've re-read it now and, do you know, it's pretty good. I still think the writing isn't up to the standard of the first two books, and that it could do with... I don't know... more salt or something, but... not bad.

The other difficulty I remember having with it hasn't really gone away. Because The Prisoner of Heaven is the jigsaw piece with no edge to it - the one without which the rest of the puzzle won't fit together - there are more unresolved storylines than the previous two books, and that does leave it feeling unfinished somehow. It's altogether too easy to go skidding past the climax of this one without really noticing it. It's a shame but, as I said, that's down to where it fits in. As a standalone book, therefore, perhaps a middling three; as part of a tetralogy (lovely word that, much nicer than quadrilogy and etymologically correct) perhaps a high one.