This has definitely been my series of the year. I’m not sure if I’ve given all four books five stars each, but I’ve braced myself for disappointment with each book and happily felt that each book was just as good, if not better, than the one that came before.

I like how the pieces of the series have only been loosely joined together, each one explores a different facet of the universe Chambers has created. It’s such a great universe! This one is a kind of locked room story. A group of travellers get stuck at a stopover and the various problems bring them together. One thing I liked about this is that there’s no human in the plot, except peripherally. After three previous books dealing with various other species alongside humans it’s nice to feel at home with all these other species. There’s no great overarching plot here, the problem that’s got them all stuck isn’t something they can deal with. It’s a book about the small details of lives and how we can help each other.

I’m going to miss having a new volume of this to look forward to, but also there’s a whole world of science fiction out there that I feel better equipped to explore.